Language Choice and Communicative Intent in a British Black Community

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 differ...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Edwards, Viv
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published 1987
Subjects
Code Switching (Language)
Creoles
Cultural Context
Diachronic Linguistics
Dialects
Foreign Countries
Great Britain
Immigrants
Jamaicans
Language Contact
Language Patterns
Language Usage
Linguistic Performance
Sociocultural Patterns
Uncommonly Taught Languages
West Indians
Young Adults
United Kingdom (Great Britain)
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Summary: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)