Survey

I am an A Level student currently studying A Level English Language. I am conducting a survey to try and understand people’s opinion of English Language.

 

1. What is your age?
    
   18-24 years old
    
   25-34 years old
    
   35-44 years old
    
   45-54 years old
    
   55-64 years old
    
   65+ years old
    
2. Please specify your ethnicity?

 

1. What is your highest level of education?

 

1. What is your current occupation?
    
2. What area do you live in?
    
3. How would you define “ethnicity”
    
4. What do you consider to be “proper English”
    
5. Do you consider immigration to be a positive or negative effect on the English Language?
    
6. Where were you born?
    
7. Do you think the Afro Caribbean influence has ruined the English Language? Why?

Theorists

 Theorists

Labov

Labov recorded data from 69 people in Martha’s Vineyard these people were from both sexes and a range of ages. He introduced the notion of linguistic variable which was described as “two ways of saying something” for example barber or hairdresser. This is called a lexical variable. He also explored phonological variables such as the pronunciation of –ing. He found out that people in more rural areas are more likely to use central vowels.

Trudgill

Trudgill was interested to know whether or not Labovs findings were true by exploring the dialect of Norwich. Trudgill found out that people of lower socio economic status are more likely to use non standard linguistic variables. He explored this by analysing the use of –ing for example shopping/shoppin’.

Giles

Giles evaluated the reactions to accents. The Accommodation theory was developed by Giles and others in the 1970s. It suggests that we adjust our speech to meet the needs of the person we are addressing. For example, slightly changing our accent when speaking to someone that is from a different place.

Convergence

This occurs when we move our speech closer to another person. Convergence means to decrease the social distance between people an example of this is, toning your voice down to speak to a lower class of people. This accent is called downward convergence.

Divergence

This occurs when people’s speech styles move further away from each other.

Saussure

Sign

A sign is something that can be interpreted as having a meaning, therefore able to communicate information to the one interpreting or decoding the sign. According to Saussure the sign relation is dyadic which is consisted of the signifier and the signified.

Grice

Politeness

The maxim of quantity where one tries to be informative as one possibly can and gives us as much information as we need.

The maxim of quality is where one is being truthful and does not give false information.

The maxim of relation, this is when someone is being relevant and says things that are involved in the conversation.

finally the maxim of manner, this is when one tries to be as clear as possible and as orderly as possible.

Goffman

Positive face

 Is the desire to be liked, appreciated and approved

Negative face

Is to not be threatened.