Standard English

To what extent do you agree that the status of SE has changed since the turn of the century?

To some extent I agree that the status of standard English has changed vastly since the turn of the century. The different regions have made the accent and dialect change and differentiate, due to the new slang that’s been used and developed. The way in which technology has developed has also influenced the change greatly.

One way in which technology has influenced language is by the use of text messaging. Texting is a service that’s made to be quick, easy and is a useful way of communicating. However, some people think that because its quick, they can shorten words even further to make it even quicker. Abbreviations are used more and words are made up so it is like a way of communicating with friends that only they understand. It is also due to laziness and sense of urgency that people feel they need to shorten words in order to get a point across quicker, for example if someone was to say ‘I’ll be back later’ they may just use ‘brb’ short for ‘be right back’. This is getting more common as technology becomes more advanced and complicated. However, although this is implied, its being used less by teenagers and more by middle-aged adults as they may be seen as ignorant to learning, not used to the complications of some technology or simply because they weren’t exposed to it when they were younger and they feel as though now they should be trying to connect with the teenage age range by using language they believe they still use. Abbreviations have become much more well-known and are still being used in everyday language, pushing more standard, ‘proper’ language out. People tend to get lazy and their use of dialect isn’t as good which leads to the decrease of the status of language. Within text messaging, there is the use of auto correct meaning it will automatically rectify any spelling mistakes, although this is convenient, it also means that people no longer pay attention to if a word is written wrong and how to spell it knowing that it will corrected automatically anyway. This means that people’s vocabulary won’t be expanding due to little knowledge especially knowing they can’t spell simple words.

However, although I stated above that its used more by adults, something that challenges this concept is the increase in the social media platforms.Research project Twitter, Instagram and snapchat are predominantly the most used social media sites for teenagers-young adults. Specifically, in twitter and snapchat, there are character limitations, when sending a picture with chat on snapchat, there is a limit of only a few words, so of course abbreviations are used to get the point across that way. As snapchat is used worldwide and in everyday use, its then also going to create habits to use these abbreviations elsewhere when communicating. On twitter also, there is only a 140-character limit, if people want to write long tweets, this isn’t made possible, therefore the words are shortened and ‘u’ is now used instead of ‘you’. Also, within these platforms, different users may build up a large base of followers, therefore meaning the dialect will change as standard form will develop to non-standard variants. People are starting to become more dependent on technology as their only form of communication. Therefore, the meaning of words change, and are twisted to fit different meanings, leading to a decline in standard English.

David Crystal Third mode:When social classes are discussed, it becomes clear that upper/middles classes are taught within schools the same forms of English meaning that subconsciously, the standard form that’s taught is of a higher status kind of Standard English. It can be argued that influences such as the Afro-Caribbean dialect is influencing and changing standard English too much and is having too much of a change towards it. It’s been argued that this then has effects on young people particularly, due to its new meanings of vocabulary, slang words and pronunciation of words, this has a negative effect on young people and, in a lot of areas it is encouraged to speak in a non-standard variable, particularly of a working-class area as attitudes towards education. In William Labov’s theory of language and social class, it is suggested an individual’s dialect is dependent on their class, and that upper class will have more of an acknowledged pronunciation and a dialect containing standard forms; meaning then that lower middle and lower class are more likely to carry non-standard English due to their culture, attitudes, surroundings and class. Peter Trudgill also found and came to the conclusion that people believed that only royalty used standard English meaning people don’t even take notice to the way in which their dialect is and the variations within. As over the years there are more people in poverty, more people that aren’t seen as middle class or upper class, this implies that they won’t have a high status of standard English, leading to a decline/fall of Standard English.

However, something that changes my opinion that it’s the century that has changed due to the change in the century is the vast difference between different regions and where in the country you are. In this sense I mean that if you’re from the northern parts of the country, there may not be many different variations of standard form due to the dialect and accent. However, in London and main cities similar, there are many different ethnicities that may prevent the use of Standard English. Migration has become much more popular and there are a lot of migrants meaning they have learnt and developed the standard English into their own slang that is understood easier. This will therefore lead to the decline of the use of Standard English. However as stated above, in the Northern part of the country, the status of Standard English has been maintained and hasn’t changed too much as they haven’t really joined in with the use of slang or the use of using different words for different meanings.

Due to there being a huge increase on rappers particularly of the black, afro Caribbean race, /ethnic group, there has been a huge increase in slang words and vocabulary that is used only in the nature of music more specifically rap. If words are used in music, its likely that people of all age ranges may listen to this music meaning that they pick up on this vocabulary and slang and begin to sue it in everyday language. In the turn on the century, music has dramatically changed meaning that rap is much more common. Due to this issue, its lead to the words used in speech not being as varied in standard forms leading in a huge decline of standard English. Not only this, but the use of social media and media in general leads to new words being created and put into the English dictionary when the words aren’t standard forms. Some examples of these words would be ‘yolo’ meaning you only live once, used in rap song by Drake. Another example is ‘selfie’ meaning to take a picture of yourself with a device with a camera. This has led to the status of standard English lowering.

