[lg policy] dissertation: Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity among Adolescent Males in Glasgow

[Harold Schiffman]

Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity among Adolescent Males in Glasgow


Institution: University of Glasgow
Program: English Language
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2009

Author: Robert G Lawson

Dissertation Title: Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity among
Adolescent Males in Glasgow

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics

Dissertation Director:
Norma Mendoza-Denton
Jane Stuart-Smith

Dissertation Abstract:

The variety of English as used by working-class adolescent speakers in
Glasgow, Scotland, is typically associated with violence, criminality, and
aggression. There have been, however, no studies which have made a
systematic attempt to uncover the role fine-grained phonetic variation
plays in indexing the association of violence with Glaswegian Vernacular.
This study is an ethnographically informed account of Glaswegian Vernacular
which examines the nexus of language, identity, and violence using data
collected from a group of working-class adolescent males from a high school
in the south side of the city between 2005 - 2008.

Fine-grained phonetic analysis of the linguistic variables of BIT, CAT, and
(θ), coupled with ethnographic observations, reveal how an apparently
homogenous group of speakers use linguistic and social resources to
differentiate themselves from one another during their construction of
particular social identities. Importantly, how speakers orientate towards a
'tough' masculinity (through both linguistic and non-linguistic means) is a
key part of this differentiation. This thesis sheds light on the
interaction between language and violence in Glasgow, and the processes
through which adolescent males are caught up in this indexical relationship.


http://linguistlist.org/issues/20/20-3738.html

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