You're All Talk: why we are what we speak

(Paperback)

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Why do we have different accents and where do they come from Why do you say tomayto and I say tomahto And is one way of speaking better than another In You're All Talk, linguist Rob Drummond explores the enormous diversity in how language is spoken to reveal extraordinary insights into how humans operate - how we perceive (and judge) other people and how we would like ourselves to be perceived. He investigates how and why we automatically associate different accents with particular social characteristics - degrees of friendliness, authority, social class, level of education, race, and so on - and how we, consciously or subconsciously, change the way we speak in order to create different versions of ourselves to fit different environments. Ultimately, You're All Talk demonstrates the beauty of linguistic diversity and how embracing it can give us a better understanding of other people - and ourselves. Praise for Researching Urban Youth Language and Identity- 'This collaborative piece of research raises awareness of the value of nonstandard language and informs policymakers and commentators, which will hopefully help mitigate social bias and inequality. It also has implications for future studies, both empirically and theoretically, by offering an elaborate account of conducting fieldwork as well as combining different research traditions. This book is especially helpful to those who will conduct school-based ethnography.' -Gloria Yan Dou, Language in Society Praise for Researching Urban Youth Language and Identity- 'Drummond's writing will be accessible to a wide range of readers, including students and those with no background in sociolinguistic research ... Researching Urban Youth Language and Identity offers a thoughtful, reflective, and unusually honest account of doing fieldwork in a challenging context. It is engaging, highly readable, and will certainly be of use to anyone considering linguistic ethnography - of any type - in the future.' -Lucy Jones, Journal of Linguistics Praise for Researching Urban Youth Language and Identity- 'This book is a gem. It gives rare insights into the lives and language of young people in non-mainstream learning centres, treated with the respect and admiration that Drummond shows us they clearly deserve. But it does far more than this. It portrays the roller coaster ride of a successful interdisciplinary research project, from start to finish, with all the trials and excitement encountered along the way. This engagingly written personal account will be hugely important for linguists, teachers, policy makers and anyone interested in urban youth language, and inspirational and essential reading for both new and experienced researchers.' -Jenny Cheshire FBA, Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London

Author Bio

Rob Drummond describes himself as a public-facing academic linguist. In other words, he does the research, but then likes to explain the findings to whoever might be interested outside of academia. His main area of interest is the relationship between spoken language and identity, but he has been known to get drawn into debates on anything from rogue apostrophes, to the banning of slang in schools, to the rights and wrongs of language pedantry. Before becoming an academic and author, Rob worked as an English Language Teacher, a stay-at-home Dad, a part-time musician, and a 5-star fast food employee. He also spent a few very amusing years working as a television extra, selflessly supporting the careers of some acting stars (and getting sacked from the TV show Brookside). Rob grew up in Hertfordshire, but has proudly lived in Bolton, Greater Manchester, since 1999.