In conclusion due to all the reasoning discussed above, in my opinion I think that Standard English has changed since the turn of the century. The development of technology, music and different migrants entering new places bring new vocabulary and slang with them is the main reasoning behind this. In my opinion, I think that Standard English has taken a fall for the worst.

Analysis of Questionnaire

                                                                   Analysis

What are the attitudes towards the afro Caribbean influence on Standard English Analysis?

I asked 20 people many questions about the influences of standard English and how they think it’s changed over the years and what’s has made it change so much.

1) Was there any links between the students/people that answered the questionnaire?

There was a link between all of the people in which that answered my questionnaire as they were all sixth form students at Shenfield high school, and were all linked into the same area, of Shenfield. As they are all sixth form students they’re all the same age range from 16-18. 100%^ of the students were in education, specifically sixth form, meaning they’re more educated and clued up which means their answers would be more educated.

2) What was the overall opinion?

Out of all 20 students asked, 85% of those asked stated that they thought that Standard English had changed over the years, and all of their reasoning’s for this was due to immigrants coming over and teaching the Standard English how to use slang and all the different regional accents have changed the way in which speech is spoken.

All people also recognised that when given an example of two sentences, one using Standard English and one using slang, that the one using Standard English was better.

When asked what their understandings of ethnicity was, all people answered that they believed that ethnicity was to do with their background and where they originate from. There wasn’t any other answers from this questions and there wasn’t any differentiation. 

3) What does this tell us about the status of Standard English?

When asked what they’re opinions of standard English was, and what they believed it consisted of, every single person asked either said that they thought it was ‘”words from the dictionary” or “Queens speech” or “proper English” however, no-one went on to explain was ‘proper English’ was. Peter Trudgill was a sociolinguist that said that Standard English was only spoken by a minority of people as it’s seen as more of a ‘prestige’ way of speaking and that’s how it’s seen in the modern day. This corresponds with the answers that I received in my questionnaire as they believed that the term ‘standard English’ was the way in which the Queen spoke meaning that it’s not used in every day speech.

4) What attitudes are there towards BEV and other variations of English?

When asked if they believed that Standard English has changed, they believed that other variations of English, specifically foreign accents and foreign language have had an influence on the way in which we speak. As people came over from other countries they didn’t know the Standard English so from picking it up by everyone else, they learn slang and only pick up some of the Standard English. This affects the way in which everyone speaks as it just rubs off onto everybody else.

What are the attitudes towards the Afro-Caribbean influence on standard English?

1. How old are you?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             10-  19                                20-29                                  30-39                                 40+

1. Are you currently in education?

 

Yes                                    No

1. How would you define standard English?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

1. Do you feel as though the typical ‘standard English’ has changed throughout the years?

                           Yes                                                     No

 

1. If your answer to the above question was yes, why do you think that is?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………………………….............................................................................................

1. Do you think other cultures have had an influence on the English Language?

 

                               Yes                                                       No

1. What is your understanding of ethnicity?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

1. Which sentence do you think is better?

 

1. What is the other name of this country?
2. What is da udder name of de country?

why is your option better?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

1.   Do you think people should change the way they speak to ensure standard English doesn’t get changed?

 

                      Yes                                                                                          No

1. If yes, why?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………  

Accent and Dialect

Manchester
The above is a map of greater Manchester and it shows what different people within the qarea think of the accent anfd dialect around them. There are words used such as 'rough', 'posh', 'broad' etc. The way different people think of accents is intriguing as it shows what the area may be best known for.
Researchers say they weren’t so much interested in whether people knew where borough boundaries were, but which areas they thought were associated with different accents.
Stockport is seen as a place, where your voice, according to the study paints you as ‘soft’, ‘posh’ and ‘well-spoken’.
But towards the east, around Oldham, common words included ‘working-class’, ‘common’, ‘rough’ and ‘poor’.
It’s better news for those in Manchester City Centre. If you live in the heart of the region, your voice is more likely to come across as ‘artsy’ and ‘metropolitan’.
Accents there were also said to represent the city’s ‘diverse’ and ‘multicultural’ nature. South Manchester accents - and those around plush parts of Trafford - were thought to be more ‘standard’.
Towards Bury and Rochdale, accents were described as ‘broad’, ‘northern’, ‘common’, ‘country’ and ‘strong’. One example was Milnrow being pronounced as ‘Milnra’.
Accents Salford-way were described as ‘rough’ and ‘common’ but ‘strong’. The word ‘scally’ even came up.
A composite map from 62 people's efforts was created, with different areas showing where people thought major dialect areas were. Darker sections indicate accent ‘cores’. The most commonly used words are bigger on the map than those used less frequently.
Linguistics lecturer Dr Drummond said: “The findings suggest perceptions of accents and dialects are closely linked with social stereotypes about the people who speak them, and several of the words that were provided appear to be descriptions of people or areas rather than accents or dialects.”
They say various words that people more south wouldn't say in replacement of these words. 
Examples:
Southerners say dinner-northerners say supper/ tea
"                         " tea- "                         " brew

"                             "Aye- "                         " yes
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.

