Class and Race

Speech Communitya group of people who use language in a unique yet similar way that is mutually accepted among themselves. Speech communities can be social groups such as neighbourhoods, members of a profession with a specialized jargon, classes, ethnic groups, age groups, interest groups, hip hop fans, chat rooms etc.Sociolinguistics use it to analyse language variation and change and their relation to social organization

New York Speech Community

Standard language The variety or form of a particular language that is usually considered by speakers of the language to be the "correct" "educated" or "proper". It has a "standard " vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. It is usually the language of education, media, government and business.In some cases the standard form is given official or quasi legal status by government institutions that define and promote the proper norms of use. E.g Académie française Standard English is the form used by educated users but because English does not have a governing body there are no set rules or vocabulary

standard english

Dialecta variety of language (usually geographic, or social) distinguished from other varieties in such aspects as pronunciation grammar, lexicon, and semantics

Accentrefers to the manner of pronunciation only, particularly stress, not to the sound of speech; i.e. there is no such thing as a “southern accent” but there is a southern dialect.

Members of different speech communities use distinctive styles of speaking that differ in the pronunciation, words, or grammar, from the standard languageThese styles are consistent and rule –governedbut – they are not wrong – just different However, social distinctions influence both the production of speech and its evaluation by community members

new York accent

New York City Speech

American r-less speech

Great American Vowel shift

William Labov

In What Areas of social life do Inequalities Exist?

Gender

Race

Age

Ethnicity

Religion

Kinship

Region

Stratified Societies

Societies divided into horizontal layers of equality and inequality called strata.

Marked inequalities in access to wealth, power, and prestige

passed from generation to generation.

Has a significant effect on individuals’ “life chances.” (Weber)

Speakers of these strata exhibit differences in frequency of use of certain sounds, words, grammatical features Members are also aware of the speech styles characteristic of various social strata, and they use this knowledge in assessing their own and other people’s speech

Stratification systems vary in 1. the number of ranked groups, 2. the degree to which there is agreement regarding their hierarchical placement3. the size of the strata4.The ability of individuals to move within strata5.Supporting ideology

Ranked divisions are called strata.

A stratification system where cultural or racial differences are used as the basis for ascribing status Castes are named, territorially delimited, and membership is determined by birth and unchanging a rigid system of occupationally specialized, interdependent groups the fundamental social institution in Indiaorganises political, economic and ritual life Lower caste groups are often denied opportunities even though a quota system exists in India and caste discrimination is outlawed

Caste

Language too is a marker of social hierarchyHigher castes use the standard form while lower castes use variants of the standard form The speech styles of dalits are often characterized as ignorant or backward while the speech style of the Brahmins is the prestige formIt is not language per se that is evaluated negatively or positively but language as it used by specific segments of a populationThe standard form is viewed positively because it is spoken by the Brahmins, and the variants negatively because they are spoken by the lower castesCriticizing linguistic variants is actually a mask for the social denigration of speakers

What is Class?

Class is essentially a fuzzy theoretical concept Classes are strata of a particular kind.

defined primarily in terms of roles and economic and political relationships.

Because there are no physical markers or signs of class we need cultural ones.

So How are Social Classes Manifest?

through verbal evaluation

through patterns of

Dress

Form of recreation

Residential location

Material Possessions

through language

through symbolic indicators

People of different classes make different linguistic choices These choices both reflect and reinforce class differencesMost speakers use upper and lower class features but it is the frequency of usage that identifies speakers

Audrey Hepburn Cockney

Classes are large social groups in society that differ in terms of social, economic and political relationships.Class systems are based on inequality and differenceDifferent classes have different lexicons, pronunciations and grammatical forms

Class and Network

Social networks relates to community and interpersonal level of social organization and are held together by shared values, attitudes, culture, and language - through consensusMembers of close-knit networks often live in the same neighbourhood, work together, have common family tiesBecause of this there is pressure to conform to group norms and consequently Members of social networks speak similarly

Higher class networks tend to be loose because of greater geographic mobility, minimal emphasis on kinship, and greater variety of relationships and so on

Close-knit networks are more typical of lower-class communitiesCharacterized by strong interpersonal bonds which exert pressure to conform linguisticallyThey are therefore more likely to have distinctive forms of speech These forms may be stigmatizedthe meaning of class (low, high) is therefore enacted through speech

