An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

Rubén Chacón Beltrán

AN INTRODI]CTIOI{TO SOCIOLINCTJISTICS

UNrvsRsro¡o NecroNer o¡, EoucacróN a Dtsr¡Ncr¡

ACKNOWLEDCEMENTS

I am grateful to many people for their encouragement and assistancein producing this book. Firstly, I would like to thank my colleague JimLawley for his support and guidance as well as his willingness to reviseand comment on drafts. I must also thank my colleagues in theDepartamento de Filologías Extranjeras y sus Lingüísticas at UNED,especially Ricardo Mairal Usón for his encouragement to carry out thiswork, and Mónica Aragonés GonzáIez for her support and help with otheracademic tasks that enabled me to keep on working on these UnidadesDidácticas, and Norberro Cerezal Sierra for his assistance with computermatters.

Finally, I would like to thank Inmaculada Senra Silva for her valuableremarks and revisions of the various drafts, for her support during a

difficult yeaq and for her patience.

AAVEAmE.BrE.CPEFLEngl.EUFLHCEJPL1L2

LWCMEMnEOEOHGPdERPSLTPUDLR

ACRONYMS USED II{ THIS BOOK

African American Vernacular EnglishAmerican EnglishBritish EnglishCorpus PlanningEnglish as a Foreign LanguageEnglishEuropean UnionForeign LangaugeHawaiian Creoie EnglishJamaican Patois (or Patwa)First Language, with reference to the order of acquisitionSecond or Additional Language, with reference to the order ofacquisitionLanguage of Wider CommunicationMiddle EnglishModern EnglishOld EnglishOld High GermanPresent-day EnglishReceived PronunciationSecond Language, with reference to the learning context.Tok PisinUniversal Declaration of Linguistic Rights

INDEX

Acknowledgements

Acronyms

Index

Introduction

11

1.5

1.

2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

9.10.11.1.2.

13.

232426262829323539424343434547

UNIT 1

Introduction: Key concepts in sociolinguisticsSociolinguistics vs. sociology of language................The origins of sociolinguisticsVariationSome instances of variationDiachronic variationSpeech communityDoing sociolinguistic research ..............ExercisesReferencesResources on the webFurther readings and questions

INTRODUCTION

This book aims at providing the readers with a general framework forthe study of a new discipline, sociolinguistics. The training and knowledgegained by reading and using these Unidades Didácticas can introduce thestudent to the fascinating world of languages in interaction and may alsoar^,,aken the reader's interest in researching other aspects of this field. Thisbook has been conceived as a course book for Sociolingüística Inglesa andu-ill provide future language teachers -at elementary secondary universityor continuing education levels- with a basic training in sociolinguistics,ianguage variation, language contact and language education as part of theirpreparation for their teaching tasks in the language classroom.

A considerable variety of ways in which language and society areinterconnected and interact is presented in this book. There are manypossible relations between language and society and some of them willbe presented in these pages. Social configuration and organization alsodetermine linguistic structure and usage showing that the relationshipbetween language and society is bidirectional. The varieties that peopleuse may reveal some of the speaker's variables such as age, geographic,social or ethnic origin, and gender. The question of language choice isworth mentioning because it may not only determine the use of aparticular code but also the choice of some words instead of others, ofsome features of pronunciation or even rules of speaking.

Sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics are closely related disciplines.They deal with the social and individual side of human behavior. Thesetwo aspects are portrayed in this book, some units deal with the socialdimension of language, i.e., language as part of social relations and as ameans of communication and interaction with other human beings,

l'

t6 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUiSTICS

whereas some other units show a greater concern for the other side of thesame coin, i.e., the individual dimension of language and, therefore, dealwith aspects such as code-switching, bilingualism and diglossia.

The field of sociolinguistics is very wide-ranging and touches manydifferent aspects of language and society. A selection has been made onthe basis of the objectives set for this subject in the curriculum of FilologíaInglesa. The fact that the subject Sociolingüística Inglesa probablyconstitutes the first encounter of many students with this branch oflinguistics has also been taken into account. Sociolinguistics is an extensiveand interdisciplinary field, the full scope of which is difficult to cover ina course like the one for which this book has been designed. This factaccounts for the need to select some topics in preference to others and,in the case of this book, a clear inclination towards applied issues can beperceived mainly because they are aspects that future language teachersmay need to face in their classrooms.

The particular characteristics of distance learning and teaching havealso shaped the final configuration of this book. Each unit ends withreferences to the glossary as well as some exercises that aim at helpingstudents reflect on sociolinguistic issues. On many occasions, the solutionsto these exercises are not provided for two reasons. On the one hand, as

indicated above, these are open-ended questions that do not have a singleanswer. Providing an answer would have a misleading effect as it mightlead the students to think that there is one response that prevails over theothers. On the other hand, students have access to a discussion forum onthe web page for this subject and can exchange their answers andcomments. In this way, an enriching and valuable debate can take place.

The structure of this book

This book has been arranged in six units and starts with a generalintroduction to key concepts in sociolinguistics that will allow the studentto approach this new field of study and research. The reader will bebrought into touch with the general field of sociolinguistics, althoughmost examples and references will be taken from English or multilingualcontexts where English is somehow involved. Moving on from these initialtheoretically-based principles, some applied aspects of sociolinguisticstudy are considered in the last units so that the close connection behveenthis field of study and everyday life can be perceived.

Unit I deals with some introductory aspects of sociolinguistics likethe definition and configuration of this discipline. its relation to

I\_TRODUCTION

socioiogy of language, the synchronic and the diachronic perspectivesri r.ariation and the explanation and exemplification of r,r.'hat is¡onsidered a speech community. Finally, the student is presented u'ith>ome approaches in sociolinguistic research that will give him/her an-,n-erall sense of the scope of the field and its potential repercussions on;r'en'day life.

Unit 2 concentrates on a key concept for sociolinguistics namely"' ;iation and the description of some variables that clearly determine or.re determined by variation like style, register and gender. Speech.::ommodation is also dealt with in this unit as it portrays the speakers'-r:ention to avoid or respond to variation differences by a speaker.

f nit 3 includes a description of pidgins and creoles in some parts of-:: rrorld. Special attention is paid to English-based creoles and examples

":- prorided in Hawaiian Creole English, Jamaican Patwa and Tok Pisin.T:i: process of decreolization is also depicted in this unit and some-::-plications for the use of pidgins and creoles in formal education are:r:Sented.

f nit 4 centers on some sociolinguistic aspects that portray the social::i rhe individual dimension of this branch of linguistics, and deals with:--::lsualism, code choice, diglossia, multilingualism and language contact;- -- al ious scenarios.

f nit 5 presents some applied aspects of sociolinguistics that can:.::ainlr- have some bearing on the wellfare of humanity and the:c",':-':pment of our society as is the case of bilingual education, language:;:ning and policy as two ways of introducing sociolinguistic aspects in:r-: li, es. In this unit, some practical instances of bitingual education andiar-€rrage policy are portrayed in places like canada, Australia and India.l: .:c rhis unit, the current situation of the EU in relation to languageJr:r';r,'is analyzed.

Lnit 6 also introduces some applied issues in sociolinguistics and-rgx::bes the interface between sociolinguistics and language teaching,!',i' ilproaching the analysis of classroom discourse and language.r": r''-sirion. Some references to related disciplines like discourse analysismrc ::::gmatics are included in this unit. To end this selection of topics,rIlM - -

--::er interesting aspects are presented: forensic linguistics and worldft,g-=r:s.

i-::allr, a glossary with scme key terms in the field is presented to.;l,r*,:i:'" iinportant concepts for this sub,ject which will pave the wa¡z for'nur***=: ieading.

l7

Íi

l

I l8 AN TNTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

Purpose of this book

Language ability is part of human beings and parl of the developmentof our societies, our personal lives and our role in society. This book triesto provide the reader with some background knowledge on the mainprinciples and lines of research that may help them reflect on some basicsociolinguistic principles that govern human interaction, in general, andthe English-speaking world, in particular. The ultimate goal is to help thereader develop the necessary receptiveness to perceive the presence ofsociolinguistic principles in their oral and written interaction with otherspeakers of English.

How to use this book

This book has been especially designed for distance learning studentswho will not have traditional classes in which most of the contents for thesubiect are introduced by the teacher. This particular situation presentssome disadvantages because the learner has to be largely autonomousand follow the instr-r-rctions given in the course book to find the responseto many issues that, in a different learning situation, would be readilyanswered by the teacher. While studying this subject, students will need

to make use of different resources, especially the Internet, to find examplesof what otherwise might seem rather cryptic theoretical description.

Distance learning also has many advantages for the learner who in asubject like this will need to combine the guidance provided in this bookwith further readings, Internet search and active participation in thediscussion forum. In this way, learners will have the chance to feed theirown curiosity even beyond the scope of this subject and, they will also beshown the way to integrate research as part of their own learning process.Active participation in the discussion for-um will keep students in touchwith other students facing the same questions and the teaching team thatwill monitor it.

Each unit finishes with a list of key words which are dealt with in theunit they accompany and which are defined at the end of the book in theglossary. Students are requested to go through these key words beforeengaging in the reading of each chapter. Knou,ing the meaning of thesewords before they start reading will enable students to work through thediscussion in the chapter without having to break off to consult theglossary. In the same way, a review of these same terms is recommendedwhen thev finish each unit.

INTRODUCTION

It is suggested, then, that students read the whole chapter straightthrough in order to have an overview of the topics dealt with and, at alater stage, go back to study each section in more detail and do theexercises proposed for each section in each chapter. Some of the answersfor these exercises are provided in the section'Key to the exercises'. Onmany occasions, as these exercises have an open answer and requirestudents to express their own point of view students should make use ofthe discussion forum created for this subject to exchange and discussanswers.

Apart from the exercises and activities included at the end of eachchapter, some reading is provided so that students can have access to keytexts in the field of sociolinguistics. Due to space restrictions and the lengthof the subject Sociolingüística Inglesa (one semester), only a limitedselection of readings could be introduced. However, students areencouraged to read further in the works from which these fragments havebeen taken as well as consulting other references provided at the end ofeach chapter. Sociolinguistics is a branch of linguistics that due to itsinterdisciplinary nature requires from the student a broad perspective:the more the students read about the topic, the wider their perspective.

In the Resources on the web section, a number of interesting websites are suggested for each unit. The use of the Internet and web resourcesseems crucial for the study of this discipline because it allows referenceto authentic samples of language that portray different instances ofsociolinguistic variation (for example, while studying pidgins and creoles,it would be important to see web-based publications in a given pidgin orcreole). Using web sites and resources has one chief drawback and thatis that web links sometimes change or are re-directed to a different site.The web links selected to accompany this subject are considered stablein the sense that they have been working for some years, and are expectedto be kept on working in the future.

Student participation in the discussion forum is also encouraged asstudents will need to access additional information that will be posted onthe web for their studv.

19

Unit 1

1. INTRODUCTION:KEY CONCEPTS IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS

Language is commonly used to convey meaning but that is not all weuse language for. Language is used for a number of things other thantransmitting a verbal message, among them, to initiate, maintain andpreserve social relationships with other members of the society. Therefore,language should be understood as a social phenomenon that relates thespeakers to their societal enüronment and their kinship to other membersof the speech community. As a result of the complexity of humanrelationships, we do not speak in the same way to a classmate as to aprofessor. Parents do not speak in the same way to their offspring as theydo to their parents, or their boss. But, our way of transmitting messages

depends, of course, not only on linguistic matters but also on non-linguisticones such as body language, contextual and situational factors, amongothers.

Sociolinguistics can be defined as a field of research and study thatdeals with the relation between language and society. It copes with thelinks that can be found between one or more languages and their userswho live within a specific speech community. Sociolinguistics examinesthe societal and linguistic patterns that govern our behaüor as membersof human society and how they affect interaction.

Sociolinguistics is a relatively new field. In the 50's and 60's,sociolinguists began to oppose Chomsky's abstraction of language.Chomsky aimed at finding basic grammatical structures that could accolintfor the existence of structured patterns across languages relying on "ideal"native speaker's intuitions to describe and interpret language.Sociolinguists, howevel tried to find the reasons for linguistic variationsin social and environmental conditions. Chomsky was concerned with theideal speaker/listener communication in a completely homogeneous speechcommunity who knows the language as a native speaker (rather a fuzzy

24 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

concept, in fact), that is to say, perfectly. This monolithic üew of the nativespeaker has nothing to do with the conception of the native speaker insociolinguistics where social and non-linguistic factors are considered ofkey importance for communication. what is more, chomskyb descriptionof a native speaker in a homogeneous speech community is far from beingconsidered commonplace or even real. Speech communities are not easyto delimit and geographical proximity is not always a valid criterion inorder to find a reliable definition. Does an English speaker from Edinburghspeak the same way as someone from downtown London or Liverpool?Undoubtedly they speak the same language, English, but their use is quitedifferent. And, do all three speakers belong to the sarne speech community?They have spoken English since childhood and they live in the samecountry with the same cultural background. As regards the second issue,the three aforementioned speakers can consider themselves native speakersof the same language, English, in spite of clear societal or dialectalvariation.

From the very beginning a break could be perceived between theapproaches and methods used by generativists and sociolinguists in theirquest for language nature and development. Dell Hymes (1971) coinedthe term communicative competence as opposed to chomsky's linguisticcompetence. Communicative competence refers not only to the humanability to use the language in different situations and under differentcircumstances but it also refers to other non-linguistic aspects which arealso part of the communication process, such as: silence, turn-taking,volume, amount of talk, word choice, gestures, etc. Ali of these being partof the communication process and completing purely linguistic aspectssuch as phonology, morphology and syntax. Hymes'contribution to thefield of sociolinguistics has been paramount and the concept ofcommunicative competence is nowadays widespread in other disciplinesand areas of research. In chapter 6 we will see the importance ofcommunicative competence and later developments of the construct insecond ianguage teaching and iearning.

2. SOCIOLINGUISTICS VS. SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE

when in the late ó0's sociolinguistics first developed as an academicfield of study, two names were given to this still incipient discipline:sociolinguistics and sociology of language, and both terms were usedinterchangeably. The aim of sociolinguistics is to investigate and describethe relationship between language and society and the stress is placed on

.;:r;Lage and its role within communication. Sociology of language,-*- -

-.-,'ei'er, centers on the study of society and how we can understand it-:-:-r -igh the study of language, that is, how we can understand;'-,--,',,linguistic behavior by means of the study of linguistic features.

Depending on the scope of the analysis, sociolinguistics may try tor¡ \ze specific differences of a group of speakers in a speech community,, a micro level. In this case the analysis would refer to speech differences-: :ronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary within a single speech: -,irmunitv in order to determine some features such as educational:a:l'ground, economic status or social class. In India, for example, therer¿ manv castes (traditional social classes in the Hindu society) and there.:e distinct linguistic features that distinguish one from another.

-{nother possibility would comprise a much broader scope of analysis.S-,ciolinguistics can also refer to a macro level and in that case what'r:erests the researchers is language variation as a human phenomenon-:rat affects large parts of the population. That would be the case, for;xample, of language maintenance when large populations migrate to ai'tterent place and the language is preserved because of social factors.Keeping their language can be seen as a sign of identity that distinguishesihem from outsiders or as a source of power as they can communicate-',,i¡hout being understood and this can serve trade purposes, for instance.Ii can also happen that the language just disappears (language attrition)':ecause it becomes a low-prestige language. Another possible scenariona¡'be that the community wishes to blend into the dominant cultureor that the amount of speakers decreases as they grow old and die. Allin all, macro-sociolinguistics applies to wide-ranging human phenomenaand is often referred to, as stated before, as sociology of language.

some authors prefer to talk about micro-sociolinguistics and macro-sociolinguistics and make a distinction betrveen these two parts ofsociolinguistics. Sometimes the first is associated u.ith discrete point casesand studies (micro-sociolinguistics) whereas the second is connected r,i ithrride ranging situations. Both tendencies, however, are concer-rred aboutthe same phenomenon

-language and society- although at a different

scale. Micro-sociolinguistics involves the use of a language as a u.holetogether with another cultural phenomenon that determines the use oflanguage, whereas macro-sociolinguistics deals with language planning,language policy, etc. In Hudson's (1980: 4-5) words sociolinguistics is "thestudy of language in relation to society, and the sociology of language isthe study of society in relation to language".

25


3. THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS

Sociolinguistics has spread in the last thirty years together with otherbranches of linguistics such as psycholinguistics, pragmatics and appliedlinguistics which, far from having a descriptive or historical approach tolanguage such as pure or traditional linguistics (syntax, phonetics, etc.)maintain an interest in the interdisciplinarity of the field and thecontribution of other branches of the humanities to linguistics, such as:psychology, pragmatics, history gender studies, etc. This new branch oflinguistics emerged together with other developments of applied linguisticsand was often considered a "step child", until it finally became aconsolidated fully acknowledged field of research. It comprises variousareas of study and research like historical and comparative linguistics,dialectology, and anthropology.

In Europe, sociolinguistics started with the study of historicallinguistics and linguistic geography, a sound theoretical background withthree main fields of interest: dialectology, regional languages and thelinguistic situation of colonized countries (Calvet, 2003). In the USA,however, the study of sociolinguistics emerges from the contact oflinguistics with other disciplines such as anthropology and sociology. Theethnographic approach of anthropologists, methodology used in socialsciences and the analysis of linguistic realization.

Nowadays, sociolinguistics is not only a truly consolidated disciplinebut it can also be divided into subfields, such as pragmatics, language genderstudies, pidgin and creole studies, language planning and policy studies,and education of linguistic minority studies, etc. (Bratt Paulson & Tucker,2003). According to Shuy (2003: 15), the more recent developments ofdiscourse analysis and pragmatics are considered as part of sociolinguisticsby some scholars whereas others consider them areas of study in themselves.In the same way there is no full agreement on whether language change ispart of sociolinguistics or the other way round. This situation accounts forthe variety of approaches and perspectives towards a discipline that becomesmore and more important these days and which now goes from thetheoretical perspective to the applied trend in the form of appliedsociolinguistics.

4. VARIATION

Sociolinguistics is ali about variation. From a sociolinguistic point ofview the most important source of information is the way social and

'-'\IT 1

siruational factors affect language and make it vary. For example, whenr.r'o people meet and star-t talking about, let's say, the weather, they start:etting information about their interlocutor as they sort out the-nforrnation contained in their speech. One of the first features that cansometimes be identified is the origin, i.e., where does that person comeirom (geographic variation). If by any chance we happen to distinguish:lear features of his/her speech, we will be able to determine his/her placerf origin very precisely, if that is not the case, we may just ascertain somecharacteristics and that will give us a rough idea. The same can happen',i'hen specific differences are associated, within a specific speechcommunity, with social, economical, political, religious, cultural or anyother situational background. Obviously, linguistic variation does not onlyaffect people from different speech communities but also affects the waypeople speak or react towards someone else's speech, for example, in termsof gender. In most societies we can identifu clear differences in the waymales and females speak although in western societies these differencesare not so evident. In terms of power relationships the way people use thelanguage is affected by the social connection between them, for examplebetween a teacher and a student, and between a boss and an employee,

(Please, go to the exercises section and do exercise 1.)

Another aspect of variation is that it has certain bounds. A speakercan vary his/her speech in some degree, especially to adhere to certainsocial, economic, religious, etc. class, but s/he cannot vary it beyond certainiimits otherwise s/he would be ungrammatical and/or incomprehensible.Speakers have knowledge of these limits, often unconsciously, althoughsome other problems would be to determine how this knowledge isattained and how it can be described. It is much more subtle than othersocial norms such as those of turn-taking in conversation or socialbehavior. At this point, it would be necessary to point out that linguisticnorms are quite oflen more understated than other social conventions,such as table manners and, therefore, harder to describe, or even perceive.It goes without saying that they are also harder to learn andlor acquire inthe case of a Second Language as the learner does not only need to learnthe code, i.e., the language but also how to use it properly in diversesituations. Social conventions are usually learned or acquired duringchildhood and adolescence but these rrles can vary from culture to cultureand as languages often reflect the way their users understand and perceivetheir lives, it is often the case that Second Language learners, in theirtedious task of learning a non-native language, also need to learn social

27


and linguistic conventions. At times, and depending on the affinity betweenthe languages in contact, it can be easy to infer linguistic forms and usesfrom the first language, but it is often not so obvious. As a simple exampleEnglish speakers understand verbal politeness differently than spanishspeakers, and in terms of foequency British English speakers tend to thankmore frequently, in everyday situations, than Peninsular Spanish speakers.

(Please, go to the exercises section and do exercise 2.)

All in all, the aim of sociolinguists is to describe the variations withina language and match these variations with the different groups of peoplethat use them, as well as the corresponding situations. So, sociolinguisticsdeals especially with variation, among groups, among situations andamong places, and the task of the sociolinguist is to find regular patternsof variation in use.

5. SOME INSTANCES OF VARIATION

Labov (2003) states that style shifting is usually correlated to theamount of attention that the speaker pays to his speech. In AmericanEnglish, for instance, the spelling <th-> in words llke thing and that canbe pronounced as smooth fricative [0] or [é], as a lightly or stronglyarticulated alveolar plosive [t], as a blend of these two variants, or notpronounced at all in utterances such as Gimme'at book (Give me thatbook). These forms are used at different levels for different social groupsand different regions.

In Black English Vernacula4 for instance, we can see some markerswhich are characteristic of this ethnic linguistic variety like the "doublenegative" in English often used by nonstandard speakers to expressnegatives emphatically in sentences such as: Nobody don't know aboutthat (Nobody knows anything about that). other peculiarities of BlackEnglish vernacular in the united States is the absence of final third personsingular <-s> (e.g. She want, he wak) and the dropping of the verb to bein present tense when used as a copula, (e.g. They real fine).

Word choice also determines style shifting as the linguistic'domain'(home, neighborhood, job, church, store, school, etc.) settles the degreeof formality in the words used as well as the amount of colloquialisms ina speaker's speech.

(Please go to the exercises sections and do exercises 3 and 4.)

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6. DIACHRONIC VARIATION

Languages change over time and in the same way that some centuriesavo languages as Germanic developed into new languages such as English,German and Norwegian, in a few centuries we will probably speak a-anguage that will not be English, Spanish or French, but a mixture of:hem all, especially given the current phenomenon of globalization.Languages are in a constant flux because people use them endlessly and:he continuous use makes them change. Spanish, for example, was oncea variety of Latin but after centuries of use it developed into a newianguage as it was widespread and standardized. In the same way, Englishhas not always been the same. If we try to read an Old English (OE) text",\-€ c?n appreciate how the language has changed in the last centuries.

Pronunciation also changes in all languages, but it does not vary randomly'because the sounds of related languages (a sound change may take manydecades or even many centuries to complete) correspond to others inapparently systematic ways. This phenomenon is referred to as 'sound shift'.

The Danish scholar Rasmus Rask and his follower the Gerrnan linguistJacob Grimm in the first quarler of the 19th century succeeded in showingihe relationship between Germanic (as Gothic or Old English) and theciassical Indo-European languages (Greek, Latin and Sanskrit). Theyconcluded that Germanic was pafi of the Indo-European language family.They accounted for the differences between Germanic and the classicallanguages through a set of sound changes. They noticed, for instance, thatProto-Indo-European voiceless stops become voiceless fricatives. E.g. :

29

Greek

patértreis

Greek

üka

Latin

Latin

decem

Gothic

fadarpreis

Old English

patertrés

present-day English

'father''three'

They also discovered that Proto-Indo-European voiced stops becomer-oiceless stops. E.g. :

Gothic Old English present-day English

taihun téon 'ten

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

{:rd Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirates become voiced stops orrn¿atir-es (depending on the context). E.g.:

Greek

phéró

Latin

feró baira

Old English

beoru

present-day English

'I carry

Another area of linguistic change is syntax. Syntactic change affectsthe patterrring of sentences. One instance of syntactic change is the alteringof word order from Proto-Indo-European to most contemporary Indo-European languages. Proto-Indo-European was an Obiect-Verb (OV)language. One example to illustrate this pattern is the the rrrnic inscriptionon the famous Gallehus horn (Jutland) which dates to the 5th c.:

nk fllewleastiR Holtij az \orna tawido

('I, Hlewá-gastiR of Holt/son of Holt carwed this [orn').

The syntactic order of the inscription is SOV (horna is the object andtawido the verb).

Present-day English has changed from Proto-Indo-European in itsunderlying syntactic stmcture. In Old English, for example, the patternSVO affected only to the main clause and it was different in thesubordinate clause (SOV), as it occurs in present-day German, but overtime it has regularized and now the same pattern is used both in the mainand in the subordinate clause. There has been a gradual shift from OV toVO in the clause.

Example:

English That is the bookshop where I bought )'our book.

SVOGerman Das ist der Buchgescheft, wo ich deines Buch gekauft habe.

SOV

Syntactic relations in Old English were more similar to present-dayGerman than to present-day English (the same has happened as far asgrammar is concerned). English has become an analytic language. A good

L'\IT 1

number of changes between, for example, old English and Modem Englishare due to loss of morphological inflections. E.g.:

Old English (OE)

German (G)

Mit heardum bendum

Mit harten Bándern

Present-day English (PdE) With hard bonds

In this example, both Old English and German show the dative pluralending, whereas Modern English only presents the plural marker <-s>.

Semantic change offers the most obvious instances as it is one of themost sensible areas in this respect, as even in short periods of time (alifetime or less) words may vary their meanings total or partially becausethey are closely connected with everyday usage and the contemporaryculture. There are changes in meaning and use. Changes in word meaningis caused by the meeting of new demand of the lexical resources of alanguage. Change of meaning is closely related to social changes.

Semantic change can be divided into various categories. For example,there can be changes in the range of meanings of a word by means ofgeneralization or specification; new meanings can be added or lost, etc.There are some interesting examples of generalization and specification.When Chaucer spoke of 'disease' he didn't necessarily mean an illnesscaused by inflection but any kind of discomfort -an absence of 'ease'(asindeed'dis-ease'suggests). For the Elizabethans science meant what wemean by knowledge.

The old English wordmete was cognate with old High Gerrnan/MiddleHigh German maz 'food, meal, mealtime' and was used to refer to food ofany kind (similar then to OE fóda > ME fóde > PdE food). ME méte couldbe used to speak of specific types of food when modified by another wordas inflesch-méte 'flesh food' = 'm€at' (as opposed to fish). It then becameassociated to 'flesh of animals used as food' = 'meat'. Another erample ofspecialization occurs with the Old English wordttd, cognate r¡,,ith GerrnanZeit originally meaning 'time in general', 'a period of time', and also 'hour'.It could be employed besides the term time. rn Middle English it beganto be associated with other meanings and differentiated flom tinte.Eventually its meaning was reduced to MnE tide. The old English rvordfeper (PdE feather) is cognate with OHG (Old High German) federa andwas used in Middle English in sentences such as'wnte rvith fetheres'. Thisword was later replaced by pen (PdE penne), the Latin rvord Qtenna) for'feather'.

31


There are pairs (sometimes even trios) of words with identical orsimilar referential meanings but with different stylistic meaning. The use

of one or the other depends on the communication situation. E.g.:

ask: requesl (French requéte);

answer: reply (French répliquer) - respond (Latin) '

betty: abdomen ( < Latin), stomach (< French estomac < Latinstomachus).

The word stock can also be expanded. Words can be borrowed from

other languages, new words can be coined or invented, and new terms

can be ..át"J by means of derivation and compounding of existing words'

Specially these days, due to the constant phenomenon of globalizationu.rd *idá.pread mádia such as television and the Internet, new words are

quickly iniroduced from other languages (borrowings). In the same way,

words that used to be part of a specific jargon are now commonplacebecause they have been introduced in new domains or disciplines (this is

specially nóticeable in the language of computers with words such as:

navigator, web, etc.).

Native words can pass out and be replaced by words from otherlanguages or dialects as, for example, the old English terrr earm'poor"Early tVtodern English armlrentt, replaced in Middle English by the French

*orá póvere, poure. There is also semantic differentiation of originally,yrory-r, native words and loanwords. One example is the ModernÉnglish word heaven which comes from oE heofon, whereas PdE sfty

comes from Old Norse sftY 'cloud'.

(Please, go to the exercises section and do exercises 5 and ó')

7. SPEECH COMMUNITY

Several attempts have been made to define what a speech communityis but, as frequently happens with other linguistic terms (for example,

dialect), it is not eaiy to find a comprehensive definitionl.

For general linguistics, a speech communitv is a group of people thatshare the same language or dialect in a specific setting u'hich can be close,

t ff1"r" are some commonly used terms in linguistics, and in sociolinguistics, that are

really difficult to define unambiguousl¡ in spite of the fact that thev are core concepts inthefield. Speechcommunit,v*,togéthertrithlangtLage,dialect.vatiett,andinrit'espeaker,isone of them.

,;if 1

:,^-h as a city or a neighborhood; or broad, such as a rvhoie countn". For. -;-olinguistics, the issue is a bit more complex than that given the fact,=a: societal and extra linguistic factors are taken into account. We can--:-i instances of speech communities that are very different among them,:..ause the degree of complexity depends on the number of variables,:.-, olr'ed in the social and linguistic interaction, some of which are the- .:bal reperloire (i.e. the set of languages, dialects, registers, etc.) and the-' ie reperloire (i.e. the relationship among interlocutors, such as parent-: :ild, teacher-student, employer-employee).

The definition of speech community needs to be sufficiently flexible¡nd abstract to include social groupings as dissimilar as neighborhoods:rd countries as speech communities. A basic component for a speech:',-,mmunity to be considered as such, is the fact of sharing at least one-anguage and, therefore, the term refers to a group of people that could--ommunicate in the same language. Members of a speech community areunited by a common end which, in turn, will be different to the ends of-,ther people or groups. Each individual can therefore be a member of aspeech community on some occasion and a member of another speech,-ommunity on another occasion depending on his,/her end. The underlyingr-atlonal is that, because of specific transitory interests, people need tordentifu themselves as paft of a group or speech communit¡r and sometimesof others, or be seen as paft of a group. All this depending on the situationalcontext. So, each individual has his/her own verbal repertoire (verbalr arieties) and each speech community has its own speech repertoire.

It is important to take into account that speech communities do notnecessarily correspond with political boundaries (Swedish is spoken inSu'eden but it is also spoken in some pafis of Finland), religions (Turkishis spoken in Turkey but also in some parts of Greece, Bulgaria andRumania) or cultures (Bengali is spoken by two groups, in Bangladeshand in India (West Bengal).

Languages are often used by groups of people that share a physicalcontext but also a number of social norms. The relationship amongmembers of a speech community allows the categorization of differencesamong the several users and variation according to certain socialconditionings such as age, gende4 job, educational background, etc. Thesegroups of people share at least one language or variety and also some r-uiesand norms for the correct use in communication.

As was suggested above, speech communities do not need to bemonolingual, as a matter of fact, bilingual or trilingual speech communitiesare as common as monolingual ones. Kachru (2001) distinguishes four

33


major t¡,pes of speech communities: multilingual, bilingual, monolingualand diglossic speech communities.

a/ A multilingual speech community recognizes more than twoofficial languages as it happens in Switzerland where French,German and Italian are official languages and are regularly spokenin some parts of the country while not in others (for example, inZurich most people use German whereas in Geneva most peoplespeak French). In multilingual countries a contact language is

commonly adopted as an'official'language for practical purposesas, for instance, English in India and Russian in the former USSR.

b) A bilingual speech community acknowledges two languageswith an official status as in Canada or in Belgium. In Canada,bilingualism can be seen in some parts of the country but thereare also communities that are essentially monolingual, in eitherEnglish or French. In Brussels, for example, there are cleardivisions in terms of areas where one language or the other is used

but biiingualism/multilingualism is also common. For instance'a Brussels citizen may wake up in his/her home town, havebreakfast with his Flemish speaking family, then go to work to adifferent part of the city where French is spoken, use this languagein the public transport and then get to his working-place wheres/he is required to speak English.

Spanish is the official language in Spain but in some parts ofthe country such as the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galiciathere are two official languages and monolingual speakers ofSpanish or Basque lCatalanlGalician can be found as well as

bilingual speakers.

c) A monolingual speech community has only one official language,as Portugal does for example, but this conception is sometimesmisleading since monolingual speakers can also have a reperloireof styles, registers or dialects that may be utterly different from thestandard.

d/ A diglossic community would be one .,vhere two languagesor varieties are functionally complementarY. Diglossia oftendistinguishes between two varieties; one u'hich is used in formalcontexts (high variet¡r) and another one that is used in colloquialspeech (low variety). Arabic-speaking communities, for example,regularly distinguish between Classical and colloquial Arabic.

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Diglossia is often intertwined with bilingualism/multiiingualism. InGernan-speaking Switzerland, for instance, children learn the lou,r'ariefySchuryzertüütsch, including some regional dialects of Srviss) and later

:her acquire the high variety. Something similar happens in the USA.:rrong Spanish-speaking immigrant families. Very often children learnS¡anish from their parents as their mother tongue and later, when they::¿ schooled, they iearn English which will probably be the language they,,, --l need in everyday life. As a result, adolescents and adults raised under-:::se conditions may use Spanish with their parents and grandparents:.t English at work, or even with their siblings.

As can be deduced from the previous description, it is not easy to: *-:Lain rvhat can be considered a speech community but there are general::ielirles that help. According to Spolsky (1998: 25) the speech community: r.s no limitation of location or size but it entails a complex interlockingl:r-r,,ork of communication, their members sharing the knowledge of,.::-:.rage use patterns as well as attitudes towards others and themselves,,:-l also sharing a set of language varieties (or repertoires) and norms for,s-::g them. Members of the same speech community do not even need to:".'-'e a comprehensive knowledge, nor even handle, each of the varieties-: r:peftoires that are used within it. Perhaps, belonging to a particular-:.ech community is something that, apart from accommodating some¡=::eral principles, requires the speakers' self ascription to it on account1- ,-rpects such as personal identity or group attitude.

J-"a.-.e go to the exercises section and do exercises 7, B and 9.)

