"Investigating speech samples as 'dialect in discourse': Discourse analysis, phonetics and language attitudes." Anne Fabricius Roskilde University Essex University, Thursday 3 rd February 2005

Structure of the talk Introduction Language attitudes methodology The role of Dynamism: Danish examples The empirical study: data collection The narratives: phonetics and discourse Results But what does it all mean?

Introduction (1) An ongoing project on RP in England/U.K. (1)Looking at phonetic variation synchronically and diachronically (2)Looking at attitudes to the accent standard accent vs élite accent

Introduction (2) RP’s attitudinal place Attitudinal Place of RP speakers ”anti-toff class prejudice” (CM, IK)

Introduction (3) A diversion: how do we look at RP sociolinguistically The systematic ambiguity Native-RP and Construct RP Forms and norms change at different speeds (TE clip) Here looking at C-RP

Language attitudes methodology Social observation (BJ, IK, JM) Direct methods (C. Sin 2005) Indirect methods The matched guise technique Arguments against it A renewal underway

Status and Solidarity (Zahn and Hopper 1985) Status Gifted/intelligent Ambitious Independent Efficient Solidarity Pleasant Trustworthy Interesting Straightforward

Superiority and Dynamism (Kristiansen 2001) Superiority Status Dimension Gifted/intelligent Ambitious Solidarity Dimension Pleasant Trustworthy Dynamism Status Dimension Efficient Independent Solidarity Dimension Interesting Straightforward

High versus Low Copenhagen (Study 1998) Regarded by regional speakers as ’two standards’: one for the school/establishment (High), one for the media (Low). Low Copenhagen as the voice of Dynamism RP and Estuary English?

Data collection 6 passages interview speech (male, female; London, Regional, RP) Presented to 161 secondary schools in York, March 2002 Set of adjectives plus open-ended questions Quantitative and qualitative results

The narratives (Transcripts on Handout) RP speaker Regional speaker

Characteristics Phonetics RP speaker: U-RP and mainstream RP Regional Speaker Discourse Bird’s eye narratives Contrasts between the texts

Results Quantitative results Qualitative results (see tables on handout)

Discussion The interplay of accent and discourse: lasting impressions Working with dialect in discourse: the gestalt A new alignment of superiority and dynamism in regional versus RP speech Social class (and another story…)