Because we speak like other members of our class, both out language and our class become part of our personal identityIn interaction between people of different classes the linguistic choices reflect are class identityIn general higher class individuals exert their rights to speak, to introduce and direct topics of conversation, and to ratify or dismiss the contributions of othersLower status people limit their rights to speak and in other ways allow themselves to be treated as subordinate participantsthese choices are rarely made consciously but through socialization, become normative and natural

what to do with the lower classes

William Labov examined the speech of employees in three NYC department stores.Stores ranked according to prestige based on differences in the quality and cost of merchandise, attracting a clientele from specific social classes : Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s and S Klein

Focussed on the postvocalic /-r/ the pronunciation of /-r/ following a vowel e.g. car and cardThe presence of /-r/ is a linguistic marker of standard American EnglishAsked where women’s shoes were – answer fourth floorTested occurrences of /-r/ in fourth and floorRates of /-r/ pronunciation among employees paralleled the stratification of the stores

New York postvocalic /-r/

Highest in Saks, lees in Macy’s and lowest in Klein’sLabov concluded that workers identified with the prestige of their employer and customers and that this identification was reflected in language use

In another study Labov group people into four classes based on income and educationThen he compared the use of /-r/ in 5 different contexts

1. casual speech – with

member of family2. careful speech – recorded

during interview3. reading style – of a story4. word lists – read lists of

random words5. minimal pairs – subjects

read lists of minimally differentiated words e.g. dock, dark, sauce, source

Wanted to see if people change their pronunciation in different contextsHypothesized that as people become more aware of their (usually unconscious) speech that they will unconsciously select variants that they perceive to be closer to standard or prestige forms

1.Members of different classes use different amounts of /-r/ in their speech demonstrating that the variable is a significant marker of social stratification2.second members of all classes increase their use of /-r/ as context focussed more attention on pronunciation, indicating that they are aware of the same general norm giving value to /-/-r/ pronunciation3.the most careful contexts , members of the second class (Lower Middle Class) use more /-r/ that members of the highest group (Upper Middle Class)

1. according to Labov such cross-over patterning demonstrates linguistic insecurity among LMC speakers

2. A reflection of social insecurity they are most sensitive about negative evaluations of their own speech and most desirous of achieving prestige norms

Conclusions

Other ExamplesStandard Form•Fricatives /th/ and /dh/ e.g. This, and that thing•Nasal /ng/ walking running•Stop /t/ - butter bet•Aspirant /h/ hammer and hat

Non-Standard form•stops /t/ and /d/ e.g. tirty (thirty) and dese (these)•replacement of by /-n/, walkin runnin• glottal stop /?/ bet bu?er, be? •dropping the /h/ ‘ammer and ‘at

Various studies have shown that all speakers decrease their use of stigmatized non-standard forms as context invokes more attentive speech the higher the class the greater the use of the standard formLower class more often uses the non-standard forms Speech styles associated with members of upper classes obtain and retain prestige because of the status of their speakers People with lower status often exhibit speech patterns (e.g. crossover behaviour) reflective of their linguistic and social insecurity Their awareness of negative judgements toward their speech, judgements they also hold, makes them attempt to use prestige norms of upper-class speakers

Elaborated and Restricted Codes

introduced by Basil Bernstein in 1971, as a way of accounting for the relatively poor performance of working-class pupils on language-based subjects, when they were achieving as well as their middle-class counterparts on mathematical topics

Elaborated codes are comparatively complex and formal use of language, not restricted to immediate situations (context free) It expresses “universalistic” meanings by use of nouns, adjectives and verbs having explicit referents characteristic of middle-class speakers

restricted code is used in relatively informal situations, stressing the speaker's membership of a group, relying on context for its meaningfulness, and lacking stylistic range.

One of Bernstein's research studies involved showing a group of children a strip cartoon and recording their account of what it depicted. Some said things like:"They're playing footballand he kicks it and it goes through thereit breaks the window and they're looking at itand he comes out and shouts at thembecause they've broken itso they run awayand then she looks outand she tells them off"

others said:"Three boys are playing football and one boy kicks the balland it goes through the windowthe ball breaks the windowand the boys are looking at itand a man comes out and shouts at thembecause they've broken the windowso they run awayand then that lady looks out of her windowand she tells the boys off."

the first account makes sense if you have the strip cartoon in front of you, but means much less without it.This is an example of restricted code. The second can "stand on its own", and is an example of elaborated code.

