3.2.6

Milroy’s Belfast Study

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Milroy's Belfast Study

Milroy’s study (sometimes referred to as Milroy and Milroy) looks at men and women using non-standard forms (like the non-standard pronunciation of the /th/ in ‘father’ and the /a/ in ‘flat’) in Belfast.

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Open and closed network

  • She defines two types of network – open and closed.
    • Closed networks consist of people who all know each other and a lack of links out of the network – they are a tight-knit group. This is described as being quite dense or having a high density (think that the web is densely populated in one area).
    • Open networks are typified by being very broad. Many links to people outside of the normal area are involved. This is described as having a low density.
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Research findings

  • Men have dense, closed networks. They use a high number of non-standard forms.
  • Women have less dense and open networks. They use a much smaller number of non-standard forms.
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Challenging study

  • A study of the Clonard women and Hammer men in Belfast challenges these findings.
  • This study found that due to a rise in unemployment, men had to travel out of the community to find a job and the women all ended up working together in the town.
  • As a result, the men ended up with quite open networks and women ended up with quite a closed network.
  • This research allows us to deduce that a social group is more controlling of a person’s language than their gender
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Moving up assessment band (AO2)

  • Here's how the information you just read can form a level 5 answer for AO2:
  • Level 3 - showing detailed knowledge:
    • Millroy investigated the non-standard forms of ‘th’ and ‘a’ in words like ‘father’ and ‘flat’ in Belfast. Her research discovered that women’s social network is quite open and as a result they use a small(er) number of non-standard forms.”
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Level 4

  • Level 4 - challenging this:
    • A study of the Clonard women and Hammer men in Belfast challenges these findings. A study of these found that due to a rise in unemployment, men had to travel out of the community to find a job and the women all ended up working together in the town. As a result, the men ended up with quite open networks and women ended up with quite a closed network.
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Level 5

  • Level 5 - showing a synthesised and conceptualised view on this:
    • This research allows us to deduce that a social group is more controlling of a person’s language than their gender.

Jump to other topics

1Language Levels

2Language, The Individual & Society

3Language Diversity & Change

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