About:
The "How Michiganders Talk in the Lower Peninsula" study (or just "The L.P. Talk") is an L.P.-wide project to quantitatively investigate how communities on the eastern and western sides of the peninsula differ in the way they speak English and their beliefs and attitudes about themselves and others.
The study is not about "right" or "wrong" ways of talking. The study is interested in understanding the similarities and differences (if they exist) in how native long-standing L.P. residents produce, perceive, and think about the various L.P. speech patterns.
Current Counties of Focus
The Sociolinguistic Interview:
This sociolinguistic interview is a recorded interview that takes about 90 minutes to complete. During this interview, you are asked to perform various tasks to elicit production and perception data and attitudes about the everyday use of English in different L.P. regions.
Because this interview is recorded, each participant must complete a consent form before participating in the task. Please click here for the specifics of this consent form.
Participation:
In order to participate, you must:
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have lived no more than 20% of your life away from one of the following counties: Grand Traverse, Huron, Mason, Muskegon, or St. Clair,
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have received a high school diploma but nothing higher than a 4-year degree,
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have no history of a speech/hearing disorder or hearing loss, and
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be 18 or older.
Contact:
If you have questions or concerns regarding this study,
please feel to contact Wil A. Rankinen, Ph.D.,
principle investigator of the study,
at [email protected] or at (616) 331-5541.
