Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study
English Language: AQA A Level, topic 3.2.7
Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study
William Labov looked at three groups of people in Martha’s Vineyard (an island in Massachusetts, USA).
Research method
- These three groups are:
- The older Chilmark fishermen.
- The younger population.
- The tourists.
- Labov’s research looks at the /aw/ and the /ay/ phonemes in words like ‘house’ and ‘spice’.
Research findings
- The younger population used the vowels used by the Chilmark fishermen to appear distant to the tourists.
- The Chilmark fishermen exaggerated their vowel sounds.
- This is an example of covert prestige and convergence towards one social group in order to diverge from a different social group.
WARNING
- This study is notoriously badly written about, so make sure you learn the facts and understand what the study tells us. You might want to research further about the study on-line.