ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how speakers routinely draw on different varieties of English, or on English and other languages, to communicative effect- albeit rather less dramatically and without the aid of a script. It looks at variation within English, which has often been represented as a range of speaking styles associated with different contexts. The chapter looks at how speakers switch between languages, or language varieties, during the course of a single interaction. The Bishop of Sheffield had referred, in a meeting, to social and regional divisions in Britain and suggested that the Queen should have a greater presence in the north. Researchers have traditionally isolated certain features of context in order to examine how these relate to speaking style.
