Sociolinguistics Session 6

LING1113

What are the three waves of sociolinguistic research?

First wave: Focus on macro-social categories (class, gender). Style = formality.

Second wave: Emphasises local communities of practice and interactions

Third wave: Treats variation as a symbolic resource used to conduct identities and personae.

How does the Third wave differ from earlier approaches?

Earlier waves viewed language as reflecting fixed categories.

The third wave sees language as dynamic - it both constructs and expresses identity through interaction.

What is style in the third wave framework?

Style is a socially meaningful clustering of features, across linguistic levels and modalities.

It is not just about formality, but about building recognisable identities using sound, syntax, gesture, clothing, etc.

What is ‘social meaning’ in sociolinguistics?

According to Podesva (2011), social meaning refers to the stances, personal characteristics, and personae indexed by language use. It emerges in context and is multiple, shifting, and layered.

What is stance-taking and how does it work?

Stance-taking involves:

-Evaluating something

-Positioning oneself in relation to it

-Aligning or dealigning with others

What is idexicality in this context?

Indexicality (Silverstein 2003): The idea that a linguistic form points to social meaning. Forms can shift meaning across orders of indexicality and are best captures via an indexical field (Eckert 2008)

What is the significance of tag questions in sociolinguistics?

Tag questions (e.g., ‘it’s nice out, isn’t it?’ ) can:

-Show uncertainty (Lakoff)

-Seek confirmation (Holmes)

-Soften statements

-Be assertive / aggressive (Algeo)

They show how form + context = meaning.

What did Moore & Podesva (2009) study and find?

Study of 40 girls in four communities of practice at school in northwest England. Tag questions varied across groups in form, use, and meaning - indicating stance and social style

How did each community use tag questions?

Townies: Nonstandard grammar, deleted /t/, rebellious persona

Geeks: Standard grammar, conservative, used tag questions to assert expertise

Populars: Talked about peers, positioning themselves socially with ‘we’ and ‘she’.

Eden Village Girls: Cooperative, overlapped speech, reinforced group norms.

What does this case study show about language and identity?

Linguistic forms (like tag questions) are used strategically to build social meaning. Even the same form can mean different things depending on context, speaker, and community.