üI. DOI\C SOCIOTINTGUISTIC RESEARCH

Al adult speaker of a language has accumulated enough erperience: . 1.m -rtr\' that their own language is not used in the same \\'a], b)- different:i€r:-.,-=rS in their speech community. It depends on the interlocutor's social: r: =:",,rraphic background and other factors such as age, sex or education.l:---s r-Leans that every speaker will show some degree of stylistic variationi,::e:dins on (a) the relations of power or solidarity with the interlocutor;i -::¿ social context (domain) where the conversation is taking place: at*..:r-,- in school, at the working place, neighborhood; and (c) the topic:nr: j.mic, professional, trifling. These variables determine that a researcher,,,"'-,:g to search into the matter and analyze the way people speak and rvh1,,

',:- :::ed to devise some way to collect data with a transparent, systematic;.-,: *;rambiguous method in order to get reliable non-biased data.

35

36 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCiOLINGUISTICS

Sociolinguists at work are looking for commonly accepted rules andpatterns that account for variations in speech (these can be in the formof pronunciation, word choice or grammatical complexity, or languagechoice among others) based on some determining factors such a age,gende4 level of education, place of origin, etc. and also depending on thenature of the encounter (place and topic). Bearing this in mind, thesociolinguist at r.vork may need to elicit information or just observe a

communicative situation. Some other factors such as validity come intoplay because the sociolinguist can not assume that the informants are notlying or simply pretending an accent or using words different to the onesthey would use in a real situation. This is no necessarily done on purposebut it is perfectly possible that some speaker, on noticing that his speechis being analyzed changes it unconsciously, or just tries to make his speech

cleare¡ and that is precisely the base of sociolinguistic research. It isnecessary to get reliable information about the linguistic phenomenonwhich has ecological validity, i.e. it represents a true sample of the waycommunication takes place without any type of interference on the partof the researcher.

Intrusion can result not only from the presence of the researcher orany unexpected device but also from the alteration, although subtle itcould be, of the situation or the environment. This brings about amethodological problem pointed out by William Labov and it concernedhow can we observe the way people speak when the researcher is not thereand in situations that might be private (e.g. at home, business meeting)and, therefore, difficult to analyze. Labov refers to this bone of contentionas the observer's paradox. Nevertheless, this type of methodologicalproblems are not exclusive to sociolinguistic research'and there are waysto minimize it.

Some decades ago it was a common practice to record telephone orother types of conversations without asking for permission. Notwith-standing ethical and legal issues arise on the fairness of using "hidden"devices or sources of information such as secret recordings in naturalsettings, the sociolinguist needs to find adequate mechanisms to elicitinformation that is genuine and lau'fuI.

Early sociolinguistic research u'as based on the use of questionnairesto collect data on attitudes and behaviors u,here, for instance, the

t f" n"rglish Language Teaching. the sa¡re issue arises riith regards to research withinthe classroom because students on krouing iher are being obsen'ed ma.v change their beha-vior and their performance.

37

-:- - irlant had to choose one option out of several ones, for example to-',i:iminate one word from another or one specific pronunciation from,::r.i'-q. This technique is perfectly valid and useful depending on the aim: - -he studv and the type of subjects (age, cultural bounds, prace, etc.)'-,j ':'br-iously the data obtained is easily statistically analyzable. while,:r-- f,rrn\-€nient for gathering demographic data on the subjects under.;-* j',' rhis research technique presents several shortcomings. on the one*¡:,¡ ir creates a very unnatural situation and informants may just answer",:-¡r lher think the researcher wants to know, or the other way round,oj-''t :,n the other hand, as the questionnaire has been planned in advance:-:=:: is little room, if any, to gather information that has not been taken-:: - - account when it was designed. In that respect, the interview poses:-::rÉ ad\-antages due to the flexibility of the situation. euestionnaires are=:-. usefui for gathering demographic information from the inforrnants.

-\nother possibility would be face-to-face interviews (sociolinguistic-:-:;:-'ieu-) but we know that when we are asking questions and receivingr-:,S'r,-€rS our interlocutor's speech is being either carefully planned or atr:¿s: modified because of the circumstances and s/he has a more casual::-"-e rhat he possibly uses when he is among friends or with his/her family.,: ::ar-also happen that the researcher concentrates his/her attention on;- =erhin-s while neglecting another interesting aspect. Sociolinguistic---::l-,ieus are time- and effort-consuming, and not always suitable because,: :her are not properly directed they may not be a good way to elicit,:-:rrrnation. However, there are some techniques that can be used to:::ain casual speech in such situations and, which can minimize the:.:sence of the interviewer.

-\s a case in point, in the last few years new advances on lexicography-:= tn ing to incorporate common language uses and high frequency- -:3rage in English Language Teaching materials. So, there is a néed not-:-\' to analyze large written and spoken corpora from the media but it-. aiso fundamental to compile and examine data coming from everydayi:e¿ch. To this aim, a very recent research technique consists in proúding-:::,rrmants with small high-capacity MP3 recorders that they carry all thé-::re and which are recording every thing they say. It seems that after some:e:iod of familiarization, people tend to get used to them and often forget::'lut the fact that they are being recorded. These informants do not-sualh' know about the aim of research and, therefore, the validity of the

:rethod and the reliability of the collected data increases.

In the early 1970s william Labov conducted some seminal research-:l rhree New York deparlment stores and collected non-intrusive responses.

r38 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

He wanted to find out why the final /r/ is not always pronounced in finalposition in words such as car or bar. Labov selected three stores locatedin different areas of the cify and which entailed (a) a fashionable shopping

area; (b) a middle-class store; and, (c) a store dealing in low-price goods.

An interwiewer systematically asked questions to salespeople at the threestores and he showed that variation was systematic due to a matter ofsocial status. I{e worked on the assumption that the sales-people's accents

reflected those of their customers, and his research technique consisted

in an interviewer visiting the different stores and asking a salesperson forgoods that were located on the four-th floor. Then, pretending he had notheard the answer the interviewer would get a second more emphaticresponse. All the pronunciations of the word 'four'were analyzed andcontrasted with other relevant information such as age, approximate age,

etc. of each interviewee. 264 interviews were carried out in each

department store3.

As was suggested above, sociolinguistic research is based on the

collection of large amounts of data and the later statistical analysis of this

data in order to find general tendencies or regularities. Nonetheless, there

is some tension between quantitative and qualitative approaches tosociolinguistic research. Ethnographers follow a different approach and

therefore the procedures are very different. They base their research on

case studie. (Ethnog.aphic approach) and that is why they carefullyobserve single cases and they contrast the patterns of behavior that theyfind with those of other communities or societies. Due to the type ofanalysis they make, usually based on recordings, statistical analysis is notnorrnally possible. Although some tension can be perceived between these

two approaches (quantitative and qualitative), each study has idiosyncraticcharacteristics and specific aims and may require one or the other but itis often the case that the researcher needs to be eclectic and combine the

statistical analysis of data with personal inter-views in order to gainreliability, to contrast his/her findings, or simplv as a complementaryresearch technique.

All in all, there are different approaches tou,ards sociolinguisticresearch in terms of both elicitation techniques and data analysis andeach type of research requires a different design. It is often the case thatmore than one elicitation technique is needed.

(Please go to the exercises section and do ererclses 10 and 1 1.)

-.

Lubou, William (1966). Tl.te Social Stratification ol Ettglis/t in Nett'York City.Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.

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9. E,XERCISES

I. Analyze the following conversations frorn The Adventures of TbmScul'er. What can you deduce about the interlocutors? How?

T can lick you!'T'd like to see you try it.''Ifobll, I can do it.''No vou can't, either.'Tes I can.''-\o you cant.'T can.'You cant.''Can.''Cant.'An uncomfortable pause. Then Tom said:'lfo'hat's your name?''Iisnt any of your business, maybe.''Well, I 'low I'II make it my business.''Well, why dont you?''If you say much I will.''Much

- much - much! There, now.''Oh, you think you're mighty smart, donl you? I could lick you with

one hand tied behind me, if I wanted to.''Well, why dont you do it? You say you can do it.'"Well, I will, if you fool with me.''Oh, yes - I've seen whole families in the same fix.''Smarfy! you think you're some rrow, don't you?''Oh, what a hat!'You can lump that hat if you don't like it. I dare you to knock it off;

and anybody that'll take a dare will suck eggs.'You're a liar!'You're another.'You're a fighting liar, and darn't take it up.'

(Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.)

2. Make a list of all the swear words you know in your mother tongue.lilhich do you use? How often? In what circumstances? To whom? Withnüat aims?

39


3. If you have access to Cable TV try to see an episode of 'Tom andJerry' in which the black lady speaks. What distinctive phonological, lexicaland syntactic features do you note?

4. Very roughly speaking we can divide words and phrases into threebroad registers: formal, informal and normal. To which register do youthink these words and phrases belong: buy, purchase, mzn, bloke, kids,children, cLtps, 'I'm knackered', 'I'm shattered', 'That's two quid, guv',emoluments, 'HAS he seen a shrink?', 'Chuck that brolly away', progeny?Check your answers in your dictionaries. If you want to take this further,have a look at some concordances for words like'shrink' +'emoluments'.Tly http ://sara. natcorp. ox. ac. uk/lookup. html

5. In the following passage, the author ("I") who is on a boating holidaywith friends on the river Thames has just had a swim in the river. Can youfind any linguistic evidence which suggests that the book the passage istaken fuom is not contemporary?

Rather an amusing thing happened while dressing that morning. Iwas very cold when I got back into the boat, and, in my hurry to get myshirt on, I accidentally jerked it into the water. It made me awfully wild,especially as George burst out laughing. I could not see anything to laughat, and I told George so, and he only laughed the more. I never saw aman laugh so much. I quite lost my temper with him at last, and I pointedout to him what a drivelling maniac of an imbecile idiot he was; but heonly roared the louder. And then just as I was landing the shirt, I noticedthat it was not my shirt at all, but George's, which I had mistaken formine; whereupon the humour of the thing struck me for the first time,and I began to laugh. And the more I looked from George's wet shirt toGeorge, roaring with laughter, the more I was amused, and I laughed somuch that I had to let the shirt fall back into the water again.

'Ar'n't you -you- going to get it out?' said George between hisshrieks.

I could not answer him at all for a while, I was laughing so, but atlast, between my peals I managed to jerk out:

'It isn't my shirt -it's yours!'

I never saw a man's face change from lively to severe so suddenly inall my life before.

'Whatl'he yelled, springing up. 'You silly cuckoo! Why can't you bemore careful what you're doing? Why the deuce dont you go and dress onthe bank? You're not fit to be in a boat, you're not. Gimme the hitcher.'

I tried to make him see the fun of the thing, but he could not. Georgeis very dense at seeing a joke sometimes,

41

ó. Faise cognates, or false friends, are words that look aiike in::--,;sh and Spanish but have different meanin-qs. For instance, the:- Jrish u'ord'decent'does not mean 'decente'in Spanish but'acceptable,: :easonable'. Many of these words originally had similar meanings:, 3 -rrh languages but they changed over time. It follows some words

'.,::,-1se meaning has changed over time (semantic change). Look up each'. - rc in an etymological dictionary (such as The Oxford English-i:-:iottatt) and a) find how each word has evolved from a semantic

: -,nr of view in the history of the English language and, b) find the.ppropriate equivalent in present-day Spanish.

E.g.: luxury: It means'opulence'in present-day English but between14th and mid 19th c.,luxus meant 'excessive indulgence in creaturecomforts and sensual pleasures', just like present-day Spanish'lujurioso'.

AbruptDisgraceEditJournalSvmpathy

7. Bearing in mind the sociolinguistic situation in different parts ofSpain, try to find out in what respect is Spain a single or a complex speechcommunity. Do the same with the united States. In what respect is thesituation in Spain and the United States different?

8. Think of the way you speak your first language (English or Spanish)t'ith other people in your speech community. How does it vary from thervay other people you know speak? Make a list of common features invour own speech (e.g. pronunciation, vocabulary (word choice), syntax,idiomatic expressions, etc.) and try to find an explanation for the differencebetween your own speech and the other person (for example, geographicvariation).

9. Describe the way in which the language spoken by adolescents(either English or Spanish) is characteristic of a specific group.

10. Language is often referred to as a source of power as it can beused to control others. Think about the way some professionals such asphysicians, lawyers, teachers, speak to others in a working context, orhow parents speak to their children. write a list of common features foreach of them.


1 1. In this chapter it has been suggested that ianguages and language

use are subjected to a great deal of variation:

¿)Writedifferentwaysofaskingforpermissioninaneverydaysituation, for instance, you have got a headache and you need a

pain-relieving pill. For each request, indicate the person you are

ialking to anáLriefly describe the situational context and your

intention.

b) Doyou speak the same way to your brother/siste^r/friend and to

yorr bosiZ In which ways is your speech different?

c) Do you speak the same way in a family gathering and in your office

orworkingplace?Why?Inwhichwaysisyourspeechdifferent'ifit is?

10. REFERENCES

Bn¡rr PaulsoN, ch. and G. R. TucxsB. 2003. 'Introduction" in R. Mesthrie (ed'),

Sociolinguirt¡rr-,'ln" pssential Readings' Malden' MA' USA: Blackwell

Publishing.

BsRIlrr, R. 1982. A Histotlt of the English I'anguage'Leipzig' Germany: VE'B'

c.srvEr, L. 2003. 'Reflections on the origins of Sociolinguistics in Europe" in R'

Mesthrie (ed.), Sociotinguistics: Thá Essential Readings' Malden' MA' USA:

Blackwell Publishing.

GuNrpERZ, J. J. 1958.'Dialect Differences and Social Stratification in a Nofth Indian

Village'. American Anthropologist, 60: 668-8 1 '

Hocr, J.1996. Language History, Language Change and Language Relationship'

Berlin: Mouton de Gr-uYter.

Hursor{, R. A. 1980. Sociolinguisllcs. cambridge, uK: cambridge university Press'

K-ccHnu, B. B. 2001.'speech community" in R. Mesthrie (ed.), sociolinguistics:

The Essentiat Reaclings. Malden, MA, USA: Blackwell Publishing'

Leeov, w. 2003. 'Some sociolinguistic principles" in R. Mesthrie (ed.), socioknguistics:

The Essential Reaclings. Ulden, MA, USA: Blackwell Publishing.

MEsrHBrB, R. (ed.). 2001. Concise Encyclopaedia of sociolinguistics. oxford, uK:

Pergamon.

Savr[s-TRoxs, M. 1996. 'The ethnography of communication" in S. L. McKay

and N. H. Hornber ger, socioling"itiiri and Language Teaching. cambridge:

Cambridge UniversitY Press.

UNIT 1

Ssuy, R. W. 2003. 'A brief history of American Sociolinguistics 1949-1989', in R.Mesthrie (ed.), Sociolinguistics: The Essential Readings. Malden, MA, USA:Blackwell Publishing.

Sporsrv, B. 1998. Sociolinguisrlcs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

\V¡.RonaucH , R. 2002, (4th ed.). An Introduction to Sociolinguisllcs. Malden, MA,USA: Blackwell Publishing.

11. RESOURCES ON THE WEB

Now you can visit the web page for this subject where you will findfurther references and complementary readings.

12. FURTHER READINCS AND QUESTIONS

12.7. Text 1

Read the following text carefully and comment on it emphasizing anyaspect you consider of relevance. After the text you will find some questionsthat may be helpful. Write around 250-300 words in total.

Once we have identified the linguistic variable as our basic workingtool, the next task becomes one of employing that tool in an effort to seehow linguistic variation relates to social variation. An early study oflinguistic variation by Gumperz (1958), but one cast in a'modern'mold,shows some of the intricacies involved in trying to relate linguisticvariation to social variation. Because the society he was studying isrigidly stratified on the basis of caste membership, the problems areconsiderably fewer that those encountered in such cities as New York,Detroit, or even Norwich, but they are still present. Gumperz shows howrather small differences in speech can effectively distinguish sub-groupsin society from one another in a study of linguistic usage in the villageof Khalapur, eighty miles north of Delhi in India. The social stmctureof the village is deterrnined by Hindu caste membership r,r'ith Brahmansat the top, then Rajputs (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), and severalgroups of artisans and laborers lower down. At the bottom are threeuntouchable castes: Chamars (landless laborers), Jatia Chamars (leatherworkers and shoe makers), and Bhangis (sr.veepers). The latter arerestricted to living in cerlain neighborhoods and have less lreedom tomove in the village than do members of the upper castes. Ten percentof the population are not Hindus but Muslims; thev are outside the castesystem.

43


So far as language is concerned, certain characteristics of theKhalapur village dialect are clear markers of social-group membership.For example, Bhangis do not make certain phonological contrasts thatspeakers of all other castes make. Chamars and Jatia Chamars also lackcertain phonological contrasts made bir all others, and some, inattempting to make such a contrast, actually hypercorcect: that is, theyover-extend a particular usage in trying to emulate others. Jatia Chamarshave a characteristic pronunciation of words that end in [e] in all othervillage varieties. Each of the three untouchable castes therefore hasspeech characteristics that clearly set it off both from the other twountouchable castes and from the touchable castes in the village. Muslimspeech resembles that of the touchable classes.

t...1

This study quite clearly shows a direct relationship between linguisticvariation and caste membership. If we know certain things about one,we can predict certain things about the other. It is just such connectionsor correlations that interest sociolinguists working with the linguisticvariable. What they seek are measures of social variation to which theycan relate the kinds of linguistic variation they obsewe. Howeve4 caste,with its sharp social stratifications, is useless as a nleasure of socialvariation outside a few non-Westem societies. Consequently, the problembecomes one of finding factors in society that show a relationship tosuch matters as whether or not an individual says singing orsingin', he go or he goes, or He doesn't know anything or He don't knownothing.

Once a linguistic variable has been identified, the next issue becomesthat of collecting data concerning its variants in such a way that we candraw certain conclusions about the social distribution of these variants.To draw such conclusions, we must be able to relate the variants in someway to quantifiable factors in society, e.g., social-class membership,gender, age, ethnicity, and so on. As we will see, there are numerousdifficulties in attempting this task, but considerabie progress has beenmade in overcoming them, particularly as studies have built on thosethat have gone before in such a way as to strengthen the quality of thework done in this area of sociolinguistics.

While it is fairly easy to relate the occurrences of the variants of alinguistic variable to factors such as gender and age, relating them tofactors such as race and ethnicity is somewhat more troublesome sincethese are much more subjective in nature and less easily quantifiable.But the most complicated factor of all is social-class membership, if weconsider'social class'to be a useful concept to apply in stratifying society

- and few indeed would deny its relevancel

t...1

An educational scale may employ the following categories: graduateor professional education; college or university degree; attendance atcollege or university but no degree; high school graduarion; some highschool education; and less than seven years of forrnal education. Incomelevel as well as source of income are important factors in an'classification system that focuses on how much mone\- people har e.Likewise, in considering where people live, investigators must concernthemselves with both the tlpe of housing and its location.

(Wardhaugh, 2002: 144-146)

Issues to consider:

;, After reading about Gumperz's research in India and the castes\-stem he analyzed, how do you see the possibility of doing researchin a speech community in a western society where social andlinguistic differences are often more subtle?

ó r The author states that is it is fairly easy to relate linguistic variantsto factors such as gender and age but much more difficult to relatethem to factors such as race and ethnicity. Do you agree? Why (not)?

:, Do you find the categories suggested in the educational scaledetailed enough for sociolinguistic research? Would you suggestmore or less categories or levels than the ones listed in this excerpt?

J; In the text the author makes reference to various factors that affectlinguistic variation such as age, ethnicity, gender, educationalbackground, etc. How do you think income level and source ofincome affect linguistic variation?

12.2. Text 2

Read the following text carefully and comment on it emphasizing any::Tect vou consider of relevance. After the text you will find some questions::r3t may be helpful. Write around 250-300 words in total.

t. .l

There is no expectation that a community will be linguisticallvhomogeneous: as a collectiüry, it will include acommunicarive repenoire,or range of languages, language varieties, and registers, that u-ill patternin relation to the salient social and cultural dimension of communication.Any one speaker also has a variety of codes, styles, and registers formwhich to choose. The term codes is used here to mean different lan-zuagesor significantly different varieties of a single language; s/rrles, to meanvarieties associated with such social and cultural dimensions as age, sex,

45

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social class, and relationship between speakers; and registers, to mean

varieties of language which are more closely associated with the setting

or scene in which Ih.y u." used than they are with the people who are

using them. It is very Lnlikely in a compiex community. that any single

individual carprodt'ce the iull tuttg" of the community's repertoire'

Different ,.rt g.'ot'p' within the conimunity may understand and use

different r"b:;;r'-.1 its available codes. Speakers' communicative

competence i".f"á"t knor'r'ing the alternátives and the rules for

.pprip¡",. .i;i.;t"* among ihe alterrratives or for switching between

them. Defintü,h" ;;;t"- for"such decision making is parl of the task

of describing'.á--""ication within any group' and of explaining

communication more generallY'

Individualsmaybelongtoseveralspeechcommunities(whichma¡'be discrete o, tt"tiupping), just as they may participate in a varietv of

social settings. whióh o.r" o. ones individuals orient themselves to at

anygiven."-"",-*hichsetofsocialandcommunicativer^trlestheyuse - i, pu.i'"ltftt 'i'uitgy

of communication' To understand this

phenomenotl, án" must reJognize that each member of a communitv

hasarepertoireofsocialidentitiesandthateachidentityinagivencontext i, urro.iuá *ltt u number of appropriate verbal and nonverbal

forms of ""fr"rrion. Although an in'dlnidual's repertoire of social

identities -* rr. *ithin thé bounds of a single complex speech

community, rJi rrir-g"J_bl..rlt ,.ul individuals, membership in unrelated

speech communitie; i, .olTr*on. Examples include second-generation

immigrant.hild*" of Greek families *ho .utt function appropriateh

and comforráurv u.ir, with peers in chicago, Illinois, and vn'ith

grandparent, á.td .o,tti"s when they visit Athens' :"9 11" Navajo leader

who is u" "ft".ii* communicator btth in the context of a tribal council

meetinginWindowRock,Arizona,andinacongressionalhearinginWashington, ó.C' S""tt ináividuals change not only language codes bui

rules forcp.-ut irrg, nonverbal behaviórs, and other strategies for

interaction, as *ell as their social roles and identities'

Saville-Troik e (199 6: 3 5 7-3 5 E

Issues to consider:

a) Saville-Troike links different identities and social roles to the

ascription to different speech communities' Do you agree? Can a

-onáhngltal speaker be part of different speech communities?

b)Trytodescribevourlinguisticrepertoireandyourpossibl-parlicipation in,rutio,-r, speech communities' What are some of the

difficulties you encounter in your description?

c) Doyou think it is possible to find a comprehensive definition c'-'

'spelch community'? Try and provide your own definition'

U\TT 1

13. KEY WORDS

The following list of key words contains some important terms thatare presented in this unit. A definition for each term can be found at theend of this book, in the giossary.

Analytic languageBlack English VernacularBorrowingCommunicative competenceDialectDialectologyDiscourse analysisDomainEthnography of communicationInformantLanguage attritionMacro-sociolinguisticsM i cro-sociol i nguisticsNative speakerObserver's paradoxPragmatics(Proto)-Indo-EuropeanSociolinguistic interviewSociology of languageSynchronic variationSynthetic languageVariety

47

Unit 2

1. SOME VARIABLES IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS

1.1. Style

As we saw in the previous chapter, geographic variation is quitenoticeable and relatively eas¡' to identify. There are other tlpes of variationthat are more laborious to describe and, on some occasions at least, lessconspicuous. Even within a specific speech community individuals havea range of choices when they speak in terms of word choice, syntacticcomplexity and even subtle pronunciation features. Every individual hasa t¡,pical way in which s/he does things and the same applies to any aspectof human behavior. There are rough generalizations in all aspects of life,for instance, in the way people drive. The British are said to be calm, gentledrivers whereas the Italians are often considered fast and impatient.However true these generalizations might be, each British and Italiandriver has his/her own style which can vary depending on the time of theday or the location.

Stylistic variation can be found in other areas of more interest tosociolinguists; for example, you can speak very forrnally or very inforrnall¡'given certain circumstances and situations. This implies a specific choiceon the part of the speaker as s/he will probably choose formal languagefor solemn events, less formal language for everyday situations and reallyinforrrral and casual language for trivial conversations or relaxed matters.As a result, the speaker can decide on a level of formality depending on anumber of factors such as the particular occasion, social differences, theinterlocutor's age and other determining factors such as the type ofdiscourse chosen, i.e., written or spoken. For instance, the followingsentences might be used in different situations depending, among otherthings, on the speaker's choice: "Would you be so kind as to leave theroom?", "Can you please leave the room?", "Get lost!", or "You pig, getlostl". Native speakers usually make use of the range of styles they have


at their disposal when they speak and they can easily accommodate theirlanguage to the required degree of formality. Conversely, it is also possible

to predict the stylistic features that a native speaker will bring to bear oncertain occasions.

Style implies a choice on the part of the speaker to say something.Given a certain situation where the speaker would say something like,"Can you pass me the salt?", if sihe changes the word salt for another word

such as pipp", or vinegar, obviously there is a difference in meaning and,

therefore it is not at the discretion of the speaker to change one word forthe other while maintaining the meaning. Howevel if the speaker changes

can for could, would, or simply says "pass me the salt", it implies a

difference in style given the speaker's intention as well as other neighboring

factors such ai the degree of formality and the relationship between the

interlocutors. Another example would be the following words and

expressions which have analogous meanings although their election would

depend on the speakers' preference and the context: die, pass away, bite

the dust or kick the bucket.

As a result of the long literary tradition in most cultures, especially

western, the question of style has often been associated with the study

of literary writing. Nevertheless, style is iinked in a consistent way to

ril ling,-,irric behávior, whether written or spoken' and regardless of

whether the speaker/writer is deemed to be a iiterary figure (Short,

2001).

The following examples illustrate a difference of style' The first one is

a literary text wrilten wiih a cerlain degree of formality whereas the second

fragment is the same text but in an informal style'

Erarnpl.e A

"Fourscore years and seven ago our fathers brought forth upon this

continent a new nation, concei,red in liberty, and dedicated to the

proposition that all men are created equal'

Now we are engaged in a great civil wa6 testing whether that nation,

or any nation so cánéeived and so dedicated, can long errdure. we are

met on a great battlefield of that u,ar. we have come to dedicate a portion

of that fiéid as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives

that their nation might live. If is altogether fitting and proper that $'e

should do this..."

(Opening lines of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

UNIT 2

This high-sounding and very effective rhetoric, a masterpiece oforation, could be rendered in everyday speech as:

Erant¡tle B

"Eighty-seven years ago our predecessors created a new country inthis continent - a country made bv free people and based on the ideathat everybody is equal.

Now we are fighting a big civil war to find out if a country based onthat ideal can last for long. we're gathered here on a big battlefield todedicate part of it as a burial ground for those who died here fightingfor their country's sun ival. It's absolutely right that r.r¡e should be doingthis.... "

At a literal level both excerpts mean the same, but there is an enormousdifference of style. Lincoln's words were slightly archaic even then -a wayof making clear that he was talking about eternal values. The second textcaptures his meaning at a factual level but does not have anv of theresonance and poetry.

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 1.)

1.2. Register

Another variable that is at the speaker's disposal and that is caught upr,vith style is register. A register is a set of language features, mainly thechoice of lexical items or slmtactic ordering of utterances, whose use tendsto be associated with a specific interest group as in the case ofprofessionals with a parlicular occupation and, often, a particular u.orkingcontext: doctors, air traffic controllers, lawyers, computer enthusiasts,etc. This tlpe of variation is characterized bv the circumstance and purposeof the communicative situation and contrasts rvith r,ariation br- ináiriáua1user, geographical or socio-economic variation. Nou'adar-s, theoverwhelming amount of information to which we are exposed in oursociety favors the appearance of registers. Specialization is encouragedand the flourishing number of technical words and acronS,ms sometimesmakes it difficult for a lay person to follow a conversation on anr topicthat requires a specific register. Apart from specific language domains,register is socially motivated as it entails a social negotiation among theparticipants in order to accommodate the adequate register either inri'ritten or spoken discourse.

53

f


Register can be conceived from two different perspectives. In thenarrow sense of the word, register refers to the tlpe of language used bya group of professionals who employ certain linguistic features which arenot used, or at least not so commonly, in other settings. This conceptionof register is closely related to jargon, and tends to be associated withword choice rather that syntactic ordering. On the other hand, in a broadsense ofthe rvord, register can be understood as a social genre, a sociolect,that bears upon lexical choice and syntactic ordering, and could beexemplified in the language of newspaper articles, academic prose or legal

language.

Registers can be depicted by means of three main dimensions:

a) Field, which relates to the social activity performed, the settingand the aim of the interaction.

b) Tenor, which refers to the social roles enacted and the relationshipbetween the particiPants.

c) Mode, which refers to the medium of the language in that situation.

For example, in the case of a newspaper article, the field would be thesubject matter of the article that is intended to inform or instruct thereader. The tenor here would comprise the journalist who wrote the afiicle,but also the intended audience. Finally, the mode in this instance wouldbe the piece of written work that is printed on the newspaper and reaches

the reader. See the following passages:

Erample A: legal language.

At all pertinent times, it was reasonably foreseeable to Defendantsthat without feasible safety features and/or warning deüces, Defendants'guns would end up being used in a tragic, preventable shooting by anunauthorized user. Many of these shootings are unintentional shootings,often by children who do not fully understand or appreciate how toproperly handle a gun, or understand its risks.

With regard to those guns of Defendants which are semi-automatics,at all perlinent times it was foreseeable that users, including adolescents,would mistakenly believe that a semi-automatic gun would not fire ifthe ammunilion magazine was removed. At all pertinent times it wasforeseeable that users of semi-automatic guns would not understandor appreciate that an undetectable round of ammunition may be housedin the firing chamber of the gun, even though the detachableammunition magazine had been removed or unloaded, and thatpreventable; unintentional shootings would result given Defendants'designs.

55

Defendants were at all pertinent times aware of these foreseeableand unreasonable dangers inherent in the design of their firearms.

The design of Defendants'guns, which enables any person u,ho gainsDossession of them to fire them and does not make users aware that around of ammunition is housed in the firing chamber, results in'housands of unintentional shooting deaths and non-fatal injuries everyr-ear. The General Accounting Office estimates fhat 33a/o of the annual1,300 to 1,600 unintentional shooting deaths occur because the user oflhe gun was not aware that a round of ammunition had been loadedinto the gun's firing chamber. This accounts for as many as 450 to 475deaths each year. In addirion to these dearhs, thlre are manyunintentional shooting injuries that are not fatal.

l,; ,.:,le B: neu)spapet' ertícle.

President Slams Film Business

Hundreds of Holl¡,vood's rich and famous were left speechless lastnight when film Society president, Douglas Kirk, 59, launched a savageattack on the movie business. Neither the script-writers, not the actors,nor the directors were as good today as they used to be, he told theastonished film stars. Guests were further incensed when he claimedthat there were too many new films, and roars of protest greeted hisboast that people had stopped going to the cinema because they preferredu'atching Kirk's old movies at home on television.

The speech came after the Society's annual dinner attended by thecream of Hollywood's high society. Among the first to arrive werePeruvian heiress and actress, Isabel Sastre, wearing a full length pale

'ellow evening dress and a diamond tiara, and accompanied by her latest

husband, Rupert Murbank, "sixth time lucky", she told our reporter.Present, too, were British star Simon Selino and, hot foot from filmingand only just in time for dinner, comedy star Albert Tancred, his armstill in plaster after an accident at his Austrian home. Later guests enjoyeda lar.ish six course banquet

-(including caüare, roast duckling and steak

au poivre)- before veteran Kirk's sour grapes left a bad taste iner.erybody's mouth.

(By Jim Lau,ier,)

rli^: ' r,-,1e C: l.he lnnEtage of cookín.g.

Step one: Pour the mussel liquor from the shells into a sauté panand bring to a boil. Add the mussels and poach gently over medium-lon'heat for about 4 minutes, until the edges begin to curl. Remove themussels with a slotted spoon and set aside; reserwe the cookin,e liquid

5ó AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

in the pan. Place the peppercorns, 3 garlic cloves, salt, and ll2 cup ofthe hot mussel liquid in a blender and puree. Add the puree and oil tothe liquid in the pan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and letcool. Add the lime juice and reserved mussels to the mixture; puree again.Transfer the mussel puree to a saucepan and add the stock, cumin,thyme, and remaining garlic. simmer for 15 minutes over low heat, thenstrain into a clean saucepan. whisk in the butter until completelyincorporated and set aside.

Step two: Wrap a bacon slice around each filet, securing with kitchentwine, and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a hear,y sauté panto almost smoking. Lower the heat to medium and sear the steaks for10 minutes per side; the filets should be crusty and browned on theoutside and rare to medium-rare on the inside. If you prefe4 cook about2 minutes longer on each side for medium-rare or about 5 minutes moreper side for medium. while the steaks are cooking warm the musselsauce.

Step three: Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Addthe leeks and cook for 5 minutes. Drain carefully, toss in a bowl with thebutter, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step four: Ladle the sauce on warm serving plates and place thesteaks on top. Carefully cut the twine around the steaks and discard it.For each serving, divide the leeks into 4 portions around the beef andplace a smoked mussel on top of each portion of leeks.

Style and register are related in the sense that stylistic variations canoccur within a register, as the speaker or writer can choose, for instance,different degrees of formality or casualness within that register. In anewspaper article we could read "SARS appears to be the latest exampleof a vir-us leaping from animals to people and wreaking havoc.", or simply"SARS seems to be the most recent example of a virus jumping frómanimals to people and playing havoc". You would find one sentence or theother depending on the type of publication and the style of the journalist.

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercises 2, 3 and 4.)

1.3. Cender

Do men and women speak in the same way? Do men dominate topicsof conversation? Are men more asserlive than women? Do men intermptwomen more often than women to men? Living in a western society it máytake some time to answer these questions, even to find some "*á-pl"i.There is indeed some evidence that marks language as sexist, o..uth".their users, and that both sexes do not speak the same way and that cannot

_ \1-T 2

- ::ir be attributed to stylistic or individual differences. Hou,er,er, it should:: pointed out that language should not be considered as inherently' sexist:-: it is used in a sexist way or even that it reflects a sexist r,r,orld. 'He'is--:: nvelfth commonest word in the English language whereas 'she'is the-:inr'-first commonest word. since there are not more men in the world:ran \\¡omen, that might, at first glance, seem to suggest that English is a.;r:ist language but a little further reflection brings us to the realization,:at the English language is used to talk and write in a sexist world. Men':; much more likely than women, for example, to be leaders of their:: ¡ntries so in newspapers 'he'tends to be more frequent than'she'.

