Style Shifting
Style shifting is the process by which speakers adjust their language along a formality continuum depending on the communicative context. Every speaker style-shifts. It is a universal feature of human language use, not a sign of inconsistency or "bad English."
Labov's Attention-to-Speech Model
William Labov (1966, 1972) proposed that styles can be arranged on a single dimension measured by the amount of attention paid to speech:
- Casual speech: minimal self-monitoring; closest to the vernacular
- Careful speech: moderate monitoring in formal conversation
- Reading passage: increased attention to pronunciation
- Word list: isolated words; high monitoring
- Minimal pairs: maximum attention to specific phonological contrasts
Labov's key insight: as attention to speech increases, speakers shift toward prestige forms. His New York City department store study showed that lower-middle-class speakers often hypercorrected in formal styles, producing more prestige features than the class above them, a phenomenon revealing social aspiration through language.
Labov characterised the vernacular, meaning speech with minimal self-monitoring, as the most systematic and consistent variety, and therefore the most valuable data for linguistic analysis. This is complicated by the Observer's Paradox: the act of observing speech makes speakers more self-conscious, pushing them away from their vernacular.
Beyond Attention-to-Speech
Later research challenged the one-dimensional attention model:
- Audience design (Bell 1984): speakers shift style primarily in response to their audience, not to attention levels. Style derives from and echoes social dialect differences.
- Speaker design (Coupland 2007): speakers actively construct identity through style choices, not merely responding to context. Style is creative, not just reactive.
Labov himself later clarified that attention-to-speech was intended as a "heuristic device" for the sociolinguistic interview, not a complete theory of style.
Dimensions of Style Shifting
Speakers adjust multiple features simultaneously:
| Dimension | Informal | Formal |
|---|---|---|
| Phonology | Reduced forms, assimilation, elision | Full forms, careful articulation |
| Grammar | Contractions, ellipsis, non-standard forms | Complete sentences, standard forms |
| Vocabulary | Slang, colloquialisms | Technical, Latinate vocabulary |
| Discourse | Fragmented, interactive | Planned, monologic |
| Pragmatics | Direct, casual | Hedged, polite |
Relevance to ELT
- Learners need to develop style-shifting ability: using formal English in essays and informal English in conversation. Teaching only one register produces socially awkward language use.
- Register awareness should be explicitly taught: what is appropriate in an email to a professor vs a message to a friend
- Authentic materials from different registers expose learners to the full formality spectrum
- Style shifting connects to assessment: test conditions (formal, monitored) may elicit a different variety from a learner's most natural, competent production
- Teachers themselves style-shift constantly, from classroom instruction register to casual staffroom chat, and can use this as a teaching point