Mam or mum?


In an article published in the journal Sociolinguistic Studies, Dr Michael Pearce considers how the technological advances associated with Web 2.0 allow people to interact in online ‘communities’ built around shared interests and concerns. Michael's article examines an online messageboard virtually located in North East England, and explores the ways in which participants’ beliefs about and attitudes towards sociolinguistic variation emerge through discourse. He focuses on a single ‘conversation’ about the sociolinguistic variable mam/mum, revealing the language ideologies which inform the sociolinguistic awareness of participants, and concludes by using the concept of ‘late modernity’ as an interpretive frame to help understand what is happening as people appropriate a global technology for local social action.

Pearce, M. 2015.  Mam or mum? Sociolinguistic awareness and language-ideological debates online. Sociolinguistic Studies, 9 (1): 115-135.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forming and performing femininity

Image
Dr Angela Smith has co-edited a collection of essays exploring various aspects of feminism and femininity in a twenty-first-century context. The articles address a number of contemporary issues: from the way in which women are represented in make-over shows, fashion blogs, and 'selfies' to the wider discourses that frame such representations, such as gym culture, pop culture, film and literature, as well as television sitcoms. Drawing on feminist theory and the emergence of 'fourth-wave feminism', this collection concludes that there is still much work to be done in terms of gaining gender equality in society. Nally, Claire and Smith, Angela (eds) 2015.   Twenty-first Century Feminism :  Forming and Performing Femininity . London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Read more

The Journal of Intercultural Inquiry

Image
The Department of Culture, in conjunction with Scientia , is pleased to announce the launch of a new academic journal. The Journal of Intercultural Inquiry , which is edited by Drs Geoff Nash and Mike Pearce , is a refereed, peer-reviewed publication for scholars, researchers, students, and teachers who are interested in intercultural engagement in a globalized world. The journal offers a forum for critical debate and publication of research in the expanding field of intercultural inquiry. We see the concepts underpinning this area of study as fluid, dynamic and diverse, enlisting a variety of views and perspectives. The approach is interdisciplinary and its remit widely construed to include: language and communications, foreign languages, applied linguistics and translation, literary, historical, cultural and sociological studies, law, political science and international relations. For further information, visit the website or email jiiscientia@sunderland.ac.uk.
Read more

The creation of community in public participation media

Image
Dr Angela Smith will be presenting a paper at the 2015 Ross Priory Broadcast Talk Group's annual seminar to be held on the banks of Loch Lomond, 6-9th July. Her subject is how social media is used to create a sense of co-presence and community amongst viewers of the BBC1 show, Strictly Come Dancing , in both the BBC's official social media feeds and in the Guardian ’s dedicated blog. In so doing, she will revisit Livingstone and Lunt’s (1994) assessment of the privileging of ‘lay’ over ‘expert’ in public participation shows, as well as the creation online of a sense of co-present liveness that underpins more conventional aspects of broadcast sociability (Scannell, 1991).
Read more