Naomi Nagy

Linguistics at U of T

Project 1: Sociolinguistic Observation & Reporting

Due: October 17, 2016

Throughout the first four weeks of the course, keep a journal recording your observations of language use and sociolinguistic variation. Your observations may serve as a source of data for your second project. A number of suggested topics are listed below, but observations relevant to any topic covered in the course are acceptable.

Whenever you work with empirical data, it's important to be well-organized and use consistent formats. For this assignment, it's important to organize your observations according to the following format.

Each entry should have the following three sections:

a) Identifying information:

Begin each entry with an entry number, the date of observation and the relevant topic or topics. Number all entries consecutively.

b) Data:

Record the data (exactly what you observed) as objectively as possible. Do not include judgments, opinions or comments here. Record the source of each datum: for live observations, record the date, time, place, participants, situations, etc.. For written media, include the standard publication information (printed articles can be cut and pasted but must be cited properly). For electronic media (TV, radio, internet), record the name of the station (or web site or newsgroup), the title, the date and time of transmission, etc.

N.B. Include here anything about the setting or participants that may be relevant to understanding why the event you observed happened the way it did. Write these facts down!

c) Comments:

Record your own comments, thoughts, interpretations, etc. about the data you have recorded. Why did you notice this particular event? Relate the data to things you have learned in this course. Your comments may include questions that the data raise in your mind, such as, "How do other people say or do this?" or, "Do I say things like that?" You may wish to suggest why you think the event occurred in this way, and how it might have occurred differently with other participants or with same participants in a different setting. Such observations and questions may lead to hypotheses you want to test or to subsequent observations which may ultimately answer your questions.

Be ready to record observations at all times, wherever you go, immediately, as soon as they happen. Don't wait a day, or even an hour, because the observations will begin fading from your memory, your accuracy will decline and important elements of the event will be lost.

You should have at least six observations to submit. Each should be about half a page long. Try to focus on just one or two of the suggested topics.

Suggested Topics for Project 1

Code-switching

Bilingual people often mix languages in the course of a single conversation ("code-switching"). Code-switching can take place within the sentence or between sentences. Record any examples that you notice of people using more than one language in a single conversation. Be sure to make note of what languages are involved, and, insofar as you are able to understand those languages, try to record exactly what was said. Also, if you yourself know more than one language, note whether you or your family members or friends code-switch, and make note of any examples you or they produce. In discussing such cases, consider the following points: Why did the switches occur where they did? What aspects of the social context permitted or encouraged such mixed use of languages? What was the reaction of the other participants in the conversation to the code-switching?

Regional and national accents

Native speakers of English show many different national and regional varieties ("dialects"). Listen for any form of English spoken by a native speaker that is different from your own. Some examples: Canadian (Newfoundland, Western Canadian, French Canadian), Australian, New Zealand, Irish, West Indian, American (New York, Southern, Californian), British (RP, Cockney, Scottish, Yorkshire). Record and comment on any distinctive features of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary that you notice. Note your reaction to this dialect: Do you react positively or negatively? What aspects of the dialect affect your reaction the most?

If you are a native speaker of another language, you might wish to report on regional or national accent variation you observe in that language instead.

Foreign accents

In Toronto there are many immigrants, residents and visitors who are not native speakers of English. How is English spoken by someone who has learned it as a second language? Listen for any foreign accents and comment on any differences you note in pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary. Find out what that person's native language is. Try to determine what rule or feature of English that person is not reproducing exactly. Note: If you speak or are learning a second language yourself, you could compare these observations to your own speech in that language. If you are a learner, are your mistakes similar to those made by other people learning English as a second language?

Slang and in-group words

Slang refers to words and expressions that are not generally considered part of the standard language, but are used regularly by members of particular cultural subgroups (e.g., teenagers, computer hackers, surfers). One reason why such groups use slang terms is to mark their membership in the subgroup and simultaneously exclude non-members: appropriate use and understanding of slang forms identifies someone as a fellow member, while failure to use or respond appropriately will betray them as an outsider. The same type of in-group use of particular words is found among people of the same occupation, religion, etc., where the terms are generally referred to as jargon (which is generally not stigmatized and may be more technical in nature). Collect instances of slang or jargon that you hear around you, whether or not you are a member of the appropriate subgroup. Record relevant information about the situation, setting, topic and participants. Translate the form into a standard English equivalent and try to characterize the cultural or occupational subgroup that uses this expression.

Male-female differences

Collect observations of ways in which men and women differ in their use of language. This could include differences of vocabulary, use of polite and euphemistic expressions, use of taboo words, use of "standard" as opposed to "nonstandard" words or grammatical constructions, differences in voice quality and pronunciation (e.g. pitch, breathiness, aspiration, etc.). Do these differences in usage depend on whether the speaker is addressing someone of the same sex or someone of the opposite sex? Are these differences the same for all age groups? Note also any differences in the terms males and females use to refer to other males and females (e.g. guy, girl/gal, chick, etc.). How are these terms used to show respect or disrespect? Are they used in comparable or reciprocal ways across the two sexes? Does the use of these terms depend on age and social position? What words are used to refer to mixed groups of males and females?

