Doctoral Dissertation Research: Style, Ideology, and Youth Cultural Practice in the Context of Language Shift

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This dissertation project will investigate linguistic style and variation among American Indian adolescents on the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. Specifically, the study looks at the construction of style through the use of local linguistic resources from regional English and the heritage language (South Piegan Blackfoot), and in addition, supralocal linguistic resources made available through popular culture and media. The study explores to what extent adolescents actively and creatively make use of resources from popular culture and mass media for their own social purposes, and reproduce and transform their meanings; to what extent their linguistic practices reproduce dominant ideologies about language and social categories; and how ideologies of distinction with regard to race, ethnicity, and other axes of identity influence the stylistic practices of these adolescents. The linguistic practices of 40 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 will be analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods, with data collected ethnographically. This work draws on linguistics, cultural studies, and anthropology to better understand contemporary linguistic practices of American Indian youth. Its findings may have implications for multilingual and American Indian education, as well as for developing both curricular and extracurricular activities that strengthen identity and have a positive effect on academic achievement. Finally, by considering relationships between popular culture and language revitalization, this study complements research that aims to better understand the importance of linguistic diversity, especially in the face of globalization.