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Article published In:
Asia-Pacific Language Variation
Vol. 9:1 (2023) ► pp.1–28

Topic-based variation as both cognitive and agentive

Identity politics, deaf speakers, and hearing researcher

ORCID logo | National Cheng Kung University | University of Edinburgh

Topic-based style-shifting refers to the variation pattern that, when people talk about a topic, they shift to a linguistic style which is associated with the topic. Most of the research on topic-based variation in read speech have not taken stance-taking into consideration. This study argues that stance-taking needs to be included in the analysis of topic-based variation, for reading something aloud is a practice where individuals engage with the message communicated in a text. This study looks at the socially salient variable /ʂ/ in Taiwan Mandarin, and how deaf speakers exploit this variable to perform their stances towards a passage concerned with the political relationship between hearing people and deaf signers. The findings show that participants who demonstrate a stance of deaf solidarity diverge from standard speech styles in their repertoires when reading the deaf passage.

Keywords: stance-taking, cognitive sociolinguistics, read speech, retroflex fricative, deaf identity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Topic-based style-shifting
  • 3.Research design
    • 3.1Reading tasks
    • 3.2Participants and the researcher
  • 4.Linguistic variable: /ʂ/, to retroflex or not
    • 4.1Hearing people and /ʂ/
    • 4.2‘Deaf accents’ and /ʂ/
  • 5.Stance-taking analysis
    • 5.1A stance of solidarity
    • 5.2Stance of distance
  • 6.Data analysis
    • 6.1Pathologised speakers
    • 6.2Non-pathologised speakers
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 24 July 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.22001.wan
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