This thesis explores the role of kindergarteners in sound change in New Zealand English (NZE) monophthongal vowels. Through examining the vowel productions of kindergarteners over time, this study tests two widely held assumptions; the first being that vernacular reorganisation begins around 4 to 5 years old and the second being that NZE is dialectally homogenous across Christchurch city. Measurements of eleven monophthongal vowels were taken from recordings of 36 children from two kindergarten Centres from two socio-economically different suburbs of Christchurch city. The children were recorded at two timepoints six months apart which allows us to see change in their vowel productions over time.

Labov (2001) proposed a model for how children accelerate the ongoing sound changes in their community. His model predicts that young children first acquire the accent of their parents, before the onset of ‘vernacular reorganisation’, in which children around 4 to 5 years of age begin to incrementally shift away from the parent model and reorganise their linguistic system until it stabilises around age 17. Much of the literature has tested the predicted endpoint of 17 years old, but there is very little research testing whether the putative age at which vernacular reorganisation begins is correct. This thesis seeks to determine whether the onset of this process is evident in the speech of 4- to 5-year-old children by comparing the vowel productions of kindergarteners to those of their community. Results showed that over the six-month period, the children of Centre A became more advanced than the adult community in the sound change of NURSE raising, while Centre B children appeared to be advancing a reversal of a canonical sound change of KIT in NZE through fronting. This thesis discusses the implications that these results have on our understanding of the onset of vernacular reorganisation.

The second purpose of this study was to test the long-held assumption that NZE has very little regional variation, and thus that NZE in Christchurch city is dialectally homogenous. This thesis explores whether changes detected in the children’s vowels are in line with previous findings on sound change in NZE or are at odds with them. As such, this contributes to our understanding of variation in NZE across Christchurch city. Results showed that several vowels changed over the six- month period, and that there were Centre based opposite directions of change for the KIT and NURSE vowels. Coupled with the finding that these children are advancing some sound changes in NZE, the difference in directions of change for KIT and NURSE between the two Centres over time indicate that Centre B may be in an area of Christchurch where new sound changes in NZE are developing. This thesis discusses future pathways for research on both the emergence of vernacular reorganisation and variation in NZE across Christchurch and the rest of New Zealand.