Patteffis of variation between men and women are much more evident.'. some parts of the globe as is the case of Japan. Japanese women show-:;\'are women when they speak in various ways, for instance by usingr: as a sentence final pafiicle. Male speakers refer to themselves as wasi'.: )re and female speakers use watasi or atasi. But differences can be:,.¡h more subtle than that. According to Wardhaugh (2002:318) more:,:n than women in French-speaking Montreal do not pronounce the </>:. arlicles and pronouns (l/, elle,la andles), and schoolgirls in Scotland::-m to pronounce the </> in words like water and got more frequently::-.n boys who prefer a glottal stop.

Trudgill (1972) in a study carried out in Norwich (England) found our.-r.: \\'omen tended to be more conservative in terms of language use, asr,:l \\¡ere reported to show most language change. He studied:::nological and sociological variables and he also discovered that women':= generally more status-conscious than men. As a matter of fact, in his

':-iv he argued that women had a clear tendency to overrepofi their use" - lrestige forms (this study included various social groups coming from

-,:king and middle class) while men were inclined to undemeport theirs.l-.ed upon the collected data and the subsequent analysis, he concluded:.:-: \\'omen tended to respond to standard-language prestige norms,i:reas men were liable to react to vernacular prestige forrns. The forrner

-,:e of language was associated, in the context in which the research rvas:'-ied out, with refinement, sophistication and adherence to the standardjrguage, whereas the latter type of language was associated u,ith-,ughness and toughness, which were considered, to some extent, as:.sirable masculine attributes. The reason for r.l,omen's adherence to the.,=i:dard could be motivated, according to Trudgill, to their porverless:,-,:irion in life. This study was carried out thirqz years a_so, and the findingsi: - uld be interpreted with caution as the role of women in societv has-:an-eed tremendously in these three decades. Horvever, it properlvj:.rfunts for differences in male-female linguistic behavior.

57

,

F


The study of gender is a complex developing issue given the fact that

a number of ,o.iul variables converge and, it does not have an uniformeffect on linguistic behavior. As Eckert points out, this should be taken as

an essential approach to the study of data:

Gender differences are exceedingly complex, particularly in a society

and era where women have been moving self-consciously into the

marketplace and calling traditional gender roles into question. Gender

roles and ideologies create different ways for men and women toexperience life, culture, and society. (1997l.214)

The study of gender and variation arises from the different roles, norTns

and expectations upon the sexes. Gender-based variation has not received

u, -r-r.h scientific attention as that given to socioeconomic class or

dialectal variation over the years. As a result, many of the conceptions we

have now about gender andvariation are based upon popular beiief rather

than on u .orrná sociolinguistic anaiysis. In the last decades this has

changed to a cerlain extent and there is a considerable amount of research

incorporating sex as a biological category in sociolinguistics, discourse

analysis, and pragmatics.

Traditionally, the terrr. sex, has been used to refer to biological and

anatomical differences between men and women, and gender has been

used to refer to psychological and socio-cultural differences between the

sexes. This approach, although clear and simple enough to categorizeprofound differences between males and females proves to be a littlesimplistic for sociolinguistic research, as one of the aims of sociolinguisticsis to describe the relation between these two, i.e., sex and gender. Se;r is

a biological category which constitutes the base for the differentiation ofroles, norms and expectations within a certain speech community, andthese social roles, norms and expectations compose the idea of gender.

Obviously, it makes no sense to think of the differences between men andwomen as a set of traits that characterize and sharply distinguish eachgroup from one another, since they can not be considered polar opposites.Femininity and masculinity change from one culture to the othel or withinthe same from one generation to the next, and also depend on ethnic,religious or social (often socio-economic) groups. What is more, recentstudies (Leap, 2001) have also been carried out which supporl the existence

of cerlain characteristics that identify gay and lesbian language (specialized

vocabulary, phonological features, distinctive intonation patterns, etc'),although this issue is still an ongoing debate.

Recent studies have shown neurophysiological differences in the ',l ar

males and females process language. It seems that phonological processing

.59

I

,; T2

-r males relates to the left hemisphere of the brain u'hereas it invoir-es:,rth hemispheres in the case of females. However, no evidence has been

sror.vn that such biological differences have an effect on maie-female-anguage processing and speech; any dissimilarity seems to be a result of.ocial factors (social constraints and traditional language usage make-"^, omen speech different to that of men) educational factors (in some

=rtcieties women are not allowed to be schooled or they simply do not have

:ccess to higher education), or power (as the sources of power in westernsociety, in general, have traditionally been controlled by men, and to a¡onsiderable extent still are).

Analysis of these differences suggest that typical lexical andgrammatical choices, which are characteristic of men and women, lead

io the forrnation of genderlects, i.e., men's and women's talk. Robin Lakoffr 1990) identified certain features distinguishing women's talk in terms ofivord choice, for example, in the frequency of certain colors, and certainevaluative adjectives (charming, lovely, sweet); or in their hesitantintonation, a voice pitch associated with surprise and questions; thetrequency of tag phrases $tou know, kind ofl; and, their attitude towardspoliteness (less swearing, more indirectness, and hedging); and, the use

of -o." polite noises (uh-huh, yeah, hmm, etc.) which support theinterlocutor's view. Conversely, men tend to be more direct and dominaterurn-taking. In general, they understand language as inforrnation gathering

rather than a mechanism to initiate and support their relationship withothers. (If you would like to know more about this read Holmes, 1,995)

At this point it should be specified that there is a difference betweenrhe language used by men and women, and the language used to refer tothem.

In the past, masculine has often been considered as a common gende4

and therefore unmarked, and feminine as marked. In most Indo-Europeanlanguages the masculine is used to refer to both male and female, forerample:

a) Everyone should contact his own travel agent for reservations.

Example a) can refer to males and females in the same group.Traditionally, the masculine is preferred even if the number of malesubjects is inferior to the amount of female subjects. A number of solutionshar-e been proposed in English to find a way to avoid this instance ofserism in language. The solution would be to find a neuter forrn, unmarkedior gender as it is the case of on in French or impersonal s¿ in Spanish.\lthough some solutions have been proposed, one of the preferred ones

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLI\.

is the use of third person p\ura\ prono\rn to reter to ma\es art - : *r

illllr,ttl,i,

tor example:

b) Everyone should contact their travel agent for resen-au -:-.Masculine has been traditionafu used to refer to professions 3!!..- ;-;rllrl

with men and that shows that the reiationship between Iang;;.: ürridi

sccieff is a two-fold one. Language reflects the way the societ¡ is ,_:.1-*r.,:l*r[

and to what extent language shows the power of stereotr-pi--: .r ,Ll

changing world where women are taking on jobs customarih' air::r: - ir.uto men, and in a society where women are fighting agains: .=discrimination, language is also reflecting a change. As a case ir :,- rthe words in the left hand column are becoming less common 3r l . .lr :ones on the right column are preferred nowadays:

Bus boyChairmanFiremanForemanPolicemanSalesmanSpokesman

Dining room attendantChairpersonFirefighterSuperwisorPolice officerSalespersonSpokesperson


2. SPEECH ACCONTMODATION

speech accommodation consists of the modification of one's own spe-.:or other communicative behaviors to the ones used by the person one ,linteracting with. This way of adjusting one's own speech can give \\'a' r _

speech convergence or speech divergence depending on the intentions ,_ _

the speakers and the results of the communication encounter. There ai-many ways of per{orming speech accommodation and the results generall-.vary depending on contextual factors. Doctors, lawyers and therapists ca:accommodate their speech as parl of their job when communicating rviticlients, or to show empathy. Speakers of a non-standard variety -uy Áung-their speech due to language insecurity or in order to facilitaiecomprehension to their interlocutor when interacting with a speaker of astandard variety. Adjusting to a given register or style is also a way ofaccommodating speech to take advantage of intra-group inclusion.

Speech convergence shows a speaker's or a group's need for socialintegration and./or identification with another or others. This modification

UNIT 2

of speech often expresses a conscious and deriberate process but, on manyoccasions it reflects an unconscious behavior. Research has shown thatconverging speech accommodation can increase the speaker,s perceived(a) attractiveness; (b) predictability and supportivÉness; (c) level ofinterpersonal involv-ement; (d) intelligibility uná comprehensibility; and,(e) the speaker's ability to gain their risteners'compliance (Giles , )ooD.

_ Speech divergence and the use of divergent strategies are more oftenfostered where the participants in the communication encounter stemfrom different social or working backgrounds giving way to a strategy ofintergroup distinctiveness. By means of this tactic, m"mbárs of an ingiáupcan intensily their inclusion in the relevant group while excluding

"irr".r.This target can be attained with the use of á specific slang,-¡argon,grammatical complexity o4 simply, accent.


3. EXERCISES

1. can you briefly describe a situation in which the following sentenceswould be stylistically suitable?

a) I'rn taking off.

b/ I would like to express my sympathy for your loss.

c/ You'd better get out of my way.

d) Have funl

e) The existence of different ethnic groups in that country bringsabout...

l) Break a legl

2. Read carefully the three excerpts (legal language, language ofcooking and newspaper afticle language) prorrid"d uúorrJ. underline thewords and expressions that you consider characteristic of each register.

3. Find three samoles of ranguage, either written or spoken, thatrepresent three types of register associated with different occupations orinterest groups. Transcribe or copy them and make a list of 10-15 words,expressions or syntactic orderings that you consider to be part of thatregister. Then, try to pinpoint the three dimensions described above: field,tenor and mode. (You could possible search the intemet to find these threesamples of language.)

61


4. Doyou think that register and style could be means of establishing

solidarity among speakers? Provide an example'

5. Reflect on the way men and women use language (probably

Spanish) in your rr"igftbothood,or the place where you work' Can you

find a set of ting,rirtiE-f"atures that distinguish between the sexes (e'g''

expression, o. *orJ, that men would never say' and the other way

round)?

6. Can you think of an instance of speech accommodation' either a

case of speech "on

r".g""tto' 'p""th dñergence? Describe it in around

250 words.

4. REFERENCES

Crrononow, N. 1974. .Family strrrcture andfeminine personality,, in M. Z. Rosaldo

and L. r.-pt "r"1"';:.; w;;"", Culture and-society. sranford: Stanford

UniversitY Press.

E,crEnr,P.lggT..SexandGenderDifferencesinVariation,,inN.Coupland&A.Jaworski (eds. ). li c,io,tingui s tic s : A Reader and C our s eb o ok. Basingstoke:

Palgarve.

Gnr,s, H. 2001. 'speech Accomodation', in R' Mesthrie (ed') Concise Encyclopedia

of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Pergamon'

GrrlrcaN, C. Ig82. In a Different Voice' London: Harvard University Press'

Horm¡,s, J. 1995. Women, Men ancl Politeness. Harlow, England: Longman'

LasovW.2003'.Somesociolinguisticprinciples,,inCh.B.BrattPaulstonandG'Richard Tucker G¿r.) Sor¿á¡inguiitics: The Essential Readings. Malden. USA:


Larorr', R. 1990. Tatking power. New York: Basic Books'

LEap,W.L.200I-'GayLanguage',inR'Mesthrie(ed')ConciseEncyclopediaofSociolinguisllcs. Oxford, UK: Pergamon'

Snonr, M.2001.'Style" in Mesthire, R. (2001) Concise Encyclopaedia of

Sociolinguisllcs. Oxford, UK: Pergamon'

T¿.¡.tNpN, D. 1990. You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation'

New York: William Morrow'

Tnuncrll, P. 1972..Sex Covert Prestige and Linguistic Change in the Urban British

English of Norwich'. Language and Society'I' 179-95'

wenrHaucn, R. 2002. An Introduction to sociolinguistics. (4th ed.) Malden, USA:


63

;. RESOURCES ON THE WEB

-\o*'vou can visit the web page for this subject where you rvill find-*rher references and complementary readings.

N. FLRTHHR READINGS AND QUESTIONS

n.1. Text 3

Read the following text carefully and comment on it emphasizing any:sECt vou consider of relevance. After the text you will find some questions-:er may be helpful. Write around 250-300 words in total.

Style shifting. One of the fundamental principles of sociolinguisticinvestigation might simply be stated as There ere no single-style spáakers.By this we mean that every speaker wilr show some variation inphonological and syntactic rules according to the immediate context inwhich he is speaking. We can demonstrate that such stvlistic shifts aredetermined by (a) the relations of the speake4 addresseé, and audience,and particularly the relations of power or solidarity among them; (b)the wider social context or "domain": school, job, home, nelghborhood,church; (c) the topic. one must add of course ihat the stylistió range andcompetence of the speaker,may vary greatly. children -uy hu.r"á u"rynarrow range in both the choices open to them and the social contextsthey respond to. old men often show a narrow range in that theirmotivation for style shifting disappears along with thiir concern forpower relationships. 1...1

well-developed social variables show a systematic range of stvleshifting r,r,hich is correlated to the amount of áttention paidio ,p"".h.we can easily observe such style shifting in certain rong-stidingvariables which are common to almost all dialects of Engiisñ. the th Jfthing and that can appear as smooth fricati'e "th" souná, the standardvariant; as a "t"-like sound lightl¡, or stronglv arriculated; as acombination of these two; or as a zero as in Ghnnze 'cr. For mostAmericans, the proporlions of these forms are nicelv blended and sradedfor each stylistic level -at different absolute ler,eis for differenisocialgroups and different regions. Similarly, the alternation of -ing and. -i,'in unstressed syllables is a systematic stylistic r-ariable fo. ,,''ortAmericans- again at different levels for different classes and regions.

Labor- (2003:231)


Issues to consider:

a) What do you think of the sentence Ihere are no single-style speakers?Explain your answer.

b/ Provide some features in your own language that indicate a styleshift (vocabulary grammatical constmction, phonological feature,etc). What situational factors do you think may cause the shift instyle?

6.2. Text 4


The evidence described in this chapter suggests that men tend todominate interactions in public settings. They generally talk more thanwomen, ask more questions, interrupt more often, and when they getthe floor they are more likely than a woman to challenge and disagreewith the speaker. In a variety of contexts, women tend to provide moresupportive and encouraging feedback than men, to agree rather thandisagree, to look for connections and add to and build on thecontributions of others. This is positively polite behaviour, stressingshared goals and values, and expressing solidarity. Women also exhibitnegatively polite behaviour in many contexts by avoiding competing forthe floor or interrupting others. They appear to be more attentivelisteners, concerned to ensure others get a chance to contribute.

One explanation which has been proposed for this pattern focuseson the social meaning of talk. It has been suggested that, in general,women are more concerned with solidarity or'connection' (Chodorow1974; Gllllgan 1982), while men are more interested in status and being'one-up' (Tannen 1990a: 38). Features of female talk, such as facilitativetags, agreeing comments, attentive listening and encouraging feedbackcan be seen as expressions of concern for others, and a desire to makecontact and strengthen relationships. Male talk, on the other hand,appears to be more competitive, more concerned with dominating othersand asserting status. Challenging utterances, bald disagreements anddisruptive interruptions are examples of strategies which typify maletalk in public contexts, and which seem to support this claim.

Holmes (1995:67)

Issues to consider:

a) To what extent do you agree with Holmes, the author of thisfragment?

UNIT 2 ó5

b)

c)I

i

No doubt that the speech of men and women is different. Can youprovide some specific examples to show this contrast?

Do you think that the difference in menb and women's talk isculturally bound, i.e., does it depend on the culture (or country)?Please, provide an example.

7. KEY WORDS

The following list of key words contains some important terms thatare presented in this unit. A definition for each term can be found at theend of this book, in the glossary.

Discourse analysisEthnography of speakingLinguistic competenceNative speakerPragmatic competencePragmatics(Proto) -Indo-EuropeanVariety

Unit 3

1. PIDCINIZATION AND CREOLIZATION

Pidginization is a process that sometimes takes place rvhen twolanguages come into contact and, as a result, there is a process ofsimplification or hybridization. This generally occurs because there is aneed to communicate_ between speakers of different languages and thereare limited relations between them, i.e., the language lI only used for aspecific purpose such as trade. often, the words frolrn one lánguage areadopted while using the syntactic ordering of the other language but, asa rule the grammatical system is simpliFied as well ., oti".-.o-pi.,.Iinguistic features. The formation of pidgins was characteristic in the 16thand 17th centuries when European colániar powerst spread all over theworld and new languages, which were lexicaily related io the language ofthe colonize4 emerged. These contact languages were initially rised"justfor functional purposes in specific situations and contexts and, thereftre,they were not the native language of anyone and speakers continued touse their languages in their own speech communities. wardhaugh (2002:ó2) points out that the process of pidgin ization most likely requires thecontact of more than two languages. In a context with only iwo languagesthere would probably be a struggre between the two and the most"likélyoutcome would be a relation of dominance of one over the othe¡ bar"áon social and economic factors. The language of the dominant culturewould probably be imposed. In a situation in which the locals speak morethan one native language there is a need to find a common ground.

Pidgins often undergo several geographical and sociolinguistic contextsas is the case of Melanesian pidgin Engtish which arose ás a shipboardlinguafranca, it waslater used as a planátion language and it finally came1o be a language for inter-ethnii city communication (Richford &McWhorter, 1997).

t S"" World Englishes in chapter ó.

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

I

70

Pidginshavebeenusedforcenturiesandeventualiy,someofthem,becamecreoles. The proces, oi.r"otirution takes place when that language that was

originally a tunctionai;;ñ;;4:*i for purposetul communication is

acquired as a mothel;Ñ;;iy children *ho ar" exposed to it. The social

circumstances in *ftitt' ttJl' ianguage is now used are more complex as they

need to serve ail ki;J;;ir;"iui rr".-"d, and communicative purposes and,

therefore, tn" rurrguuJ" ";p;;;. h rr.h u situation, the pidgin develops and

becomes more compi"^ báth in terms o[ grammar and phonology and its use

then covers all kinds of commurri.alu" functioni. The processes of

pidginziation and "."áúráii."

are absolutelv different although they overlap'

The former irr,rotu"r"r"ol" f.i"¿ "t

simplificátion, in terms of lexis, grammar

and phonological f";;;r, *h"r"u, the latter entaiis the expansion in all kinds

of linguistic f"ut*"r-ufJámmunicative functions' This amplification becomes

apparent because th;ñ;;ge yhich originally had limited functions becomes

now a system used as a iatii,e lungrrug" ihat íeeds to be used for all types of

social functions. H.ir"""r, ".t",r"r! piágin becomes a creole'Although creoles

have gained status i" rfr" Iast decádêr, th"." are millions of speakers whose

native and only;;;;;l;u "t"ot" u"á thev mav feel thev speak a sub-

standard turrg,rug".^3árñ" "."ol"s have become offi'cial languages in places

Iike papua N"* c.rIrr"u-*á ,o-" other creoles are widespread such as

Hawaiian Creole g"gf"ft te"gfirn-Uur"¿i und Haitian Creole (French-based)'

which is the native language of almost áil Hui iunr (over 5 million)' Another

interesting example ;iiñ. ñril d",r"lopment and common use of pidgins and/or

creoles is Kiswahili. This language even has a BBC web page where news can

U" t"t¿ and heard (www'bbc'co'uk/swahili)'

Between 1950 and 1975 these languages stopped being considered

uninterestirrg u.,áil;;í; lbartu.diTediu.gottit t9 s.ain the status of

Ianguages, ^"a ,ü",t "i *fit

a change in iheir political status and their

social consideratio', ir, ,o-" countrieí, they became of.central interest for

many linguists, including socioljnguisis, appiied linguists and theoretical

linguists. Before ,frltlpiáEf"s a1d cpo.ier *ér" deemed to be of little interest

because tn"y *"r"*.J;rfr;ú to lack certain iinguistic features such as,

articles, the copula, and grammatical inflectioni, all as a result of their,functional,p".p;;;;hiJt tetr aside linguistic features which were not

essentialtoconveymeaning.Atpresent,th"yu'"consideredaslanguagesin their o*n rigftl "t tt "t?i"tiis

of a language with their own history'

structure, communicative function and speech communities'

--G-y*", (1g71: 3) mentions that pidgins and creoles were ignored to a great extent by

linguists ur.-urgtnuií;;;;;e;;l H" ub¿, ttrut rháse languages, instead of being considered

crearive adaptations, h?v:;"?;;;;.;;¡ as degenerations and, therelore, not as svstems rn

their own right'

\IT 3 71

originally, pidgins served the purpose of a lingua franca, i.e., a language;sed by people who speak different mother iongn", and who used a-.mmon language for a specific functional situation, such as trade. This-s an old phenomenon that still occurs today as we can find some clear.ramples of lingua francas, such as English which is used all over the,', orld for intercultural communication and has become the language ofiusiness. Another example of alingua franca is Esperanto. This i.rrg;r.g"-s not the mother tongue of any speaker because it is an aftificial lang'uag*e,:ut it is sometimes used for international communication.

Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 1)

2. SOME INSTANCES OF PIDGINS

Most pidgins and creoles are based on an European language, and themost common and widespread ones are based on one of the followinglanguages: English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, or German. English-based creoles are very common in caribbean areas such as Antigua, Barbádos,Jamaica and the west Indies in general, but they are aiso present in Africacameroon, Kenya, st. Helena, Zimbabwe, Namibia), Asia (India, china,

Hong Kong) and the pacific area (papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,\ustralia). French-based creoles can be found in Mafiinique, Guadeloupe,St. Lucia and Haiti. some Spanish-based pidgins and creóles were used inDominican Republic, cuba, puerto Rico and the philippines. Some instancesof Portuguese-based creoles can be found in Aruba, Éonaire and curaEao,\lalaysia and Singapore. These are some of the most important pidgins:

Cameroon Pidgin EnglishHawaiian PidginKamtokKenya Pidgin SwahiliNaga PidginNew Guinea Pidgin GermanNigerian Pidgin EnglishPapuan Pidgin EnglishPidgin German (Gastarbeiters)3

, ' etagi".- are more common in places with easy access to the oceans, especialh' around:he equatorial belt in former coloniai locations. The¡,tend to be associateá rvirh coloniza¡ionand distant cultures, but there are some instances of pidgins

"'it¡i" g"..p". In the 1970s zuestrvorkers.in Germany coming from neighborirrg .orrntri"i.,'"h as Greece,ir"i; p;;;g;, Sr"tand Turkey developed a pidgin in some big G-erman cities like se.lin anJ Frankfur1.


RussenorskaSangoVietnamese Pidgin French


Pidgins are to be found all over the world but, they tend to share anumber of general characteristics. These are some of them:

a) Almost complete lack of inflection in nouns, pronouns, verbs andadjectives.

b) Nouns are unmarked for number or gender.

c) Verbs lack tense markers.

d) There is no distinction for case in personal pronouns, so l can standfor me, andthey for them.

e) Syntactically, the absence of clausal str-uctures is quite common inpidgins. However, relative clauses and other types of embeddingdevelop in creolization.

fl In order to avoid possible confusion, as there is often no distinctionbetween long and short vowels (e.g., ship and sheep would bepronounced in the same way), a common resource introduced inthese languages is 'reduplication'. For example, in Tok Pisin slpmeans 'ship' and sipsip means 'sheep', andpis means 'peace' whilepispis has the meaning of 'urinate'. Another common usage ofreduplication is to intensify the meaning of a word, for instance,cry means 'cry'whereas crycry means 'cry continually', or talkmeaning'talk' and talktalk meaning'chatter's.

3. SOME INSTANCES OF CREOLES

Terminology and sociolinguistic status are not always consistent andsome creoles can be referred to as pidgins (for instance, Tok Pisin andHawaiian Pidgin English) or the other way round. This mismatch is

o Russenorsk was used until the 1920's in the Arctic and was used by Russian fisherrnenand Norwegian fish traders.

' Please note that this communication strategy is very foequent in many languages. Forexample in Spanish if you want to emphasize that a mountain was really high you can say'La montaña era alta, alta'or to express that the cake was really good you can say'El pastelestaba bueno, bueno'. In English you can say'You wicked, wicked child'.

L,\IT 373

l

produced because'pidgin' and'creole' are technical terrns commonlv usedbr-linguists but not necessarily by speakers of the r"ú;;;;;. il;instances of creoles are:

Anglo-Romani (a creolization of Romani in England)Asmara Pidgin (Italian-based, it is spoken in palrts of ethiopia)Berbice Creole DutchChabacano o Zamboangueño. (Spanish_based)óHaitian CreoleHawaiian Creole EnglishJamaican PatwaTok Pisin

. Tl" British Empire spread all over the world for around 350 years andthis favored the expansion of Standard English and regional varietieso'erseas, on the one hand, but also the creation and develJpment of manypidgins and creoles in different pafts of the globe, on the othen As a matterof fact there have been more English-based óreoles than in other languagessuch as French, Portuguese or Spanish. Two major groups of Engñshbased creoles can be identified: thé Atlantic grorp,"rpoien in west Afoicaand the caribbean area such as Jamaica" cr.tt"'English, the creoleEnglish of the Lesser Antilles and the Eastern caribbean ári"ti", (Trinidadand Tobago, Guyana), flourishing in the 17th and lgth c.; and, the pacificgroup including Hawaiian Creole English and Tok pisin.

3.1. Hawaiian Creole English

, o.ver 600.000 people inHawaii speak Hawaiian creore English (HcE)also known as Hawai'i pidgin or simply pidgin. HCE ; immersed in a;omplex sociolinguistic situation because, u, áft"n happens with pidginsand creoles, it was denigrated repeatedly r., s.'hools and

-pullicadministrations for years but -or" u.rd -or" oft".r it is turning into a wayro express solidarity and forge local identity. Nowadays, Hawaii,s council-s determined to maintain and develop th"is local tu"g";t" by means of.nforcing competent language planning and policy (s!e .ñupt"r s;.

t rrr.." are thee main examples of creoies based on spanish: papiamento(formed in-:'e 17th c' in the island of cr¡r)ao which is currently "r"Ji" trr"lii""¿, of Aruba and3':naire); Palenquero (developed in the lgth c. near cafiagena, colombia); and. Chabacano: Zatnboangueño (is used in some parrs of the philipf;:;j: iü;'sp"uii.r,_uur.¿ creores::e at the time of yriting out of the icope of this unii but ií y;;;irh;rinou, more about---e:¡, vou can read'Lengrras pidgin y lenguas criollas,in eii""ipiii de-iociottngür;;;;;;

. - -iología del lenguaje by rrancisó MarcoJ Marín , pp. 277-29r (Barcerona: Ariel).


These are some general chatacteristics of HCE:

1. From a phonological point of view, HCE is rather simple since itavoids prro.rologlcal features which are difficult to pronounce in

any of ih" lurrgrruges in contact (English, Hawaiian and manv

others). The vocaliJsystem was simplified and fricatives tend to be

avoided:

E.g.: Bo da dem (both of them)Braddah (brother)

2. Vocabulary is derived to a large extent from the socially dominant-

g;;;p. English-based pidgini usually have about 90!o of words

coming tro* ettgtish,iftJ"*ifier language.' Notice.that some of

these words HCE"come directly from English (A) and some others

hrrr" b""n ^d^pt"d or simpiified (B)' Still' they are largely

recognizable:

A

BoyFishGuyStuffStay

Many words are polisemous as, for instance:

E.g.: try can be used as a main verb 'try', but also as a verb auxi-"

lluty with the meaning of 'please''

inside means'inside', 'soul' and 'heart''

Almost complete iack of inflection in nouns' pronouns' verbs and

adjectives. Ñor-,.t, are unmarked for number and gender:

E.g.:'DisdalanguagefomospeopodatstayliveinsideHawai'i'''Him was real tight wit his brudda"'You go five mile sout'.

5. Tense and aspect are normally indicated with a marker'

Pasttenseisexpressedbyplacingpreverbalpreteriteauxiliaries'lven', 'bin' and'had'before the verb:

E.g.: 'Shi wen Pein da grin haus'''You bin say go uP on roof''

B

Den (then)Lata (later)Neva (didnt)Togedda (together)Wot? (What?) l

L

I

3.

4.

75UNIT 3

Future events are marked by,go,, ,gon,, ,gona,, or,goin,before theverb:

E.g.: 'I gon it fish,.

Progressive aspect can be expressed by: a) inserting 'ste' (stay)before the verb in the infinitive; b) using ih" -tng form of the .reÁ';and, c) using both forms altogether:

E.g.: a) 'Shi ste rait da leta'.b) 'Dey pleing futbawl'.c) 'Naue ste iting da kek'.

6. Auxiliaries are nonexistent and negation is expressed by placing'Tro','rrat' or 'neva' before the verb:

E,.g.: 'Shi neva si daet muvi'.'No can' (cannot, it's not possible)'No mo'(there isn't any)

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 3)

3.2. Jamaican Patwa (or Patois)

As a result of not having an official status, a name for the creolelanguage used mainly in Jamaica has not been fixed to the present day andsome terms like Jamaican, Jamaican creole, Jamaican patwa or patois areall used. over 90ok of the 2.5 million population of Jamaica in the late1990's are descendants of slaves broughi from Africa. Language in thiscaribbean island nowadays reflects the history of that country and itscontact with a whole range of cultures and languages that havl passedthrough. In spite of that, the official language remains Standard Énglishwhich is the educared model spoken by tñ" elite and also the officiallanguage. In Jamaica, a whole linguistic spectrum can be found havingStandard English (the lexifier language) at one extreme and JamaicanPatwa or creolized English at the other. Jamaican Patwa is characteristicfor its fragmented English speech, and for haüng a slrrtax developed duringthe days of slavery with the influence of severál wlst Africa., iurrgrug"ipertaining to the Niger-congo family of languages. Nowadays, this lágr"ugáhas not got much social and socioeconomic státus in Jamaica and it ürg"]yrepresents the speech of the peasant and laborer with little educatio.r. tiis not considered an "acceptable" language for formal purposes andspeakers are often considered as socially anJ linguistically inferior. some

I


attempts have been made to change this situation aiming at givingJamaican Patwa official status and turning it into the language of education.Jamaican Patwa is gaining in prestige and is now seen sometimes innewspapers or heard on the radio, and is also present in songs which helpsto raise the self-esteem of the speakers and assert their identity.

This creole does not quite have a uniform orlhographic representationanci no agreement has been made to conclude if it should accommodatethe lexifier language (Standard English) or if an entirely new system shouldbe created.

Some general features of JP:

1. No lt - 0l or ld - éldistinction:

JP Engl.E.g.: 'de' the

'dis' this'odder' other'wid' with

2.

'tink' thing

Final consonant clusters tend to be devoiced (ldlbecomes ltl) ordeleted:

JP Engl.E.g.: 'husban' husband

'purfume' perfumed

It is not stressed-timed but syllable-timed, so all syllables receivethe same stress. (You can find some recordings in the web site forthis subject.)

Modified personal pronouns:

I 'me'He 'im'They 'dem'

Absence of plural markers on nouns:

JP Engl.E.g.: 'all type a people' all kinds of people

'book' shoes

3.

4.

5.

o. ,\ltered third person singuiar subject-verb concord:

JP Engl.E.g.: 'if im dare axe' if he dares to ask

'shi greet im' she greets him

i. Absence of auxiliaries to form the negative:

Engl.E.g.: I dont want anything to eat.

JPE.g.: 'Mi nuh wan nutten fe eat'.

8. Copula deletion:

JPE.g.: 'it soh bad'

Engl.it is so bad

'im short an tumpa' he is short and stokcy'life ard many sey' many people say that life is hard

9. Tense marked lexically (instead of morphologically):

EngI.E.g.: That is the woman that took my money.

JPE.g.: 'Is dat ooman deh did tek mi monev,.

3.3. Tok Pisin

Papua New Guinea has three official languages which turn to be secondlanguages to most people: Hiri Motu, Tok pisin and English. Tok pisinTP) is used nowadays by three million people as a unifiring language, and

ilrtgua franca, among speakers of a number of differát lrrdig-"rro*languages (over 800) Papua New Guinea. This language, which rémains,, erv distant to English, is sometimes used as a pidginánd sometimes asa creole and shows clear influences from Englisñ in terms of borrowings,subordination patterns, plural forms (-s), eic. However, we can not savihat a continuum between Tp and English can be found as it seems thaidecreolization does not affect Tp. In 1975 papua New Guinea was bornand TP was recognized in the constitution as on of the national languages.-\ow some communities can choose to have their children schooleá in rpT t!" first three years of elementary education but parents perceive thatEnglish brings more advantages to their children. TÉ is also used in manvoovernment publications, in radio, television broadcasting and in the


House Assembly which is the parliament. wantok, a weekly newspaper,

is written in TP and has a readership of over 10.000 people'

Some general features of TP:

1. Consonant assimilation. There is no distinction between lpl and lfl;lgl and lkl; lsl,lJl and lt[l:

TPE.g.: 'hap pas seven'

'lipt''pait''pilta''pinga''pul bilong Pis''pulap'

TPE.g.: 'sak'

'sel''sgm''aip''sot, sotpela''su

'sips''sis''sops'

TPE.g.: 'dok'

'lek''pik'

2. Simplified consonant clusters:

TP Engl.E.g.: 'ailan' island

'gaden' garden'hos' horse'kona' corner'lam' lamp'lephan' left hand'wok' work'wan handet' hundred

Engl.half past sevenliftfightfilterfingerfin of fishfull, full up

Engl.sharkshellshameshipshortshoe

chipscheesechops

Engl.dogloo'"bpig

b-

UNIT 3 79

4.

7.

i

3. Simplified vocalic system, only lal, lel, lil, lol, lul:

TPE.g.: 'fut'

'grin''gto''ston''smok''stret''tumora'

Word reduplication to

TPE.g.: 'liklik bas'

'lukluk'

5. Plural suffix'-pela':

TPE.g.: 'emtupela'

'emtripela''etpela''tupela''tupela marit'

Engl.footgreengrowstonesmokestraight ontomorrow

indicate emphasis:

Engl.minibuslook at

'man bilong toktok' talkative person'singsing' festival

Engl.those twothose threeeightbothmarried couple

6. Lexicon based on English. It should be taken into account that inthe process of decreolization, more and more words tend to beadopted from the lexifier language and the acrolect quickly adoptswords that portray the present society.

