Fisher His study (1958, New England) of the (ng) variable: different prounanciation of singing () vs singin (n) The

use of () and (n) in a very formal situation, in a less formal interview and in an informal situation (12 boys and 12 girls between 3 and 10 years of age) Boys more uses of in form that girls in the most formal situation If the level of formality remained the same, boys used (n) more often Females were more aware how they present themselves Model boy vs. typical boy the model boy produced more ing forms than the typical boy who mostly used the in form As children relaxed in the most formal situation they produced more instances of in form Usage is associated with specific verbs those describing everyday activities (hit, chew, swim) were given more in endings that the more formal verbs (criticize, correct, read) Use of () or (n) depended on sex, class, personality (aggressive, cooperative) and mood (tense, relaxed), to the formality and specific verb spoken (e.g. formal criticize or informal play).

Martha's Vineyard (Labov, 1961) Social and linguistic discrepancy between summer-only people and the year-rounders Analysis of the variables: diphtongs in ice and time raised, centralised onset [i] vs. lower, fronted onset [ai] Represented interspeaker vs intraspeaker variation Methodology recording speech in formal situations (reading lists of words) but also informal conversation about their life on the Vineyard (what they actually said, not just what they said they said) Interspeaker the difference between different uses of language Intraspeaker differences in the language use of one person only (even an individual vary from one language use to another) He would record a person reading a text, and afterwards ask them to talk informally about the life on the vineyard Centralization (a means by which speakers could state a claim of being different from the mainlanders who come there only during the summer) was highest among people who: 1) lived in the more rural, up-island areas (closer to the mainland) they obviously share a strong sense of belonging to the community 2) were engaged in the traditional island occupation (fishing) 3) were in their thirties, forties (those are the ones who have decided to establish their family there)

4) liked living on the vineyard and felt fondly towards life there

New York City (Labov) Investigation of the (r) variable in NY His hypothesis the (r) prounanciation after vowels was being reinforced into NY speech from above (highest social class), that it was a feature of speech of younger people, used in formal situations Testing he walked around 3 NY department stores which gathered different social classes (Saks high social class, Macys middle, Klein low) He asked different shop assistants to repeat fourth floor 79% in Klein, 38% in Saks and 49% in Macys didnt use (r) at all He also recorded more frequent pronunciation of (r) in fourth than in floor, among young people Labov's claim prounanciation of (r) in car and guard is associated with the upper middle class When he asked them to repeat those words, they pronounced (r) more often (they were more aware of their prounanctiation) Class aspiration members of the highest and lowest social groups tend not to change their prounanciation after it becomes fixed in adolescence but members of the middle social groups sometimes do because of their social aspiration (it turns out that members of the lower class are aware that changing their linguistic pattern won't change the position of their social class) Hypercorrect end up speaking more standard than those whom they are trying to imitate

Trudgill The use of the variants is related to social class and level of formality () and (h) variants in words like singing and hammer are used more frequently as one goes up the social scale than the corresponding (n) and (0) variants

Wolfram A follow-up of the Detroid study (the use of multiple negation in the city) Findings a strong relationship between the use of multiple negation and social class Upper middle class used multiple negation 2% of possible occassions Lower middle class 11%

Upper working class 38% Lower working class - 70% Conclusion speech is variable in all social classes as no class uses one variant to the exclusion of the other

Belfast The Milroys Studies of speech aspects in 3 working class areas in Belfast Stress on the importance of social networks that originate in kinship ties and determine an individual's access to employment and to other resources Belfast an assemblage of urban villages, the inhabitants see a need for strong ties because of the external threats they perceive to exist They looked at 3 working areas East Belfast protestant area, little unemployment (local shipyard), close male relationships, clear difference between male and female activities In both areas in West Belfast recoded male unemployment, male relationhips not as close, etc. The researcher introduced herself as a friend of a friend so they could accept her as someone of their own The stronger the social network, the greater the use of certain linguistic features of the vernacular The study shows the importance of social networks broader access to employment greater linguistic variables