Sorting speech by situation, region, and group

English · Vocabulary · ages 16-18

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which observation provides the clearest evidence of a regional pronunciation pattern?
- One vowel occurs across local groups in a town.
- One polite phrase occurs during job interviews.
- One short reply occurs when people are hurried.
A speaker says 'Send the file' to a friend and 'Please send the file' to an interviewer. Which interpretation does this comparison support?
- The speaker changes regional dialect between requests.
- The speaker shifts register for a different audience.
- The speaker changes social group between requests.
A grammatical difference from Standard English does not, by itself, show that a dialect lacks rules.
Circle one: True False
An invented transcript says, 'The twins arrived. They was waiting.' They refers to both twins. Which statement describes the grammar without an unsupported claim about the speaker?
- Was occurs with the plural subject they.
- They shows the speaker cannot use grammar.
- Waiting proves the speaker's home region.
An invented transcript follows one speaker ending a casual phone call, then making an appointment call. Turn 1: 'Yep, see you.' Turn 2: 'Bye, mate.' Turn 3: 'Good afternoon. May I book an appointment?' Which turn begins the more formal register?
- Turn 1: the opening farewell.
- Turn 2: the closing farewell.
- Turn 3: the appointment call.
A study finds that members of one hobby group use the same informal term across several regions. What does this distribution most directly support?
- A feature associated with one home region.
- A feature associated with a social group.
- A feature caused by formal interview rules.
A learner finds three matching verb endings in one speaker's transcript and says this proves a rule for the whole town. What is the problem?
- Verb endings cannot be dialect features.
- One speaker cannot establish town-wide usage.
- Three examples rule out social variation.
Two analysts disagree about whether a transcript shift follows a new listener or a new topic. What evidence would best help them decide?
- The number of words spoken in each turn.
- Their preference for one speaker's style.
- The timing of each change beside the shift.

Answer key

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Sorting speech by situation, region, and group W1-mt_SJ9T1azPop-s1

One vowel occurs across local groups in a town. · The vowel is shared across groups within a place. That distribution supports a regional link more directly than observations tied to interviews or hurry.
The speaker shifts register for a different audience. · The requests have the same purpose, but the audience and politeness change. This supports a register shift, without establishing a change of region or social group.
True · A dialect may have recurring grammatical patterns that differ from Standard English. Describe those patterns before making claims about the variety.
Was occurs with the plural subject they. · They refers to both twins, so it is plural here. Was is the verb form used with it. This describes the sentence without establishing the speaker's ability or origin.
Turn 3: the appointment call. · The appointment call introduces Good afternoon and a request phrased with May I. The earlier turns use casual farewell wording.
A feature associated with a social group. · The term follows group membership across regions. That supports a social link, while its informal use may also involve register.
One speaker cannot establish town-wide usage. · The examples may show a pattern for that speaker, but they do not establish how the whole town speaks. Compare more speakers and contexts.
The timing of each change beside the shift. · Compare when the listener and topic change with when the wording shifts. If they change together, the transcript may not distinguish their effects.