Perceptual Dialectology Assignment (15%)
Data collection due Week 5 (5%)
Write-Up due Week 6 (10%)
For your second assignment, you will be collecting, and analyzing perceptual dialectological responses to the U.S. map from speakers who grew up in the Inland North.
Data collection (5%) due Tuesday 4/30 12:30 p.m. (bring maps to class)
Blank United States maps will be distributed in class in Week 4 (if you lose yours, the PDF version is posted to our Canvas page). You will use these maps to gather perceptual dialectology data from two people who grew up in the Inland North (i.e., people who have never lived in another region). The participants should also meet the same criteria as our wordlist participants: please find participants who are 18-25 and self-identify as native speakers of English (it doesn't matter if they speak other languages as well). They should not be yourself or a classmate, and they should not have completed the assignment for any other student.
For each participant (separately), ask them to assign one integer between 1 and 10 to each state on the map's first side, rating them based on how "correct" they think the English is that is spoken by people in that state, 1 means "least correct English" and 10 means "most correct English." Then, ask them to flip the map over and assign numeric ratings based on how "pleasant" they think the English is that is spoken by people in that state, 1 meaning "least pleasant" and 10 meaning "most pleasant". On each side, do your best to ensure that your participants have placed only one number on each state, and have assigned a number for all 50 states. As your participant completes the task, they may want to talk about their impressions. You can converse with them casually, but do your best not to guide or influence their rating decisions. Encourage them to write comments in the white space to explain their ratings for particular places, or to write down some general thoughts or impressions they have, and you can take notes on other things you observe. Assure them there are no "right" or "wrong" answers. We are merely conducting a survey of their impressions.
If it would help, you may use the script below:
"We would like you to take a look at this map of the United States and think about the different dialects of English spoken around the country. With your pencil/pen, write a number between 1 and 10 on each state on the map. Rate each state according to how [correct/pleasant] you think the English is that is spoken there. 1 means "least correct English" and 10 means "most correct English." Make sure to put a number on every single state. Please be as honest as possible. Don't worry, there are no right or wrong answers, and this is not a geography test! We are just trying to get a sense of your impressions. Feel free to write any notes or thoughts you have in the white space to explain some of your ratings, but this is not required."
After a participant has completed the map task, input their responses in the Google Doc linked here. Note that there are two tabs - one for "correctness" ratings, one for "pleasantness." In the first rows, I've supplied one sample entry for you to use as a model for each of yours. In addition to some basic demographic information about your participant, please input the numbers assigned to each state in each of the columns on the spreadsheet. Note that at the rightmost end of the spreadsheet (columns BE and BF) there is space for you to record notes you and/or your participant made.
Bring your completed maps to class on Tuesday 4/30. Additionally, make sure you have completed all data entry into the GoogleDoc before class that day. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Write-Up (10%) Due Thursday 5/9 11 a.m.
Annette will compile all data from the GoogleDoc and make two complete perceptual dialectology maps (one for "correct", one for "pleasant" of the United States, based on our data. The map is available here. Your task for the write-up is to make sense of these maps.
Get your thinking started by asking yourself some of these questions:
- What patterns can you identify in the map ratings?
- What does this map and our data say about how Inland Northerners view where "proper" English is spoken in the United States?
- How do Inland Northerners in 2019 compare with others discussed in previous work?
- What factors seem to contribute to their impressions?
For your write-up, conduct your own analysis of the map, using the Preston (1989) and the Bucholtz et al. (2007) articles and any other academic work in this area as a guide, as well as the demographic information, notes, and specific data on the GoogleDoc. What you conclude is up to you, but make sure that your analysis is grounded in the theories, concepts, and dialectological facts we've discussed in class or read about. Challenge yourself to be focused, concise, and organized.
This write-up should be approximately 2-3 pages double-spaced. Please cite any references in the text, with full citations in an additional References section at the end. Submit your paper via Canvas by the deadline. Note that as stated on the syllabus, late write-ups will be subject to the course late policy.