AQA Language and Ethnicity

AQA A-Level Language and Ethnicity theorists

Ives 2014 - West Yorkshire (Bradford)

Measuring code-switching between English/Punjabi in 8 teen boys, 1 teen girl and 2 adults

- Boys identifying as ‘British Asian’ code - switched when swearing

- Girl never mixed English/Gujarati as her social group wouldn’t understand

Code swicthed to express ethnic linguistic identity

Kerswill and Cheshire 2011 - MLE

Children’s language use analysed in Hackney

- Mixture of MLE and Jamaican patois

- Could be seen to replace cockney

Pitts 2012 - Resistance Identity

RI - Lang used to express ethnic identity, those using it wanted to be different from mainstream media

Young black males felt isolated from society, adopted Jamaican accent to change isolation into own language

Ives 2014 - South London

Groups of student aged kids explained words that set them apart from other areas of UK/Ldn (‘Calm’/’Neek’)

- Words had American, Jamaican or Afro-Caribbean influences

- Some were white British teens

Viv Edwards 1986 - Black communities

45 British born young people whose parents from Jamaica and living in West Midlands

• Observed frequency of patois

• patois used to assert ethnic identity

• Patois perceived by others to indicate poor academic ability (Imperialism?)

Baker-Bell 2020 - Linguistic Injustice

Many black students shamed if they speak ‘black language’ = linguistically dehumanised

• Black lang represents identity/culture

• Imperialism/ Western superiority in lang

Ogbu 1999 - Language, ethnicity and Identity

Black children should be taught to use ‘proper english’ and ‘slang english’ in schools

• problematic = English spec cites the need for ‘Standard English’

Hewitt 1986 - White talk Black talk

Black speakers code-switched between influences as well as white speakers

Symbol of ethnic identity/friendship

Sharma 2011 - Social change in British Asian English

British Asians in West LDN

• Older men + younger women = wider social contacts and accommodated speech

• Punjabi speakers shifted between monophthongs (vowel as one sound) and diphthongs (vowel as two sounds)

Drummond 2012 - Poles in Manchester

Immigrants wanting to stay in UK = changed pronunciation to accommodate local accent

Immigrants wanting to leave UK = distinguished themselves from locals - ‘ing’ instead of ‘ink’

Sharma and Rampton 2015 - Older vs Younger British Asian men

Older = Higher variation in social situations - move between British and Asian culture

Younger = Grew up in ‘a far more accepting and less polarised climate’

Both changed accents when topic shifts from Punjabi to non Punjabi subjects