Cockney
This accent is mainly situated around London and Essex region and is estimated to be the second most popular accent in Britain. Features that appear a lot in the cockney accent and dialect is:

- Raised vowel in words like trap and cat so these sounds like “trep” and “cet.”
 

- Glottal Stopping: the letter t is pronounced with the back of the throat (glottis) in between vowels; for example ‘ better’(sounds to outsiders like “be’uh”).

- L-vocalization: The l at the end of words often becomes a vowel sound Hence pal can seem to sound like “pow.”

- The th in words like think or this is pronounced with a more forward consonant depending on the word: thing becomes “fing,” this becomes “dis,” and mother becomes “muhvah.”
      
The area is near to Essex so sometimes the way in which words are spoken sound similair, yet the accent is more strong and 'rough'. Like the essex accent, stress is particularly spoken on the syllables to make it sound like more of a certain word.

Transcript analysis

Throughout this piece of text, there are 5 main speakers. There are both female and male speakers within and for the purpose of this text, they will be referred as ‘B, L, M, C and D’. B, L and M, are all male, and the rest are female. The conversation was between 5 students (friends) that were talking in the common room in their free periods.

It is clear that throughout this text, B is the most dominant, frequent speaker and normally dominates any other speaker. At the beginning of the text, L is the dominant speaker that asked all the questions such as ‘How many likes do you get on Instagram? I only get about 70’. Then cutting in, B then takes over the conversation by explaining how many likes he gets also. Throughout this section of the text, B instigates adjacency pairs, such as ‘what on Instagram?, yeah on Instagram? These are questions that have an answer to them. Later on in the text, B takes over the power of the conversation by shaping and changing topics that suit him the most. He goes on to tell C what time they’re going out tonight and where they will be going to. The whole group’s attention is diverted to B and now B and C’s conversation is the centre of attention and being discussed by everyone. B is a male and its common knowledge that men are seen as the more dominant characters and most in power at all times, this is also evident throughout this part in the text. Even without B, there are other males within the conversation that take over with their dominance and it’s most common that within, it’s the males that but in the conversations. Although there is many points were the people conversing interrupt each other, there is also a lot of turn taking in order for the conversation to run smoothly, even if there is filler and hedges involved. This shows the relationship with the friends as it suggests they are quite close as there’s no awkward silences involved. This conversation is an informal register and doesn’t have a set purpose, its clear it was just a conversation to fill time and just genuinely chat with friends.

Analysis of text- agreement between college and students

Analysis of text- Agreement between college and students.

The purpose of this text is to inform the students that attend the college the expectations and behaviour from the college and what’s expected of them. The text educates the students about the college’s facilities and what it has to offer as a whole. Throughout the first paragraph direct address is used by pronouns such as ‘you’ this informs the reader that it’s addressed to them and as readers we can see that the text is aimed at potential students and particularly new students. This is also made clearer in the subheading as it uses ‘you’ there also.

The way in which the title is formatted on the page in bold, block capitals in the centre of the page tells us that it’s one of the most important aspects of the page and the writer wants the reader to be drawn to this to begin with so the reader knows what they’re reading. Underneath this headline written in italics is a short summary of what the whole text is about, this is good for the readers that may not have a lot of time to read the whole text and want an insight about the text before they read it on a later date. It’s written in italics as it isn’t the most important piece of writing on the page therefore the readers don’t need to read it first or even read it at all. Placed below this is a list of bullet points explaining to the readers all about what the college will provide them, The use of bullet points mean that they are able to be set out in an orderly fashion and presentable so the information is clear and easy to read and understand. Below this section of the text it is written off by the director of sixth form, this gives the impression that the text was direct to you and all from the head of sixth form so it’s more reliant.

 After this section in the text there is a set of bullet points used again for the text to be set out in a way that’s easy to understand which is headed ,WHAT WE ASK OF YOU IN ORDER TO ENSURE YOUR OWN DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESS’. This emphasises that the text is aimed at the readers and it applies to the students that attend the college. The font is a common fontl and plain therefore showing the importance and formality of the heading. This is formal so the students know that it’s an important part of the text so they know exactly what rules they need to follow at the college.

