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Research exploring the interrelation between popular cultural texts and children’s out-of-school literacy practices has stressed the central role that such texts play, showing their benefits to learning. Using a multi-level analytical framework ranging from the macro-level of the whole linguistic repertoire of a TV cartoon movie (Merry Madagascar) to the micro-level of selected scenes of the TV movie, the aim of the present study is to examine the role of sociolinguistic style in cartoons, and thus contributing to the limited relevant sociolinguistic research on mass cultural texts for children. The analysis showed that all characters drew upon a variety of stylistic resources, both social and geographical, which were associated with particular language ideologies. Specifically, youth language was linked to the building of characters with humor and who want to have fun. The representation of genderlect (feminine style of talk) was employed for the reproduction of gendered stereotypes. On the other hand, the Northern Greek regional accent was used for the construction of bad characters. In conclusion, the present study suggests that sociolinguistic style in cartoons constitutes a powerful tool for teaching children the linguistic prejudice and social discriminations targeted to social groups speaking “deviant” language varieties.
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In-Text Citation: (Maroniti et al., 2013)
To Cite this Article: Maroniti, K., Stamou, A. G., Dinas, K. D., & Griva, E. (2013). The sociolinguistic style of cartoons: The case of the TV movie Merry Madagascar. Multilingual Academic Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 1(2), 59–75.
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