Questionnaire (Ethnicity)

Questionnaire

This questionnaire is just for research purposes and your identity will remain concealed and confidential, only complete this questionnaire if you want to as you are not obliged to complete it and you do not have to finish it if you feel that you should not answer them. 

What Ethnicity are you?

 How are old are you? Please circle your answer  

(16-24)  (25-30)   (31-35)   (36-40)

What is ethnicity in your opinion? 

How would you define Standard English?

Do you feel like Standard English has changed over the years?

Do you think other cultures has impacted the English language? If yes, how? Yes or No 

Do you believe other cultures has had a positive or negative on the English language and why? Positive or Negative

Give one example of a culture that has had a great impact on the English language?

 Which sentence do you think is better? A or B

1. I aint stepped on that line.
2. I haven’t stepped on that line. What is your opinion on other dialects of English language (Geordie/Northen etc) compared to Standard English?

CONVENTIONS OF TEXT MESSAGING

Accent and Dialect

Dialect
Dialect is the actual lexis that is used within speech, it differs from other varieties of language in three specific ways, these are; lexis, grammar, and phonology. English dialects may be different from each other, but all speakers within the English-speaking language can still generally understand them. An example of this would be a speaker from Newcastle who might use localised language such as, “gan” instead of “to go”. Another example may be if the individual uses regional grammatical constructions, such as the past tense sentences like “i’ve went” or “i’ve drank”. Finally they may also use a range of local vocabulary which leads to someone referring to them as a Geordie dialect speaker.




Accents
Accents however refers to the differences in the sound patterns of specific dialect. It comes under dialect aswell as many other linguistic features. An example of this is someone from Newcastle who generally uses vocabulary and grammar of a high frequency but their pronunciation is distinctively different from someone who lives in East London for example because they obtain a hint of Tyneside to their voice when pronouncing words. This would be described as a Geordie accent, despite the popular debate, everyone speaks with an accent.




Essex
There are many different ways in which the Essex accent is different to other regions, Ellison is used as they put together 2 different words and miss out letters between them. An example of this would be 'you sure you wanna go'. They've used wanna instead of want to, and 'you' has been missed out at the beginning of the sentence. This is a much more conversational tone and Essex accent in general is seen as 'common' and 'chavy'. Stress is put on the last syllable of th word even if they are monosyllabic. Abreviations are used a lot for example 'OMG' instead of oh my God. This is standard English for thse people in Essex as its used in every day language just in a conversation. Words meanings have changed over time, for example the pragmatic of the word 'sick' is that someone is ill, unwell etc however people in essex have changed these words to mean different things (semantics) they use the word sick for saying something is good or amazing. Essex uis the neighboutring county to London therefore the Essex accent has been influenced by this. The Essex accent implies and has been used for stereotypes to imply that somoene is uneducated.




Geordie
The Geordie accent is one that is dominant upon Tyne-side in Newcastle and is very similar to that of the Welsh accent however it is more aggressive in nature and this accent also consists of high amounts of lower register language. The language is quite aggressive and if you listen closely they usually slur their words. This causes mispronunciation of words and confusion into what the individual is saying.

Grice Maxim

Grice Maxim


Grices Maxims is the theory that speakers observe conversational mains. Grice states that when we communicate, without realising the person we are talking to will conversationally cooperate, to achieve mutual conversational ends.


Grices Maxims discovered and created four maxims that follow in the common order of:

1. Quantity - Use of appropriate amount of detail when speaking to someone with right amount of conversational linguistics. 
2. Quality- Being truthful and speaking only the truth with no reason to knowingly mislead, meaning no lying and speaking truthful at all times during a conversation.
3. Relevance- Keep what is being discussed relevant and according to the topic of conversation. No need of changing the subject mid-way through conversation.
4. Manner- Avoid unclearness and vagueness when talking and being full of enthusiasm and energy.

Also what was important to Grices Maxims was the politeness element when having a conversation with someone. This is also known as the 'super maxim' that people are mindful of others personal or face needs, emphasising that being respectful and well- mannered is key for keeping the person you are talking to happy with the topic and not disrespectful.

William Labov

William Labov


William Labov is the theorist who categorised the social linguist known as spoken discourse structures. Labov was best known for the work he carried out on language variation and change. Labov’s most important contributions were on the discourse analysis making a model of the structure of the spoken narrative whilst co – writing with Waletzsky in 1967. A study of therapeutic discourse which aims to start an analysis to discover structural regularities beneath the conversations between people. Mainly through a client and customer conversation. Labov then created the structural approach of the fundamental problems of discourse analysis.


They appear in the order of:



ABSTRACT - (A) The indication that a narrative is about to start and the speaker wants to get the listeners attention.
Such as: “everyone settle down, never guess what happened today”



ORIENTATION - (O) The who,what,where and why of the narrative, set the scene by providing contextual information.
For example: "So today, I went to the beach with my mum and sister"



COMPLICATING ACTION - (CA) The main body providing a range of narrative detail.
For example: "When we was sitting on the beach, seagulls began to swarm around us, people began to run to get under cover from them when the seagull pooed"



RESOLOUTION - (R) The final events to give narrative closure.
For example"As an elderly woman began to run, she tripped over a stone and twisted her ankle, she then got rushed to the hospital as she cried out in pain"



EVALUATION - (E) Attention to the basic story to highlight attentions/attitudes/command and gets the listeners attention at the right moments.
For example: "So what seemed to be a great idea for the lovely weather, we ended up accompanying the elderly lady in the hospital for some company"



CODA - (C) A sign that the narrative is complete, may include a finish.
There were also four main evaluations that Labov studied:




EXTERNAL EVALUATION - Added by the narrator at the time of recounting and not usually part of the series of events.



INTERNAL EVALUATION - Occurring at the same time as those detailing in the complicating action.



INTENSIFYING EVALUATION - Contributing via gestures, repetitions or dramatic sounds.

EXPLICATIVE EVALUATION - Proving reasons for narrative events.

Erving Goffman

Erving Goffman



The sociologist ‘Erving Goffman’ developed the theory known as the face theory, it means that individuals have positive and negative facial needs. Positive faces are associated with feeling valued and appreciated, and negative face needs are the desire, to feel independent and not imposed upon. Deixis refers to words and phrases that can’t fully be understood without additional contextual information.



Politeness comes under the term of semantics as it shows the meaning of the word, to use manners it shows your gratefulness and how appreciative you are. Erving Goffman studied the theory of Face.



Interactionism views society as a framework of people living in a world full of meaningful objects. These objects may be physical, actions, relationships, or symbols. Interactionists believe that humans place a meaning on all things to understand it.



Goffman, a sociologist who helped to explain society through the everyday interactions of people. Who is known most for his study and analysis of everyday human interactions, did not rely on any formal type of scientific method to gather his data, instead he used the act of simple observation to explain society. Goffman's research is fundamental in understanding society's ideas, values, and beliefs through the behaviour of the individual. It is through his findings that we can better understand situational behaviour.



Deixis are words and phrases that cannot be fully understood without additional contextual language;


1. Person Deixis - I, me, you
2. Spatial Deixis – Here, there, left, right

3. Temporal Deixis – Now, then, today, tomorrow