The college agreements follows a traditional structure. It is arguable that the most important information in this statement is that provided of the college about what they can offer for their students as this is a main reason as to why many would choose to enrol. Then comes the part which shows to the readers what the college expect of students should they choose to take on a course here leading us to the end of the agreement where the students signs for their commitment and formally agree that they would follow the colleges rules on behaviour.  The statements from the college are the ‘beginning of the story’ that set the scene and give background information which if the audience like what they read, they will continue on. The resolution of the text is where the student signs, if they like what they see they would then show their mutual agreement by signing off the agreement.

Within the text we are met with many different noun phrases. An example of a noun phrase would be; ‘agreement between the college and students’. In this phrase, the first word ‘agreement’ is the head word as it is a noun what explains what this text is. This is then accompanied by a preposition ‘between’ as this shows the relation between the nouns within the sentence, ‘college’ and ‘Students' ’. As we go on to read the student agreement, we reach a verb phrase ‘please read this carefully’. ‘Please’ is the auxiliary verb in the phrase as it shows the main meaning of the sentence.  The main verb in the phrase ‘read’. The adverb ‘carefully’ which gives the perspective students information about how to address this text. This is an mperative sentence and structure as it instructs and adding the word ‘please’ makes it more soft and not so harsh in the interrogative sentence. ‘The’ is the determiner which is followed by the noun ‘college’ and the pronoun ‘its’ leading to the noun ‘staff’. This is also a declarative sentence as it is ‘telling’ the reader rather than asking questions or demanding.

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:

 

Quantity - Use of appropriate amount of detail when speaking to someone with right amount of conversational linguistics. 

 

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.

 

Relevance- Keep what is being discussed relevant and according to the topic of conversation. No need of changing the subject mid-way through conversation.

 

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. 

Ferdinand De Saussure

Ferdinand De Saussure

Saussure was the semantic theorist of the study of signals and how signs are interpreted and the study of signals. He was a Swiss linguist who was the individual that laid ideas to the foundation of many significant development in both linguistics and semiology in the 20th century.

The structure of it was:

Semantics  ----> Semiotics ----> Graphology

There are two types of signs: the iconic and the symbolic signs. As well as this, Saussure suggested that there was a two part model of the sign that included a signifier and the signified.

Iconic signs - A direct picture of the thing it represents and shows, although its often much more simple, for example an image or logo.

Symbolic signs - Drawn on an association or connotation they’re usually defined by cultural convention based on existing cultural methods.

Saussure suggested that there was a 'dyadic' or two-part model of the sign. He defined a sign as being composed of:

A 'signifier' (significant) – The form which the sign takes.

The 'signified' (signifié) - The concept it represents.

The relationship between the signifier and the signified is referred to as 'signification'

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.

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.

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.

 

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

Person Deixis - I, me, you

Spatial Deixis – Here, there, left, right

Temporal Deixis – Now, then, today, tomorrow

Headlines

Immigration soars 20% in a year

The post modifier is ‘soars 20% in a year’ as immigration is the main noun. This headline is quite short and to the fact. The fact it has a statistic in automatically makes the audience think its reliable therefore it emphasises the whole matter.

King Elvis Dies

The pre modifier is ‘King’ as it’s before the head noun ‘Elvis’. The post modifier is dies. The headline is short and to the point as it is quite an emotive topic therefore the headline doesn’t’ have to be as long winded to catch the reader’s attention. The word ‘King’ isn’t a true representation of Elvis as he wasn’t the king of the country; however he was known as the king of music/pop.

The migrant baby boom

The post modifier is ‘baby boom’ as it’s describing the noun ‘migrant’. As migrants are in the news a lot at the moment, the word migrant is automatically going to get readers.

Sick Queen rushed to hospital

The pre modified noun is ‘sick’ as it is before the head noun ‘Queen’ the post modified noun is ‘rushed to hospital. The headline is short and snappy as it is a serious matter being discussed therefore it doesn’t need to be lengthy. The queen is a famous figure therefore its very important and many people would want to know more about the story.

1D Zayn cheats on his little mix

The pre modifier is ‘1D’ as Zayn is the noun, the person. Without the ‘1D’ people may not know who Zayn is and why he’s known. The fact that ‘1D’ is used automatically makes the readers interested as they are a well-known, iconic band.

The real truth

The post modifier is ‘the real’ and it makes the truth emphasised so that the readers feel as though they’re getting a reliable, truthful source. The head noun is the ‘truth’ the word truth is a strong, definite noun.

Lawless Britain

The pre modifier is ‘lawless’ it is implying that Britain has no laws and is a care free country. This may give the audience a feeling of fear and want to read it as the head noun ‘Britain’ is so short and to the point.

Mexico swears in openly gay mayor

This is designed to shock, many people still have problems with openly gay or transgendered people holding positions of power or publicity, so it could accomplish that purpose with a select audience. Otherwise, it is factual, as it tells us that the mayor is openly gay in the pre-modifier. This could affect the above-mentioned audience though.