z-logo
Premium
The mediated innovation model: A framework for researching media influence in language change[Note 1. The idea behind this article has been under development ...]
Author(s) -
Sayers Dave
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of sociolinguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1467-9841
pISSN - 1360-6441
DOI - 10.1111/josl.12069
Subject(s) - rhetorical question , sociology , globalization , convention , space (punctuation) , epistemology , linguistics , social science , political science , philosophy , law
Linguistic innovations that arise contemporaneously in highly distant locations, such as quotative be like , have been termed ‘global linguistic variants’. This is not necessarily to suggest fully global usage, but to invoke more general themes of globalisation vis‐à‐vis space and time. This research area has grown steadily in the last twenty years, and by asserting a role for mass media, researchers have departed intrepidly from sociolinguistic convention. Yet they have largely relied on quite conventional sociolinguistic methodologies, only inferring media influence post hoc. This methodological conservatism has been overcome recently, but uncertainty remains about the overall shape of the new epistemological landscape. In this paper, I review existing research on global variants, and propose an epistemological model for researching media influence in language change: the mediated innovation model . I also analyse the way arguments are constructed in existing research, including the use of rhetorical devices to plug empirical gaps – a worthy sociolinguistic topic in its own right.

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here