Chapter 1: What do sociolinguists study?

CHAPTER 1: WHAT DO SOCIOLINGUISTS STUDY? What is a sociolinguist? sociolinguist?   

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Study the relationship between language and society Find the explanation why speakers speak differently in different society Study the social functions of language and how language conveys social meaning o To understand the different types linguistics variations used to express and reflect social factors Study the way language l anguage works Describe sociolinguistic variation and explain why these variations happen o Steps that should be taken to provide explanation: Step 1:  1:  identify the linguistic variation (eg vocabulary, sound, grammatical construction, dialects, language) Step 2: identify 2: identify clearly the different social or non-linguistic factors which lead speakers to use one form rather than another (eg. Features relating to participants, setting or function of the interaction) 

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Sociolinguistics: Sociolinguistics: 

Is concerned with the relationship between language and the context in which it is used o The way people talked is influenced by the social context in which they are talking o Example: the way you speak to you lecturers is different than the way you speak to your friends. f riends.

Language has a lot of functions: functions:    

To ask and give information To express annoyance To convey information Etc

Language provides a variety of variety of ways of saying the same things: 

Examples: o Addressing and greeting people (Hello Dr/Hi/Good morning, sis) o Paying complements (fantastic job/well done/good work)

Variety   

is a term used to denote any identifiable kind of language (Spolsky, 2006) referring to language context a set of linguistic forms under specific social circumstances

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The social background  of a person (education & occupation) determines the linguistics variation he/she uses (vocabulary, pronunciation, language choices) Style - A variety of language used by an individual appropriate to a level of formality (Spolsky, 20006) Dialect  –   a variety of a language used recognisable in a specific region or by a specific social class (social dialect)  

Each dialect has its own pronunciation, words The reason for choosing one dialect rather than the another involves some social considerations  –   the participants, the social setting, the topic or purpose of the interaction

Social factors, dimension and explanations: Social factors:  

Have important influences on the use of a particular (or linguistic) variety. In any situation, linguistic choices will generally reflect the influence of one or more of the following components: o The participants –  who is speaking? & who are they speaking to? o The setting  or social context of the interaction  –   where are they speaking? o The topic: what is being talked about? o The function: why are they speaking?

Social dimension: 

There are several important dimensions for analysis which relate to the social factors o A social distance scale  –   concerned with participant relationships A status scale  –   concerned with the participant relationships o o A formality scale 0- concerned with setting or type of interaction o Two functionality scales  –  concerned with the purposes or topic of interaction

THE SOLIDARITY –  Social distance scale

INTIMATE HIGH SOLIDARITY

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How well we know someone determine the language choice

DISTANT LOW SOLIDARITY

THE STATUS SCALE  –  Social distance scale SUPERIOR HIGH STATUS

HIGH STATUS harbours respect

SUBORDINATE LOW STATUS

LOW STATUS  – Low Social Economic Status

THE FORMALITY SCALE  –  setting and type of interactions FOMAL HIGH FORMALITY

In a formal interaction, the language used will be influenced by the formality of the setting. In an informal

INFORMAL LOW FORMALITY

interaction, people will use colloquial language

THE REFERENTIAL & AFFECTIE FUNCTION SCALES  –  the purposes & topic of interaction REFERENTIAL HIGH INFORMATION CONTENT

LOW INFORMATION CONTENT AFFECTIVE

HIGH AFFECTIVE CONTENT

LOW AFFECTIVE CONTENT

Referential  –  convey objective information of a

Information that is more concerned with expressing

referential kind and it can also express how

feelings and more often have little new information to

someone is feeling.

communicate.

Example: Gossip provides a great deal of new

Eg: talk between neighbours over the fence, is mainly

referential information and also conveys how

affective in function, hence conveys little information  –

the speaker feels about those referred to.

it is intended to convey goodwill towards your neighbour, rather than new information

Sometimes, one function will dominate. The more referentially oriented an interaction is, the less it tends to express the feeling of the speaker.

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