Social Class
English Language: AQA A Level, topic 3.2.2
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'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
- 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
- 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
- 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) 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.
Test yourself on Social Class
Who conducted research into aitch-dropping in 1985?
Petyt (1985) found that the socially aspirational speakers incorrectly used the sounds in words like cushion - pronouncing it with the ____ instead of the / ʌ / sound