The essence of the distinction is in what the language is suited for.The restricted code works better than the elaborated code for situations in which there is a great deal of shared and taken-for-granted knowledge in the group of speakers.It is economical and rich, conveying a vast amount of meaning with a few words, each of which has a complex set of connotations and acts like an index, pointing the hearer to a lot more information which remains unsaid.

"If you're going to town, get Rupert a new April from you-know-where" (Restricted)

"If you are going into Bedford, please get a new toy for Rupert the dog from the pet-shop (which we can't name because if the dog hears it he will go mad), to replace the one which we have come to call "April", which he has almost chewed to bits." (Elaborated)

because it draws on a store of shared meanings and background knowledge, a restricted code carries a social message of inclusion, of implicitly acknowledging that the person addressed is "one of us". Everyone uses restricted code communication some of the time. Elaborated code spells everything out: not because it is better, but because it is necessary so that everyone can understand it.Bernstein makes a correlation between social class and the use of either elaborated or restricted code Bernstein's argued that working-class students had access to their restricted code(s) - but middle-class students had access to both restricted and elaborated codes, because the middle classes were more geographically, socially and culturally mobile.

use of different styles or codes may affect the ways that speakers participate in society Because members of different social classes use different modes of expression, they develop different patterns of thought, and thus understand and experience their world in different waysElaborated codes allow speakers to think about meanings and relationships separate from the immediate context

Because restricted codes are limited in their ability to express abstract meanings, speakers understand their experience primarily in relation to a specific context

lack of familiarity and competence in middle class elaborated styles makes working class speakers uncomfortable with members of higher classes This discomfort with elaborated codes makes it difficult for them to read and write using formal styles of languageWhich makes it harder to move up the social hierarchy

It is in the context of family life that people are socialized into their roles, not only as actors but also as speakers

Children learn their rights and obligations from the kinds of communicative interactions in which they are enmeshed

Erica Huls looked at children in Dutch upper and working families

Looked at turn taking processes, issuing and receiving directives

two families different in turn taking interruptions, issuing and receiving directives, and overlapsChildren in the High status family are socialized to compete with each other, to attempt to hold their own in conversation, and even to compete with people of higher social power such as their parents and older siblingsIn high status families directives are more often embedded in complex linguistic structures that appeal to the wishes or needs or rights of the speaker i.e. politelyin low status families directives are more often stated directly and stress theduties of addressee and sanctions that might result from non-complianceHigh status families also used more positive reinforcement (e.g. praise, ratification, agreement), corrections and continuationsThe two families different in socializing their children into different expectations about their rights and obligations, their orientation to others in interactionHigh family children learn to compete with others, to develop strategies enabling them to hold their own in conversations and to value explicit rules of grammar and behaviourLow family children are less used to and less skilled at competitive verbal interactions, learn to comply with directives based on appeals to external rules and sanctions and less practice

Discoveries

speakers who manipulate the prestige forms are able to present themselves as people worthy of respect by others

In this way language use contributes to the production and reproduction of social inequality

Conclusions

Race has an impact on language useMany, but not all, African Americans in the USA speak a variety of American English known as African-American Vernacular (AAVE)although it may have originated in the south it is now a national not a regional dialect

Race

Origins of AAVE

Yo, Big Daddy upstairs,You be chillinSo be yo hoodYou be sayin' it, I be doin' itIn this here hood and yo'sGimme some eatsAnd cut me some slack, BloodSos I be doin' it to dem dat diss me Don't be pushing me into no jiveAng keep dem crips awayCause you always be da man, GStraight up.Aa-men.

AAVE has grammatical rules many identical to standard EnglishMuch debate about origins of AAVE – derived from regional southern speech traits or African languages current consensus is bothSome features are derived from speech of southern white southerners whose language reflects the dialects of their Scotch-Irish ancestorsOthers from earlier creoles – another definition

Characteristics of AAVE

Phonological FeaturesConsonant Cluster Simplification, or Reduction –Williams [wIms] Final Consonant Simplification, or Deletion –band [bæn]Final and Post-vocalic -r Variation –figure [fIga][I] + [n] is realized as [æ ] and [I] + [nk] is realized as [ænk] –sin [sæn], think [tænk][theta] > [f] in Word/Syllable-final Position --with [wif][ð] > [d] in Word/Syllable-initial Position --then [dIn][ð] > [v] in Word/Syllable-medial Position –either [iver][l ]Deletion or Reduction, in Word/Syllable-medial or Word/Syllable-final Position help [hep] or [hewp]

Morphological featuresSuffix -s Variation

Plural -s (contextual signals) [I got three sister.]Possessive -s (contextual signals) [That Jim bike. This you hat?]

