NWAV48

Dialect coaching for sociolinguists: Insights on articulatory setting

In this poster we draw on insights from the field of dialect coaching, specifically methods like Knight-Thompson Speechwork, to contribute to discussions on the role of articulatory setting in dialectal variation. KTS is a method of voice training for performers that prioritizes oral posture over segmental features, under the reasoning that the latter often comes with the former. We reference textbooks, journals, blogs, publicly available interviews, and interviews we conducted with practitioners to explore the way that experienced dialect coaches discuss articulatory settings. Our primary focus is on how coaches are developing descriptions of oral posture: the articulators they focus on, the exercises they assign, how they use video, and how they use affectual descriptions. These insights have clear implications for less conscious performance: all speech is embodied, and in seriously exploring articulatory settings of the speakers in our studies we may more fundamentally understand how and why language changes.