Ethnic differences

Some features of English are often associated with speakers of particular racial or ethnic groups, stemming either from originally foreign accents (e.g. recent immigrant groups) or from historical segregation (e.g. African American English). Often these features have become positive connotations as markers of identity in the ethnic/racial group. In collecting observations of such features, be careful to distinguish between conventional stereotypes of the way these groups talk and what you actually observe people saying. (These are usually not the same thing!) Carefully explore your own preconceptions about how ethnic/racial groups different from your own speak.

Social class differences

Collect observations of differences in the use of language by people of different social classes (which may be treated as a cover term for differences in education, occupation, status, income, etc.). Be on the lookout for usages that strike you as nonstandard, stigmatized, 'common' or uneducated vs. those that seem pretentious, upper-class, sophisticated, etc. Again, this could involve vocabulary, pronunciation or grammar.

Taboo words

Most languages have a number of words that are socially taboo, and in certain circumstances even legally prohibited, referred to as "swear words" or "dirty words". Many have central meanings related to bodily functions (e.g. piss), body parts (e.g. prick) or religious concepts (e.g. goddamn), but are often used in ways that have nothing to do with the central meaning. Such words also show considerable gradation in the degree of tabooness. These facts mean that there are powerful social conventions about the situations in which they may be used, the people to whom they may be uttered and even the people who are allowed to say them. Thus, you don't use them in formal situations (e.g. lectures) and in the presence of certain people (e.g. mothers, priests), and certain people are expected to use them less or not at all (e.g. women, young children). Record your observations of the use of such terms, paying special attention to the speaker and other people present (sex, age, class, etc.), the situation and the meaning or intent (to express emotion, to insult). Comment in particular about what it was about the situation which allowed these words to be used, given the strong social taboo about the use of such words in certain situations. Note also the reaction of those present, including yourself.

Media attention to language

The mass media (newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, the worldwide web) often run articles, stories or programs about language, including news items, interviews with "experts", opinion columns, talk shows, letters to the editor, etc. These usually concern the nature or quality of present-day English (what's wrong with it, what it sounds like), the decline of standards (how corrupted the language is becoming), new words in the language (slang, borrowings, neologisms) and new meanings for old words. If you hear or see something like this on TV or the radio, take notes on what is said; if you see an article in print or on the web, photocopy it, print it or cut it out and paste it in your journal. Comment on the following points: Do you agree or disagree with the opinions expressed? Did the author overlook any relevant facts? Do you think the person was fair or biased? In what way? Are the opinions expressed similar to or different from the point of view taken in the course? In what way?

Style-shifting

All speakers adapt their way of speaking to different audiences, topics and settings. They can speak formally in public, professional or official contexts (e.g. classrooms, business meetings, public speeches), or they can be informal in private and personal contexts. They can show politeness and deference to social superiors (e.g. teachers, employers) or assert authority over social inferiors (e.g. employees, children). They can demonstrate familiarity or intimacy (e.g. friends, family) or distance (e.g. strangers). This dimension of variation in language use is often described as "speech style" and when a speaker changes from one style to another, it is referred to as "style-shifting". Make note of any examples of style-shifting that you encounter. This may be especially noticeable in contexts where speakers are relating to different audiences in rapid succession. For example, in a classroom setting, students may use one (formal) style to speak to the professor or to contribute to a classroom discussion, and a different (informal) style to carry on a private conversation with a friend in the class. At home, you may speak more formally to your parents than to your siblings. For observations of style-shifting, be sure to make note of the social relationship between the speaker and the addressee(s). Also, try to characterize the nature of the speech style used in each setting or with each audience in terms of (in)formality, familiarity/distance and politeness.

Project 2:

A Small Study of Sociolinguistic Variation

Due: November 30, 2016 (Week 12, hard copy due in tutorial)

In this assignment, working individually or in groups of up to 3, you will study the use of a sociolinguistic variable. You may collect data by means of participant observation (i.e. by noting relevant examples of the feature you are studying whenever they are used in your presence) or use existing data as specified below. You may choose any one of the suggested topics to work on, or suggest a variable of your own after consulting with the professor. You may use observations from Project 1.

Step 1: Develop a testable hypothesis about a sociolinguistic variable. Choose a variable that you will easily be able to observe via one of the three Data Collection options listed next. (Remind yourself about sociolinguistic variables).

