Language Variation

Question 1

Peter Trudgill

Answer 1

• Late 1960s
• People of lower economic status are more likely to use non-standard language variants
• Women are more likely to use standard language variants than men
• People are more likely to use standard language variants in formal settings
• Women are more likely to over-exaggerate their use of standard variants, and men are more likely to over-exaggerate their use of non-standard variants

Question 2

Malcolm Peyt

Answer 2

• 1985
• The lower the socio-economic status of the speaker, the more likely they are to drop the “h” sound in words
• As people move up social groups, they are more likely to adapt RP and alter their accent for conformity

Question 3

Howard Giles

Answer 3

• 1970s
• British teenagers judged the aesthetic and status values of 13 accented speakers. A prestige continuum emerged:
• Standard English
• Certain foreign accents
• Regional / national accents
• Immigrant and urban (city-based accents)

Question 4

Montgomery and Bernstein

Answer 4

Middle class people have access to ways of organising their speech which are fundamentally different to the lower classes

Question 5

John Honey

Answer 5

• Language is evolving all of the time – younger people speak in a way that is very different to the way older generation do
• “Standard English” is a class-based dialect and is therefore not used by those considered to be “lower class”

Question 6

Wilfrid Sellars

Answer 6

• In the media, RP remains the norm
• All accents are in a “state of flux”, both geographically and socially
• Accent still matters – today it is more to do with etiquette than origins

Question 7

Paul Kerswill

Answer 7

• Increased social mobility in the twentieth century has led to the downgrading of SE / RP
• SE doesn’t permit double negatives

Question 8

Foulkes and Docherty

Answer 8

Speakers tend to seek out neutral forms to avoid signalling very old or local identities

Question 9

• Late 1960s
• People of lower economic status are more likely to use non-standard language variants
• Women are more likely to use standard language variants than men
• People are more likely to use standard language variants in formal settings
• Women are more likely to over-exaggerate their use of standard variants, and men are more likely to over-exaggerate their use of non-standard variants

Answer 9

Peter Trudgill

Question 10

• 1985
• The lower the socio-economic status of the speaker, the more likely they are to drop the “h” sound in words
• As people move up social groups, they are more likely to adapt RP and alter their accent for conformity

Answer 10

Malcolm Peyt

Question 11

• 1970s
• British teenagers judged the aesthetic and status values of 13 accented speakers. A prestige continuum emerged:
• Standard English
• Certain foreign accents
• Regional / national accents
• Immigrant and urban (city-based accents)

Answer 11

Howard Giles

Question 12

Middle class people have access to ways of organising their speech which are fundamentally different to the lower classes

Answer 12

Montgomery and Bernstein

Question 13

• Language is evolving all of the time – younger people speak in a way that is very different to the way older generation do
• “Standard English” is a class-based dialect and is therefore not used by those considered to be “lower class”

Answer 13

John Honey

Question 14

• In the media, RP remains the norm
• All accents are in a “state of flux”, both geographically and socially
• Accent still matters – today it is more to do with etiquette than origins

Answer 14

Wilfrid Sellars

Question 15

• Increased social mobility in the twentieth century has led to the downgrading of SE / RP
• SE doesn’t permit double negatives

Answer 15

Paul Kerswill

Question 16

Speakers tend to seek out neutral forms to avoid signalling very old or local identities

Answer 16

Foulkes and Docherty