Lectal Focusing in Interaction

Abstract

A long-standing challenge in quantitative sociolinguistic analysis is identifying fine speaker meanings in interaction while retaining the ability to draw wider group comparisons. To bridge these goals, we propose a methodology for quantitative discourse analysis. In data from the Punjabi community in London, we initially find comparable group rates of use of an ethnolinguistic variable by older and younger British Asian (second-generation) men. We develop a new metric to assess whether these groups are in fact indexing similar ethnic and class meanings. Our measure of lectal focusing in interaction (LFI) tracks how much an individual shifts toward one or another style during a single interaction, focusing on Standard British English, Vernacular London English, and Indian English. Older British Asian men exhibit a high degree of LFI, shifting dramatically at times to achieve subtly strategic, interactionally tuned ends. Younger British Asian men show lower rates of LFI, particularly in their use of ethnic variants. Despite the continued use of similar forms, the LFI analysis identifies changes in indexical potential and a shift from marker toward indicator-like usage. We account for this through major changes in the social practices and political climate over recent decades in the community. The LFI measure thus brings interactional analysis to bear on the causes and rates of language change.