English Language

Community of practice

A collection of people who engage regularly in the same activity (sport team)

Indexing identity

Adding a persona to your speech/behaviour to create an identity you want others to perceive you as

Lal Zimman ….Dynamic/diversity

Wrote transgender voices

One of few linguists Considering trans people Within the language and gender context

Points out the importance of vocal cues- assuming a gender

Found trans men don’t always use the whole pitch range associated with masculinity

Robert J Podesva …..

Recorded a gay man in 3 different contexts: father,friends,work

Looked at 1 feature, FALSETTO,(high vocal)

Least with work

More with father

Most with friends

HE was indexing a diva persona— reference to gay male culture

Convergence

Divergence

Using language to fit into society ©

Using language to stand out in society (d)

Sian Preece - Performance of “laddish” masculinity

Most of the participants were working class from minority groups

Focused on 3 boys (19,20,25)

Use of pronouns- instead of “we”, used “them and their”

Claimed that other students are tooo shy, and that they (themselves) were outgoing and fearless in big groups

Positioned themselves as a “group of lads” who were tough and intimidating

Almut Koester- Phatic talk and banter

Studied how employees interact within the workplace

Decided that phatic talk(small talk) is important as the workers need to establish relationships That aren’t revolving around work only

Found that “banter is needed” in the work place as it calms the atmosphere and creates welcoming spaces

William Leap- Lavender linguistics

A new era of research in the 1990s

His early work focused on the idea of “gay language”

Claimed that homosexuality was is a community of its own

Challenged the idea of homogeneous gay or lesbian voice

Drew and Herritage-institutional talk

6 elements:

Goal orientation, turn taking rules, professional lexis, allowable contribution, asymmetry, structures

Lakoff’s features of female speech

Hedges

Empty adjectives

Super-polite form

Apologise more

Avoiding course language

Tag Questions

Devyani Sharma

Looked at punjabi speaking Indians in west London

Participants recorded their daily experience in everyday life

Sharma looked for Indian or British variants in the recordings

Noting when the occurrences happened