ABSTRACT
Chapter 10 introduces the third section of the book which focuses on variation in the uses of language. This chapter explores how sociolinguists distinguish different speech styles, and examines how speech is both influenced by and constructs the contexts in which language is used in both Western and non-Western communities. The influence of the addressee on the speaker’s language is exemplified from informal contexts, illustrating the concept of audience design. The processes of speech accommodation, convergence and divergence are discussed, as well as the concept of referee design. The interaction of the formality and status dimensions is examined and stylisation is discussed, along with the concept of hypercorrection. The way that distinctive styles or registers may be shaped by the functional demands of particular situations or occupations is considered. A range of methods for collecting and analysing data on stylistic contrasts is described, including the use of digital, online and social-media sources, and corpus data.
