3.2.2

Social Class

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Social Class - Peter Trudgill

Social class is often looked at in relation to language, and this is often to do with the way that people pronounce certain sounds, and so has a strong grounding in your work in accent.

__Peter Trudgill (1974)__

Peter Trudgill (1974)

  • Peter Trudgill's (1974) Norwich study looked at the pronunciation of the words ‘walking’ and ‘talking’. Trudgill was looking for the non-standard forms walkin’ and talkin’ (this is called ‘g-dropping’ or a ‘g-drop’).
  • He also looked at the use of the ‘-s’ in verbs, like ‘he goes to school’ and the non-standard ‘he go to school’.
Research aim

Research aim

  • The research’s aim was to see if there was a correlation between class, gender and the use of the non-standard forms.
Research method

Research method

  • He asked participates to state how often they used standard and non-standard forms. He found that:
    • Women of all classes over-reported the number of standard forms they used which showed that they cared about the overt prestige.
    • Men over-reported their use of non-standard forms, showing the covert prestige they desire.
    • Women used more standard forms than men in a direct class-for-class comparison.
    • The higher the class, the more use of standard forms.
Research conclusion

Research conclusion

  • The research concludes that class is more of a determiner than gender.

Social Class - Petyt's Bradford Study

Social class is often looked at in relation to language, and this is often to do with the way that people pronounce certain sounds, and so has a strong grounding in your work in accent.

__Petyt (1985)__

Petyt (1985)

  • Petyt (1985) looked at aitch-dropping (losing the ‘h’ in words like ‘horse’ and ‘hold’) and the RP /ʌ / (‘u’) sound in words like good and the / ʊ / (‘uh’) sound in words like ‘put’ in the city of Bradford.
  • He found that:
    • The lower the social class, the more likely the speaker was to drop the aitch.
    • The socially aspirational speakers incorrectly used the sounds in words like cushion pronouncing it with the / ʊ / sound instead of the / ʌ / sound.
Jump to other topics
1

Language Levels

1.1

Assessment Objectives

1.1.1Assessment Objectives
1.2

Lexis

1.2.1Introduction1.2.2Common, Proper, Abstract & Concrete Nouns1.2.3Collective Nouns1.2.4Adjectives1.2.5Main, Auxiliary & Copular Verbs1.2.6Dynamic & Stative Verbs1.2.7Transitive, Intransitive, Active & Passive Verbs1.2.8Mood of Verbs1.2.9Adverbs1.2.10Personal, Possessive & Reflexive Pronouns1.2.11Relative & Demonstrative Pronouns1.2.12Determiners1.2.13Conjunctions1.2.14Synonyms, Antonyms & Phonological Features1.2.15End of Topic Test - Lexis
1.3

Grammar

1.3.1Morphology1.3.2Clauses1.3.3Phrases1.3.4Present Tense1.3.5Past Tense1.3.6Future Tense1.3.7End of Topic Test - Grammar
1.4

Semantics & Pragmatics

1.4.1Semantics1.4.2Pragmatics
1.5

Discourse Structure, Graphology & Orthography

1.5.1Discourse Structure1.5.2Graphology & Orthography1.5.3End of Topic Test - Semantics, Graphology etc.
2

Language, The Individual & Society

2.1

Children’s Language Development

2.1.1The Exam2.1.2Phonemes, Vocal Tract & Articulation2.1.3Writing About Phonemes2.1.4Phonological Simplification2.1.5A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition2.1.6Beginning Stages of Language2.1.7Lexical Development2.1.8Stages of Development2.1.9End of Topic Test - Child Language Development
2.2

Children's Language Development - Theories

2.2.1Behaviourism2.2.2Interactionism2.2.3Challenging Interactionism2.2.4Nativism2.2.5Nativism - Exam Answer2.2.6Cognitivism2.2.7Social Constructionism2.2.8Writing About Spoken Acquisition2.2.9End of Topic Test - Development Theories
2.3

Literacy Development: Reading

2.3.1Introduction2.3.2Phonics vs Whole Word2.3.3Debates in Reading2.3.4Modelling Reading Acquisition2.3.5Other Reading Theories2.3.6End of Topic Test - Reading
2.4

Literacy Development: Writing

2.4.1Orthography2.4.2Kroll's Theory2.4.3Barclay's Theory2.4.4Creativity vs Accuracy2.4.5Other Writing Theories2.4.6The Exam2.4.7End of Topic Test - Writing
3

Language Diversity & Change

3.1

The Importance of Gendered Language

3.1.1Writing About Gender3.1.2Dominance Theory3.1.3Interruptions - Zimmerman & West3.1.4Deficit Theory3.1.5Difference Model3.1.6Difference Model - Men3.1.7Diversity Model3.1.8End of Topic Test - Gendered Language
3.2

Social Groups

3.2.1Writing About Social Groups3.2.2Social Class3.2.3Social Class 23.2.4Age3.2.5Age - Teen Speak3.2.6Milroy’s Belfast Study3.2.7Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study3.2.8End of Topic Test - Social Groups
3.3

Occupational Groups

3.3.1Writing About Occupational Groups3.3.2Jargon3.3.3Conversations3.3.4Hierarchy & Power3.3.5End of Topic Test - Occupational Groups
3.4

Accents & Dialects

3.4.1Writing About Accent & Dialect3.4.2Introduction to Accents & Dialects3.4.3Accents - Matched Guide Experiment3.4.4Accents - Received Pronunciation & Brummie3.4.5Dialects - Dialectal Variations3.4.6Accent & Dialect Case Study - London3.4.7End of Topic Test - Accents & Dialects
3.5

Language Change

3.5.1Writing About Language Change3.5.2Modelling Change3.5.3Modelling Change 23.5.4Lexical Change3.5.5Semantic Change3.5.6End of Topic Test - Language Change
3.6

History of English

3.6.1Old English3.6.2Old English 23.6.3Middle English3.6.4Middle English 23.6.5Early Modern English3.6.6Late Modern English3.6.7Present Day English3.6.8Global English3.6.9American English3.6.10Modelling Global English3.6.11End of Topic Test - History of English

Practice questions on Social Class

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  1. 1
    __Peter Trudgill (1974)__ findings:Fill in the list
  2. 2
    Words studied by __Peter Trudgill (1974)__:Fill in the list
  3. 3
    Who conducted research into aitch-dropping in 1985?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    __Petyt (1985)__ looked at:Fill in the list
  5. 5
    __Petyt (1985)__ found that the socially aspirational speakers incorrectly used the sounds in words like cushion - pronouncing it with the ____ instead of the / ʌ / soundMultiple choice
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Writing About Social Groups

Social Class 2