Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The aim of the study was to seek the origins of linguistic change in London's complex social mix, thus gaining a critical understanding of levelling in Britain. London is said to be the source of linguistic innovation in Britain in pronunciation and grammar. Socio-linguistic research in the southeast has been centred outside London, and has noted dialect levelling (homogenisation). An untested assumption has been that the new features observed have been diffusing from London. However, until this project, London had not been subject to systematic socio-linguistic investigation on a substantial scale. The study takes account of (1) London's multilingualism; (2) linguistic innovation in adolescence; (3) the effect of a 'multi-racial vernacular' among young Londoners on mainstream speech; and (4) differences in ethnic make-up, mobility and networks between inner and outer London, resulting in differences in capacity to innovate and spread linguistic features. The study sampled 102 16-19 year olds and 19 speakers in their 70s and 80s in two boroughs (Hackney and Havering), using quantitative and qualitative methods to find explanations for their speech patterns (only qualitative data has been deposited). Further information about the project, including publications, may be found on the project's web site Linguistic Innovators and ESRC grant award page. Main Topics:Topics covered in the study included: own life history in terms of residence and education; foreign visits; parents' origin, education and occupations; details of siblings; intensity of contact with parents and relatives - where do the latter live?; naming of five most important people; own ambitions, including desire to move or not; subjects studied at college; good and bad about college; attitudes to home locality; characteristics of and beliefs about youth groupings clustered around ethnicity, style, music, lifestyle, access to...