'All us girls were like euuh!': Conversational work of be like in New Zealand adolescent talk

Abstract

The prolific use of vernacular like in the speech of teenagers in New Zealand (and abroad) has stimulated some debate concerning the efficacy and desirability of its various forms. Sociolinguists have traced the origin and development of one form (i.e. be like as a quotative marker), convincingly demonstrating that it is put to systematic use by speakers. The contribution of the present study is to examine the deployment of quotative be like as a meaningful resource during talk in interaction. The data have been taken from recordings of classroom sexuality-education activities in a Year 12 (age 16) Health programme in New Zealand. Participants deploy be like as a resource for the management of conversation, using it to frame their contributions as versions of opinions which are up for analysis. Be like stimulates collaboration and/or evaluation from the other participants, and after debate the original version can be modified or retracted without fear of censure. Concurrently be like enables rapport management, allowing for face work and the fulfilling of role-based responsibilities while speakers pursue the transactional goals of a sexuality-focused lesson. It is not clear, from these data, whether these are the primary interactional functions of be like or merely two functions amongst many. However, these findings demonstrate that be like is a means to social and communicative ends for these adolescent speakers of English, adding to a factual knowledge base about vernacular like which can critically inform value judgments about its desirability.