Third person Singular -s [She sit on the chair.]

Past Tense Markers [We walk to school yesterday.]

Syntactic FeaturesCopula Deletion, or Variation –He talking now. She grouchy. They Possessive –They took they toy an wen home.It Expletive-- It wasn’t any difference in the two.Gon –a future marker: She gon leave.Multiple Negation –He don’t never say nothing.Aspectual Verb -s Suffix Pronominal Apposition –My brother, he took me home.Perfective, or Completive, done –The cat done bit me.Stressed, or Remotive, been –She been gone.Aspectual, or Immutable, be –She be happy.Future be -- She be ready later.Deviant verb forms –She begun working just yesterday.Deviant prepositional usage –different to me, married with himUse of aint rather than haven’t (hasn’t) –as an auxiliary –I ain’t been told.Use of a instead of an before words beginning with a vowel sound –You want a orange?Inversion after an interrogative adverb that introduces a subordinate clause –He ask me when did I come. AAVE e.g

using more than one language or variety in conversation. People use different stylistic alternatives depending on the degree of familiarity and solidarity with co-participantsFeatures of AAVE appear with greatest frequency in informal context when speakers share life experiences, expectations and social valuesSpeakers sue standard English in situations of formality and social distanceWhen relaxed more likely to use AAVEmost African Americans switch back and forth between some variety or varieties of SE and some variety of AAVE

Code Switching

code switching

AAVE is often used to display solidarity between speaker and addresseecode switching from standard speech to the vernacular emphasizes and creates emotional and supportive bondsUse of AAVE conveys shared experience affective experience which the words themselves cannot

there is pressure from both within and without the community to conform to standard American

There is pressure to be proficient at AAVE

educational media, government and business exert pressure on African Americans to conform to standard norms in order to obtain employment and be taken seriously in public spheres

But African Americans who speak only Standard English may face negative reactions from their families and peers because AAVE is a marker of group solidarity.

Therefore an African American who completely rejects AAVE is perceived as rejecting his or her identity and community

Black English and racism

From "ebony" and "phonics since 1996 it has been largely used to refer to African American Vernacular Englishchildren’s desire to succeed in school is sometimes incompatible with their desire to be accepted by their peersSome teachers find it difficult to understand AAVE or misinterpret it others have a negative attitude towards it and the children who use itChildren refusing to learn or use SE are often seen as hostile or disabled

Ebonics

The more prestige boys had in their group the lower their reading scoresDifficulties in reading clearly affect attainment of other educational skills and can result in lifelong underachievement with concomitant economic impactParents recognize need to speak SE but also recognize the social and cultural validity of AAVE

Ebonics Debatepoor performance of African American children on reading and language arts tests prompted Oakland California school board passed a resolution to implement new methods and goals of teaching and reading and language skills -Dec 1996 poor performance was judged to have derived from differences between the vernacular that they used at home and in the community and the standard speech demanded in the school the board resolved to implement a program of instruction that would inform and train teachers in the legitimacy of AAVE and that would enable speakers of the vernacular to acquire SE.

most parents rejected the use of Ebonics in school reading and writingBut not in the community or for speaking and listeningBoth forms are needed for African American survivalEbonics language for use in the community where talking proper is negatively equated with talking white,Standard English for use in attempts to get admitted to the White American mainstream

Ebonics Debate

AAVE and Standard American English

There is evidence to show that children’s reading improves when instruction and testing are carried out in their “primary language”people thought that children would be taught to read and write in AAVE and not to communicate in SEreal question is how to teach reading and language skills to children whose home language differs from the standarddual language approach or immersion in SEproblem is that African American children are stigmatized when they use their own language but ostracized by their own community if they do notTherefore educational programs that respect their home speech and encourage their community based verbal skills may facilitate their acquisition of the standard

AAVE Discussion - code switching

English First is a national, non-profit grassroots lobbying organization founded in 1986. The goal is to Make English America's official language

English First

TERMS

Speech CommunityStandard languageAccentDialectSocial StratificationStrataCasteClassSocial networkspostvocalic /-r/ Elaborated CodeRestricted CodeAAVEEbonicsCode Switching