TAG QUESTIONS IN BRITISH TEEN TALK: A CORPUS-BASED SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY

Abstract

The paper will discuss the use of tag questions in the British teen talk as far as frequency, function and the social linguistic design and use/patterns are concerned. Using the corpus-based research method, the research notes naturalistic discussion within a diverse group of British teens, and it gives emphasis on how use of tag question differs in contexts. Gender, social identity, and conversational setting in the study emerge as the main factors which contribute to how they are used. It also addresses the issue of how the tag questions aspire and manifest the power relations, cohesiveness, and social connections among teenagers. The results indicate that tag questions can be considered an important element of adolescent speech used not only by the social in-group membership but as a means of identity marking. The research provides insight into the general picture of the difference between linguistic characteristics of different social groups and contexts in the modern British English.