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Modelling Change

English Language: AQA A Level, topic 3.5.2

Bailey’s ‘Wave Model’

Language change is all about studying the ways in which language has changed since it began. This module will look at how and why language has changed and the ways in which is continues to change.

Studying change

Studying change

  • There is much debate over how language spreads and changes.
  • Linguists have created many ways of looking at the way language changes.
Bailey’s ‘wave model’

Bailey’s ‘wave model’

  • The wave model works on the same basis as a drop of water hitting the surface of a lake – it creates ripples.
  • Essentially, the closer you are to the drop of water the stronger the ripple.
Spread

Spread

  • In this sense, those closest to the geographical location of where the change occurs are more likely to pick up the change.
  • If you think back to MLE, the change spread very quickly through London, but took longer to diffuse out wider than this.
Trudgill

Trudgill

  • Trudgill, however, challenges this model.
  • He believes that change comes from big cities, is passed to big towns and then to smaller towns, missing out country dwellings.
  • He believes that the core case study of this is Yorkshire, where the archaic ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ are still in use in place of ‘you’.

Chen’s ‘S-Curve’ Model

Chen’s model shows that change takes time.

Chen’s ‘S-Curve’ model

Chen’s ‘S-Curve’ model

Uptake

Uptake

  • At point 1 – the change is made and there is some uptake (usually spreads through a social group).
  • At point 2 – more people are using it, but this is still limited to a geographical region or group.
Resistance

Resistance

  • At point 3 – many more people know it now.
  • At point 4 – the change has reached as many people as it can. - Note that no change can ever reach 100% uptake, because people resist change, particularly older people.
Stage 1 & 2

Stage 1 & 2

  • You can use an example to exemplify this, like ‘lol’.
  • At stage 1, ‘lol’ was used by teens texting.
  • At stage 2, more teenagers began to use it nationally, internationally and globally.
  • This continued to spread and texters of other ages began to use it.
Stage 3 & 4

Stage 3 & 4

  • It received media publicity leading to stage 3 where there is now a large uptake from parents and older texters (note that it becomes almost obsolete amongst teens now).
  • We are currently at point 4, where many, many people know the term.
Effectivity

Effectivity

  • However you will often find that old people do not know that ‘lol’ means ‘laughing out loud’ and not ‘lots of love’, therefore the change has not been fully effective.

Evaluating Chen’s ‘S-Curve’ Model

MOVING UP THE BANDS – AO2: producing effective long-term change.

Level 3 - show detailed knowledge:

Level 3 - show detailed knowledge:

  • Chen’s ‘S-curve’ model can demonstrate that all change needs time in order to be effective.
  • In this model, change is shown to be effective as long as it can move out of a social group or geographical area.
    • For example, MLE has started to have an effective change on the country due to it spreading outside of London to places as far as Manchester (as detailed in research from Drummond).
Level 4 - challenge:

Level 4 - challenge:

  • However, Chen’s model also states that no change made can ever be 100% effective, as there will always be some people who resist change or who don’t adopt changes.
  • As a result, many changes may be ‘long-term’, but aren’t necessarily effective or vice-versa.
    • For example, it is unlikely that ‘lol’ will still be being used in 50 years.
Level 5 - evaluate:

Level 5 - evaluate:

  • Change often loses effectiveness as a result of a lack of uptake.
  • As Chen details, no change is ever 100% taken up.
  • We can see this when considering something like ‘political correctness’ and other semantic and lexical change.
    • For example, archaic racially-charged pejorative epithets (like the ‘n’ word) are rarely seen today, but are still occasionally seen in the speech of the older generation (who are resistant to change).
Level 5 - evaluate cont.

Level 5 - evaluate cont.

  • Ultimately, a change can gain mass popularity, but cannot ever be fully effective.
  • Even standardised lexical values often vary according to things like region.
    • For example 'children' are also known as 'bairnes' in Newcastle.

Test yourself on Modelling Change

  • Who challenged Bailey’s ‘wave model’?

  • Who came up with the 'wave model' of language change?

  • Order of Language Change According to Trudgill

  • The Points of Chen’s ‘S-Curve’ Model

  • The Uptake of 'LOL' According to Chen's 'S-Curve' Model

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