LINGUIST List 20.3738: Socioling: Lawson: 'Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity...'

LINGUIST List 20.3738

Tue Nov 03 2009

Diss: Socioling: Lawson: 'Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity...'

Editor for this issue: Di Wdzenczny <dilinguistlist.org>

1. Robert Lawson, Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity among Adolescent Males in Glasgow

Message 1: Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity among Adolescent Males in Glasgow
Date: 03-Nov-2009
From: Robert Lawson <robert.lawsonbcu.ac.uk>
Subject: Sociolinguistic Constructions of Identity among Adolescent Males in Glasgow
E-mail this message to a friend

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 inGlasgow, Scotland, is typically associated with violence, criminality, andaggression. There have been, however, no studies which have made asystematic attempt to uncover the role fine-grained phonetic variationplays in indexing the association of violence with Glaswegian Vernacular.This study is an ethnographically informed account of Glaswegian Vernacularwhich examines the nexus of language, identity, and violence using datacollected from a group of working-class adolescent males from a high schoolin 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 apparentlyhomogenous group of speakers use linguistic and social resources todifferentiate themselves from one another during their construction ofparticular social identities. Importantly, how speakers orientate towards a'tough' masculinity (through both linguistic and non-linguistic means) is akey part of this differentiation. This thesis sheds light on theinteraction between language and violence in Glasgow, and the processesthrough which adolescent males are caught up in this indexical relationship.