Language and Sociolect theorists

William La Bov

·         1966 New York Study- individual speech patterns are “part of a highly systematic structure of social and stylistic stratification”

·         He did a comparison of 3 department stores them being Saks 5th avenue (high end), Macys (middle of the road) and Klein’s (lower end). He used them to test the pronunciation of the `post-vocalic seeing how people would emphasise it at the end of a word. He used the words fourth and floor.

·         The results: Saks 62% Macys 51% Klein’s 20%

Martha’s Vineyard Study

·         It is an island off the East-coast of the USA with over 40,000 visitors each summer.

·         The local population are known as the "islanders."

·         Mainly a fishing industry where fisherman are seen as the desirable social group who everyone would want to be like.

Vera Regan

·         https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jAGgKE82034

·         Worked under La Bov

·         Studied polish transnationals. Looked at the use of the colloquial "like" and the global "like".

·         She came to the conclusion that transnationals with the intention to stay would use language in the same way as the locals to include themselves. Whereas transnationals with the intention of moving on would still use the global like.

Peter Trudgill

·         1974 Norwich Study – how gender affects dialect in each social class.

·         H and ing dropping

·         Looking at “walking”& “talking” as the standard form instead of "walkin" and "talkin" in its non- standard form.

·         It assesses participant’s awareness of their own accents as well as how they wished to sound.

·         Men over-reported their non-standard usage – implying that men wished to sound more non-standard, assuming that they used more of the covert prestige forms

·         Women over-reported their standard usage – implying that women wished to sound more standard, assuming that they used more of the overt prestige forms.

Jenny Cheshire

·         1982 Reading Study – relationship between use of non-standard variables and adherence to peer group norms.

·         Identified 11 non-standard features and measured their frequency of use in boys and girls in a Reading playground, differentiating between those who approved or disapproved of minor criminal activities

Bernstein

Language and Social Class – Restricted code and Elaborated code – 1971

·         Restricted code - Has a limited vocabulary, looser syntax, uses more words of simple coordination.

·         Elaborated code - Has a more formally correct syntax, having more subordinate clauses and fewer unfinished sentences.