Integrating qualitative and quantitative analyses of stance

A case study of English that/ zero variation

Bibliographic Data

ID7901970
AuthorsTimothy Gadanidis (0000-0003-0599-2961, University of Toronto), Angelika Ki (0000-0001-8064-3687, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Lex Konnelly (0000-0002-0200-3112, University of Toronto), Katharina Pabst (0000-0003-1952-9329, University of Toronto), Lisa Schlegl (0000-0003-2611-7349, University of Toronto), Pocholo Umbal (0000-0002-2423-0156, University of Toronto), Sali A Tagliamonte (0000-0002-1955-2396, University of Toronto)
Year2023
Volume52
Issue1
Pages27-50
Publication date2023-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404521000671
OpenAlexW3197503917
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited50

Previous work has shown that stance—the way speakers position themselves with respect to what they are talking about and who they are talking to—provides powerful insights into why speakers choose certain linguistic variants, beyond correlations with macro-social categories such as gender, ethnicity, and social class. However, as stancetaking moves are highly context-dependent, they have rarely been explored quantitatively, making the observed variable patterns difficult to generalize. This article seeks to contribute to this methodological gap by proposing a formal guide to coding stance and demonstrating how it can be operationalized quantitatively. Drawing on a corpus of eight individuals, self-recorded in three situations with varying levels of social distance, we apply this method to variation between English complementizers that and zero (i.e. no overt complementizer), providing a replicable and theoretically grounded protocol that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative analyses in a variationist sociolinguistic study. (Stance, complementizers, that , English

Complementizer · Epistemology · Linguistics · Operationalization · Sociology · Variation (astronomy) · Zero (linguistics) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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