Community Studies of Sociolinguistic Change in Appalachia

该项目的研究问题集中在传统方言如何改变以及阿巴拉契亚青少年如何改变它们以建立自己的身份在21世纪世纪。自第二次世界大战以来，美国农村发生了巨大变化，这些社区的社会语言模式在过去三代人中发生了变化。随着这些变化，阿巴拉契亚地区的英语在世纪中期将有明显的不同，这些转变在社会和语言上是复杂的。这种变化的社会语言学融合提供了一个很好的机会来研究为什么阿巴拉契亚青少年传播某些方言特征，而牺牲其他方言特征。该提案为社区带来了有价值的好处，因为它通过促进发现和了解哪些语言模式阻碍学生获得最充分的教育潜力，将研究和教育融为一体。该项目的成果将为整个阿巴拉契亚地区的教师提供以文化可持续方式处理语言多样性所需的内容和教学知识。长远目标是透过减少“刻板印象威胁”及为学生营造积极的学习环境，提高学生在课堂上的舒适度。拟议的研究汇集了14个变量和不同的西弗吉尼亚州元音系统，以记录语言变化的新趋势的检查。研究人员将对阿巴拉契亚学生进行采访，以比较方言模式。面试将在西弗吉尼亚州的四所学校进行：两所北方中学（农村和非农村）和两所南方中学（农村和非农村）。从以前的研究中最具社会标志性的变量提供了词汇，形态和语音的定量调查的变化。为了深入探讨青少年对社会语言模式的本地理解，我们还将进行课堂观察和焦点小组讨论。该项目的设计非常适合探索青少年如何使用语言模式来创造社会意义，推动阿巴拉契亚语言变异模式的传播和扩散。

The project's research questions focus on how traditional dialects have changed and how Appalachian teens alter them to build their own identities in the 21st century. Since World War II, rural America has changed dramatically, and sociolinguistic patterns in these communities have morphed over the last three generations. With these changes, English in Appalachia will be markedly different by the middle of the 21st century, and these transitions are socially and linguistically complex. This sociolinguistic confluence of change provides an excellent opportunity to examine why Appalachian teens propagate certain dialect features at the expense of others. This proposal provides worthwhile community benefits because it integrates research and education by advancing discovery and understanding of what language patterns hamper students from obtaining their fullest educational potential. The outcomes from the project will provide teachers across Appalachia with the content and pedagogical knowledge needed for addressing linguistic diversity in a culturally sustainable manner. The long-term objective is to boost students' comfort in the classroom by reducing 'stereotype threat' and fostering positive learning environments for students. The proposed study brings together the previous examination of 14 variables and divergent West Virginia vowel systems to document emerging trends in language variation. The researchers will conduct interviews with Appalachian students to compare dialect patterns. The interviews will be in four schools in West Virginia: two northern, secondary schools (rural and nonrural) and two southern, secondary schools (rural and nonrural). The most socially marked variables from the previous studies provide lexical, morphological, and phonological variation for quantitative investigation. To probe deeper into teens' local understanding of sociolinguistic patterns, we will also conduct classroom observations and focus group discussions. The project design is well-suited to explore how teens use linguistic patterns to create social meanings that drive transmission and diffusion of Appalachian language variation patterns.