Engl.addressdoctorheavenmanstoryschool

Metaphors in word formation:

TP Engl.E.g.: 'haus bilong tumbuna pasin' museum

TPE.g.: 'adres'

'dokta''heven''man''stori''skul'


'kaikai long moning''laplap bilong windo''lain bilong Jisas''pin bilong nus'

breakfastcurtaindisciplesnose pin

8. Simplified prepositional system (only three): 'long'used for'to, fo6from'; 'bilong'used for'of ; and, 'wantaim'used for'with'.

NOTE: In the web page for this subject, you can find written and auralsamples of these and other pidgins and creoles.

4. DECREOLIZATION

Creoles, as any other living language, continue to evolve. There is aphenomenon called decreolization that arises when one creole has aprolonged contact with a standard language in a specific society, and thatstandard brings a considerable influence to bear on the creole. So, speakersstart to develop the creole taking the standard as a model and a continuumis created with the standard as a model at the top and the creole as a modelat the bottom. This process can be clearly perceived nowadays in placeslike Barbados, Cameroon, India, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea, amongothers. In such a situation the different forrns of the creole become sociallvstratified and the variety or varieties which are closer to the standard oftenbecome the language of the elite and educated society (acrolect), whereasthe variety which is closer to the creole often represents illiterate peopleand lower social class (basilecl). Between these two poles there can appeara whole range of varieties or mesolecrs which determine not only socialstratification but also alleged identities among their speakers. Wardhaugh(2002:80) cites Allsopp (1958) and shows the following stages in thecontinuum to say'I told him'in Guyanese:

1. ai trld hrm2. ai torld hrm3. ai to: I rm4. ai tel rm5. a tel rm6. ai tel I7. atxllB. mi tel I9. mi tel am

The varieties 1 to 3 reflect the acrolecl typical of middle-class usag=varieties 4 to 7 display mesolect forms characteristic in lower middle a: :

L\IT 3 81

urban working classes. The pronunciation in stage 8 is closer to the basilectand shows a rural working class, as well as item 9 u'hich is used bv oldand illiterate rural laborers.

Hawaii is one of those places where we can find this continuum ofspeech which ranges from the distinct HCE to Standard English of Hau,aii.In this case, it depends mainly on the speaker's location and upbringing.The basilecr (barely intelligible by standard English speakersf ir rpát ""in the country side whereas the acrolect is spoken in the mayor cities.

THE USE OF PIDGINS AND CREOLES IN EDUCATION

It is rather uncommon to find a pidgin or creole, or other minoritydialect, as the language of instruction in formal education in anyeducational system in the world, and valdman (1989) considers that thiiis so for two reasons. on the one hand, the continuum of variation thatis usually found between the pidgin/creole and the standard educationallanguage represents a strong obstacle (see decreolization) as it issometimes difficult to isolate a particular norm to be used in education.on the other hand, the social consideration of the pidgin/creole is in arvav hindered by the fact that it is frequently considered as deviant fromthe standard and as having an inferior status in the speech community.

Siegel (2002) affirms that speakers of creoles and minority dialects-eenerally do not do well in the formal education system. In some cases¡his can be caused by socio-economic factors but on some other occasionsit seems clear that language plays a role. very often, these speakers are ina u,ay disadvantaged because the language of formal education is actuallya standard variety that they do not speak as a mother tongue. This is thLcase of AAVE (African American Vernacular English) which has beenanalyzed quite extensively since the 1960's in the united States. Not sonuch research has been developed with regards to other minority dialectsand creoles although these cases are equally interesting (see chapter 5 forinformation on Aboriginal languages).

Some creoles are now recognized as a distinct variety rvith agrammatical systern bui educators and policy makers introduce manvarguments against the application of a 'nonstandard' varietv in theeducational system. They posit, for e;<ample, that instmction time shouldoe spent on learning the stanciarcl as tirey consider that any effor-t mader:o teach the nonstandard is a r,vasre of tirne. They believe that using andieaching a nonstandard varjety cf speech in the classroom deprir.es


children of a chance to benefit from the socio-economic advantages thatspeakers of standard varieties have, condemning them to an unchangingunderclass status. Some other educators and policy makers advocate thatusing a nonstandard variety in education may cause confusion andinterference with the standard variety what will result in additionaldifficulties for the children.

No doubt that some progress is being made in this respect over theyears, and pidgins and creoles are gaining social and political recognitionand their acknowledgement as part of the social identity in many parts ofthe world is now afact (see language policy in chapter 5). In the lastdecades there has been a global attempt to legitimize the use of pidgins,creoles and minority dialects in formal education claiming that thespeakers of these languages have a right to express their own linguisticand sociocultural identity in their own languages. Siegel (2002) points outthat this enthusiasm for using pidgins, creoles and minority dialects informal education had to face some obstacles such as the following:

1. Negative attitudes and ignorance on the part of the teachers who,especially in immigration settings, may mistake language problemsof creole-speaking children for cognitive problems and eventuallylower their expectations of these students. Eventually, this leadsto the lowering of student performance in favor of studentsspeaking the standard variety. Some studies in this respect havebeen carried out with immigrant children moving to neweducational systems such as creole-speaking children coming Í?omthe Caribbean area and entering the public educational system inthe United States.

2. Negative attitudes and self image of the students themselves becauseof denigration of their speech and culture. This effect can beneutralized by legitimizing the students'language varieties andadopting an integrative approach, for example: bringing aspects oftheir culture into the classroom (e.g.: traditions, music, etc.);encouraging students to speak and/or write in these varieties;teaching some sociolinguistic principles that explain linguistic andpragmatic differences with standard varieties.

3. Repression of self-expression because of the need to use anunfamiliar form of language.

4. Difficulty in acquiring literacy in a second language or dialect. Inthis case, children may be repressed if they are not allowed toexpress themselves in their familiar language variety.

L\IT 3

Pidgins, creoles and minority dialects have so far been used in threet\-pes of educational programs (SiegeI,2002), all of them aiming atadditive bilingualism or bidialectalism, that is, helping the students toacquire the standard language while maintaining their own pidgin, creoleor minority language. This practice clearly contributes to their self-esteemand their right to maintain their mother tongue. These three sorts ofprograms vary in the way the children's home varieties are consideredand interact with the standard language within the classroom. Thesethree types are: instrumental program, accommodation program ora\vareness program. In the first case, the instrumental program ischaractertzed by the use of the home variety as the medium of instruction,so it is used as a vehicle for the acquisition of initial literacy and thelearning of other subjects in the curriculum. The standard language istherefore introduced at a later stage and it gradually becomes the languageof instruction for some subjects. Instrumental programs have beenimplemented in places such as Mauritius (Mauritian Creole) or PapuaNew Guinea (Tok Pisin). In the second case, the accommodationprogram does allow the use of the home language and its use is notpenalized in any way but it is, however, not employed as the language ofinstruction for any subject nor it is studied as a language in itself. Athigher levels, as students accommodate to the standard variety, theirhome language and culture can be preserved by means of the study ofliterature or music of their own communities. Some accommodationprograms have been set up for Hawaiian children speakers of varietiesof Hawaiian Creole English and speakers of Aboriginal English inAustralia. In the third case, the awareness program includes in thecurriculum some teaching on basic sociolinguistic and sociopragmaticprinciples of different language varieties, and their grammaticai rulesand pragmatics are compared with those of the standard variet-v'. Someawareness programs have been created for creole-speaking Caribbeanimmigrants in the United Kingdom and speakers of Kriol and AboriginalEnglish in Australia. (Recent research carried out in these three programsis summarized in Siegel, 2002: 17-29)

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercises 4 and 5.)

6. EXERCISES

1. Search the internet for'Esperanto' and 'Esperanto speakingcommunities'. Read about this language and then write a summan'(about250 words) with the information you consider relevant about it (origin,

83

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS84

users, number of speakers, etc')' What advantages and disadvantages can

;; t;" for the usá of Esperanto nowadays?

2. Search the web for at least three of the pidgins from the list' Get

some general infor-átiá" about them (whet"ih"y are sPoken' number

of speakers, etc') and find a short "-pi" (10 lines)' Then analvze it and

underline all the *ord, or expressions you ittitttt that come from English'

3.Readthefollowingexcer?tsinHawai'iCreoleEnglishadaptedfromMasuda (1995: 322) and.transcribed foliowing Odo OrthographyT' Try to

transcribe them into óá"J".¿ English and note that the pronunciation

of the text is ,n,r.li;;; ; thebdo orthography than to standard

English.

A. KazNo, da ka get in wan long lain'Samtaim in wan long lain'Meibii, get abaut fifti' siksti kaz' ye',En'den, its nat onli wan lain'Dei get sevro mo aDalaínz'Dei get sam mo kaz't:u' e?

,4-nd, daflírrrstaztz'Awlweiz bringin ka' end'Awlweiz teikin aut' sii'

B. Mai jabSo, mai jab iz tu siiDet nomo, nomo' no chrabo in da fiildDei grreb dea ka,

Den, sam av dem' dei tel'Eh, ai tinkMai kamPani nomo' doh' Ye'Y'sii, if nomo, nomo kamPani'Wel, ai go faind,Sii, es mai jab, sii'

4. Jamaican Creole or'patois'is commonly used in Jamaica although

it is freque"rly ";;;idly -"uf""¿

The language of education is Standard

English. ft " t"r"iri"g Éf Standard f,nglish in schoois often proves

ineffective as children prefer to use 'piois'' Why do you think this

--l si.k",-on, D. and.c. odo, (1976) Change ancLvariation in Hawaiian English' vol' 1:

General phonology and pitlgin synta-x.IIor1ot,rt.i, sállut science Research Institute' university

of Hawai'i.

- t-_ i

:;ppens? What do you think is the common attitude among schoolchildren- -.,r'ardS Standard English? You may want to have a look to chapter 5 and:=-:.d about language planning.

5. Find out what languages are official in the following countries.

AustraliaBelgiumBrazilCanadaColombiaFinlandFranceHaitiIndiaKenyaNew ZealandNorwayPapua New GuineaParaguayPhilippinesSingaporeTanzaniaUruguayPhilippinesSingaporeTanzaniaUruguayZaire

Why do you think some of these countries have more than one officialIanguage?

7. REFERENCES

Arrsopp, R. 1958. 'The English language in British Guiana'. English Languagekaching, 12: 59-66.

Hornt, J. 2000. An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Holntes, J. 1992. An Introduction to Sociolinguisllcs. Harlow, UK: Longman.

Hvnrss, D. 197 l. Pidginization and Creolization of Languages. Cambridge:Cambridge Universy Press.

85


Masuoe, H. 1995. 'Versification and reiteration in Hawai'i Creole English: 'If nomopaila maen, awrai!' World Englishes l4l3:3I7-342.

Rrcrnon¡, J. R. & J. McWsonren. 1997. 'Language contact and language generation,in F. Coulmas, The Hqndbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwells.

SrEcsL, J.2002. 'Applied Creolistics in the 21st Century', in Glenn Gilbert (ed.),

Pidgin and Creole Linguistics in the Twenty-first Centurlt. New York: Peter Lang.

VaromeN, A. 1989. 'The use of creole as a school medium and decreolizatoin inHaiti', in W. Z. Sonino (ed.) Literacy in school and society: Multidisciplinaryperspectives. New York: Plenum Press.

W¿noseucn, R. 2002 (ath ed.). An Introduction to Sociolinguisllcs. Malden, USA:


B. RESOURCES ON THE WEB


9. FURTHER READINGS AND QUESTIONS

9.1. Text 5

Read the following text carefully and comment on it emphasizing any

aspect you consider of relevance. After the text you will find some questions

that may be helpful. Write around 250-300 words in total.

Many present-day creoles are spoken by descendants of the Africanslaves in America and the Caribbean. As mentioned above, the commonlanguage of the plantation was generally a pidgin, and children naturallr'acquired the pidgin as a first language. As the families'communicativeneeds expanded, so did the resources of the language they used. Thepidgin developed into a creole.

Alternatively, a pidgin can become so useful as a lingua franca thatit may be expanded and used even by people who share a tribal language.In multilingual speech communities, parents may use a pidgin so

extensively during the day, in the market, at church, in offices and onpublic transport, that it becomes normal for them to use it at home too.In this case, too, children will often acquire it as their first language andit will develop into a creole. Tok Pisin is the first language of manvchildren in New Guinea.

LNIT 3

Once a creole has developed it can be used for all the functions ofany language - politics, education, administration (including tar forrns[...]), original literature (and translations of Shakespeare too), and soon. Tok Pisin is the most fi:equently used language of debate in the PapuaNew Guinea Parliament. Creoles have become accepted standard andeven national and official languages, as will be seen in the next chapter.Once developed there is no evidence in their linguistic structure to rer,eaitheir pidgin origins. A linguist doing a present day (or synchronic)analysis of, say, Afrikaans would not be able to identifi; it as a creole.The features which might suggest its creole origins are all features whichcan be found in other well-established languages with no history ofcreolisation that we can know about. (Even English has been describedby some as a latter-day creole, with French vocabulary superimposedon a Celtic base.) This is fascinating and provocative since, as mentionedabove, it suggests that the processes of pidginisation and creolisationmay be universal processes which reveal a great deal about the originsof language and the ways in which languages develop.

Holmes (1992:98-99)

Issues to consider:

a) Do you think that by using creoles in publications the post-creolecontinuum can be stopped and the language can be fixed in someway?

b) Do you think that creoles should be adopted as official languagesin the countries where they are used as happens with Tok Pisin inPapua New Guinea?

c) Bearing in mind the 21st century society we live in, do you thinkthat new pidgins and creoles will arise as they did in the 18th and19th c.?

9.2. Text 6

Read the following text carefully and comment on it emphasizing anr-aspect you consider of relevance. After the text you will find some questionsthat may be helpful. Write around 250-300 words in total.

Tanzania faced the dilemma of which language to choose as itsofficial national language. Choosing one language from over a hundredindigenous languages, each associated with a particuiar tribe, u-ou1dhave simply provoked discontent, if not intertribal ri'arfare. ChoosingEnglish for a newly independent nation seemed inappropriate (though

87


many other nations have had little choice but to use the language of thecolonisers as their only official language). The first President ofTanzania,Julius Nyerere, chose Swahili, a language of the Bantu language family,which was widely used throughout the country as a lingua franca inmany contexts. There were some obvious reasons for this choice. Some

were pragmatic. Swahili was already the medium of primary education,for instance, and so allTanzanians learned the language at school. Otherobvious reasons were more ideological. Ninety-six per cent of Tanzania's

languages are Bantu languages, like Swahili, so it could be clearlyidentitiéd as an African language. Moreover, Swahili had served as thelingua franca of the anti-colonial political movement for independence.tn ihis role it had acted as a kind of social cement between very disparategroups. It could hardly have had better credentials from a political and

social point of view.

Holmes (1992: ll3)

Issues to consider:

a/ What problems and difficulties can you think of in a country thathas recently gained independence (having a colonial past) and thathas to select an official language?

b) Do you know of any other country where a specific code has been

selected for practical and political purposes?

c) What advantages are there in selecting an official language that isan international language spoken all over the world like English?

UNIT 3

10. KEY \ryORDS


AcrolectAuxiliary languageBasilectEnglish-lexifi er creoleLanguage conflictLanguage election/selectionLexifierLingua francaLWCMesolectMinority languageNew EnglishesSabir

89

Unit 4

1. BILINGUALISM: INTRODUCTION

F{undreds of languages are used in the world every day. Although manyr---;L?rceS of monolingual societies are to be found, especially in the western

,:1d, the number of speakers knowing or making use of more than oneÉ-=-guage as a common means of communication easily surpasses the:-*rLber of monolingual speakers. In many places around the world, people-,s. nore than one language every day, because of situational factors as

' :ll as their sociolinguistic situation. Bilingualism is not restricted tos,::,¿ countries or areas traditionally considered bilingual such as Canada": S',ijtzerland, but is present in every country of the world in one way or"::. lher. So, using one language at home and another one at work is not-:-\' strange in some placesl. The second language (in terms of order of

.i:quisition) does not need to have been learned formally; speakers mayu-: have acquired it by constant exposure to the language, and the shift: -:n one code to the other is often made unconsciously.

h is not easy to define the term Bilingualism as there can be many::-:ees in terms of overall proficiency and sociolinguistic factors that:=::r-mine the use and knowledge of one language or the other.3'':n-sualism can range from a functional ability to use one language only,-' rertain domains, to balanced bilingualism which entails an equal and:-i-level capacity in two or more languages.

In order to portray the different features of bilingualism, some aspects--==d to be described:

First, it is important to take into account the means of acquisition,r"i this would depend on whether each of the languages was acquired as

In this case we are referring to bilinguaiism assuming that there are two languagesü:' - --: ed. It would be pedectly possible, and very normal in sóme parls of the world, tá reTer: , .i¡uation with more than two languages. Then r',,e would speak of multilingualism.

t-


a mother tongue, a second language or a foreign language2. Each of these

circumstancÁ radically affects the degree of attainment and the overall

proficiency, depending on the age of the speaker and the amount of timespent learning and using the language.

Second, the skills in each language may vary as it is perfectly possible,

and rather common, to have different commands of the various skiils: reading,

writing, speaking and listening comprehension. The degree of development

in eacñ of these iour skills will be deterrnined, at least in part, by the means

of acquisition. So, someone acquiring the language in_a natural context(witháut formai instruction) would probably develop his/her aural-oral

üowledge of the language but may not become competent in reading and

writing. I"t goes without sáying that literacy is not necessarily attained by all

fluent-speJkers, not "rr"r,

in their mother tongue. It also needs to be taken

into acctunt that, as usually happens in second and foreign language learning,

receptive skills are often more easily developed than productive skills' So, itis párfectly possible for someone learning the language. in a formal or

classroom context to develop receptive skills, namely listening and reading,

to a larger extent than productive skills, that is speaking and writing.

Third, there are certain functions that bilinguals generally prefer to

perform i.r orr" language than in the other. This may be due to the fact

ihut they have not d"rrelop"d a specific skill in that language sufficientl¡(e.g.: participate in a daily conversation, read the newspapel etc.) or just

because it seems more natural for them to do it in a cerlain language (e'g':

counting, cursing, dreaming, etc).

Fourth, the domain often influences language choice in bilingualspeakers because the acquisition or learning was domain-dependent or

sirnply because one language is preferred in some contexts and it is

sub¡ected to the effect of three main factors: a) the location (e'g.: home"

office, school, shopping cente4 pary, etc.);b) the role relationships among

the interlocutors (e.g.:ilbling, father, mothe4 colleague, neighbor, friena

doctot etc.), and; c) the topics involved in the conversation (e.g.: domestic

weather, social greetings, academic, etc.).

t Not. tfrat the mother tongLre would be the language acquired from the parents at ho::.-

and would probably be the firsl one in terms of order of acquisition, i.e., the first languar:It is often r"f".redio as the native language. The second language would be the langu:=-:

i.;;""d in the place where it is used by most speakers as a means of communication b *-

which is not the native language of the learner. For example, a Spanish mother tont-:speaker learning English iá eáinburgh wouid be in a Second Language (SL) learn'--¡situation. Fina[f, a Fáreign LanguagelFl) is learned when the target language is no: -:'language used by most sp-eakers. Foi instance, a Spanish mother tongue speaker lean::{rngtistr in Madrid would be an English learner in a FL learning context.

\TT 4

As was stated before, bilingual speakers are likelv to har.e a preferred,:neuage for each domain as shown in the following example inspired bv. real situation (the notion of domain and language choice are linked to::e question of 'register'. See chapter 2):

Robert Rodriguez was born in a suburban area in New Jerser,-. He is25 year old, he lives with his parents, and one of his sisters, Maira, u-hois 19. His parents, Carlos and Fabiana, came from Colombia 27 yearsago and have lived in the area ever since. They have relatives in Colombiaand they go back there on special occasions but not regularly. Carlosand Fabiana live in a beautiful house and work very near; it only takesthem 15 minutes driving every day. At work, in a factory, they mainlyspeak their perfectly comprehensible English with a markedly foreignaccent, which they learned when they came to the US at the age of 30,although some of their colleagues come from other Spanish-speakingcountries in South America and they speak Spanish to them. In theirway home after work, they stop at the mall to do some shopping andthere they come across some Spanish-speaking friends but all theirconversation with the shopkeeper takes place in English. When they gethome, they have a message from Robert on the answering machinesaying, in Spanish, that he is late from work. Every day Robert commutesto New York City where he works as a clerk. At work he speaks Englishall the time although on some occasions he speaks Spanish to hiscustomers. When Robert talks to his grandparents on the phone hespeaks Spanish and he often wishes he could spend more time with thembecause, as they live in Colombia, he has only met them twice. On hisway home he dropped by to see his girlfriend (with Italian ancestorsalthough she has never been to Italy) and greets her for her birthday inEnglish, which is the only language she speaks. When Robert gets home,he meets his younger sister Maira who is back from college, where shestudies accounting.

Robert and Maira are planning to th¡or.i a surprise partr for Robeñ'sgirlfriend and they make all the arrangements, in English. As thev aremaking a list with the food and drink they need to bu1,, their mothercomes in and tells them, in Spanish, that dinner is readr.. Thev sit at thetable and go on making arrangements for the par-ty r^,'ith their parentsin fluent Spanish with a funny English accent. The follorving da¡.at theparty in their backyard, Robert and Maira will be using their native-speaker English with some friends and neighbors, and fluent Spanish,their'mother tongue'with an accent to their parents and some of theirHispanic friends.


95

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISN : :

2. BILINGUALISM: DEFINITIONS AND DIMENSIONS

Broadly speaking the study and depiction of bilingualism can gi',.prominence either to the social side of this phenomenon, as it stems ft'c'::a context in which various languages are in contact; or it can pay closr:attention to the individual and psycholinguistic side of the issue, as r::.languages involved interact and develop in the brain of the bilingu-speaker. Both the notion of the bilingual speaker and the concepr ..bilingualism are rather fuzzy3 and have often been misconceived.

Social bilingualism (or multilingualism) is an area of research dedicate;to the study of its social dimension as a characteristic of bilingual an;multilingual societies where more than one language are commonly use:by a speech community or social group. It does not mean that all speaker=have a command over both languages, rather the term just implies tha:at least some of the members of that speech community are capable c:using the other language, either productively or receptively (e.g.: a,-members of a multilingual country do not need to be bilingual themseh'esthey may just be monolingual). Note that multilingualism is furthe:explained at the end of this chapter.

Individual bilingualism (also referred to as biiinguality) is rather simpleto define in terms of the first half of the term as it refers to the individualpafi of the phenomenon, that is, an individual has some knowledge of nvcor more languages. This entails a special psycholinguistic process.Nevertheless, it is not possible to make a clear separation betweenbilingualism as an individual and a societal phenomenon. Some questionsthat call for reflection are:

a) To what extent does the bilingual speaker need to be proficient inboth languages so that s/he can qualifu as bilingual?

b) Does a bilingual speaker need to show equal proficiency in bothlanguages?

c) Does the bilingual proficiency of the language entail a spoken orwritten command of both languages?

d) What language components should be considered as criteria forassigning the label of 'bilingual': vocabulary pronunciation, syntax,fluency, etc?

Tth"-rotion of the bilingual speaker has traditionally been idealized in the same wa'as other concepts that have not been adequately defined, in spite of being fundamental inapplied and theoretical linguistics.

.\IT4 97

i

i

Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 2.)

In the last decades a large amount of research on indir-idual:rlingualism has tried to distinguish different sorts of bilingualism. The:-assification first introduced by Weinreich (1953: 9-11) differentiatesf .t\\'een 'coordinate', 'compound' and 'sub-coordinate' bilingualism and,," as elaborated by taking as a starting point the way the concepts and:r:anings are encoded in the brain. Each of these three divisions stems:',rm the way in which the languages were learned. Coordinate bilingualism;.ssumes that languages are learned in different conditions and separate::itexts which would imply that the languages are kept aparl in the mind.:-:ider such circumstances, different contexts give way to different:.:anings with dissimilar conceptual systems (e.g.: someone who learnsF:Elish as his/her mother tongue and later learns a foreign language in..:hool). Compound bilingualism arises when acquisition takes place in a:--uation in which both languages are learned in the same context, and:.,rh meanings show a fused representation or meaning in the brain. This

=:-iails that the languages involved are somehow interdependent (e.g.: a::--ld rvho learns two languages at home at the same time, probably one:,ning from the father and the other one from the mother). The third:,- ssibility according to Weinreich ( 1 953), sub-coordinate bilingualism,:;ives from the learning of one language first and the learning of the-.i,er iater on (e.g.: a child who learns both languages at home

'*-:.ultaneously but one of them is dominant, probably because s/he spends:- -re time with one of the parents). Weinreich illustrates these three t5,pes,: :ilingualism with the following diagram for lexical representation and:: -,nunciation:

Coordinote

toble

I,eibal/

meso

I

/meso/

toble

I

/reibel/

I

/meso/

This working classification has been studied for decades and a number:,: =rperiments have been carried out following its principles. Hou-eler,::-: ,-ategorization was neither abandoned nor developed more fulIr'due

toble =

6el/

meso

\*,


to the complexity of the neurolinguistic processes and the few advances

attained lnihe nét¿ (we should take into áccount that the most significant

advances in portraying bilingual representation in the brain is based on

"pft"ti. patiánts). Ho*"n"., ás Macnamara(1967:66) indicates' it turns

"iri," bá too simplistic as it centers mainly on isolated.words and the

relationship between language and meaning seems to be much more

complicated than that.

Anotherdimensioninthestudyofbilingualismisthatwhichdistinguish"s bet*"án the balanced biiingual and the dominant bilingual

iiu*t"rr, 1955). The former refers to an individual who has equivalent

i.-p",""." lr, úoth lunguages (e.g.: someone brought up in a bilingual

family and society *h"i" báth languages receive equal consideration),

und the latter applies to someone whose competence in the mother tongue

surpasses his cámpetence in the other language' at least in some domains

(".g.: u child lean:rlrrg lu.rg,,uge { [om the father and language B from the

-J,fr",. and school, íiU iroÜubly have more chances to develop language

B unless special actions'are.r.tdl.ttk"rr). Balanced bilingualism entails a

high communicative competence in both languages- but not necessarily

monolingual competence in both languages'. Balanced bilinguaiism should

be understood in reiative terms ut bilittgrul speakers hardly ever show

equal speaking anJ writing abilities in iheir languages' they are rarely

áá""ffi fluent"about all tápics in all contexts. Normally, balance or

dominance can vary depending on the linguistic domains and functions'

Dominant bilinguaíisro i, u.t.tlily the toi- as it is rather difficult for a

bilingual speaker to reach absolutely even competence in two codes'

Another possible dimension to distinguish various types of bilingualism

is related tothe age of acquisition, so á useful distinction can be drawn

between: ch¡tdhold bilingualism, adolescent bllingualism and adult

bilinguaiism. In the first cale the development of bilingualism takes place

at the same time as the child's cognitive development whereas in the case

of adolescent and adult bilingrrulit- the cognitive representation of the

word, to give an example, hasálready been completed' at least to a cerlain

extent, urrd th"r" is mainly a process of re-labeling previous concepts.

, et ttrl, point it shouid be clarified that a balanced bilingual should not be conceived

as the addition of two -."ári"g".r speakers- The development of bilingualism depends on

numerous factors t^g. ál ür-iig, situational context, soóial consideration of the languages,

personal identity, ",..i u"á .".iainl¡r-there are domains in which the speaker will show

higher commata of tn"'f Inf""g" át tt iU 'i-plv preier o,nt luncllg:,or the other' A bilingual

.fr?"]¿ Ú. conceived .r r.Z-io"nt speakériéarer who has developed a communicative

competence in two or;;;l;Jilg"r, *ho.,r". language A, Ianguage B or languages A and

B depending on th. ,itultiá",13pi., interlocutor, doi-rain, etc', but who does not necessarih

have equal command in both.

'lll -l

-:--:hood bilingualism can also be classified into sitntútaneotrs üfant:,-:' .a:;distrz, when the child acquires a second language earlr in infancr-:1- - ifier some development of the mother tongue has been attained; and,: ,':s¿tutive childhood bilingualism, when a basic linguistic abilin' isiL-:-*ried early in infancy in the mother tongue and a se cond ian_euage is.rii*,red right after.

Tile sociocultural environment can cerlainlv influence bilingualism;- j specially the social status that the languages har-e in the speech: :::-nunity. Depending on the social consideration that the languages':;--: in the society, a child can develop both languages equalh- or one more-:-.,:: the other. Additive bilingualism occurs when both lan_eua_ses are)-*:-alh'r-alued. The child makes use of both languages and accordingl¡'::-r:;s advantage of this potentially enhancing situation to gain cognitivel r;bilini In this case, the acquisition of the second language does not:.-"e adverse effects on the language or languages already known.j:,.i:rcctive bilingualism, conversely, results from a sociocultural context.::;:e the mother tongue is detracted and, as a consequence, the child's

: - rritive development may be hindered because the development of then¡l,rrnd language interferes with the development of the first language.

Flamers and Blanc (1989: 11) also distinguish bilinguals according to:---;:r cultural identity. So, an adolescent or adult bilingual may identify*--::,self u,ith the cultures associated to each language. In this case s/he

- :ld also bebicultural and that clearly depends on the social consideration,:-j r-aiue given to both languages and both cultures by the society. Thisi:o:ilic situation would probably cause balanced bilingualism. Nonetheless,, :r:gh proficiency in both languages does not necessarily involve a:--ultural individual, who can also be monocuhural, i.e., someone who:- "¡urally identifies himself with just one group. Bilingual development in= :i¡,'en speech community can also persuade a person to give up or deny::-¿ culture of his mother-tongue group and foster that of the secondr-:qua-qe group, becoming an acculturatedbilingual. This latter process is:- - i infrequent at all when some sort of minimal migration is involved as,:::i:risrants often wish to blend into the new society and culture and the¡'=::'rmmodate as much as they can to the receiving culture.

-\n aspect related to the psycholinguistic processing of bilinguals, u'hich:-e,. been widely investigated in the last decades, is whether bilinguals orin-:re or two mental lexicons. The one-lexicon advocates consider that:;:¡antic information is stored in a single semantic system u'here n-ords.'' troth languages coexist but are labeled as belonging to one language or-:r- other. Another group of specialists propose that the bilingual mental


lexicon is divided into two sets, one for each language, and thatinterrelation between the two is only possible through transiation. A morerecent image considers that bilingual speakers possess three stores: a) aconceptual one for their knowledge of the world; b) a language store forlanguage A; and, c) a language store for language B.


3. CODE CHOICE

As Wardhaugh (2002) suggests, the term 'code' is admittedly loose butvery useful to refer to any kind of system that two or more people use forcommunication. Terms like dialect , language, style, standard, register , variety ,

pidgin and creole are prone to arouse emotions that, in one way or theother, are affected by their sociopolitical status or individualconsiderations. For instance, an Arab who knows the literary variety ofArabic (koranic) but speaks the colloquial variety of the ciassic (verrracular)will probably consider that they are two varieties of the same language.In the same vein, a Norwegian who speaks both Ny'norsk and Bokmálmayinsist that s/he is bidialectal or bilinguals which shows that to some extentconsidering oneself bilingual or bidialectal is, or should be, a question ofself-adscription. Anyhow a very useful criterion to distinguish betweenbidialectal and bilingual speakers could be the question of mutualintelligibility, i.e., if the speakers of these languages can understand eachother when using their own codeu.

In the case of bilingual or bidialectal speakers, it would be interestingto know howeve¡, the factors that rule code choice on every single situationand, eventually, why certain speakers sometimes shift from one code toanother. So, it seems that whenever a speaker engages in a communicativesituation, s/he has previously decided (consciously or unconsciously) uponthe code s/he is going to use. Language plays a very important role in ourlives and the actual choice can be very important. A speaker maydeliberately choose to use a specific language in some situations to expresssolidarity with his interlocutor. For example, let's think of someone enteringa deparlment-store in Pontevedra, Spain. The shop assistant will probably

TAnoth"r example would be that of Chinese people speaking both Mandarin andCantonese as they would insist that they speak two varieties of the same language.

6 This continues to be a controversial issue that cannot be generalized. There is mutualintelligibility between Norwegian and Swedish speakers but they are considered differentIanguages.

:\IT4 101

address him/her in Spanish and after a while, if both the customer andihe shop-assistant find clues to their interlocutors being speakers ofGalician, they may naturally and automatically change tñeir ianguagechoice and continue their conversation in Galician. In so doing, a numbér'rf communicative goals have been accomplished not onlv because of therransaction carried out, but because a degree of closeness and empathvrs also reached by their switching to the common language.

Language choice can also be considered a way to asserl some kind ofight'or even to resist some kind of 'power'in places where two or morelanguages coexist and have equal sociopolitical status as in canada. Theofficial Languages Act, adopte d in 1969, gave English and French equalstatus, rights and priüleges in the federal institutions of canada. Howeve4English first language speakers comprise a minority in euebec,representing l0o/o of the province's population, whereas in other parts ofcanada, French first language speakers are a minority, accouniing forapproximately 5o/o of the population. under such circumstances, a Frénchcanadian may insist on using French to an official of the federalgo\-ernment outside Quebec. In that case language choice can bee-onsidered a way of 'political or rights expression'. The underlying issueis that motivation is a determining component in code-choice and code-srvitching as there are numerous factors that affect it: solidarity with thelistener, choice of topic, social distance, contextual and situationalappropriacy, register, interlocutof etc.

The very fact of being proficient in more than one language allows forrhe possibility of swirching codes at some point. waiarráugh (2002)-listinguishes two main [pes of code-switching: situational andmaaphoricai.The former refers to a language change depending on contextual factorsii.hich have nothing to do with the topic but with üe given situation. Thelatter points to the topic and the contents of the commirnicative process as:he main reason for language choice. The alternance of code often encod.espersonal and social values that add interpersonal closeness or distance.

3.1. Code-switching

The Hispanic community in the USA often su,itches bet*,een bothcodes, English and spanisht, on some occasions as a solidaritr-marker

-' rt]i, i, very characteristic, for instance, of the puerto Rican communin' in -\err \brk.For this speech community, a conversation fuIl of language su.itches is a forn of speech inis own.

t02 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

when talking to people belonging to their own community. Howeve4 theycan easily change to either language when addressing a monolingualspeaker of either of these two languages. Below is a fragment in whichthis code-switching can be seen:

OYE, when I was a freshman I had a term paper to do...t...1

And all of a sudden, I started acting real CURIOSA, you know. Istarted going like this. Y LUEGO DECÍA, look at the smoke coming outof my fingers, like that. And then ME DIJO, stop acting silly. Y LUEGODECÍA YO, MIRA cant you see. Y LUEGO ÉSfB, I started seeing likelittle stars all over the place. Y VOLTEABA YO ASINA Y LE DECÍA lookat rhe... the... No sÉ ERA coMo BRILLOSITO ASÍ like stars.