Option 1	Option 2	Option 3

Collect your own data	Analyze the Prime Minister's speech	Analyze data from the Heritage Language Corpus

Step 2. Data Collection

Option 1: Collect your own data (in any language you can work with)

Over a period of a week, each person should collect a minimum of 25 tokens (occurrences) of the variable. A good practice is to keep a notepad with you at all times, so that whenever you hear somebody using the variable, you can write down which variant they used, as well as other relevant information about the situation:

• sex of the speaker:

- try to obtain roughly equal numbers of tokens from males and females

• sex of addressee/hearer (including yourself)

• familiarity of speaker and addressee/hearer

- distinguish ‘familiar’ interactions (friends and family members) from ‘less familiar’ interactions (acquaintances or those in a formal relationship, such as student/teacher or employee/employer)

- try to obtain roughly equal numbers of tokens from familiar and unfamiliar interactions

- make note of other features of the context that would make the interaction more or less formal, such as the topic of conversation and the setting

• channel of communication:

- make note of whether each token occurred over the telephone or internet vs. face-to-face, through speech vs. writing, through participant observation vs. questionnaire, etc.

Option 2: Check out Canada's Prime Minister

Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has gotten a lot of media attention in his first year in office, sociolinguists have yet to publish any analysis of his speech, as far as I know. Many questions come to mind:

How does his speech differ before vs. since becoming Prime Minister?
How does his speech change depending on who he is talking to?
How does his speech change depending on the (formality of) the situation?

To answer one of these questions (or a similar one that the professor has approved, you need to find recorded and/or transcribed speech. This choice depends on what kind of variation you want to examine. You will need at least 3 minutes of speech to examine. Many samples exist online.

NOTE: Option 2 is a new project idea. If a large group (a whole tutorial?) wants to try this, it would be very cool. Each person would transcribe and code a little of Trudeau's speech, then combine to analyze it all together.

Option 3: Use existing Heritage Language data

If you/your group is able to work with spoken recordings of one of the languages in the (Heritage Language Variation and Change project), select a minimum of three speakers that have been recorded and transcribed. Find at least 25 tokens (occurrences) of the variable in each recording. A good practice is to create additional tiers in the ELAN .eaf file and mark and code the tokens there. In one tier, note which variant they used. In additional daughter tiers, note the other relevant information about the situation (see list in Option 1). The tokens and tiers can then be exported to a spreadsheet for easy analysis.

Step 3. Data analysis (for Option 1, 2 or 3)

Summarize your results in the form of tables, showing what proportion of tokens of each variant you encountered (e.g. formal vs. informal greetings, -ing vs. -in’) were uttered by males as opposed to females, addressed to people with whom the speaker was familiar vs. unfamiliar, were spoken over the telephone vs. face-to-face, etc. Consider carefully how your different variants might best be grouped together. (e.g., Are some of the greetings more formal and others more familiar? Are some taboo words extremely taboo and others only mildly so?) If you identify groupings like this in the data, use them in your tables. Wherever possible, express your results as percentages, calculating proportions within each category. For example, what proportion of familiar greetings were used by men vs. by women?

Step 4. Research Report

Write a report (4-5 pages) describing your study. It should include an informative title and the following short sections in order:

i) Introduction

State the variable, what the variants were and why this was interesting or what general issues it related to (i.e. your goals and hypotheses).

ii) Methodology

Describe how you collected, coded and analyzed the data.

iii) Results

Organize your research findings into tables broken down by social categories (sex, familiarity, etc.).

iv) Discussion

Discuss your results and their implications. Think about questions that have been addressed in the class. Make explicit reference to at least two of the assigned articles, as well as relevant concepts from the textbook. Address questions such as the following: Do men and women show different preferences for the various greetings or leavetakings, or pronunciations of -ing? Do men use more strong taboo words than women? Do women use more information-seeking tags than men do? Do speakers use different greetings or leavetakings over the telephone than in person? Do people code-switch more often with people they know well as opposed to those they have limited acquaintance with? Does pronunciation of -ing vary with the formality or familiarity of the situation?

v) Conclusion

Try to draw general conclusions about your results. Why did the results come out the way they did? Why do (or don’t) women and men differ in the use of these features? Why do speakers use different forms in different interactions? Where possible, try to identify future areas for possible research.

vi) Bibliography

List all published references, including websites, that you consulted. Cite them appropriately within your paper. There are resources in the course Blackboard site for help on citation and reference practices.

See this link for a more detailed view of the typical contents of a sociolinguistics research paper.

Evaluation

Evaluation of the assignment will be based on the following considerations:

Structure:

- organization; clarity; spelling and presentation (use a spell-checker!)

Content:

- how well have you defined the variable context (i.e. where does the speaker have a choice between variants?)?

- how well have you discussed your methods of data collection?

- how well have you discussed the details of your quantitative analysis (your social factors, your calculations)?

- how well have you made use of tables and graphs?

- how well have you synthesized and interpreted your results?

- how well have you made connections between your results and the course materials (textbook, readings, lectures)?

If you work in a group, you will submit one co-authored paper.
All co-authors will receive the same grade for this paper. Be sure to consider each others’ schedules, research interests and work ethic as you create your group.

Be sure that the title and all authors' names are listed at the top of page 1. You do not need to create a separate title page. You are encouraged to print two-sided.