Penelope Eckert

• Who?

  Penelope Eckert is a professor of Linguistics at Stanford University
• What was she researching?

  Ecket's input in sociolinguistic research emerged in response to criticisms of William Labov's studies. Eckert researched the idea of social practises- what we share when we as speakers engage in an activity together
• When?

  2000
• Where?

  Detroit, USA
• Eckert's research methods:

  She observed friendship groups in a school- ethnography. What she established were two very different groups in the schools, the jocks and the burnouts, each containing individuals with a mix of social class. The jocks were actively engaged in and enjoyed school life whilist the burnouts were the opposite, engaged in rebellious behaviours
• What did Eckert find?

  People tend to speak more like their friends- those who shared social practices together- than others belonging in the same demographic category as them