(Valdés Fallis, 1976; quoted in Apple and Muysken, 1.996: 176)

In the text above, at least three types of code-switching can beperceived. These are described by Romaine (1989: II2) as:

a) Tag-switching: for instance the use of exclamations or tags fromone language into an utterance in the other language, such as'OYE'at the very beginning of the paragraph which is written in alanguage different from the rest of the sentence. This tag-switchmight occur because the speaker lacks the necessary vocabulary inEnglish, or simply because it comes up more easily andspontaneously since tags are subjected to few syntactic restrictionsand can be inserted without interfering with the syntacticorganization of the utterance. Some tags easily inserted fromEnglish are you know and ,I mean.

b/ Intersentential switch: for instance, in the sentences 'Y LUEGODECÍA, look at the smoke coming out of my fingers, like that'and'Y LUEGO ÉSTE, I stafted seeing like little stars all over the place.'This type of switch is found between sentences and often arises insentence boundaries, marked with a short pause and betweenspeaker turns. In this excerpt, intersentential switch also seems tobe caused in direct speech by the change from the narrator to theactual words used by the speaker, e.g.: 'And then ME DIJO, stopacting silly'.

c) Intrasentential switch: for instance, in the sentence'I started actingreal CURIOSA where both codes are mixed within a sentence. Thistype of code-switch contains the highest syntactic risk and istypically referred to as code-mixing.

,\IT J

3.2. Code-mixing

code-mixing can be considered a different phenomenon to code-'-.':tching although the terms are sometimes used interchangeablr as the: -ncepts they describe often overlap. Indeed, not all specialists ri'ould.:srorvledge a distinction between them. code-mixing o...r., when the-::rerlocutors change from one language to the other in the course of as,ngle conversation and more precisely when switching back and forth,cCUrs within a clause. It is important to note that the speakers do not even:-:ed to be aware of it and the breaks between codes are somewhat blurred.s rhev can occur within clauses. code-mixing highlights hybridization-,, hereas code-switching stresses the existence of movement from one-.nguage into the other. code-mixing typically presumes a mastery of the::,des being mixed and is very typical of bilinguals. In certain locations'l¡h as Gibraltar, where two languages such as English and spanish are-:i close contact, people may start a sentence in one of the languages and:nish it in the other, or inserl certain words or phrases from one language-::¡o the othel all depending on a number of factors such as the situational- lrteXt, the degree of familiarity among the interlocutors and the actual:ause for code-switching: i.e., if it is a result of the lack of knowledge or if-- comes up as a meaningful discourse strategy. The former phenomenon,:ot knowing certain words in one language, obviously implies that thes:eakers have at least a full command over one of the languages and some:,lntrol over the other. code-mixing is also relatively common in the speech-,t immigrants. Spanish-speaking immigrants in the uSA, for exampre,-,lten make use of English words or expressions when they speak English.The reason for this may lie in the fact that they are referring to some object:ir concept which was not known to them before coming into the nerv;ulture, or they were not very familiar with it, or simply on the basis of-asv access to the word. This process occasionally results in lexicalborrowing. An instance can be found in the common use of the follou-insEnglish words and phrases by Hispanic immigrants (probably belonging¡o the first or the second generation in the country) speaking spanish in-he USA: bacl<yard, basement, coupons, mall, take it easy, VCR, etc. As aresult, these functional bilinguals (having full command over one of thelanguages and a functional command over the other) often develop a miredcode which is based on the old language but includes features ft-om rhenerv language. At this point the use of alternating codes should bedistinguished from the development of a mixed varietv as occurs ri,ithpidgins (see chapter 3). The incidental borrowing descrited immediateh'above can pave the way to permanent lexical borror.iing. For erample,u'hen there is a need to refer to an object or concept thát has nor been

103


How do bilingual speakers process their languages?

Does the bilingual child develop a unique language system where

oresent in the receiving language or simply as a result of fashions' Using

i;;;ü;;"rá. *uv b" p"rteit'ed as a sign of innovation'

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 4')

4. CODE-SWITCHING IN BILINGUAL CHILDREN

Inthecaseofbilingualandmultilingualspeakers,codechoiceisnotalways at will. when i"o l.rrguug", urá at thl disposal of the biiingual

speake4 there are ,áÁ"time, rinintentional interferences between the two

codes. This can ;;;;;;".y clearly in chirdren receiving a bilingual

education when ,t*t-"tO boih la"guages and transfer words' syntactic

constructions or phonologicai featuresio* -"L" language into the other'

For exampt", Ni.oiár, u b"iü"g"ul-te^n-year-old boy' brought up in Spain

by his Spanish ^;l;;";a e"rtttsh fath"r, remarked to his mother, '[..']

estoy pensat¿o ¿" io, poU'"' [" ']' (instead' of course' of 'estoy pensando

en los pobres,). I, J;;;;i;^' it ui on this occasion his Spanish was being

ft;$innrr"n."A by the English str-ucture'think of''

As de Bot (2002) points out' code-switching and the use of more than

one languag" i, tt " ,rirmal way of expressing oneself in a bilingual context

and it is as natural as any other spontÁeous speech coming from

monolinguut ,p"J"t'' The analysis of ho* languages interact and are

usedbybilinguatspeakerscan-castsomelightonthêissueofcognitiveprocessing by biliü;;l., ""*a¡

the mechanisms of language selection

and languag" ,"puá,ion. Some issues have long puzzled psycholinguists

and language educators, some of these are:

a)

b)#tti i;;;;il;;;;""*i"á¿, or dtes he.have *'.*Tr::::jffi;dri; syitemsi bott slhe make use of one or the other

dePending on the context?

c) If there is more than one system' are they located in the same part

of the brain?

d) Does the bilingual brain contain one or two different lexicons?

These questions are not always easy to answer or even testable given the

fact that most psycholinguisti.- ."."u..h can only analyze linguistic

performance and t"*;;;tit" l"a *uft" plausible inferences concerning

these issues.

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 5')

\-T !

105

5. DICLOSSIA

-{ diglossic situation entails the co-existence of two or more codes8-", :j'-h are used in the same setting but under different circumstances, i.e.,=¡;h of the codes is used with contrasting functional purposes. These:,,-les or varieties tend to be kept apart in their functions,l.e., the purposes:::-\' are used for (e.g., communication at home, business or transactions,::,-,adcasting, fine literature, etc.). So, given the existence of two varieties,- le of them being considered more prestigious and cultivated than the:her, would lead to the differentiation between a high variety (H) and a

,: ",r- r-ariety (L).

According to Ferguson (2003: 347) the specialization of functions forFi and L varieties determines the appropriateness of either variety for as¿r of situations with few occasions for overlapping. This entails the use,f one language to express a set of behaviors, attitudes and values, and'nother language to put into words a contrasting set of behaviors, attitudes=d values. The next charr shows some general situations and the varietv:righ or low) more likely used:

Sermon in church or mosqueInsiructions to servonts, woiters, workmen, clerksPersonql letterSpeech,in porlioment, politicol speechtJn rversify lectureConversotion with fomily, friends ond colleoguesNews broqdcosfRodio 'soop opero'Newspoper editoriol, news story coption on pictureCoption on politicol cortoonPoetry *

Folk literoture *

' ln relotion to these functions it should be mentioned thot the H voriety, the L voriety or both con beused, depending on the longuoges involved.

(Ferguson, 2003:347)

\t1 mi, case the terrn 'code' is used to refer to a language, varietv of language or dialect.The terms 'ianguage', 'variety', and'dialect'are often

"se¿ i" the litératurei''-itÉo,rt precise

definition.

+

+

+

+

+

+

+++

1

:+


In most instances of languages entangled in a diglossic situation,

speakers regard the H varietyas being more prestigious, more appealing

.^nd -o." appropriate than tft" I variety, even if their knowledge of the

H is not as comprehensive as their ability in the L, or the L variety

embodies their mother tongue. What is more, the literary traditionprobably makes use of the H variety and enjoys a high esteem in the

,p"ech community. Nevertheless, more recently, and as a call for social

iáentity, the L varieties have been employed in poetry or other literarywritte; works, and descriptive and normative studies have been

undertaken.

Tracing back the issue of the native language in instances such as

the Haitian Creole, children more commonly learn the L variety as their

first langu age at home and later, when they are schooled they have

access to the H variety. This diglossic situation gives the L variety a

status of mother tongue that is 'acquired' naturally, whereas the H

variety is often learned formally in schools or other formal contexts

and is, therefore, 'learned'e. The H variety usually has a strong traditionof grammatical study and there are plenty of reference books on it'whlch brings with it

"ttublirh"d norms for pronunciation, orthography,

grammar Jnd vocabulary. The differences between the H and the L

iariety are notorious in teims of grammatical structure as grammatical

categáries in the H variety are usually reduced, or,simply absent' inthe i variety, for example, the inflectional system of nouns and verbs

(see the general characleristics of Creoles: HCE, Jamaican Patwa and

Tok Pisin in unit 3). The lexicon in H and L varieties is shared to a large

extent but obviously there are conspicuous differences in form, use and

meaning. In terms of phonology, the degree of closeness between the

H and the L varieties depends, to a large extent, on the languages

involved. Some instances of languages in diglossic situations can be

found where H and L varieties differ remarkably and in some other

instances they are rather similar.

There follow two examples of historic diglossic situations:

TAt,hi. point it would be convenient to clarifi' the contrast between 'acquisition' ai:'lear.ril!'*lii6 l. based on the distinction made by Krashen and Ter-rell.(l983 The Nattt'-.'

Approaíh: Language Acquisition in the Classroom. London: Prentice Hall Internationai) --'

;ñ;. "ú;,h;ri. *"hi.h éonsiders that language proficiency can be attained by two-differe.'-'

p.o."rr"., acquisition and learning. TheJormér refers to a natural process similar to ti--;;;;;ild tai.r, kno*l"dge of his Lother tongue, i.e., unconsciouslyand incidentallr. T:.=

latter refers to the conscio"us process of learniñg r-ules. They suggest that only in this lai-i--

case is teaching useful.

i

1

l

L\IT 4 107

After the Norman conquest in 106ó10, Norman French and Englishgradually become to coexist in England in a diglossic situation,I'{orman French being considered the H variety and being used b-u''

most of the feudal aristocracy and, eventually, hand in hand rn ithEnglish in monasteries. English, howeve4 constituted the L variet-v*being used by peasants and artisans in everyday situations. Needlessto say that the H variety was the prestige variety, used in politics,government and local administration, whereas the L variety lackedany prestige or social consideration. Chaucer's literary work, aroundthree hundred years later, used the L variety and was theculmination of a long lasting process in which the L varietygradually assumed functions that had been restricted to the Hvariety in the past. This process was reinforced by the steadyassimilation of the French speaking aristocracy into the Englishculture due to the detachment and lack of contact with their nativeFrance, generation after generation.

The Haitian Creole emerged as the creolization of a pidgin French.Afterwards, standard French became the H variety (frangais)whereas the Haitian Creole kept the status of L variety (créole). TheL variety is often associated with conversational language and,therefore, the spelling used to represent it is not always standardized(for example, the McConnell-Laubach spelling). The H variety,however, is more easily represented by the standard languageorthography because it is widespread even though there may besome resemblances between the sounds of the H and L varietv.

I'. DICLOSSIA AND BILINGUALISM

Diglossia, as is stated in most works on the topic by John Gumperz,Coes not only exist in multilingual societies but also in traditionally callednonolingual societies'where various dialects, registers or styles are:mployed. It goes without saying that this embraces almost all societiesa.-:, strictly speaking, monolingual societies are a theoretical construct thatdoes not find a full realization in the present-da¡r world.

The distinction between diglossia and bilingualism is not simple since:here are numerous social, personal and situational factors that béar upon

A)

B)

. 'o The defeat of King Harold's arrny by the French-speaking follorvers of \\'illiam, Duke: \ormandy, in the Battle- of Hastings in 1066 marked ihe beginning of a foreion inr-asion

'-l.ri_ch would have great effects on the social, economic, culturál and l]nsuistic dér'elopment,: Engiand.


DtGtosstA+

BItINGUAL¡SM+

I. Both diglossio ondbilinguolism

3. Diglossio withoutbilinguolism

2. Bilinguolism withoutdiglossio

Neither diglossio norbilinguolism

4.

language use and language choice.relationship between these two complexby means of the following chart:

Fishman (2003) portrays theterms, diglossia and bilingualism,

Fishman (2003:260)

The first possibility (1) embraces a speech community where bothdiglossia and bilingualism occur. That is the case, for instance, of German(H) and Swiss German (L) spoken in some cantons in Switzerland. There,both codes are used alternatively from school age and used for differentfunctions and in different contexts (e.g. at home and at school). Otherinstances of steady diglossia and bilingualism co-occurring in the samespeech community are the case of Spanish (H) and Guarani (L) inParaguay, and the status of Arabic in many Arab countries wherebusinessmen and the scientific community would use classical (koranic)(H) and vernacular Arabic (Algerian, Moroccan, etc.) (L) in specificsituations, but also a western former colonial language such as French(H), when required in professional circumstances. Many other instanceslike these can be detected in societies where a Creole and a standardlanguage or acrolect co-exist (see chapter 3).

The second possibility (2), bilingualism without diglossia, relates totransitory situations where rapid social changes affect a speech communityand, for a relatively brief period of time, the languages involved lack well-defined separate functions. This situation probably describes an indiúduallinguistic behavior rather than a social one. This sociolinguistic situationcan take place in the course of industrialization and/or urbanization ofsome societies where one speech community provides the means (capitaland organization), and a different speech community provides themanpower for the production. This example probably entails ademographic movement of the manpower (migration) and, therefore, theadoption of a new language, as well as a set of cultural values and norms,that are rapidly taken over and often interlwined with the previous ones.

;_T -1

F - r- a period of time the language of work or the language of schooling,:. ¡he one hand, and the language of home, on the oth". hand, mi

-:.:enu'ine without a definite separation of functions and locations.The third possibility (3), diglossia without bilingualism, relates to societies

''. here two or more languages share a geographic area but they are not-:;rorably used by the speakers living in that area. That means that therer:¿. at least two speech communities that do not share a contact language-:-c communication is attained by means of, for instance, interpreters. Írr"i">,,cieties tend to be formed by two or more speech communities that are:rited for functional purposes because of religious, political or economic:iasons, although apparent social and cultural dissimilarities separate them.T:re situation would appear to favor bilingualism but what *e find, instead,,s drglossia as language reperloires in one or both groups are, in some way,:estricted owing to role specialization. It is also characteristic in this type-rf societies that most of the elite and most of the masses lead livesJistinguished by specific role repeftoires. An instance of diglossia withoutbilingualism can be found in India between people belongingto lower castesHindus) and the higher castes (Brahmins)

The foufih possibility (4) is, in Fishman's words, 'easier to hypothesizethan to find'as only very small and set aparl societies could show neitherbiiingualism nor diglossia (note that absence of diglossia seems even moreunlikely and awkward than bilingualism). It *ot,ld be the case of speechcommunities where no differentiation in registers or r-arieties is found,u'hich is rather improbable given the social dimension of lan-euage. Aninstance of this speech community without bilingualism and rvithoutdiglossia could be a band or clan with a closed nrr-b", of members andu'ith restricted social relations.

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercise ó.)

7. N,IUI,Til,INGUALISNI

Multilingualism refers to the co-existence of more than tu,o languaees orsufficiently distant dialects, no matter how many, within a speech communin.For the sake of clarity, in this book, and in most of the biüliographr on thetopic, the term bilingualism is used to refer to a situation in n,hich trvolanguages coexist whether in an individual speaker or a social group.

Monolingual speech communities are rare these davs and, *,hat ismore, most countries in the world are multilingual (onlr Iceland andPortugal are reported to be monolingual countiies in Europe). In the

109


history of humankind, language has proven to be possibly the most

imporiant factor that determines other aspects of political and social

organization in the world. Around 5,000living languages are reported to

"*i"rt no*.days in the world whereas there are about 200 countries. This

fact can provide us with an idea of the complexity of the issue. Languages

often "-body

social identities at a supra-state level,(e'g.: the Swedish

language in Éinland) which can cause socio-political conflicts as is the

caré oflanguage minorities (e.g.: Welsh in Great Britain). The Romantic

*orr"-"rriin ihe nineteenth ientury supported nationalism and the

general conception of 'one nation, one language''

Migration, either in the form of involuntary or voluntary migration is

another factor that characterizes the current language situation in many

farts of the world. The African slave trade brought many speakers of

Af.i.u.r languages into the East and West Indies and that paved the way

for the formation of many pidgins and creoles which had not existed

before. Another example *o.tld be the case of Soviet policy that forced

the migration of the Russian population into other Soviet republics' Those

formeirulers in places like the Baltic states are faced now with the need

to learn local languages such as Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian.

Voluntary migration has also determined the linguistic shape ofmodern.orrrrt.i"r like the USA and to a lesser extent, Australia. Through

the melting-pot policy in the United States, large amounts of people from

different Euiopean and Asian countries, speakers of languages like Polish,

Italian, German, Norwegian, Japanese or different Chinese languages

entered the country in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most

of these immigrant groups acquired English and many abandoned theirlanguages, altñoughlheykept their social identity to various extents. This

-Jtrolittg.tal trend has changed later in the nineteenth century as

immigration from South America and Asia has disrupted the monolingual

tendÁcy and has given way to the development of new ethnic identities

in this officially monolingual country.

B. LANGUAGE CONTACT

In places where two or more languages share a common geographic

context (e.g.: the city of Brussels) or simply where one language stops

being used by speakárs and a different language is used (e.g.: because ofthe existence of an international border), a situation of language in contact

is encountered. There are many factors that play a role in multilingualismand language contact and a larger number of outcomes from such a

UNIT 4 111

situation are possible. In areas close to international borders, for instance,speakers of each of the different languages often develop a continuum,they speak dialects of their own languages which are close enough to theother language to permit successful communication (e.g.: p"opl" livingon the two sides of the border between portugal and spain normallvunderstand each other without any problem, a situation that would bemost unlikely between people coming from further away in portugal andspain). From a diachronic perspective, a contact situation bátweenlanguages may result in the loss of one of the languages, if they are in apower relationship, or in the merging of both, if both languages areconsidered to have equal status and social consideration. without doubt,language contact is the main source of language evolution and languagechange over time. (See diachronic variation, chapter 1)

Language contact can cause political conflict. Belgium conforms abilingual state but it contains walloon speakers of French dialects, Flemishspeakers of Dutch dialects, and speakers of German dialects. There, adominant language group (French) controls administration, politics andeconomy, presumably giving employment preferences to applicants whohave command of the dominant language (Hans Nelde, 2002). However,in some cases, socially or psychologically weakened groups, or groupsreduced in number, might move towards assimilation of the dominantlanguage (and culture). when those groups are numerous o4 if they havea sound cultural tradition, the most likely outcome is opposition andresistance to the dominant group, resulting in language conflict.

Language conflicts can be viewed as natural or artificial languageconflicts. Natural language conflicts have been traditionall¡, caused bvpolitical decisions regarding majority or minority social groups. As ri'asstated above, assimilation or opposition represents the kev factor inlanguage conflict as it most unequivocally arises fi-om the lattei. This npeof conflict is seen in canada with the French-speaking communirv or inSpain with the Basque-speaking communit¡r and it intensifies u henideological or political arguments are posed and inteftu,ine u'ith linguisticones. Another aspect that intensifies these problems can be based, aithoughnot solely, on religious grounds, such as that between Belfast (\onhernIreland) and connemara, to the nofth of Galway in the Irish Republic ofIreiand. Artificial language conflicts arise when a compromise is attainedand a language is disfavored. The European union, for instance, faces theproblem of what languages should be officially spoken u,ithin the EU. Theni'enty-five member states at the moment (2005) speak t\venf\rnvo different:ficial languages which turr-rs their headquarlers in Biusseis into a yeritableTou'er of Babel and the tasks of translation and interpretation into a


daunting enterprise. The decision to adopt English, French and Germanas the official working languages in the EU has raised conflicts withcountries that also felt they deser-ved this consideration of language forinternational communication.


9. EXERCISES

1. Read the text on page 95 and think of the different domains in whichRobert, his parents and his sister use spanish and English. Then fill in atable like this for each of them (Robert; Carlos and Fabiana; and, Maira):

LOCATION ROIE RETATIONSHIP TOPIC TANGUAGE

2. Think about the issues raised in the section 'Bilingualism:definitions'. Elaborate on each of the four questions raised there:

a) To what extent does the bilingual speaker need to be proficient inboth languages so that s/he can qualify as bilingual?

b/ Does a bilingual speaker need to show equal proficiency in bothlanguages?

c/ Does the bilingual proficiency of the language entail a spoken orwritten command of both languages?

d) what language components should be considered as criteria forassigning the label of 'bilingual': vocabulary pronunciation, s¡mtax,fluency, etc?

3. Analyze the following definitions of bilingualism. Discuss theimplications of each definition and compose your own taking these as astart point. You should incorporate any considerations that you feel arerelevant.

UNIT 4113

li

'(T)he use of at reast two languages either b' an indi'iduar [. . . ] orby a group of speakers, such as the innabitants oi a fii..rtu. ¡egion ornation. Bilingualism is common, for example, in the prorjnce of é""U..in canada where both Fnglish and French are spoken, and parts ofWales, where both Welsh and English are spoken.,'

(Richards, Platt and Platt, 1992:36)

'A bilingual (or murtiringual) person is one whose ringuistic abilit¡.in two (or more) languages is simirar to that of a nativeipeaker. It isestimated that half the population of the world is biringuar 1...1. It is asdifficult to set up exact criteria for what is to count u5l6iting.rátism asit is to describe exactly all that a native speaker can do with-her or hislanguage. Besides, not alr native speakeri wilr have the same ability inall aspects of their language: spécialist registers, for instance, aretypically only accessible to specialists. Simil-arly, Áost biringuals r.villnot have access to all registers in both their languages, or to the sameregisters in both ranguages; for instance, if a natle speaker of onelanguage leaves her or his native country for anotheL and learns a newskill through the language of the new country of residence, s/he wiltypically be unable to converse fluently about this skill in her or hisnative language: typicary, s/he will not irave the required terminologfat her or his disposal. [...],

(Malmkjer and Anderso n, 1997 : 57_5g)

'The ability to speak two ranguages. Bilingualism may be the propertvof an individual or of a whole ómmunitv., -

(Trask, 1997:29)

'The general sense of this term - a person *,ho can speak t*.oLANGUAGES

- provides a pre-theoretical Frame of refeience forlinguistic srudy, especiaily by SOCIOLINGUISTS, and AppLIEDLINGUISTS involved in foreign- or secondranguage teachin_s. The focusof attention has been on the many kinds utrai"g."., of 'birineuarism,and'bilingual situations' which exist. D efi nitions

"of biii"d;ii;-;fr;;assumptions about the degree of proficiency people must achieve beforethey qualify as bilingual (whetheriompu.ubi. to á monolinguar NATr\E-SPEAKER, o_r something less than this, even to the extent of minimalknowledge of a second language).

(Crystal, 1997:42)

4. Read and analyze the following utterance spoken by a New yorkPuerto Rican speaker and taken from Labov (r97i:457). what types of


code-mixing can you find? In what ways is it different from the fragmentin this unit taken from Valdés Fallis (1,976) (p' 102)?

Por eso cada, you know it's nothing to be proud of, porque yo no

estoy proud of it, as a matter of fact I hate it, pero viene Vierne y Sabado

yo estoy, tu me ve haci a mi, sola with a, aqui solita, a v-eces que Frankie

me dejá, you know a stick or something, y yo equi solita, queces Judy

,ro.ub" yyo estoy haci, viendo television, but I rather, y cuando estoy

con gente yo me ... borracha porque me siento mas, happy, mas free,

yo' fno*, pero si yo estoy com mucha gente yo no estoy, you know, high,

more or less, I couldnt get along with anybody.

5. Interwiew someone who views himself or herself as bilingual. What

differences do they perceive in their own proficiency over each language?

Does your interviéwee report having any problem switching betweenthetwo lánguages? In what domains does s/he use each language? How often

does s/he use them? Does s/he feel at ease in both languages in all contexts?

Why? (In the case of multilingual interviewees, ask about all the languages

s/he knows.)

6. Choose one of these geographic areas (Canada, South Africa,Australia, any English-speaking country in the caribbean area, or spain),

or any other that interests you, and find out about the language use

situation. What is the pattern of use of the languages/dialects/varieties inthat area? What type of relationship pertains: diglossia or bilingualism?Please note that the Internet and reference books such as encyclopedias

may be very useful for this activitY.

7. Think about the linguistic situation in your speech community.Expand on the positive and negative effects that multilingualism mightha,re on your society. If you already live in a multilingual speech

community, describe the situation and the effects of multilingualism.

8. Analyze each of the following statements. Expand on each itemproviding your opinion and supporling your arguments.

a/ Creoles are not real languages and, therefore, they should not be

used as a medium of instruction or in the media.

b) In multilingual countries, it is too expensive and often timeconsuming to instruct children in various languages.

c) Bilingualism is rather infrequent and it normally interferes withthe child cognitive develoPment.

d) Beingbilingual means that you can speak, read and write in twolanguages with ease.

UNIT 411s

10. REFERENCES

Appr', R.y P. MuvsrEN. 1996. Bitingüismo y contacto de renguas. Barcelona:Editorial Ariel.Barsn, c. 1993. Foundations of Bilingual Ed.uccltion and Bilinguarism. cleved.on,UK: Multilingual Matters.cnvsrar, D. 1997. A Dictionary of Linguistics and. phone¿lcs. oxford, u.K.: BrackweirPublishers Ltd.oa Bor, K.2002.'H9T. Tanguage and Language proficiency,. Journal ofMultilingual and Multicultural Development. 23 I 3 : 17 5 _ lg 4.FpRcuso¡r, c. 2003. 'Diglossia', in c. Bratt paulston and G. Richard Tucker (eds.),

2003, sociolinguistics: The Essential Readings. uura.",-uSA: BlackwellPublishing.

FIsnnraN, J. 2003. 'Bilingualism with and without diglossia; diglossia with andwithout bilingualism', in c. Brau paurston and c. ñichari rulker (eds.), 200i,Sociolinguistics: The Essential Read.ings. Malden, us¿: elackwaf r"Uíirfri"g.Ha-Mens, J. F. and M. H. A. BraNc. 1999. Bitinguatity and. Bitinguarism.cambridge,

USA: Cambridge University press.

Laeov, w. 197 l- 'The notion of "system" in creore studies,, in D. H. Hymes (ed.),1971, Pidginization and Creorization of Languages. cá-u.iag", ór-u.ial"University Press.

L.qNreeRr, w. E. 1955. 'Measurement of the linguistic dominance in bilinguals.,Joumql of Abnonnal and Social psychologyl\\: 197_20t0.Mecxenr¡R,q , J. 1967 .'The bilingual's linguistic performa nce, . Jortuat of socialIssues, 23: 58-77 .

London: Routledge.

-\{esrHnrs, R. 2001. concise Encyclopaeclia of sociolinguistics.Amsterdam: Elseüer.-\Er-rp, H. 2002.'German

-in Felgium: linguistic variation ftom a contact linguistpoint of view'. Joumar of Muttitinguar and. Mutticutt;;;l n)u"lop*"nt. zi : i-2, pp. 65-79.

Rrcnanos, J. c., J. prarr and H. prarr. 1992. Longmen Dictionary of-Languagekaching and Apptied Linguistics. Harlow, UK: "Longman.

Ror,rerNs, S. 1989. Bilingualism. Oxford, UK: Blackwell publishers.Tn¡,sx, R. L. 1997. A student's Dictionary of l-a.nguage and Linguistlcs. London: Arnold.\ rroÉs Fa'rs, G. 1976. 'social interaction and code-switching patterns; A casestudy of Spanish/English', in Keler, G. D. et a/. (eds.). Biringuarism in thebicentennial and beyond. New york: Éilingual lress.

"\-.RD'{AUGH, R 2002 (4th ed.). An Introduction to socioringuistics.(4th ed.) Malden,USA: Blackwell publishing.

\\-¡txRsrcH, U. 1953. Languages in Contact. The Hague: Mouton.

116 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLiNGUISTiCS



12. FURTHER READINCS AND QUESTIONS

12.1. Text 7


By way of summary, Iet me identify a number of importantquestions that must be addressed whenever parents, educators andadministrators discuss the prospects of multilingual education for theircommunities:

. What are the explicit or implicit goals for for-rnal education in theregion?

. Is there general satisfaction throughout the region with the levelof educational attainment by all participants (both those whoterrninate their education relatively early and those who wish togo on to tertiary studies)?

. Is the region relatively homogeneous or is it heterogeneouslinguistically and culturally and how would bilingual educationcomplement the linguistic and cultural characteristics of thecommunity?

o Does the region have an explicit or implicit policy with respect tothe role of language in education, and how would bilingualeducation fit or not fit with this existing policy? Is this policy basedupon tradition or the result of language (education) planning?

¡ What priorities are accorded to goals such as the development ofbroadly based permanent functional literacy, the value ofeducation for those who may terminate their schooling at an earlyage, and the power of language to foster national identity andcohesiveness?

¡ Are the language(s) selected for instruction written, codified,standardized, and elaborated?

o Is there a well-developed curriculum for the various levels/stagesof formal education (i.e., a framework which specifies fairlyexplicitly a set of language, content, cognitive, and affectiveobjectives that are then tied to or illustrated by exemplarytechniques and activities, and supported by written materials)?

'-\Tr 4 117

Are sufficient core and reference materials availabre for teachersand for students in the language(s) of instruction? If not, are theretrained individuals available who can prepare such materials?Is there a sufficient number of trained and experienced teacherswho are fluent speakers of the language(s) of instructio n ancl u,hoare trained to teach via that language(s)?

Richard Tucker (2003: 469)

Issues to consider:

a) Make an analysis of the current situation of bilingual education inyour country/community. Try and answer the questions listed above.Please note that you will probably need to do some research beforeanswering these questions.

12.2. Text B


When code-switching is discussed the question of speakers,competence is frequently raised: are code-switching and linguisticcompetence mutually exclusive? Because it is popularly believed thatswitching is a result of incompetence rather than of a fine sense of theunique effects that it can achieve, switching is often stigmatized. peoplesay that those who switch'cant speak properly'o.'-ut" a mess, of ihelanguages they use.

On closer examination it appears that two types of switching aredifferently regarded. whereas diglossic and situational code-switchingare often regarded as necessary manifestations of bilingualism, and arévalued as parl of a speaker's communicative competence, conversationalswitching is often overtly stigmatized. covertly it may be valued of itsrhetorical possibilities and as a group-marker. The órucial linguisticdifference between the two types of switching that probably acóountsfor this difference in attitude is that situationál swirching involves theproduction and comprehension of long strings in each language, soflu_ency is apparent, whe¡eas in conversational códe-switching ií-r. rl*'it.ttis frequently intrasentential, allowing for an impression thát speakersare insufficiently proficient in either language to be able to finiih ruhatthey want to say, in one language.

A common assumption is that people switch languages because ofg,aps in their personal vocabulary. As is shown in examplés cited abo'e,this is trrre in some cases but not in others. The study óf

^ lu.g" corpus


of data from a member of a bilingual, code-switching community willoften show the speaker using the words for a concept from bothlanguages. Witty, quick, elegant shifts betw".r, .od., are oftenappreciated in the speech community. Proficient bilinguals or bidialectalswho switch codes consciously or unconsciously achieve particular social,political, or rhetorical effects. They are able to draw on a bigger linguisticpool than they would be if they and their interlocutors weremonodialectal o monolingual.

Mesthrie (2001:453)

fssues to consider:

a) This fragment analyses whether code-switching is a matter oflanguage deficit or a language skill. According to your ownexperience as a speaker of English and Spanish (or any otherlanguage), do you ever code-switch? Why (not)?

b) can you think of any other types of code-switching apart for theones described in this text?

c/ would you say that code-switching is mainly related to the topic orto the role of the speaker? Explain.

13. KEY WORDS


BidialectalCompound bilingualCommunicative competenceCo-ordinate bilingualDomainDormant bilingualInterferenceLinguistic competenceMinority languageProficiencySociolinguistic competenceSociolinguistic relativity

Unit 5

1. BILINIGUAL EDUCATION

Bilingual education entails the accomplishment of a number of actionsand decisions regarding multidisciplinary perspectives which can bepolitical, economical, social, cultural and pedagogical. These can beanalyzed from different angles. In the first place, bilingual educationinvolves both a given language policy and a pedagogic realization in aparticular classroom practice. In the second place, bilingual educationdeals with national or regional matters and by means of language planningit tries to assimilate minorities, integrate minority groups and/or spreadintercultural understanding. Politics are doubtless always present inbilingual education as, for instance, in the case of canada. The aim ofFrench immersion in canada is to give students the opportunity to achieve,by secondary school graduation, a level of bilingualism sufficient tofunction well in a French-speaking community, accept a job using Frenchas the working language, or take university or college education in French.In addition to this, canadian immersion programs help to promoteunderstanding between two main language groupst and solve sociopoliticalproblems that have existed for decades and that might otherwise eventuallybring about more serious social problems.

As was explained in previous chapters, languages evolve over time asa result of social, political and economical changes in societies. undercertain circumstances some languages may shrink in terms of numbersof speakers, while others may grow. At all events, it seems that for a(minority) language to survive it is necessary to meet certain conditionssuch as the ones put forward by Baker (2002):

a/ Languages need to be used at home for interpersonalcommunication; that way they become mother tongues of new

t aput, form English and French, a number of heritage languages are spoken inCanada.


members in the family. The best way to ensure the subsistenceof (minority) languages is to raise children in that language whichwill, nevertheless, need to be reinforced later in schooling. Thisis the case, for instance, of Welsh in Wales and Basque in theBasque Country.

