Language variation

• M.A.K Halliday- 2 dimensional approach 


  Halliday describes linguistic variation in terms of 2 broad sorts:

  • Variation ‘according to user’
  • Variation ‘according to use’
• Jenny Cheshire- study of adolescence in Reading 


  Jenny Cheshire studied use of non standard verb forms (ain’t) in the speech of adolescence in Reading

  Methodology- 25 children studied in rough playgrounds aged 9-17
• Jenny Cheshire findings 


  • Non standard verb forms were around 55%
  • In the presence of school teachers it was 25%
  • In casual speech there was relatively no difference between sexes
  • Girls seemed to be more aware to conform to standard English in formal situations
• ‘Toughness rating’- Jenny Cheshire 


  The use of non- standard forms is also related with ‘toughness’

  Those who used lots of non standard forms had high status in the group

  On the contrary those with lower levels of non standard forms were excluded from the group
• The girls- Jenny Cheshire


  Girls did not go for toughness like the boys

  They disliked school and often skived

  Some girls however attended school regularly, did not swear or steal

  These girls had much lower levels of non standard forms
• Joan swan- style switching and code switching 


  Joan Swann explores how speakers routinely draw on varieties of English when communicating with others

  Language variety serves as a social indicator

  The way that people talk will differ according to several contextual factors

  This shift between language varieties is known as code switching

  Speech among friends may be different to a boss

  We may use distinctive regional varieties when talking to people from the same region
• Alan Bell- style and audience 


  Alan Bella developed s theory of audience design which suggests that the person or people you are speaking to will have the greatest effect of the type of language you use
• Alan Bell methodology 


  Bell studies the varieties of English used by newsreaders on New Zealand radio. He found that pronunciation differed in each station

  Bell investigated several sociolinguistics variables including how speakers pronounced the ‘t’ in words like ‘writer‘ and ‘better’
• Alan Bell results 


  In New Zealand the pronunciation of ‘t’ in words may be a standard t pronunciation or may be voiced so that words sound like ‘rider’ and ’bedder’ instead of writer and better.

  Bell discovered that what he termed as more formal pronunciation was often used on radio stations with mainly educated or professional audiences