ERIC Number: ED282450
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1987
Pages: 14
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Language Choice and Communicative Intent in a British Black Community.
Edwards, Viv
Current patterns of Patois (introduced by West Indian Creoles) as used by young Jamaicans in England is presented. Forty-five British-born individuals, aged 16 to 23, whose parents were Jamaican immigrants, participated in a study structured to elicit a wide range of speech patterns. Subjects differed greatly in educational background and in social network relations. Clear differences emerged in formal and informal situations in the length of utterance, the symmetry of exchanges, and the number of interruptions. Five distinct language choice patterns were found. The language behavior of British Blacks varies considerably between individuals and in different situations, and a situational hierarchy exists that allows prediction of the likelihood of a speaker using Patois. There was also evidence that in certain situations, either Patois or English was the marked, or expected choice, with use of the unmarked language signifying clear rejection of a role or status associated with the marked language. The greatest obstacle to the identification of language choice patterns was the lack of objective criteria for labeling a situation as either "Patois" or "English." (MSE)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Great Britain)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A