What are the attitudes towards the Afro-Caribbean influence on
Standard English ANALYSIS
All my questionnaire respondents are Shenfield High Sixth Form students
who are a mix of male and female. They all fit in the same age bracket 16-18
years old. The main language spoken by all of the students is English and
whatever their ethnicity they all consider themselves British in some form.
The answers tell us that the overall opinion between Sixth
Form Students in our schools is that that Standard English language is
changing.
From the answers given in the two previous questions, I can
see that the status of Standard English is high. 90% of people surveyed believe
that Standard English is changing but the answers they have provided with as
for their reasons why show negative opinions to the change. When asked how far
they agree the Queens English is the correct English, no one disagreed but
everyone agreed to an extent. This shows that the status of Standard English
From the results of these questions we can see that there
are mixed attitudes to Black English Vernacular and other variations. There was
mixed opinion to the language used by black people being non-standard, showing
that people have different views upon language variation. However when asked if
English Language is mixing with other cultures, 85% answered yes. Their reasons
as to why they chose this answer came as those such as because of people moving
into the country from other countries and our use of dialect from other
countries. There were other options such as language sued from social media and
that language is simply changing as a whole. This therefore shows that there
are mixed attitudes to Black English Vernacular and other variations.
Conclusions:
What conclusions can
you draw about contemporary attitudes to Standard English and ethnicity? From
the results of my questionnaire, I can see that attitudes to Standard English
are that the majority of people believe that the Queens English has power to be
the correct spoken English Language and almost all of the people that answered
my questionnaire believe that Standard English is changing. There was mix
opinion on attitudes to ethnicity however 40% said language used by Black
people is non-standard. All of the people who took part recognised themselves
to fall under a British category and so this result can reflect upon the
attitudes of people in the 16-18 years age gap.
Using my secondary data, I can come to the conclusion that
attitudes of educated adults is that Standard English is the correct and proper
English. They believe that it (along with the Queens English) is the prestige
and proper way to speak as it is that language that is published in the media
and that we should use in formal situations such as a job interview. Attitudes to ethnicity are that language is developed
from contacts between nonstandard varieties of English and African languages
and that it typically diverges most from Standard English when spoken by people
with low levels of education. This shows an almost negative attitude towards
language difference from people with different ethnic backgrounds however it is
not ruled out.
What theories and
concepts about language and society can explain these conclusions?
In relation to my primary
research, Peter Trudgill produced a theory whereby women use more received
pronunciations and men more non-standard forms. This could mean that the females who
participated in my questionnaire could represent the more negative attitudes to
language change as they like to stick to conformities. The males however could
represent the more positive attitudes as stereotypically these are they forms
they choose to follow in their own speech.
Different social classes stereotypically have different
attitudes. It is a stereotype that people of the middle class or above look
down to those that choose not to use Receive Pronunciation and instead depend
on slang and ‘new’ words.
How do these
conclusions compare with those of any other related studies you can find in
this field?
In support of my previous answer, Deborah Tannen’s theory
criticised studies, ignoring the important issue and power in some cases making
assertions and generalisations based on minimal research. This means that
people are quick to jump to conclusion without looking at the bigger picture or
in depth reasoning. This means that
people who consider themselves of a British ethnicity and use Standard English
may look down upon those who do not as they see themselves to be prestige and
proper.