A second benchmark for the maintenance and development of a(minority) language is its presence through formal schooling.This provides the speakers with wider linguistic tools to interactoutside a limited domestic setting and help in the social andpsycholinguistic development of the individual. Languageplanning through bilingual education has succeeded in Canadaand Waies and also in the Basque Country and Catalonia, but notto the same extent in Ireland, where the number of Irish-speakershas decreased in favor of English in spite of the continuous effortsmade by the Irish authorities. In t922, the establishment of theIrish Free State (later the Irish Republic of lreland) made Irishthe first official language in the country and occasioned itsimplantation in the educational system.

A third decisive factor for the continuation of a (minority) languageis its presence in economic circles as this guarantees that speakerswill maintain or lear-n it for employrnent purposes. This may explainthe case of lrish. For decades the Irish economy has remained tosome extent dependent upon the economy of other English-speakingcountries (e.g., favoring the use of English in the employmentmarket), and later the incorporation of Ireland into the EU hasstressed the significance of other European Union languages suchas English, French and German. Parents may also play a role in thespread of a majority language as they may encourage the learningand use of that language by their children, motivated by the factthat it may be facilitative for employment and economic reasons.

A fourth aspect is related to the association of the (minority)language with the culture and the literary tradition of the speechcommunity. When the (minority) language is socially and culturallyvalued (often representing a cultural or ethnic identity) and iscommonly used in the media and in social interactions, it has moresocial functions and, consequently, more chances to spread or simplyto be maintained. For instance, one of the main reasons for thedecrease in numbers of Australian Aboriginal languages speakerswas the lack of social value associated with these languages. Since18th c. there was an overt attempt on the part of colonizers to

b)

c)

d)

:\IT5

convert Aborigines into Europeans. More recentlr, in the pastdecades, younger generations did not find man¡' adr-antages inlearning the language of their ancestors as they often sa*,that theirprogenitors represented a socially and economically deprived group.

The four fundamentals referred to before show how the course oflanguages can be guided to some extent. This fact makes bilingualeducation and language policymakers of paramount importance from asocial point ofview for the progress of nation-states and can certainly pavethe way for social interethnic understanding or conflict. From the pointof vier.r, of linguistic heritage and linguistic diversity, this kind of decision-making, or the absence of it, can eventually cause language death, thepreeminence of one language over anothe4 or the development of bilingual-bicultural societies (which seems to be the more advantageous outcome).

The adoption of a well-founded language planning policy in bilingualeducation, howeveL does encounter some difficulties in its implementation.Baker (ibid.) identifies three limitations of language planning in bilingualeducation that need to be considered as it should not be forgotten thatlanguage planning and policy deal fundamentally with people and notonly with languages. First, he identifies a temptation on the part of thelanguage planner to give prominence to the language rather than to thechild, i.e., what is good for the language is not necessarily good for thechild. So, a humanistic educationist may argue that '[...] bilingualeducation needs to be defended for its value and for its contribution tothe development of the child, rather than for its supporl of the language.'(Baker, 2002:233). Second, language planning in the form of bilingualeducation generally has a limited view of the functions and purposes ofeducation as it often focuses on the benefits and needs for the acquisitionof a dual-linguistic system, sometimes setting aside other social andpsychological considerations. Third, Baker points out that there is oftenunfounded optimism and too high expectations on bilingual education inrevitalizing a language. Bilingual education plays an important role inianguage maintenance and revival but it is not the only element.

Recently there has been a general tendency to perceive bilingualeducation as very advantageous for everyone. This is due partly to thegeneral reawakening of cultural identities and the subsequent revival ofminority languages, and partly to the globalization process that makesnew generations aware of the need to have a command of more than onelanguage. It becomes almost a must in EU countries where the generaltendency, encouraged by governmental policies, is to move towards amultilingual and multicultural society. In this respect, Baker and Jones

123

t-:ii


(1998) display eight particular advantages of bilingual education in modern

societies:

1. Bilingual education allows the full development of the languagesinvolved (often two languages and sometimes three). This factenables children to engage in wider communication and have morealternatives in patterns of communication with different generations,different cultural groups and different geographical areas.

2. Bilingual education promotes among children deeper insights intothe cultures each language represents. It also avoids the stereo$,pingof different social and cultural groups, encourages social andcultural relativism and promotes a multiperspective viewpoint.

3. Bilingual education often results in biliteracy, i.e., the possibility ofreading and writing in more than one language. Some of theoutcomes are that it provides more possibilities for enjoyingliterature for pleasure, broadens employment opportunities andpromotes a deeper understanding of heritage and traditions.

4. It seems that children are favored with some cognitive benefits whenthey can speak two well-developed languages. Children may be morecreative in thinking in the sense that they become interpersonallyaware, for example as regards the need to code-switch.

5. Bilingual education may raise the children's self-esteem especiall¡rwhen the language of home is not the majority language in thesociety but is studied at school. Since it is one of the languages ofschooling, the child can perceive that the language is sociallyaccepted, which is so important in curriculum success. However,if the language of home does not forrn part of the school curriculumthe child may experience feelings of rejection.

6. Canadian immersion studies suggest that curiculum achievementis connected to bilingual education. Nevertheless, it is difficult todetermine if this is caused by an additional support at home, theextra involvement of teachers and educational institutions, or theconnection between language and cognitive development, amongother factors.

7. The establishing of a secure identity within a parlicular community,especially in the case of minority languages.

B. Bilingual education also brings economic advantages as it cansecure employment both in public services and private companies.This may be true at a local, regional, or national level (e.g.,

UNIT 5 t25

catalonia, canada, etc.) but also in international corporations thatmay need multilingual employees.

Despite the aforesaid strong points of bilingual education it also needsto be taken into account that recent research has identified somedrawbacks such as the following: (a) bilingual education does notguarantee effective schooling, in spite of the fact that it is often associatedr'r'ith academic success and, very often, it is the type of education preferredby upper-middle classes in western societies andii is sometimes associatedu'ith an elitist education; (b) the language register used in formaleducation does not necessarily correspond with the language registerneeded outside the classroom, i.e., the type of academic ianguage usedas the means for teaching often does not correspond with the colloquialregister that students in a bilingual program can find outside theclassroom, and this may result in some sorl of exclusion by mother tonguespeakers; (c) productive skills are sometimes not fully áeveloped if Ihelanguage of education is not present beyond the sóhool, ..rd thi, i,precisely one of the most striking outcomes of canadian bilingualeducation programs. Students, under ideal circumstances, seem to devetopa full command of the language as far as receptive skills are concerned(listening and reading). Productive skills (speaking and writing), howeve4seem to develop to a lesser extent, which is not unusual in languagelearning in other contexts.

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercises I and 2.)

2. LANGUAGE POLICY

Language is rarely a causal factor and language decisions are essentiallybased on political and economic reasons. Language use and evolutionoften mirrors what is thought about it and whatáctually happens insociety, for example, migration which is one of the main reasonsfor theincrease of people learning languages and for the revival and current needfor language policy and planning.

Language planning is actually part of a language policy that a givengoverrlment adopts as regards one or more of the languages spoken in thecountry. In spain, for instance, catalan was forbidden during Franco'sdictatorship between 1937-1976. During that period the use of cataianwas not allowed in schools and no books or newspapers could be publishedin that language because it was considered of impórtance for the cataianmovement, which was believed to threaten the union of Spain. In this wav


the gover-nment hoped to eliminate the language because new generations

*o.rld not be instructed in Catalan. Later, with the advent of democracy,

Catalan was officiaily reintroduced and was adopted as one of the official

languages in catalonia. This is an example of how a repressive language

policy can be ineffective.

3. LANGUAGE PLANNING

Language planning consists of a deliberate and institutionally organized

attempltoittáng" the development of a language vanety, or a language

itself,tr to alteiits functions in society. Sometimes, language planning

results from the need of a multilingual country to implement a language

policy regulating the scope and use of the languages and/or language

,rarieii"s *ithi.r its territory. Wardhaugh (2002) posits that language

planning constitutes a deliberate attempt to interfere with the natural

á"rr"lopÁ"nt of a language or one of its varieties, i.e., it involves human

inter-vJntion in the nátnát process of languages or varieties to change,

spread or erode. Language planning began several centuries ago and

various purposes -ay ñe Uétri"¿ this intentional inter{erence in the natural

pro.esrôf iungrrugé evolution and change. It mustbe said that these

attempts hurr" noi always been honorable; while the aim may be to

maintain a language that "is

about to disappear because of a continual loss

of native sp"ak"rs, on some occasions the goal is to repress and diminish

a cultural ár ethnic minority that found in their common language a sign

of identity and a source of seif-assertion'

A few decades ago, decisions concerning language pianning were

characteristic of dÑeloping countries which often needed to make

decisions on whether to uie the forrner colonial language or other national

languages as a unifying code. More recently,language planning has become

an issue in western societies as there has been a social demand to preserwe

minority languages (e.g., Irish, Welsh, Catalan, etc.) or a political demand

to expand thé use of international languages to promote intercultural and

supranational communication (e.g., English, French and German in the

EU). The variety of factors affecting language planning (economic,

educational, historical, judicial, political, religious and social) give an idea

of its complexity.

Languages reflect human relationships between individuals and also

betweei ,oii.l groups and they change in the course of time as a result

of the changes in social relationships. This means that, in a wa\',

languages arie alive and, therefore, are born (e.g., pidgins and creoles),

]l

UNIT 5127

develop over time (e.g., Anglo-Saxon evolved into present-day.English),merge and die (e,g., Manx on the Isre of Mann). thrs ralses the issue tor'vhat extent man can alter the course or u i.rgr*g" uy deliberatemanipularion. It is nor crear how far ranguag", ;;;i; controled bvsocial or political maneuvering as there are instanc",

"f i.;;;;;;;;;for example, were rost becauie certain states or poliJes wanted it so(e.g', many Amerindian ranguages in North and bouth America), andvet some other instances where poriticar repression *u, ,r.r.cessfurin restricting language mainteru.r." (".g., catalan in spain duringFranco's dictatorship).

. A fully developed language policy or at reast certain ideological trendsalmost invariably lie. behind É.rguuge pranning. r"a""á, cluarmbias (19g3)recognized four main tvqes o{ ideology that {picaily prompt the rationarebehind decision s regarding rangua!á pru.,rirg, ti";;;;;;" as similation,linguistic pluralism, u

"*o"uror¡iat¡on ánd, inteú,at¡inaLt¡sm.

Linguistic assimilatio,rz considers that anyone forrning part of a society,regardless of their origin, should learn the dominurrt"lá.rg.ruge of thatsociety. This seems , prima facie, a reasonable decision r* tr* iritegrationof minority groups, but it raises the probrem ot.o.r."*áiion and respectfor minority group identities and cultural heritage, *fri.fr ,." often deemedto disappear under this motivation for la.rguig" pturrrrrrrg, for examplethe case of Russification in the former soviet union where Soviet mlerstried to spread the Russian language and cultur" ,rrr""girout the whoresoviet union. A different action.o.rld be simply

"ffi.i.i1r"glect, i.e., thelack of official actions undertaken to preserve u iu.rg,rug", which can alsolead to language assimilation.

In Australia, there were about 200languages at the time of theEuropean conquest and onry around 20 weie ,áu .pot "n

by youngergenerations in the 1990s. A major factor in Aboriginuilu.rgrug. death inAustralia was the linguistic assimilation policy und"erraken up to the 1970swith their'English only'policy in schools. rn 1972 the aá,u"rrt of a Laborgovernment meant the recognition of the right for all Aboriginal childrento become literate in.their native language before becoming literate inEnglish. This resulted in rhe introductio-n of-bilingual ..h;;I for Aboriginalchildren in various parrs of the country. ro{1v,Irr"y u." -áinry stilr openin the Northern Territories, yh-"f" Aboriginar Éng.rug., aremostly spoken.In these bilingual schools children receive ttreri irJroduction to literacyskills in their native language and all their academic work is in English.These programs have helpedlo raise the status of both Aboriginal teachersand Aboriginal languages but unfortunatery they hu;";;;., undermined


in recent years (Shopen, 1999). The situation is critical as Aboriginallanguages in Australia are suffering an important decrease in number ofspeakers in spite of the fact that the deliberate linguistic assimilation policyseems to have ceased. Shopen (ibid.) points out that there is no permanentinstitutional support that would help develop adequate skills, resourcesand guidance for these programs.

Linguistic pluralism, however, implies the acceptance of variouslanguages or varieties, and it can be centered on individual or geographicalcriteria, i.e., an individual may be stimulated to maintain his/her languagein the case of a multilingual environment, where his/her languagerepresents a minority that does not identify with a specific geographicaiarea (such as a group of immigrants in a big city); or, more probably, inthe case of a multilingual state that adopts various official languages asthey are spoken in different geographical areas (e.g., French and English-speaking Canada; French and English-speaking Belgium; and, Englishand Afrikaans-speaking South Africa).

Vernacularization entails the reconstruction or renewal of a languagethat is not used by a wide group of speakers but after some changes (thealphabet, pronunciation, relexic alization, etc.) becomes widespread andadopted as an official language (e.g., Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea) (seeTok Pisin in chapter 3).

Internationalism ís reached when the motivation in language planningis to adopt a non-vernacular language for wider interethnic communicationas a political solution to an internal problem often arising foom equallypowerful minorities, one of them aiming at imposing their language asthe official language, or the language of education and trade, for all (e.g.,English in India and Singapore).

3.1. Some factors affecting language planning

The following factors significantly determine the development and theincidence of language planning in a speech community.

a) Socio-demographic factors profoundly affect language planningas the number of languages that are spoken and the number ofspeakers may favor the use of one language or the other.

b/ Linguistic factors may also play a role as the degree ofdevelopment of one language as well as the existence of a literarytradition may be taken into account when deciding which languageshould be promoted or preserved.

L\IT5 r29

c/ Socio-psychological factors affect people's attitude tou.ards onelanguage or the other and their acceptance in a speech communih'.

d) Political factors can influence the adoption of a specific alphabet,for example, the case of the Clrrllic alphabet introduced in middle-central Asia by the Russians, and the adoption of the Latin alphabetin Turkey.

e) Religious factors are also important. For instance Sudan, as a fonnercolony, had English as official language (spoken by a minority) butthis was changed to Arabic, a language spoken by half the population,because of the stronger position of Islam in the country. The Biblehas also been translated into many different languagest.

3.2. Actions in language planning

There follow four starting points that language planners havetraditionally adopted in their task of language planning and which areattempts in themselves to describe the processes or steps rather than thegoals (please note that the following actions are not mutually exclusivebut may be complementary):

a) Selection of a norm. Multilingual countries very often need tomake imporlant decisions regarding the language or languages thatwill become official, or simply the language for education or anyinstitutional purpose. Sometimes, this turns into a critical decisionas rivalry among different language groups may cause conflicts assome of them may think that they are being disadvantaged. Becauseof this, it is sometimes necessary to introduce a language as a ünguafranca, which is the case of English in India and Ghana. On otheroccasions, a particular variety is chosen or a new variety is created.All these decisions are obviously based on political grounds.

b) Codification. Given the circumstance described immediatelv abor.e,if an indigenous language is chosen as the standard, it ma1- benecessary to make some changes and adapt it to meet therequirements of a language for wider communication u'ithin amultilingual country. Changes may be needed, for instance, to adaptthe language and update its vocabulary to adopt a ne\\'alphabetor, simply, to standardize a language that prer-iouslv u'as found onlyin the spoken form.

2 In the web page for this subject, some instances of the Bible being translated intoother languages can be seen, for instance, the Bible in Sn'ahili and Hartian Creole Engllsh.


Modernization. Technological and scientific developments probablyrequire modernization of specific vocabulary and very often ádecision needs to be made on whether to adopt roan words or tocoin new terms based on indigenous roots. Language policiessometimes go beyond actual language evolution because of thespeedy technological development that clearly favors the adoptionof loan words.

rmplementation. once a decision has been made, the chosenlanguage needs to be officiatly implemented and used in all sortsof official forums: education, parliament, media, etc. This willundoubtedly raise its social consideration and it will become aprestige language or variet¡r, probably used in literary and academiccircies. Eventually, and as a result of continuous and prestigioususe, it will spread as the norm, and its presence in dictionaries,grammars and literary works will consolidate its status as the norrn.

3.3. Aims of language planning

In previous sections it was said that there is a close connection betweenlanguage policy and language planning and, as a matter of fact, the formergoverns the latter. A given language policy with far-reaching or very preciseaims affecting a speech community generally makes .t." óf more definitelanguage planning actions to achieve these goals.

Nahir (2003) sets forth eleven language planning functions or goalswhich can in fact be combined to handle the language-related problemsand_needs of speech communities. This author points out thát earliermodels,like the one immediately above, attempt to analyzethe steps takenby language policies or the agencies/academiei in the pio."r. of planninglanguage. His classification, howeve4 describes the functions or gtah the!have sought until now in response to their ranguage-related needs(communicative, political, social, economic, religióus, etc.). Needs andaspirations are likely to change in the course of time.

a) Language purification can be divided into two types: externalpurifi cation and internal purifi catio n. Extental purification consistsof the development of prescriptions of usage inorder to protect thelanguage fi:om unwanted foreign influencé by means, foi example,of a Language Academy. some of the actions laken are the creationof prescriptive grammars and dictionaries which contain thenormalized use of the language and following the criteria set outby the Academy. Particularly notorious in this iespect is the control

c)

d)

UNIT 5

over foreign lexical borrowings, especially u'hen there areindigenous words that represent the same concept, and in suchcases a purist point of view is adopted. More difficult is the case ofrecent technological advances that require, to a large extent, theincorporation of foreign words. Internal purification refers to theacceptance of the code as it exists at a certain point in historl',protecting it from undesirable developments which are consideredas non-normative (incorrect) or simply as deviations from thestandard. The generation of these normative policies and theirenforcement are tasks actively undertaken by language academies.

b) Language revival consists of an attempt to revitalize a languagewith a small number of speakers (e.g., Irish and Welsh), or even acompletely dead language (e.g., Hebrew and Cornish), and turn itinto a means of communication for a speech community. Someinstances of this phenomenon have been seen since the middle ofthe nineteenth century together with general support for nationalidentity which entails the adoption and standardization of a nationallanguage.

c) Language reform involves the incorporation of specific changesin the language (e.g., spelling, grammar, pronunciation, etc.)attempting to facilitate its use. The aim of this 'reform' can be tofacilitate the use of the language by its users, the intemationalizationof the language, or many other factors, but always depending onpolitical, ideological, religious or economical factors. Instances oflanguage reforms can be found in many languages since thebeginning of the nineteenth century (e.g., Icelandic, Gerrnan, Greek,Spanish, etc.) but the most representative example is TLrrkish. KemalAtatürk undertook the modernization of Turker- and declared it alay country; he urged a huge reform in the Turkish lericon andorthography, adopting the Roman script instead of the .{rab script.

d) Language standardization implies an attempt to adopt a language,or variety of language, as the major language of a region or nationfor wider communication with official, educational, commercialor other functions. Language standardization is seen ln theunification of small political units, the division of others and therecent independence of former colonial ter-ritories.

e / Language spread involves an attempt to increase the number ofspeakers of aparticu\ar\anguage, norma\y at the expense of anotherlanguage or languages. This motivation for language shift oltenresponds to political considerations in multilinguai countries. Some

t31


examples can be found in former colonial territories that becameindependent states during the nineteenth century. Language spreadis necessarily connected to language standardization by definitionas the expansion of a language promoted by language planningagencies endeavors to institutionalize one language for somepolitical or economic reason (e.g., the USSR and Quebec).

f) Lexical modernization consists of the adaptation of existingvocabulary or the creation of new one, to assist standard languagesthat may have borrowed foreign vocabulary too fast toaccommodate it to their orthography, pronunciation, etc. Nahir(ibid.) distinguishes two trends in terminological work: a) as partof either the process of codification or implementation of languagesseeking revival (e.g., Hebrew) or reform (e.g., Ttrrkish) that involvesdeveloping previously unwritten languages and aims at bridgingthe gap between them and modern knowledge and technology; and,b) as part of a process of modernization of standard languages thathave borrowed concepts and terms having a lexicon unpreparedfor those changes, i.e., the natural development of the language hasnot supplied the relevant terminology and it is necessary to providethe terms that have come up as a result of social and technologicaladvance.

Lexical modernization is applied in many countries and constitutesin itself an effect of globalization with the resulting increase in conceptborrowing from leading international languages such as English.International globalized languages

-especially English- areexercising a considerable influence over the rest of languages in theworld due to the growth of international relations and mobility.Language planning agencies collect new ideas and concepts importedinto their community and adapt or create new vocabulary to designatethem. Lexical modernization has been practised in many countriesaround the world such as: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Israel,Hungary France, Vietnam, India, etc.

g/ Terminology unification takes place when it is necessary toestablish unified terminologies, mainly in the technological andscientific domains, in order to diminish ambiguity. Again this islargely an effect of globalization and cross cultural communicationin the present world.

/z) stylistic simplification is found when a language use needs to bedisentangled in order to reduce communication ambiguity betweentwo groups, for instance, professionals and bureaucrats on the one

UNIT 5 133

i)

hand and ordinary people on the other. Such a situation mav ha'ebeen caused by the use of an archaic or literary style. Instances ofsuch stylistically complex language, both in terrns of lexical intricacvand grammatical elaboration, can be found in legal and medicallanguage.

Interlingual communication implies the adoption of a LWC withthe intention of facilitating communication between members ofdifferent speech communities. This lingua franca can take the formof an auxiliary or artificial language such as Esperanto. Morecommonly, and as a result of the spread of Anglo-Saxon culture andthe learning of English as an L2, English is frequently used thesedays as a lingua franca in different parts of the world.

Another way in which interlingual communication can beattained is by improving mutual intelligibility between speakers ofcognate languages. This can be accomplished by partiallystandardizing the various linguistic codes in order to minimizedifferences. Nordic language agencies, for instance, are committedto cooperate and avoid unnecessary changes (e.g., Norwegian,Danish, Icelandic, Swedish, etc.)

Language maintenance consists in the preservation of a group'snative language when political, social, economic, educational orany other pressures threaten its further existence by causing adecline in status or in the number of speakers. Languagemaintenance can be exercised at two levels; first with the aim ofpreserving a widely spoken language from unwanted foreigninfluence; and, second, as a protection of a minorif-v ethnic languagewhose acquisition and use needs to be encouraged b¡r means ofsocial, educational or political arrangements. In the case of NervZeaIand, for instance, speakers of Abori_einal languages oftenperceive their language as har..ing a lou-er status than En_slish, rvhichdiscourages them from taking their pro_eenitors as models andmaintaining the use of the traditional lan_sua_ees. En_elish is,therefore, associated with social success and economic porver.

Auxiliary-code standardization entaiis the modification ofauxiliary aspects of the language (signs for the deaf, place names,r-ules of transcription, etc.) to lessen ambiguiry* or to satisf\ chan_eingsocial, political or other recent needs. Changing place names canserve the functions of terminology unification or sn-listicsimplification, but most often they just take place u'hen a givenpolitical party is in power.

i)

k)


It should be taken into account that the language planning goalsdescribed above are not mutually exclusive and two or more phenomenacan co-occur. On some occasions the goals and the procedures can evenbe contradictory as there may be some tension between, for example,language purification and lexical modernization.


3.4. Individual language planning

On some occasions language planning does not need to be an initiativefrom governments or prominent institutions but they can also be theventure of individuals. That is the case, for instance, of the Norwegianlanguage. Today there are two official forms of Nor-wegian Bokmál (booklanguage) and Nynorsft (new Norwegian). Bokmál is also called Riksmál(national language) and Dano-Norwegian. It was influenced by Danish,which was the dominant language while Norway was under Danish rule(1397-1814). Nynorsk is also known as Landsmc?/ (country language) andis based on rural dialects uninfluenced by Danish.

By the middle of the 19th century some attempts were made to createa purely Nor-wegian language. On the one hand, Knud Knudsen undertooka revision of written Danish with the aim of incorporating colloquial oralforrns coming from Nor-wegian dialects. On the other hand, another groupof specialists, led by the Norwegian philologist and lexicographer IvarAasen, undertook the task of forging a Norwegian language which wasconceived from a comprehensive study of the dialects spoken all over thecountry and which were at times very dissimilar due to geographicisolation. The outcome of this huge project was a language called ktndsntnl('the language of the country') which is currently known as Nynorsk. Forsome time Nynorsk was perceived by Nor-wegians as rustic and'r,'r.rlgar.This situation has changed over the years. Nynorsk received officia.recognition in 1885 through a parliamentary resolution. In 1930 a la,,lwas passed in the Parliament which stated that official documents had r,-

use both varieties and, as a matter of fact, if a citizen sends any sorr c:written request to the government s/he has the right to obtain an ans\\'e:in the language that was used in his/her request.

Nowadays, from the eighth level of primary school onwards, bo:1,varieties are compulsory, one as the main language and another ,.secondary language, according to the student's choice. Both Bokmal a::Nynorsk are employed by the government, the schoois, and the ma.i

I

UNIT 5 135

media, although Bokmál is still the most widely used. It should also bepointed out that it remains the language more commonly used in urbanareas whereas Nynorsk is employed mainly in western rural areas andcities in the west like Bergen. In opposition to other minority languages,Nynorsk and Bokmá"/ are mutually intelligible, so these varieties do notneed to be used exclusively within a minority group.


4. MINORITY LANGUAGES

Policy makers in multilingual nations need to make certain imporlantdecisions regarding the status of the languages in contact in a giventerritory: first, arises the choice of official or national language, whichcan be problematic in the case of developing nations composed of differentethnic groups; second, decisions need to be made regarding instructionin schools, which will definitely determine not only the general attitudetowards a language but also the point of view of coming generations; and,third, on some occasions there is also a need to decide on thestandardization procedures such as the choice of an alphabet or a givenvariety, especially in the case of languages having scripts different to theones of currently internation ahzed languages.

The implementation of multilingual policies in multilingual states toregulate the interaction among different language groups in a modernnation or state is a result of the sociolinguistic demands of modernsocieties. It can have three possible outcomes that determine the degreeof success or failure of a specific language policy:

a) Language maintenance, i.e., as a result of a course of action, thesurvival of a specific language, endangered or not, may bedetermined by political decisions.

b) Bilingualism seems to be one of the most desirable outcomes in aprolonged contact of language groups as it guarantees the survivalof the languages and seems to be the best way for multiculturaland/or multiethnic societies to reach a common ground on linguisticand sociopolitical fields.

c) Language shift seems to be another possible development and itwould not entail one of the more desirable outcomes as it can giveway to language loss. However, it is necessary to understand thatlanguage development does not depend solely on language policydecision making but also on sociocultural forces. More often than


not, the spread of a language in terms of numbers of speakers takesplace at the expense of another or other languages. páulson (1994:9) supporrs this point by stating that ethnic gio,rpr within a modernnation-state usually shift to the language spoken by the pre-eminentgroup, assuming that the adequate incentive has been prtrrid"d. thi,point certainly has huge implications for the implementation oflanguage policies as it can have wide ranging repeicussions for thefuture of a language or the integration oi u" i--igrant group.

5. LANGUAGE SHIFT IN MINORITY LANGUAGES

Attitudinal factors also play a role in language maintenance or languageshift. Voluntary individual or small group migiation typically.".rtñ iriuquick language shift, whereas large group migration áft"r o..urions themaintenance of social and linguistic hallmárks. This is the case, forinstance of Swedish in Finland or French in canada, where a minorityethnic group in demographic decay uses its language as a sign of culturaland social identity. This is more often so in minárit! groups *lth u strongsense,of identity or with close cultural traditio.r, u.rá ,ralles because théuse of a different language will slow down

-and occasionally impede-their assimilation by the dominant ethnic group. In both

"ru-pi". reportedabove, recent censuses show how the minority lungrug"s tend to decreasein number of speakers over the years. Besides, as páulJon G9g4) suggests,maintained group bilingualism is rather unusual because if there i, á-.c"ssto the dominant language, and socioeconomic incentives, speakers willmost likely eventually shift to the dominant language, although this processmay take generations._An example of this kiñd oÍ lu.rg,ruge shift can beclearly seen in Australia with aboriginal languug"r. Áboiiginal speechcommunities are shrinking and new generations tend to aáhere io thedominant language and culture as it piesents lots of social, educationaland economic advantages .o-pur"d to the traditional way of life.Nevertheless, language maintenance is not always necessary for thecontinuation of cultural and ethnic identity.

Notice the following example of language shift within the united Statesa'd how converging circumstan.", .un influence the rate of languageshift:

For example, in pittsburgh the Greeks shift over a four generationspan compared with the three generation shift of the Italiáns. Somefactors which corrtribute to the sr,cwer Greek shift are (u) k""ü.ág..rraaccess to a standardized, written language with culturar prestige and

UNIT 5t.)/

tradition, which is taught by the Greek chu¡ches in pittsbureh, and (b)arranged marriage parrnérs directly ft;;-d;;;e (*-ho are rhenmonolingual in Greek). The Iralians'i" .;;;.;.;]p.uVrpok" a non_srandard, non-wrirren diarect " i,r.' ""-pr".iir", ^"i,¡er shar ed rheir.Roman carhoric churches with the p."griri.-.pJi,i, i.i.n, tlpic a'r. *.i thIrish priests and nuns, so thev found ñ" r."É".g"'riiirrr"rrurr.e suppofiin the churches. Nor was thér" any pr.rr.ri. fór endogamy as lon,e asthe marriage was within the Roman Catholic Church.

(paulston, 1 994: 1 5_1 6)

Language shift is not arways the outcome of language contact, one ofthem a minority language. Languages can arso ue máirráned due to serf_imposed or externally imposeJbalriers. The forme..o.ri¿ be caused byideological or religioui constraints that try to preserwe some sort of identity,and the latter could originate, for instance, because of some kind ofgeographical isolation. Another possibility t . aigi*ric"srtuation wheretwo or more languages are used for differlnt fu".;;;;iirr.po."r.Language planning does no_t only refer to the attempts made to solvelanguage-related problems with minority languages in modern nations3but language planning also, and most often these days, refers to asystematic setting or goars regarding_ sociar ,"d-r;;g-stic aspects inmodern socieries, the pursuinf orgoa-rs and means,r.,-^. *i, ;-;-;;;;the future of nationai and fol"ig-i languages in a given countrr. (forinstance, the status and teachi"g-"r Spanisñ, as a na"tirre lan_euage, andEnglish, French or German aJ a foreign lan_quag" rn traditionallrmonolingual region such as Andarusia or castile-Lu úu.,.hu l;t;;,;.,'

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 6. )

6' soME P¡{RTICULAR socIoLI\cL ISTIC srrt \TIo\s6.1. India

. -Tlir country gained independence in 1947 and the feder.al go\.errrmenrin India established a languáge policy. English, ri.ould be substi.-Lteci b'Hindi as the official ranguage atra, u. the iountry ,,; ái.iá-d t;=;;"".most of them having their own language. Each rági"""ii"rr=.,un. r'ourd

-- t Tlt*" problems can arise from clifferent and widely separated si¡uations s..,¡h a= rhcsla.lus ol a minorit¡ erhnic group u ithin a tu.g*r,rn" in numbrr, or simnlrto intesrate ""*.o'*".. i". mónoringuar r".-l"tlÉ. i,niri:ji:::""J,:'il::.Í;:?,*'r:;t;;,:jcommon due to immigration).


also gain the status of official language in each state. It was soacknowledged in the nation's constitution. In 1950 the Constitutionrecognized fifteen major languages: four literary languages belonging tothe Dravidian group and eleven literary languages of the Indo-Aryangroupo. A number of actions were undertaken in this respect (translations,new dictionaries, encyclopaedias, new typewriters, etc.) with the aim ofspreading the use of Hindi and of detaching it from the former coloniallanguage. However, this language planning did not succeed and twodecades lateq English was reintroduced and adopted as the second officiallanguages. In 1956, Linguistic States were formed and most of them chosethe majority language as the official language in the state, except for thenortheastern hill states where there seems not to be a dominant language(Krishnamurti, 1999).

Nowadays, multilingualism is encouraged in India and many childrenlearn English and Hindi in the Devanagari script in school, the officiallanguage of the country apart from their mother tongue, spoken at home,and the official language of their state. Today, there are still seriousproblems regarding the spread of Hindi throughout the country and thatis caused by the literary nature of Hindi and its differences from otherlocal and regional varieties -all this resulting in multilingualism.

At the moment, the central government in India (New Delhi) dealswith all types of issues related to international policy and the commoninterests of the Indian people. The State government, howeve4 looks afterlocal and regional concerns and in many instances, especially in the south,the language used is neither Hindi nor English, as in the centralgovernment,but a local language. For years there has been an attempt tointroduce a'Three Language Formula'in schools aiming at providingevery high-school student with a command of two modern Indianlanguages (one of them being Hindi) and English, but this endeavor hasproved unsuccessful. English has spread and is the language preferred inthe universities and the language of publication in learned journals, butit is also the language of higher courts, parliamentary debate, industry,economic transactions and inter-national trade.

The case of India is a good example of how government institutionssometimes need to engage in the task of making far-reaching decisions.These, however, are obviously easier to apply in smaller countries withless inhabitants and a smaller number of languages involved.

-t

rut.., in l992,three more languages were added to this list.s English was given the status of an 'Associate Officiai'language.

UNIT 5139

6.2. New Zealand

Almost all Maoris in New zealandspeak English and a large proportion9f the young people are bilingual. Howevef many youngsters

-especiallvin cities- do not sp_eaI Maori anymore. Maori is Lndaigered for severalreasons. First, English is the language of education; slcond, Maori isspoken more commonly in rural areai and people p."f", to live in citieswhere English is spoken.

rn 1999 the population of fluent Maori speakers was about 35.000,around 8 per cent of the totar Maori population in New zearand(Mccaffery 1999). From the late 1960s measures were taken with the aimof reintroducing Maori in primary schools as well as in universities. Thesemeasures met with little success due to the low status given to theirlanguage in society and the lack of recognition of Maori as a nationalofficial language. In the late 1990s the bilingud n¿aori and English-speaking population consisted mainly of an áge group over 60 whosedescendants did not speak Maori as a mothe. rolrrgi".

