As students of English Language, we know that context greatly affects communication decisions. Linguistic choices will be influenced by the target audience of the communication, as well as the background and identity of the speaker or writer themselves.
In the social media post below, Indigenous Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy has made specific lexical choices to achieve her communicative purpose, which is to persuade Indigenous Australians to get tested and vaccinated against Covid. There has been more mistrust of government medical advice among this demographic, unfortunately stemming from historical events.
Here, McCarthy uses the vocative noun phrase 'NT mob' to refer to her constituents, which has connotations of community and invokes in-group membership, given the Senator's Indigenous identity.
She also employs the imperative 'don't be shame', which features the non-Standard adjective 'shame' meaning 'embarrassed', a lexical marker of the Indigenous Australian ethnolect.
Through these linguistic choices, McCarthy is more likely to connect with her target audience and achieve her communicative purpose.
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