Stance and Stancetaking

Abstract

Stance and stancetaking are considered here as related concepts that help to explain the patterning of language and the motivations for the use of lexical items, constructions, and discourse markers. I begin with a discussion of how stance can be used in variation analysis to help explain the patterning of variables and directions of change, and how stance is central in any understanding of the indexicality of sociolinguistic variables. I then provide a discussion of several approaches to theorizing stance and explicate a stance model that combines a number of these approaches, arguing that such a model should include three dimensions: evaluation, alignment, and investment. Finally, I outline several ways that stance has been operationalized in quantitative analyses, including analyses based on the model outlined.