The situation was such that the generation bearing children did not,bv rd large, speak Maori as a mother tongue, and theie was no way theycould teach that language to their children. The Maori language seemeddestined to disappear in New zealand. However, the situation started tochange thanks to an innovative education movement which began at thepre-school level in the early 1980s with an imaginative idea which involvedgrandparents as a fundamental component in the education of theirgrandchildren. In 1999, over 700 Koianga (preschool language nests)instructed more than 12.000 children in the language of their ancestors(Mccaffery 1999) passing on the language, the ciltu-re and the traditionsof the Maoris directly from their g.u.rdpur".rts, using rtuo.i as the onlylanguage of teaching and conveÁation. Nou,adays, the lu.rg.rug" u.rácustoms of the New Zearand Aborigines seem to háve a future.

In spite of these effor1s to maintain the Maori culture and language,the lack of government support or biling.rul p.og.uÁ, i., th" publicedrrcational system meant that children coming froÁ rcohonga were ,,otable to maintain their Maori language. After con"ti"""". f."rsures all thatthe Maori community obtained was the incrusion of a Maori-speakingcommunity language assistant in schools which was insufficient tJguarantee continued Maori language developmen t. Later, a self-deterrninedgroup of parents took the initiative and establishei the KKM (KuraKaupapa Maori), an immersion movement that settled some independentimmersion schools in order to let their children develop ih"i,lá.rg.rug"


skills after the Kohanga. This movement has claimed both governmentalrecognition and funding but has only gained partial support. KKM onlyemploys and trains fluent speakers of Maori and only accepts childrencoming from the Kohanga as they require full Maori immersion for thefirst 4-6 years and demand active parental involvement to speak Maori athome. Under these circumstances, it is a very low percentage of Maori-speaking children that can have access to this type of education withoutfurther governmental support (McCaffery, 1999). The future of thislanguage, like many others around the world, depends to a large extenton government support and funding.

6.3. The Canadian experience

In 1982, Canada became a constitutionally bilingual country andbilingualism continues to be a sociopolitical issue in this country today.By means of this recent Constitution, the English rights in Quebec wereprotected as much as the French rights outside Quebec. However, theFrench rights were revoked in the new province of Manitoba and theFrench-speaking population saw themselves circumscribed to the provinceof Quebec, which is ruled by the English-speaking Montreal. Thisparlicular situation gave way to frequent social and political tensions inthat part of Canada and, not surprisingly, language is perceived as a signof identity and cultural heritage that unifies members of the French origincommunity which represents approximately a 30 per cent of the totalCanadian population, most of them (around 80 per cent) living in Quebec.Bilingualism in the two official languages is mainly found in the populationof French origin in the East of the country such as Montreal, Sherbrookeand Ottawa.

By means of the Constitution Act in 1982, the Canadian centralgovernment undertook the task of protecting the French rights throughoutthe country, whereas the government in the province of Quebec tookmeasures against the use of English within the province claiming thatbilingualism in Ouebec led to unilingualism in English6. Nowadays, theactions undertaken to restrain the use of English in Ouebec have beenbanned at the same time that some legislation in Manitoba that deniedfrancophone rights has been modified, but the French-English divisionand debate is still present. Aparl from this historical dispute between thetwo official languages, it should be taken into account that Canada has

6 It should be taken into account that education in Canada is a provincial responsibility.

UNIT 51-+1

some aboriginal minorities with their own indigenous languages and thatcanada is a country of immigrants ancr thut, "r!".rJrvr"'oig ciries, thereis a considerabre number oÍ people h"yi;s ;;;;tii, rirtt"", German,Pofiuguese, etc., as.their mothér tongue. canádá continues to be a hotspotas far as the sociolingrristic and sociopoliticul sit..utio' iJ.orr.".ned andthe situarion worsens because the French-Engrish .;;;;;r.y is becomingteritorially based, in spite of continued governmental effor1s. Nevertheless,

F*"ug:,olanning actions-are being .,nJ".tuL"n ,. rr"ü,"r"e the probrem.There follow some examples of uitl"g".l "¿".rtiá" pL;;;-, that aim atdeveloping a bilingual and biculturaT society in Canada.

French immersion_began 30 years ago, in 1965, with an experimentcarried out at St. Lambert schooi, Montreal, where a group of English-speaking parents succeeded in getting the school aiJt.i.t to initiate abilingual immersion program with their children in kindergarlen (Frenchas a.second language). At rhar time it became

";;"r;;;;;";;;;;;;';"English-speaking communiqz needed to attain a high proficiency in Frenchto overcome their minority language situation ln-euebec and guaranteetheir social and economic maint"ná.r." within tt-r" p.orri.r.e. This initialprogram was rather extreme as monolingual Engrisi-rp""r.i"g kids wereinstructed in French from the very first áay in d;;;;;n and rarer ingrade two, they would starl to devllop fir.ifu"e"ug"li;;" skills. Lareron, by grade 6, harf of the curriculum wourd be taught i" E"irrir'""0'illliin French' A bit late4-some changes were introduJed as these programsspread widely across the country ánd mid-im-".rro' u.ralát"-i--"..io'programs were also developed. The aim of these pr"gru;, is fbr childrento reach a level of híingualism, and eventualiy oT biculturalism', br-secondary schoor graduarion thar ailows rt,"- io iln.i¡." *"rir'' ;;;;";_speaking communitv or to access the job -utk;;;;"irl;il; education inFrench-

T:::l_rt":ersionis a general rerrr used to refer ro rhis npe oi conrenr_l3::1t:::*ction in which-Fren.', ;.

", "á * ;;;;. ;i #. ,' J:j ;:::1rvithin the classroom and in which stuclents u.", ,fr"."io=. ;

ll"-::::loi'*";;;,h;";#:i;üil*-"ti'-Hi:::i""T:;':"'.i:if proficrencr::,:i,":::1?l::'.:y* lnd literacy skini H.,,:",,"1,

";; ;ji ;;;;;;::;.;equal and three types of immersio.r .un be found ". t"ru].ü"" #il; ;::iq r-n-.o.-oJ /^\ ^^-l-.:-^-,,:tr::XTg;ji) :*lv immersion, which is offered n".,,-' ifr"_^,11,;.:;.

:j:'5:j3^9',*'i,l*n, grade 1 or 2) u'd ."p.".",rt.;;;;"ri';:üJl;sort of immersion; (b) delayed or intelmediate immersion,'tr;;:,:a'i;---

' A high proficiency in.the L2 and-a deep kno-r.i,ledge of the L2 culrure in¡-luencespositively the L2 learner! attitude torvards tt," iZ .,rlt.,.".


later of schooling beginning in grade 4, and (c) late immersion is offeredbeginning in grades 6,7 or later. Immersion can also be total

-involvingthe instruction of all subjects in the second language- or partial -requiring instruction in the second language for half the school day'

These French immersion programs have not found an equivalentcounterpart in English immersion in Canada as the French-speakingcommunities do not offer an exact parallel to their French mother tonguespeakers in spite of the popularity and success of these programst.

Swain and Johnson (1,997: ó)e set forth some core features inprototypical immersion programs. They indicate that the followingcharacteristics cannot be understood on an all-or-nothing basis but as

part of a continuum. They add that for a bilingual program to be labeled

as 'immersion', it should accommodate each of these characteristics as

much as possible:

a) The L2 is used as a medium of instruction, in spite of being taughtformally and only as a subject. The underlying methodologicalrationale is that of the communicative approach that proposes theincrease of comprehensible input.

b) The immersion curriculum is analogous to the one used withstudents not included in an immersion program. In this way, it isguaranteed that immersion students get the same content and theonly variable is the use of tJne L2 as a medium of instmction.

c) The L1 receives obvious support as an essential component of thecurriculum, sometimes as a subject and sometimes as the mediumof instr"uction.

d) 'Additive bilingualism' constitutes the chief aim of the program'This principle entails that at the end of the program students' L1proficiency should be comparable to those who have studiedthrough their L1, i.e.,L2 proficiency should not be attained at theexpense of the Ll.

e) L2 exposure is by and large restricted to the classroom context, atleast in some immersion programs such as those in Canada, where

-\t

,hor.ld be pointed out that extensive research has been carried out with theseprograms and in spite of a number of shorlcomings that research has pointed out, Frenchimmersion in Canada continues to be one of the most successful examples of bilingualeducation.

e This article is part of a book that is an essential reference for those interested inbilingual immersion programs. This book provides a thorough introduction to the topic andsupplies some interesting examples of immersion programs in different countries.

UNIT .5

parents or friends do not use the language of instmction. obüously,this constitutes a disadvantage for the students.

All students join the program with similar levels of L2 proficiency.Some degree of homogeneity in this respect facilitates the adoptionof a curriculum and pedagogy that matches most students'needs.

Teachers are bilingual in the students'Ll and theL2 medium ofinstruction.

The classroom culture of a prototypical immersion program is thatof the local L1 community instead of that of the culture of the L1,i.e., where that language is used as an L1.

7. EUROPEAN UNION LANGUAGE PLANNINGAND POI,ICY

There is a need to conver-t the rich heritage of diverse languages andcultures in Europe from a barrier to communication into a source ofmutual understanding. A better knowledge of European moder-n languageswill facilitate communication and interaction among Europeans and willpromote mobility and mutual understanding. In this case, the aim of aparticular language planning and policy is to unify millions of speakersunder a political and economical administration and given the amountof different languages it seems necessary to find a common ground forinteraction without losing either cultural or linguistic identity.

It is not easy to obtain an accurate picture of the linguistic situationwithin the EU given the wide-range of countries, cultures and politicalsystems involved. At the time of writing the EU comprises 25 countrieswith 22 different official languages (only three are considered workinglanguages: English, French and German) and all these countries includéconsiderable linguistic minorities either because they have some territoryholding an inherited language or as a result of an extensive migrationgiving way to a plentiful immigrant community. only portugal can beconsidered'officially' monolingual although it contains speech communitiesusing a dissimilar language from the official one. In all the other countriesthere are areas where a different language is learned as a mother tongue(at this point it should be kept in mind that the distinction betu,eenlanguages and dialects is not always clear and is often determined br-sociopolitical matters. See chapter 1). This situation gives us a picture ofthe diversity of the state of affairs, which will change shorllv and not forthe bettel because there is already a plan to broaden the EU to neiehborine

143

s)

h)


countries with new languages, new education systems and various degrees

of commitment to language teaching. This multiplicity of circumstancesexhibits the need to develop a common EU language policy in order topromote interrelation among the different member states and the commonunderstanding of peoples.

To add controversy to the issue, Trimm (1999) mentions that a majorproblem concerning the subject of language learning and languageplanning is the lack of an organic unit to take responsibility for it. So,

different laws and public organisms may be involved in the teaching ofstate languages to native speakers, to minority children and the teachingof second/foreign languages. He adds that there is no longitudinal unityas responsibilities change with the transfer of children from elementaryschool to high school and the university, and different agencies may beinvolved in the setting of curricular guidelines, teaching materials andassessment. Given the aforesaid circumstances a high degree ofvariability is to be expected within an international organization likethe EU.

Policy makers, aware of the far-reaching repercussions of a good orbad language policy for the future of the European common market, haveestablished some guidelines that try to promote the use of internationallanguages for intercultural communication. They have also undertakensome actions regarding the maintenance of minority languages. So far,the following documents have been already elaborated:

a) The European Charter for Minority or Regional Languages.

b) The CE Framework Convention for the Protection of NationalMinorities.

c) The Oslo Recommendations regarding the Linguistic Rights ofNational Minorities within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

d) The Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights ofNational Minorities.


The EU has already taken some action regarding the secondiforeignlanguage teaching and learning within the member states, and in a WhitePaper published in 1995 (Teaching and learning: towards the leat"ning society)it is stated as a general objective that everyone, irrespective or his/heracademic training should gain proficiency in two languages apart fromtheir mother tongue so that they can communicate in those languages.

UNIT 5t4s

I

I

i

with this aim, the EU has reached a strong consensus on the fundamentalsfor foreign language teaching and some programs have been developed forthe exchange of students andleachers in trdér to favor the learnrng of otherEU languages, to aid teacher training, to encourage awareness-raising, andto promote the cultural exchange among differJnt edrcutio.ral systems.Some of these programs are Socrates (includi"g E.;;;s, Lingua andSocrates), Leonardo (exchange programs in the vocational net¿) ana Tempus(for the development of higñei edircation systems).The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is adocument that provides a practical tool r".

"rtáuti.rri"g.""rrn standardsat successive stages of learning and evaluating rangáge knowledge. Itaims at providing üe basis for ietting common standards within the EUat an international level and provides ihe basis for the *","a recognitionof language qualifications within the EU, and therefore facilitatingeducational and occupationar mobility. The Frame*,ork describes:a) The competences necessary for communication;b) The relared knowledge and skills;c) The situations and domains of communication.The framework paves the way for a comprehensive definition ofteaching and learning objectives and method, und ir, th"."to.e, of specialinterest to course designers, textbook writers, testers, teachers and teachertrainers, and the whole academic community as a whole.


B. THE ROLE OF ENGLISH

. _English-has spread widely ail over the worrd, first because of theinfluence of the British Empiie and, second due ,. ná p*"minence ofNorth American culture in the worrd. In Europe, Englis'h has advancedas an international language especially after tft. Wo".ta Wur II, leavingbehind other preeminent la.rg.rag", .,-r.h u, pr"n.t . ¡"ürirr, is now usedby millions of speakers fo. r irriber of communicative functions acrossEurope, and Hoffmann (2000) points out that:

1...1 the presence of and need for English have become sowidespread, and access to and provision for it"so ";.r;J, that ir is no*,possible to ralk aboût'bilinguaiism with Engrish';;ñ;. rhan just theuse of Engrish as a foreign linguage. The expíessiorr-,üitir-,grruüsm ri,ith


English' is ambitious: [...]. The term'multilingualism' is therefore thepreferred one here, as it allows for a variety of linguistic constellationsinvolving two or more languages in speakers and communities.

(Hoffmann, 2000:2)

Hoffmann refers to the use of English for many purposes inside andoutside the EU scope, where it is one of the preferred languages. So thislanguage has become the preferred language in a number of ambits likeinternational business or EU institutions. Time and again it is also thelanguage chosen for academic discussion as most scholars face the needto read and publish in English for international diffusion. English is alsodirectly influencing other European languages at different levels but it isespecially manifest in the field of technical terms -lexical borrowingsare often introduced in many languages without the slightest adaptation.

English seems to have been adopted as the language of globalizationthese days. Proficiency in English is seen as a desirable goal for youngstersand elderly people in all EU countries and in many parts of the world, tothe point of equating inability in the use of English to disability. (See WorldEnglishes in Chapter 6.)

9. THB UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF LINGUISTICRIGHTS

In 1996, a world-wide representation of non-governmentalorganizations with the support of the UNESCO approved The UniversalDeclaration of Linguistic Rights (henceforth UDLR) in Barcelona, Spain.The main aim of this document is to turn the world's nations' attentionto the problems arising from a globalized world with greater movementsof people, and to preserve everyone's right to a language identity. Theoriginal document contains 52 articles and some additional dispositionsembracing many aspects of linguistic rights. Below are some of the generalprinciples that this document tries to establishlo:

1. The UDLR safeguards the personal rights to adhere to a linguisticidentity and to develop one's own culture.

2. The UDLR considers that all language communities are equal andtherefore merit official recognition in all kinds of social, politicaland economic respects (e.g., education, law trade, publicadministration, etc.).

10 Y." can go to the website for this subject to find the web link to the original fulIdocument.

LNIT 5147

3. The UDLR is especially concerned about the role that educationplays in the maintenance and spread of a languag" urra accordinglyir states that educarion must help to marniaií and develop ihálanguage .po\gl by the language community. In addition to this,it encourages "the most extensive possibl" .om-und of anv otherlanguage they may wish to know.,, (Art.26).

4' The UDLR claims the right to use proper names and place namesin the language specific to the territory, both oraly and in writing.5' The UDLR supports the right to decide the extent to which a minority

language should be present in the media in a giÁ territory and toreceive a thorough knowledge of its cultural ñeritage through it.6' The UDLR declares the right to preserve their linguistic and cultural

heritage.

7' The UDLR watches over the right to use the language in allsocioeconomic activities and to have full legal validitf,This document has had far-reaching implications in recent years forthe socral recognition and acceptun." Jf minority ü;;;;g", around rhe*'orld but there exists, nevertheless, some controversy over itsfundamentals. Brumfit (1995) considers that this document is based onthe idea of "language communities" and little account is taken of thelanguage rights of individuals. Brumfit finds little;;;; fbr individualchoice in favor of the imposition of a languag" i;;;;;.'erumfit (ibict.)

also criticizes the restrictive definition of "language community,, asreferring to a people being historically established ii u á.'ito.v as opposedto the notion of "language group" which refers io u g-,rp of personssharing the same lu.rg,rag" but which does nor fro.r", historicalantecedents (see article 1.1 and 1.5). In_this respec, in" to.rg-standingGreek-speaking population in Australia and 'tfr"

i,-,rt ish-speakingpopulation in Germany would falr into a second-class category as they*.ould be considered'language groups" but not ;ir;-g"rg;ommunities,,.This raises the question of how long a language g."ü

"L"¿ to exist inorder to qualify as a community. Brumfit Gt¡a.í utzor;;; to the lack ofreferences in this document to the situation in countries where a languageis used to avoid giüng one ranguage

-among many historicaily establisheda prioritv over the others, which cóuld *"rrtruuy give rise to anumber of conflicts (for instance, in former coronies thainowadavs useEnglish or French for interethnic communication).

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercises 10 and 1 1.)


10. EXERCISES

1. Find out if there is a bilingual school in your city. Try to get as muchinformation as possible of its curricula, organization and aims. Pleasenote that English does not need to be one of the languages involved in thisimmersion program. Expand on the advantages and disadvantages ofbilingual education from your own point of view.

2. Baker and Jones (1998) seem to be quite in favor of bilingualeducation and they indicate eight potential benefits of bilingualeducation. Comment on each of them and express to what extent youagree/disagree with them. You should provide examples to support yourpoints. (See page 124).

3. Thke an instance of language planning that you know about (Englishdoes not need to be one of the languages involved) and analyze it accordingto the eleven goals or functions posed by Nahir (2003). Which of thesegoals affect the instance you have chosen? How?

4. Analyze and assess each of the following sociolinguistic decisionsand provide your opinion:

a/ Making Canada an officially bilingual country, having most of itsFrench-speaking population in a concrete area in the east (Quebec).

b) Trying to give status to Bokmál and Nynorsk in Nor-way instead ofchoosing one of the varieties as the standard.

c) Giving Basque and Catalan official status together with Spanish inthe Basque Country and in Catalonia.

d) Reintroducing Irish in Ireland.

5. Explore the language policies of your own country or region andhow they are enforced in your educational system. How does youreducational system deal with immigrants who do not speak themainstream language? Are there any controversies about language useand implementation in your country?

6. Think about the following hypothetical situations. Find a mode ofaction for each of the following unresolved issues:

a/ Imagine your are appointed governor in a colonial territory yourcountry has in a remote area which is called Sealand. In Sealandyou, as the governol and a minority of the population coming fromyour homeland speak your mother tongue, the language of themetropolis, but most natives in Sealand speak an indigenous

UNIT 5

language. You have to organize the educational system and legislateaccordingly. Your children go to school with natives from Sealandand among other things you need to decide upon the language usedin the educational system. Write a set of 10-15 principles that wiligovern language use in Sealand schools.

b) You are member of a language planning agency that needs to decidewhether to reform your writing system for two reasons, first, thewriting system is rather unique (with its own alphabet) and thatdifference prevents your country foom fully developing economicallyin the same way as neighboring countries and the world's economicpower; second, your language has changed very little in the last twohundred years and, as a result, a surfeit of borrowings areinundating your language. Present an action plan that will satisfythe economic powers of your country (eager for development andintegration in the international community), and the literary elite(very concerned about the conservation of language and culturalheritage).

7. Search the web for information on EU language policy. Findinformation regarding EU language policy on:

a/ Bilingual/trilingual education in schools.

b) Minority languages in EU countries.

c) EU official languages.

d) Language policy

8. Search the web for these four documents and write a summary(about 100 words) with the information you consider more important.

a) The European Charter for Minority or Regional Languages.

b) The CE Framework Convention for the Protection of NationalMinorities.

c) The Oslo Recommendations regarding the Linguistic Rights ofNational Minorities within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

d) The Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights ofNational Minorities.

9. The White Paper published in 1995 by the EU Commission (Tencltüryand learning: towards the learning society) on foreign language learningstates that in relation to proficiency in three communitr languages : '[ . . . j

t49


everyone, irrespective of training and education routes chosen, lshould]be able to acquire and keep .rp ih"i. ability to .o--rnicate in at leasttwo community languages in addition to theii mother tongue.,Think aboutthis ob.iective and state the possible shortcomings it may have as."gu.á.people's attitude, training in schools, infrastructi.", .og.ri,lrre abilities oranq othgl aspect you consider relevant. To what extenido you think it isa plausible objective in the short term?

10. Find the full text of The universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights(see the website) and read it. choose 3 articles and comment on themproviding your own point of view.

11. Find out abôut the linguistic situation, from a synchronic and adiachronic point of view, of one of the folrowing .orriii"r, cameroon,Nigeria, south Africa, Belize or Tiinidad and Tobagol you might be interestedin the language or languages that are currentry rr""d, lungrale plannrng andpolicy, educational system, etc. you will probably fi"t;i;;of informarionon the web, in encyclopaedias or in the."f".".r.á books listed below.

11. REFERENCES

Appr', R. and p. Muvsrp¡l . 1996. Bilingüismo y contacto de lenguas. Barcelona:Editorial Ariel.Barpn, c.2002. 'Bilingual Education'in R.B. Kaplan (ed.) The oxlord Handbook

of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford Unlversity iress.Ber¡n, c. and S. JoNss. 1999. Encyclopedia of bitingualism and bilingual education.

Clevedon: Philadelphia, pA: Multilingual MatLrs.BBurr'rr, ch. 1995. 'people's,chol." uld ranguage rights' [videorecord ing]: EFL inlanguage policy. university of york, aud"io-üsuil c."t." r."i: IATEFL.coeaRnueras, J. 1983. 'Ethical issues in status planning, in J. cobarrubias and J.A' Fishman (eds.), progres.s,in Language pranning:7"tir""t¡áLd perspectives.

The Hague: Mouton publishers.

Ho'p¡¿aNu, ch. 2000. 'The Spread of English and the Growth of Multilinguarismwith English in Europe.t in J. cenoá"a u. i"rr".. G,¿r^.)E)rurh in Europe:The Acquisition of a Third Language. crevedon: Murtili-ngíJ llratt".r.KrrsnNemunrt,Bh' 1999.. 'Iltq" Language Education policy'in B. spolsky (ed.)

c o nc i s e Enc y clop edia of E duc at ioáat Lin g ui s/lcs. Amsterdam : Elsevier.McCrnr'nv, J. J. 1999.

"',Maori language revitalization,in Spolsky, B. (ed.) 1999.

C oncise Ency clopedia of Educ átioiar Linguisllcs. Amsterdam: Ersevier.Naryt,-i\ita20.03.'Language planning Goars: A classification'in c.B. paulston, andG.R. Tucker; socioringuistics: The Essentiar Re"¡r"g;. M;lá."lsa, BlackwellPublishing.

UNIT.5 1-5 1

PaursroN, C.B. 1994. Linguistic Minorities in Multilingtnl Settirtgs. Amsrerdam:John Benjamins Publishing Company.

SHopsN, T. 1999. 'Australian Indigenous Languages', in Spolskr, B. (ed. l 1999.C onc is e Ency clop edia of Educ at ional Linguisllcs. Amste r-dam : Ei s e,,i e r.

Sw¿ru, M. andR. K. JouNsoN. 1997.'Immersion education: A categon rvirhinbilingual education', in R. K. Johnson and M. Srvain (ed.s.) IitnitersioitEducation : Intet'national Perspective.s. cambridge uni'erslrr press.

TBIrru, J. L. M. 1999.Language Fducation policv-Europe', in Spolskr-. B. red.)1999. Concise Encyclopedia of Educational Lingui.srlcs. Amsteidu-. Eir-.',".

Wannnaucs, R. 2002 (4th ed.). An Introduction to Sociolingttis¡1c,.. \Ialden, LS-\:Blackwell Publishing.

12. RESOURCES ON THE \\'EB

Now you can visit the website for this subject u'here r ou nj11 find somefurther references and complementary readings.

13. FURTTIER READINGS AND QUESTIONS

13.1. Text 9


Note that Hamers and Blanc distinguish between the tenns bilingualiqrand bilingualism. The former refers to psychological state of the ln¿ivi¿uatwho has access to more than one linguistic code, whereas the latter refersto the state of a linguistic community in which two languages or codesare in contact. Therefore, bilinguality sees the issue from the perspectiveof the individual while bilingualism includes bilinguality and centers onthe social dimension of it at a macro level.

1...] The outcome of bilingual education depends upon a number ofpre-school factors as well as upon the way the two languiges are plannedin education. Two factors are of relevance in education; (t) to whát extentis the child proficient in the school language? and (2) to what extent hashe developed the cognitive function in one or both of his languages beforestarling school? considering the interplay of educationaffactors withthe following factors: social psychological and cognitive developmentalfactors, such as onset of, and proficiency in, both languages; functionsdeveloped forlanguage; valorization of one or both languáges for arl ora limited number of functions; and the social representatiois *,hich thechild developed as a consequence, we make thá follorving hr,potheses:


( 1 ) If both languages are acquired simultaneously or if the child is

fully proficient inLoth languages before entering school, he does notharre ihe double learning burden of acquiring new language skills and

literacy skiils simultaneously; if, in addition, the child has already

developed language as a cognitive tool, the acquisition of literacy skills

will be facilitáteJ; and, if ihe child has also developed and analysed

representation of language in which both languages are perceived as

inierchangeable, thusámplifying this functioning and the child is more

likely to dlvelop an additive iorm of bilinguality. This is the case of the

child in an educated mixed-lingual famiiy'

(2) If the child is only proficient in his L, when starting school jnLr, he will have to acquire tñe primary communicative skills in Lr at the

same time as the literacy skiils in Lr. If he has already developed an

analysed representatio' tf lut-tg.ttge through his L1, he can transfer itto tÉe u.qrriritio.t of literacy skills; the two languages will become

interchangeable for cognitive operations, thus amplifying cognitivefunctioning. Because both languages are valorized in their cognitive

function, this transfer will be relatively easy. The degree to which his

analysed representation of language includes^ both. languages as

inteáhangeubl" tool. will determine the degree of additivity. This is the

case of immersion-school children and of some advantaged submersion

children.

(3) If a child proficient in his L, only or with a limited knowledge

of L, atthe onset óf schooling in a relatively more prestigious L, has not

de,reloped the cognitive funciions of language in his Lr, he also faces the

double burden óf acquiring the primary communicative skills in L,simultaneously with the liteiacy skills. Because he does not posses the

analytic repreientation of language the task of acquiring literacy skillsis harder (ás is the case for some monolingual children schooled in Lr).

If, in addition, his L1 is devalorized and stigmalized, he will not transferthe newly acquired ikillr to his L, but limit them to aL, in which he is

not proficient. In the worse case, because he does not use his fulllarrguage potential as does a monolingual child coping with the problem

of Jcqu'iring literacy, the development of the analysed representation oflanguáge might be slowed down. Further devalorization of L, by society

anJthe schoáI, where it is not used for the development of literacy skills,

will lead to a perception that his two languages alê not interchangeable

as cognitive tools ánd that only L, can be used in that function. Thismighi ultimately lead to a subtractive for of bilinguality'

Hamers and Blanc (1989: 196-197)

lssues to consider:

a) Do you think the situations described in the three hypothesespresented above are equally advantageous for the children? Do you

consider any of them more demanding than the others for the child?

UNIT 5i53

b) To what extent do you think that pre-schoor factors prevail overschooling factors in bilingual educátion in monolingual countries?c) Do you think bilinguar education programs in Spain manage todevelop bilingual children coming fÁ- spu.rir'r, -orrotingualfamilies? Why (not)?

13.2. Text 10

Read the following text carefuily and comment on it emphasizing anyaspect you consider of relevance. After the text you will find sáme questionsthat may be helpful. write around 250-300 wtrds in total.

. Language planning is an attempt to interfere deliberately with alanguage or one of its ;arieties: it is human intervention into naturalprocesses of language change, diffusion, and erosion. That attempt mayfocus on either its status with regard ," rrÁ. rirr". ru"glug" or varietyor its internal condition with a view to changing that c?n¿rtion, or onboth of these since they are not mutually "*.rr"rrrÉ

ir* ¡^, focus resultsin status planning, the second results iÁ corpus pl;;;;;status planning changes the function of a language or a variety ofa language and the righis of those who use ir. FáJ"*u-ple, whenspeakers of a minority language are denied th" .rr. ái ,rru, language ineducating their childr".r, ih"i. language has no,rÁr. Alternatively,

when-a government declares that hJnceFo.trr t*" rá"g-,ruges rather thanone of these alone wiil be officiany recognized in alr fiinctions, the newlyrecognized one has gained status. status itserf is "."iuri"" concept; iimav also be improved or reduced by degrees, u"d;;;iiy is. So far aslanguages and their varieties u.. .or.".red, status .harrg.s are nearlyalways very srow, are sometimes actively.o","rt"á, .";"d" leave strongresidual feeli ngs. Fven^rerarively minoi ch^"g", ;; ;;;p;rs for changescan produce such effects, as the residenñ of ;;ó;;""tries, e.g.,Norway, Belgium, Canada, and India, are well u*u...' - -

. Corpus planning seeks to develop a variet¡z of a language or alanguage, usuaily to itandardi ze it, thaiir, t, p.áüaf ii*rrr, rhe meansfor serving every possibre ralguage irnction in society r...]. co.rr.q,r".rtly,corpus planning may involve such matters as the"dlvelopment of anorthographv, new sources ofvocabura.y, ai.ri""".i;"¿",.) a literature,together with the deriberate cultivation áf .r.* "r", ,oit ui the languagemay extend its use into such areas as gover-nment, education, and trade.corpus planning_has b,een particurárly r-p".i."t l" countries rikeIndonesia, Israel, Finland, India, pakistan, u.rd pup.ru t t.* crrirr.u. Thesetwo types of planning often co-occu6 for -urry ph'Ái"g á..iri"", in'orvesome combination of a change in status *iiÉ inte..rái change. As oneparticular language in papua New Guine. i, d;;;i";d, all other


Issues to consider:a/ Provide some sociopolitical situations

gain status, and others that may cause

languages are affected, whether or not the effects are recognized officially.We must also note then that, just as planning may either be deliberateor proceed somewhat haphazardly, even accidentally, so its results maybe deliberately intended or not at all as intended. Even though it ispossible to recognize most of the relevant parameters, language planningis still far from being any kind of exact science. Linguists have also beenquite involved in many planning actiüties and surrounding controversies.

Wardhaugh (2002:353)

that may lead a language toa language to lose it.

b) According to the text, how do language planning and languagepolicy interact? Which one do you think comes first, languageplanning or language policy? Why?

c) In the case of a need for corpus planning, what kind of institutiondo you think should assume that responsibility? Are political oreducational institutions better prepared? Why?

d) In a way,language planning goes against the natural process oflanguage evolution and maturation. Under what circumstances doyou find an 'artificial intervention' justified?

UNIT 5 155

14. KEY WORDSThe following list of key words contains some important terms that

are presented in this unit. A definition for each term ün be found at theend of this book, in the glossary.

Aboriginal languagesAfrican American Vernacular EnglishCorpus planningEndangered languageHeritage languageHypercorrectionLanguage AcademyLanguage election/selectionLanguage revitalizationLanguage attritionLanguage conflictLanguage lossLanguage spreadLingua francaLanguage conflictLanguage Policy DivisionLinguistic competenceSociolinguistic relativityStatus planning

Unit 6

1. SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND LANCUACE TEACHING/LEARNING

Language teaching and learning and sociolinguistics have certaincommon concerns, such as the role of English in the world (as a firstlanguage or a second/foreign language), the contexts in which thislanguage is acquired, the way in which it interacts with other languages,and the norms that determine the use of English. Communicativecompetence shapes the ability to interact successfully in any speechcommunity. Someone who has acquired the language in a naturalisticcontext from childhood also acquires sociolinguistic rules together withlinguistic knowledge and other competences (of course, this would notbe so in the case of some sort of cognitive impairment or abnormal socialsituation).

This issue brings up the importance of language learning either in asecond language context, or a foreign language context. In the first case,the language learner will have countless occasions to acquire/learn thesociolinguistic rules through interaction and close contact with nativespeakers of the language. The learning environment also raises the issuewhether sociolinguistic rules can, or should, be taught in a classroomcontext or whether this is something the language learner will deal within due course when s/he has the chance to interact within a speechcommunity where the language being learned is spoken as a mothertongue. A second issue raised in this respect is the motivation and pu{poseof learning the language, that is, if it is learnt to be used -in this case-within an English-speaking speech community or if it is to be learned asa LWC to communicate with other non-native speakers, for example,English being used among mother tongue speakers of different languagesin the EU.

Until very recently sociolinguistic rules have received little attentionin the FL learning context and materials writers and teachers assumed

I

nó0 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

that learners would learn these conventions through interaction in duecourse, at higher levels or while interacting with native speakersl. In thelast few decades materials writers have grown concerrred atout this aspectand, nowadays, sociocultural information is more often includeá inclassroom language instruction.

The inclusion of sociolinguistic behavior in teaching materials willhelp the language learner to develop his/her ability to inteiact successfullyin a foreign speech community and will graduallyintegrate both linguistiland sociolinguistic information. However, these sociálinguistic patternsare often unreliable because they are either based orr1h" ináividualintuitions of materials writers who may be reporting on conventions intheir own particular speech communities, or nery often this informationis based on community norms rather than on actual use. we, as nativespeakers of a speech community, should not assume that all the linguisticand social resources we make use of are parl of our conscious knorirledgeand, therefore, we may have intuitions regarding our speech behaviorlnaspeech community which do not clearly correspond wiih actual behaüor.This is the reason why our native speaker intuitions are very useful inanalyzing the way others speak but we cannot trust them completelywithout further analysis of the rules of speaking to predict the way otherpeople will interact. Finally, two aspects need tobe taken into account: a)whose mles of speaking we want to include in the teaching materials; and,b) to what extent we can generalize them to the point o1using them insecond language instruction.

