Variation and diversityin the NZSL community

David McKee, Rachel McKee, & Sara Pivac AlexanderDeaf Studies Research Unit

Victoria University of Wellington

Language, Education and DiversityNovember 2007

Outline• About sociolinguistic variation

• Some research findings from NZSL• Lexical variation - examples

• Addressing variation in NZSL education• Issues & strategies

Variation in language is normal

In all language communitiesvariation occurs in - lexicon,phonology, grammar,discourse

Variation is not random: it’spatterned by social factors(age, gender, region, ethnicity,sexuality, class, setting), andlinguistic factors

Knowledge of variation is part ofnative speaker competence

Choice of words/style connoteinformation about identity andsituation

Social meanings of lexicalchoice: example

Large scale studies ofsociolinguistic variation in SL

ASL (Lucas, Bayley & Valli 2001)

Auslan (Schembri & Johnston 2004)

NZSL (in progress)Large representative corpus - 138 signers, 3 agegroups, 5 sites (collapsed to 3 regions)3 data types: interview, conversation, lexicalStatistical analysis of correlation between severallinguistic variables and age, region, gender, ethnicity

Social Variables Age

- generational differences expected due toeducation history & contact with other signlanguages

Region- based on place of residence/school attendance

Gender- do patterns of gender difference in spoken

language change apply to SL?

Ethnicity - does Pakeha/Maori status relate to NZSLuse?

Lexical variation study NZSL & Auslan studies: 80 target items, known to vary

Meaning shown on flash card (picture or word) to elicitsign

Signs selected for different reasons: family, colours, time signs, numbers, classifier-based,

technology-change, ‘PC’, new concepts, old/TC signs

Social variables considered for this study: Age, region & gender Ethnicity not considered due to insufficient data

Effect of Age:FATHER

Overall 25%65+ yr signers 55%15-64 yr signers 14%

Overall 72%65+ yr signers 33%15-64 yr signers 86%

Change in progress

Effect of Gender:number 8

Males use this form of 8more than females

Effect of Region:MY

Overall 55%North signers 32%Central signers 70%South signers 56%

Overall 25%North signers 59%Central signers 10%South signers 15%

North vs Central/South

Effect of Age & Region:WORK (semantic change)

Overall 14%65+ yr signers 44%40-64 yr signers 6%15-39 yr signers 0

Region - favoured South

Overall 86%65+ yr signers 55%40-64 yr signers 92%15-39 yr signers 100%

Region - favoured North

Effect of Age & Region:AUGUST - from mouth to fingerspelling

Overall 56%65+ yr signers 72%40-64 yr signers 39%15-39 yr signers 62%

Region - favoured South

Overall 34%65+ yr signers 14%40-64 yr signers 47%15-39 yr signers 28%

Region - favoured North

Overall Age is the biggest factor in lexical variation. Generational

differences reflect change in the lexicon thru apparent time. Region - has an effect in fewer cases Gender - least significant factor

Social factors may interact in lexical choice, eg. Age + Region NZSL lexicon more standardised since TC in schools, post-1979:

less variation among younger signers than among older signers. TC has replaced many earlier NZ signs Some lexical items have several co-existing variants: a sign of

growth & relexification in progress, internal & external influences.

Implications forLanguage Planning

Research has important role in documenting variation disseminating information about reasons for social variation

to communities of interest – impacts attitudes andknowledge base

Deaf Education has important role in L1transmission & maintenance of NZSL competent language models; access to NZSL community

Developing L2 teaching resources selecting and introducing variation for learners

Conclusions

Extent of variation in NZSL shows: The language is changing fast in response to

social change in usage of NZSL Changes evident within community language use

through time - and within individual lifespans Sociolinguistic information is an important

foundation for planning for use of NZSL innew domains

Thanks

Sociolinguistic Variation in NZSL project info:http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/research/research-

projects.aspx

david.mckee@vuw.ac.nz

Thanks to George Major andanonymous participants forcontributing to this research.