Labov's department store study
William Labov's sociolinguistic study examining pronunciation of the /r/ sound in different social contexts and class groups in New York City.
Real World
Labov visited Saks Fifth Avenue (upmarket), Macy's (mid-range), and S. Klein (budget) in New York, asking staff where a department was to elicit post-vocalic /r/ in natural speech.
Exam Focus
Credit-winning answers name Labov's methodology (covert observation, repeated elicitation) and link findings to both social class and style-shifting.
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