Anyhow, it seems clear that the sociolinguistic information needed inorder to be communicatively competent should come lrom interactionwith native speakers or proficient speakers of the language. Regardingthe issue of language learning, it must be taken iito'account thatnowadays, the extensive development of new technologies in languagelearning (e'g., language learning computer programs, on-rine turr!,ru!"learning, etc.) and the aid and widespread oi tec-hnological developmeit(e.g., cable TV, Internet, original rorrnd track DVDs, etó can also piuy u.,important role in sociocultural development especially in the case ofautonomous language learners.


- t i -o],1¿ say the la-ck of references to sociolinguistic contents was not motivated bythe belief that the aim of the language classroom wai to teach English for 'international, orinterculturai communication, but thát it was simply u so.lo..,tt.rrii .oÁpon"rrt that shouldbe taught at a different point, at a different level,'or that *."rJ u.;..-q"i'*d'by the learnerthrough interaction with native speakers.

UNIT 6

2. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN LANGUAGETEACHINC/LEARNING

The concept of communicative competence was introduced in chapterone and it comprises various types áf knowledge and skills sucñ aslinguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic. communicative competence isneeded for successful interaction among members of the same speechcommunity, and in this unit it is analyzed from the point of view offoreign/second language learning as the process of learning aforeignisecond language inevitably involves some degree of interculturalcommunication, a situation of contact between different cultural values,and social practices.

Linguistic competences refer to the knowledge of lexical, phonologicaland syntactical elements and other dimensions of language that thelanguage lear-ner has learned as parl of the system, such as sociolinguisticr-ules and pragmatic knowledge. Linguistic competence comprises theknowledge of vocabulary, pronunciation rules, syntactic patterns and thecognitive organization and storage of this knowledge in the brain of thelanguage learner. Linguistic competence will vary from one learner toanother depending on various factors such as the number of years spentlearning the second language, the rate of learning, the age when contactn'ith the second language started, the learner's motivation, the learningcontext (whether language is learned formally or acquired from naturalerposure), etc. But language is a social behavior and is more than just aknowledge of the linguistic system.

sociolinguistic competences are concerned with the social andcultural conditions for the use of language and the social conventions thatnlle language use in a specific speech community. These would comprisenorrns regarding politeness, norms regarding relations between the sexesor different classes, social groups or generations, norrns regarding differentregisters, etc. Sociolinguistic competences are normally acquired aftersome degree of linguistic competence has been attained which is oftenconsidered the vehicle through which sociolinguistic competences areachieved. In the foreign language curriculum, sociolinguistic competencesare not always present and when they are, they are often considered ofside importance and something that the language learner will acquire onhis/her own in due time. This perspective only partially makes sensebecause if it is trrre that some basic linguistic competence is needed first,sociolinguistic contents and sensibility could, and actually should, beintroduced gradually. As a rule the more distant and different the nativeculture of the language learner and the target language culture, the more

t6t


differences the language learner will find and the harder it will be to noticethem. For instance, a native Spanish speaker from Spain will find a biggergap between his/her home culture and sociolinguistic rules and theJapanese culture than with the Italian culture, so it will be presumablymore difficult to acquire sociolinguistic competences in Japanese than inItalian as a foreign language.

Normally, lack of knowledge of sociolinguistic r-ules and behaviors thatgovern your interlocutor's speech may result in a communicationbreakdown. It should be pointed out that the higher the language learner'slinguistic competence the more s/he will be expected to have adequatesociolinguistic and pragmatic competences in his/her interaction with anative speaker of the target language. So, a native speaker of any languagewill naturally expect and assume a high cultural, sociolinguistic andpragmatic competence from his interlocutor if s/he has a good commandof the linguistic system.

Pragmatic competences refer to the functional use of linguisticresources such as language functions and speech acts in interaction. Italso concerns itself with the language learner's mastery of discoursemarkers, cohesion and coherence and the recognition of text types, thepresence of irony, parody and politeness among other things (see section6 in this chapter).

3. THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC BEHAVIOR OF ENGLISHSPEAKERS: RULES OF SPEAKING

speech communities very frequently exhibit different styles of inte-raction at the sociolinguistic and pragmatic level. The analysis of socio-linguistic behavior in native English speaking communities can provideuseful insights for the teaching and learning of languages as the descrip-tion of rules of speaking can help the teacher and the learner to systema-tize the process of language learning. Below are two samples of some rulesof speaking regarding address behavior and telephoning that can cer-tainly be taught in the classroom setting with relative ease, although otherslike greetings, parlings or refusals could also have been selected.

3.1. Address behavior

some of the earliest sociolinguistic studies on speech behavior from acrosslinguistic perspective were done on the forms of address, that is, the

UNIT 6

way people address one another in different situations. The study of forrnsof address is a recurrent topic in sociolinguistic research because they arecommon in discourse and very easily observed. Whenever one personspeaks to another there is a whole range of options that the speaker canuse to refer to the addressee and these may vary from one language to theother depending on the social conventions; the type of relationship amongthe interlocutors; and the sociocultural distance between the languagesinvolved. Wolfson and Manes (1978) studied the use of the address formma'am in the United States and found out that it has different meaningsin the South of the United States than it has in other pafls of the country.They observed that the term ma'am was commonly used instead of theformulas 'I beg your pardon?' or'Pardon?', that is, to indicate that you hadnot heard what your female interlocutor had just said or to request furtherexplanation. Wolfson (1989: B0) provides the following example:

1. A: Could you tell me how late you're open this evening?

B: Ma'am?

A: Could you tell me how late you're open this evening?

B: Until six.

2. A: You're not open on Sundays?

B: Pardon?

A: You're not open on Sundays?

B: No.

In the same vein Wolfson and Manes (ibid.) report that the expression'Yes, ma'am' is used as a response to'Thank you' , wíth the meaning of 'YotL

are welcome':

3. A: Could you tell me how late vou're open this er-enin_s?

B: Until nine.

A: Thank you very much.

B: Yes, ma'am.

4. A; Could you tell me how late you're open this er-enin_s?

B: Until five-thirty.

A: Thank you very much.

B: You're welcome.

t63

Wolfson (1989: 80-81)


In this study, they noticed as well that the forrn ma'am not only haddifferent meanings in the South of the united States, but it was also usedin different social contexts. In the North, this form tended to be usedbetween strangers whereas in the South it was used not only to strangersbut also to acquaintances and friends.

Forms of address constitute a conspicuous sign of status relationshipsand different languages may offer different possibilities and different degreesof formality and social distance. This is, in fact, a frequent mistake madeby language learners

-especially at lower proficiency levels- as the use

of L1 sociopragmatic r-ules leads to violations of the interlocutors' addressbehavior. In many European languages, for instance, speakers constantlychoose pronouns (e.g., German: du and Sle; Spanish: tu and usted) andnominal (e.g., first name; title plus last name; etc.), or verb conjugations(e.g., conditionals) to reflect status relationship and degree of formality.Howeve4 Wolfson (1989: 85) points out that many non-European languagesmark a number of more subtle distinctions, as it is the case of Asianlanguages (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, etc.) which are especially known fortheir elaboration in formality and the ample variety of politeness resources.Norris (2001: 254), for instance, refers to the German address behavior astypically based on dual register distinction: (a) a formal, respectful, sociallrdistant one

-characterized by the use of the pronoun Sle- and an inforrnai,

familiar; socially proximate one -characterized

by the use of the pronoundu-. German L2 learners would then need to acquire control over thisaddress system which involves the acquisition of the pragmalinguisic forrns(the linguistic forms du and sle), the sociopragmatic rules (to relateparticular forms with contextual variables), and the arrangement of bothtypes of knowledge in language use.

3.2. Telephoning

The way people answer the phone or initiate a telephone conversario:-varies from language to language and from culture to culture. Thes.sociolinguistic mles (either self-identification or answering rules) are n _ ,

generally open to conscious consideration and very often speakers are j.-.,unaware of their existence until their sociolinguistic expectations .:.broken and they realize that these rules actually exist.

In the United States, for example, a phone call will probabh bc=.with the caller offering an apology to the person answering the ph .-.especially if it is a time of the day when the caller may be busy of is iii..to be disturbed, like meal time or late at night. In France, this s., .

UNIT ó

apology is even more likely to happen and in England amongst somegroups and social classes. In France, callers are very likely to identifuthemselves and to check that they are calling to the right number whereasthis is seldom done in Spain. The rrles of self-identification in telephonecalls is certainly very variable across cultures. In Germany, for instance,the first thing the person who answers the phone generally does is toidentify himiherself without being asked to do so. However, these rulesthat can at some point be included in the language curriculum are likelyto change these days due to the rapid development of informationtechnologies and the astonishing and still increasing number of mobilephones which lets the answerer know on many occasions, who is calling.It is also interesting that as the answerer can be located anlrvhere and soit may not be a convenient moment, the caller tends to ask if it is a goodmoment to speak.


4. SOCIOLINCUISTIC PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGEUSE IN IMMERSION CLASSROOMS

Bilingual education and immersion programs often respond to socialneeds and aim at developing proficiency in the second language for studentsthat will need it for one reason or the other. The actual implementationand degree of success of these programs is subjected, holver,e¡ to a numberof external factors resulting from special sociopolitical situation. a r-ariarionin the teaching resources available, the extent of immersion (partlal ortotal; early orlate), the status of the L2 outside the classroor¡, erc. Thismeans that whatever decisions and actions seem plausible ft'on a

theoretical and formal point of vieu' mav nor have as goo.i re.uits asexpected when they are put into practice. Errensive resear:h ha.'. b¿¡l doneon Canadian immersion in the last decades tning ro fino c,ur about rheshortcomings in their implementation as u'e1l as rhe assis:i:tent ofproficiency attained by students by the time of therr sraiiuarl(,,1.

One of the problems found through ciassroom obsen'alioi is rhar adiglossic situation can easily develop in immersion classroons tusr a. inany speech community2, that is, the language of insrlucrion, ol'

t ffrir."fers to a diglossic situation at a microlevel, that is, u-ithin rhe clas.rc,c,¡:-r c'ischool setting.

1ó5


superordinate language, acts as the formal language variety used with theteacher and used as a language for academic purposes, and the L1 ispreferred in informal speech and social interaction with other classmatesand acts as the subordinate language, or a vernacuiar, (see diglossia inchapter 4) preferred for peer interaction in play, competition, arguing,etc. Tarone and Swain (1995: 166) indicate that "[...] immersionclassrooms are not only diglossic but become increasingly so in the upperprimary grades.", and this can be seen by a close observation of the typesof L2 input andL2 output within the classroom, the individuals involvedin the interaction (either teacher-pupil or peer-peer communication), andthe purposes of the information exchange. The main difference betweenthis kind of diglossic speech community, and any other occurring outsidethis context, is that instead of being stable, these 'special' speechcommunities in classroom immersion change over time due to aspectssuch as cognitive, social or personal factors affecting this peculiar speechcommunity, i.e., they change as they become grownups and their socialand cognitive resources become mature. This situation may be caused bythe fact that the L2language taught by the teachers and learned by thestudents norrnally perforrns specific functions, such as instructional publicdiscourse, but it does not ser-ve other interpersonal and trivial purposeswhich should also be part of the acquired repertoire.

An additional difficulty that the language learner has to face whenlearning a language largely spoken in the world, for instance aninternational language like English or Spanish, is that the sociolinguisticrrrles may vary from one place to the other as these rules of behavior arenormally specific to a particular speech community and not necessarilypart of a whole country. This changes when a language is used as alinguafranca or LWC as the language that is being used for interculturalcommunication is not the native language for any of the speakers andtherefore its use is not culturally bound. More often these days English isused in this way and speakers are therefore aware of it and they just usethe language as a common code for the transmission of meaning withoutshowing or expecting cultural loads.

Another aspect of language learning that is closely related tosociolinguistics and is worth taking into account is that of dialect. InEnglish, for instance, a whole range of dialects and varieties are spokenin the world, both within an English-speaking country like Great Britainor the united States, or differences regarding these varieties from onecountry to the other, i.e., the ways in which British English is different toAustralian English (see world Englishes in this chapter). Needless to saysome varieties have more prestige or social status than others and, under

UNIT 6 161

some circumstances, this can determine the variety or varieties that agiven institution tries to teach or a language learner u''ants to iearn. So,when English is learned as a foreign language some decisions are implicitl¡or explicitly made regarding the language variety or varieties to be learned.These decisions are often not made by the learner but by the institutionwhere that language is being taught (in the case of formal instmction) orsimply by the chance of having a teacher coming from one country orthe other (in the case of native teachers) or who have already made theirchoice (in the case of non-native teachers). Very frequently learners maketheir choice of one variety or the other after a stay in a given country/region.

5. ANALYSIS OF THE EF'L CLASSROOM LANCUACE

Classroom language is relatively organized and purposive in contrastto casual conversation in an ordinary social setting. This can be seen, forinstance, in the way turn-taking is organized. In casual interaction theinterlocutors express agreement and disagreement in a number of waysbut they often intermpt each other as paft of the communication processand their resources to show their opinion. In the classroom context, turn-taking is frequently determined by the types of interlocutors (teacher-student or student-student) and, if involved, dominated by the teacherwho is often more concerned about how things are said rather than whatis being said. Classroom language is in many ways an unusual form ofspoken interaction that often has nothing to do with real or generalEnglish, both in terms of discourse markers and type of interaction andalso in terms of language structure and choice. So, idiomatic language isnot always part of the classroom nor are complex syntactic structures orspecific vocabulary such as slang, among other characteristics of naturaland colloquial speech.

Classroom language is also part of an'asymmetric encounter'. One ofthe participants is accepted as controlling the direction of the diaiogueand s/he, therefore, makes use of a particular language that is knou'namong specialists as teacher talk. Teacher talk constitutes a varietv oflanguage sometimes used by teachers when they are in the process ofteaching, i.e., a conventionalized way of speaking in a parlicular role , inthis case the role of the teacher, which does not differ at the ler el otlinguistic structure (pronunciation, syntax, speech acts, etc. ) but doesdiffer in some other general features such as higher pitcl'r mote carefulintonation and enunciation, shorler sentences, more fi-eqrtent t'eperiiions

1ó8 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

and more questions than usual in colloquial speech. The teacher is theaddressee of most student utterances and this is favored by the way classeshave traditionally been conceived -the teacher as a knowledgetransmitter- and, enhanced by the classroom's physicar organization -all desks facing the teacher. Note that a teacher who wants to promotestudent-student interaction and discussion will arrange desks differently,for instance, in circles.

In the analysis of classroom discourse, as of any other type ofinteraction, language cannot be properly understood without taking intoaccount its social context (i.e., the particular circumstances under whichsomething is being said, as well as, the rest of the surrounding languageeither in the form of spoken discourse or written discourse). As a resultof this, a number of factors need to be taken into account about thelearning situation and the classroom context3. In any case, we shouldremember that in traditional classroom settings there are often as¡rmmetricencounters as the teacher tends to have 'the knowledge'and hold a positionof power in relation to students. In addition to this, language learners arein a way hindered in their speech abilities in the sense that they are makinguse of a linguistic system that they do not control completelyo unl,therefore, they cannot always communicate fully (no doubt this dependson the proficiency level of learners, and the type of teaching methodôlogythat is being used).

Different moves are characteristic of some speakers rather than othersin an unequal communication encounter such as teacher-student. Thethree-part chain of teacher initiation, student response, and teacherevaluation is probably the most frequent pattern of ólassroom discourseat all grade levels. The analysis of teacher-led classroom discourse generallyfinds examples of this pattern, and anyone hearing it recogniz". it u. uninstance of classroom talk. So, teachers tend to initiate interaction andstude_nts generally respond to these intuitions. Later,teachers often providea follow up response that can be interpreted as a feedback ?or thestudents. These three common moves can be summarized as: (r)nitiation(by the teacher); (R)esponse, (by the student) and; (F)ollow Lrp (by theteacher). study the following excerpt which is a typescript tf i realclassroom dialogue and analyze the different moves -ud" bythe teacherand the student.

-|*t:lq

interested in studying classroom discourse more deeply can read Sinclair andCoulthard (1975).

. t

.SoT" specialists think that second language learning in adulthood is, in a way, likegoing back to childhood because adults cannót "ip."r. ",r"[,thi.rg

they want in the L2.

UNIT ó r69

Ts- Right, so ... I asked you to finish the vocabulary section on pageseven [...] at home so 1...1 page thirreen ... right ... page thirteen, t...] tñ"vocabulary [...] (I)

'T- So, page thirteen let see ... right ... first word real, genuineanybody?, come on, anybody? (I)

S¡ Actual. (R)

T- Actual, (F) that's in paragraph one 1...1 number two, challengingor difficult. (l)

St- Demanding. (R)

T- DemandinC. (F) Is everybody with me? (F) [...] please .". thankyou. Number three, a bedroom for many students ... (Lj

\- Dormitory. (R)

T. Dormitorry. (F) A bedroom or, remember, a place where thestudents live. Dormitory.1...1 That's right. Number four, to aid or toencourage. (l)

So- To suppor. (R)

T- To support, (F) paragraph three, to support ... Mm, number fiveto mix with and join a group of people ... (I)

Sr- To integrale. (R)

T- To integrate, (F) Ah ... right ... six, a u¡ritten or printedanno unc ement giv ing infonnation. (l)

Su- Anotice. (R)

HF,A notice (F) ... seven ... thorough and concentrated. (F)

Sr- Intensive. (R\

T- Intensive, intensive, Ok? (F) Mmplace. (l)

Ss- To attend. (R)

T- To attend, ... attend... (F) Nine complete ... complete... (l)Sn- Comprehensive. (R)

T- Comprehensive, ... comprehensive ... (F) Right ... (F) That is inparagraph four ... ten ... equipment ... paragraph four again .... no? (I)

Sro- Facilities. (R)

T- Facilities. (F) That's right José Ignacio, (F) that was paragraphfour [...] where it says a comprehensive language course witi compu]er

Tr ,tu.rds for teacher, and Sr, Sr, S., etc. stands for student one, student two, studentthree, etc.

t70 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCiOLINGUISTICS

facilities... eh ... computerfacikties .... equipment ... Mm ... eleven a speechor talk. (l)

Srr- Lecture. (R)

T- A lecture. (F) At British universities classes, what we call classeshere are lectures ... The humanities? (I)

S,r- Arls. (R)

If you pay attention to this dialogue, you will see how the teachercontrols both the development of the topic (in this case the correction ofan exercise assigned as homework), and who gets or gives a turn to talk.What is more, s/he does not ask'real' questions because s/he alreadyknows the answers and, in fact, all that s/he does is to check the student'sanswers.

Another important aspect to take into account about this excerpt is thata language classroom is special in the sense that language is used to talkabout language (metalanguage) rather than other subjects (e.g., history,math, etc.) where the language is just a vehicle to talk about contents.

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercises 4,5 and 6)

6. IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE TBACHINC

The practice that students generally get in spoken interaction may wellfit them for their communication needs and their role in the classroom,but it does nothing, or at least not enough, to help them with the rolesthey will need to play in English outside the classroom. This is one of theshoficomings that task-based instr-u.ction, which is organized around tasksrather than in terrns of grammar or vocabulary tries to avoid or minimize.These tasks

-using the telephone to obtain information, performingaccording to oral instructions, giving and receiving instructions, etc.-are to be carried out by students in order to develop their linguistic skills.Immersion programs entail content-based instruction and is, in a way,similar to task-based instruction (attention to content instead of attentionto form). Students in these programs are expected to learn a secondlanguage through its use in teaching other subjects but recent researchhas shown that this sort of restricted sociolinguistic context limits thepossibilities of the learners to interact and they therefore largely developreceptive skills but their productive skills are limited as the exposure toabundant comprehensible input is not all they need. Swain (1995) haspointed out that forced output also plays a role in comprehensive languagelearning.

l

UNIT 6

All in all the solution to this methodological problem is not a questionof changing the teachers' use of language because the str-ucture of formalinstmction in a classroom is socially as it is, but attempts should be madeto enhance and widen the varieties of input the learner has access to and,also, and more importantly, to force students'output.

One possible direction to help break across the authority structure inthe classroom is greater use of student-student interaction, including tasks,and pair and group work. Not only as a pedagogical device to promotelearning, but as a way of avoiding the language implications of the teacher-student'asymmetric encounter'.

7. PRAGMATICS IN LANCUACE TEACHING

In recent years, curricula and teaching materials have began to includestrong pragmatic components or to adopt a pragmatic approach as theirorganizing principle. Many proposals for instruction in various aspectsof pragmatic competence are based on the analysis of native speakerdiscourse or on the comparison of interlanguage data, as well ascontrasting L1 and L2 data. Nevertheless, most recommendations forinstruction in pragmatics have not been examined in action in theclassroom setting and therefore we do not really know how effective theyare for students' learning of the target pragmatic feature. Much researchis needed in this respect. Interlanguage pragmatics, i.e., the study and useof pragmatic features by language learners that make use of theirinterlanguage (an approximant system that is between the Ll andtheL2)have not been studied in depth and fuither research is needed to investigatehow the learning of L2 pragmatics is shaped by instructional context andactivities.

Kasper and Rose (2001) put forward that language leamers can benefitfrom positive transfer of communicative acts that have been foundconstant across ethnolinguistically distant speech communities as it isthe case of the speech act set for apologies. This speech act comprises asits chief semantic formulas an explicit apology, an explanation and theadmission or denial of responsibility. Among its minor strategies (boundto the context and the circumstances) are the offer of repair, a promise offorbearance, and an expression of concern for the hearer, and thesestrategies are reported to have been found in a number of languages likeEnglish, French, German, Hebrew Thai and Japanese.

Learners can also get pragmalinguistic knowledge u'ithout anv sofi ofexplicit instruction if there is a analogous forrn-function mapping benleen

171


L1 and L2. The English modal past could and would have formal,functional and distributional equivalents in other Germanic languagessuch as Danish (kunneluille) and German (kónntestlwürdest). Accordingto Ferch and Kasper (1989) Danish and German learners of English wiiltransfer ability questions from their L1 (German; Kónntest/würdest Dumir Deine Aufzeichnungen leihen2 ; Danish: Kunne/wille du lane mig dinenoter?; English: Could/would you lend me your notes?). However evidentthis transfer of pragmalinguistic knowledge may be, it should not beassumed that language learners will in fact make the transfer. Sometimesthe link between the strategy in the Ll and theL2 may not be so evidentand, what is more, language learning involves a complex psycholinguisticprocess and positive transfer does not always occur in the way that wasexpected. There is then a need for description of pragmalinguisticknowledge and its use in the classroom6.

B. LANGUAGE IN THE LAW

The study of language in the legal context is a relatively new field ofstudy in spite of the fact that law is a profession of words that has beenpart of civilization from the early times. The interface betweensociolinguistics and the law is also known as forensic linguistics andcenters on the study of discourse in legal settings and texts, from thecourtroom to police or lawyer interviews. Language use in legal contextsis not essentially different from any other communicative situation,although the way ianguage is used in legal settings can have enormousrepercussions for the well being of individuals and communities. The useofianguage in legal contexts reflects situational characteristics that shapethe form of legal discourse and in so doing shows specific characteristicslike any other language variety.

Early studies in courtroom discourse by W.M. O'Barr and John Conleyin the late 1970s examined the influence of language factors on legaldecision-making and found out that witnesses generally make use of oneof two styles: a 'powerless' style incorporating a high frequency ofintensifiers (e.g., really, great, much more, etc. ) and many hedges (e.g.,kind of, like, in A way, etc. ); or a'powerful' style that lacks theaforementioned features and therefore sounds more exact and confident.The results of this early research showed that jurors were inclined to find

u Anyone interested in pragmatics and language teaching will find some interestingarlicles in Rose and Kasper (2001).

UNIT 6

witnesses making use of a'powerful'sfzle more convincing and trrstlr,orlh],than those employing a'powerless' style. This indicated that the r,r'av theinformation was presented and the witness expressed him/herself did havean effect on the final outcome of the case.

Another feature of discourse in the courtroom is the clear pow'erimbalance between the lawyer and the witness given the fact that theformer definitely controls the discourse by long-winded questioning thatrequire minimal response, being coercive and controlling, or simply notletting the witness tell his/her own story except in the way the s/he wantsit to be told. An example of the way this can be attained is by using yes-No questions with a tag, which markedly control the answer (e.g., yourang her later on, didn't you?) in opposition to broad WH questions thatpave the way for personal interpretation (e.g., how,why,what, etc. ). Eades(2001) provides a list of some other linguistic strategies that that can beused by lawyers to exercise control over witnesses like:

a) interruptions;

b) reforrnulation of witness's descriptions of events or people (e.g.,frorn my friends to a group of louts);

c) manipulation of lawyer silence, for example, with the use of strategicpauses;

d) nonrecognition of some witnesses' need to use silence as part ofthe answer, which can be particularly important, for example, forAustralian Aboriginal witnesses;

e) incorporation of damaging presuppositions in questions (such Drdyou all laugh while the car was being trashed?);

f) metalinguistic directives given to the witness (such as you mustanswer this question); and

g) management of topics in order to convey a particular impressionto the jury.

(Eades, 2001:232)

The amount of work on forensic linguistics is increasing and the effectthis branch of linguistics has on people's lives is paramount. The stud¡ ofspeech behavior in legal language constitutes a clear erample of horvsociolinguistics can have another clear application for our lives. Therefore,studies in applied sociolinguistics iágarding legal lan-eua-qe ha'eundertaken three main areas: (a) the communicatir.e difficulties thattypically occur from the interface between the legal-lavperson as a resulrof the interaction between lawyers, judges, juries, r'ictims, rr,-irnesses,

t73


suspects, etc.; (b) the comprehension of legal texts are in themselves asource of communicative problems because of the specific jargon that isused as well as the intricacy of the syntax that is generally used; and, (c)as a consequence of globalization, colonization and the migrationmovements, there is an emerging demand for studies relatingcommunication problems faced by non-native speakers witnesses, suspectsand defendants in the legal process. This situation requires the presenceof well-trained interpreters that apart from a comprehensive languageknowledge, also need to know the subtleties of pragmaticsT.

9. STANDARD ENGLISH AND WORLD ENGLISHES

Standard English is a term that refers to the variety of English usedby the social elite who are part of a socially, economically and politicallydominant group in English-speaking countries. This variety is the oneusually preferred in the media and generally taught in schools as it isconsidered to be'prestigious'. Non-standard English, on the other hand,refers to those varieties that do not conform to the standard spoken byforrnally educated native speakers in terrns of pronunciation, grammaticalstructure, idiomatic usage, or choice of words. The existence of a standardis characteristic of any language around the world and it is related to thosegroups of people that can be said to be literate, school-oriented and lookingbeyond the primary communiSz networks for social and linguistic models.The standard of any language is usually associated not only with a socially,culturally and economically dominating group but also with geographicvariation, i.e., in the regions where institutional and economic power islocated or more developed. Defining and delimiting a standard is notalways easy or even possible as different varieties can be considered astandard in distant countries or regions. So, it is not to say that the RP(Received Pronunciation) which is generally considered the standard inEngland is the same as the English standard in Ireland, Australia or theUSA, where there are also a set of features including pronunciation,grammatical structure, idiomatic usage and choice of words that ischaracteristic of formally educated speakers, the language of formalinstruction, the institutions and the media. There has also been a demandfor other local standards

-Indian, South African, Nigerian, Jamaican,etc.- and whenever these varieties vary from one another and from British

t atyon. interested in these sociolinguistic issues will find some thorough empiricalstudies in Cotterill (2002).

UNIT ó

and American Standard English in the way British and American r.an-from each other they can be counted as standard English, whereas varietieswith a higher degree of variance are nonstandard. It must be added thaton some occasions it is not clear whether a variety of English is to beconsidered as standard or not (see chapter 3).

The dispersal, or diaspora, of English over the world can be divided intotwo phases. The first diaspora involved the migration of around 25,000people from England, scotland and Ireland to North America, Australiaand New zealand. The varieties of English used nowadays in these placesare not identical with those spoken by the early colonizers but they can besaid to share some general features8 and these varieties have developedthrough history incorporating vocabulary from the indigenous languagesthey came into contact with. The second diaspora occurred at differentmoments during the l Bth and 19th centuries with different results fromthe first dispersal. The spread of English in Africa took place differently forwest Africa and East Africa. English in west Africa is linked to the slavetrade and the development of pidgin and creole languages. Since the 15thcentury British traders traveled to and from the west coast of Africa butthere was no settlement in the areas today comprising Gambia, SierraLeone, Ghana, Nigeria and cameroon. This situation favored the use ofEnglish as a lingua franca among the hundreds of indigenous languagesand the English-speaking traders. some of the pidgins and creoles thatdeveloped from English contact are now widely used, mostly as a secondlanguage, as it is the case of Krio (Sierra Leone) and cameroon pidgin(cameroon). In East Africa the situation of English was very differentbecause English colonizers settled there from 1850 on in places like Kenr-a,uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, zambia and Zimbabrve. The role of English inthese countries was very obvious and this langua_ee u'as used in thegovernment, education and the lar.r,'. In the second half of the 20th centuriesthese counties gained independence and English u-as kepr as an ofliciallanguage in some of them (uganda, zambia, Zimbabrve and \Ialau i), andas a second language in others. An English-based creole, Slrahili is alsoused as alinguafranca in uganda, Kenr-a and Tanzania. During rhe secondhalf of the 1Sth c. English was extensir,elv introduced in Sour}r Asia tlndia,

u f, .ttor-,ld be mentioned that the different linguistic backgrounds of ihe earlr. settlersin^ many cases gave way to differences and variations in speech. For e-rample. rhe car[ :err]er-sof Virginia came mainly from the west part of Englandand rhotic r and r oi¡ed s :oundswere characteristic of their speech. However, early settlers in ,\err Ensland main[ camelrom the east ol England and did not share I hese pronunciarion iearu--r. ln rhc . r.c orAustralia and New Zealand, there were different immigration t ar-es oi colonizers lromdifferent parts to the British Isles. This meant that diffeñnt dialects sot in touch resuirinein a situation of dialect mixing, furrher influenced by the indigeno,l, ábo,-rni.rul laneuaees.

175


Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc.) due to British trade interestsin the area. Simultaneously, British influence extended to South-E,ast Asiaand the South Pacific due to the seafaring expeditions of Cook and otherexpeditions, expanding to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and thePhilippines and the Pacific islands like Papua New Guinea where a newpidgin was developed, Tok Pisin. (See chapter 3)

Y. Kachru (1992) developed a model of the spread of English that hasbeen most influential in the field of sociolingustics. He divides WorldEnglishes into three concentric circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer Circleand the Expanding Circle. These three areas stand for the types of spread,the patterns of acquisition, and the position of the English language inthe different cultural contexts as the language has traveled form Britainto the US, Australia and New Zealand in the first diaspora (the InnerCircle), to countries like Zarnbia, Pakistan, India, etc. in the seconddiaspora (the Outer Circle), and, more recently, to counties where Englishis learned and used as a Foreign Language, for instance, Spain, Japan,Germany, etc. (the Expanding Circle)e.

With reference to the status of these languages in relation to thestandard, the English spoken in the Inner Circle u,ould be considered as'norm-providing', i.e., it represents a model and is used as a natir.elanguage; the English spoken in the Outer Circle could be considered'norm-developing', that is, used in countries where the variety of Englishis in the process ofbeing accepted (or has been recently adopted), and isspoken as a SL aparl from other indigenous languages; and, the ExpandingCircle r.n'ould be'norm-dependent'because it is learned as a FL and thestandard is taken as it is.

English spoken in the Inner Circle shows clear patterns of variatioi,both in terrns of geographical and social differences which have been lon'.studied by dialectologists especially in Great Britain and l{orth America

The varieties of English spoken in Outer Circle countries have be¡:-called New Englishes. Although this term is controversial and not a--

\tr n" model provided by Kachru (lgg2),the Inner Circle includes: USA, UK, Ca;::-:.Australia and New Zealand. The Outer Circle contains: Bangladesh, Ghana, India, K-: '.,Mala¡rsia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Zambia. .{n: . -

Expanding Circle comprises: China, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Nepal. S.,-:Arabia, Tair'van, USSR, Zimbabwe. This division is not clear cut as South Africa, for in-.:,.=.-.is not included. Some authors u''ould agree that it is part of the Inner Circle u'hile , ,: . 'rvould say that it is paft of the Outer Circle, since English in South Africa is not predom:.-:used b¡' first-language speakers.

to For a more detailed analysis of the varieties of English spoken in GreatNor-th America, vou can read Melchers and Shaw (2003).

UNIT ó177

specialists agree with it, it is certain that the Englishes of India, Nigeria,Singapore, and Tanzania, together with many otñer outer-circle countriesshare some superficial linguistic characteristics that Á.t" it convenientto describe them as a group different from the varieties in British,American, Australian, NIew zealand., etc. These outer-circle varieties arenormally spoken as part of a murtilingual repertoire that may incrude anumber of other languages spoken in ¿rfrerent circumstances (mothertongue, first language,lingua franca, etc.). This fact determines that onsome occasions the command over English is not comprehensive: therecan be registers, domains or styles not covered by the ,p"ak", of Englishas a sL in the outer circle, or even variation in ter-rns of proficien.y uriorrgthe speakers (see rhe example of India in chapter s). tn téÁs of phtnolog;varieties in the outer circle tend to be a simplified system, toi

"*u*piá,in the case of vowels where the quality of vowels normally approximatesto that of the other languages spoken ty the speakers. rhe same happenswith some consonants as these other languagÁs do not normally harrá thedistinction l0l and /ói, which are replace¿ witn some dental or alveolarstop. In terms of syntax some features are also shared by languages in theouter circle but not in the Inner circre. This is th" .arl of ág f,uestionswhich is rather complex in BrE and AmE but largely simplified in othervarieties, but many varieties of the outer-circl" ,1" u single phrase or afew variants for this function that do not need to pay atteniion to the typeof auxiliary used or if the tag is attached to a positive or negatirre sentence.For instance, in India this tag can be simplified as no? oi isn,t it? on alloccasions, or not sol in East and west Africa. with reference to lexis,singular words referring to plurar concepts tend to be simprified andtreated as ordinary singulars r.r,ith a g"rr"rul sense (e.g., luggagi, funtiture,software, etc.).

rn the Expanding circle, English will not be used for official purposessuch as the language of general formal education, religion, courts and thelaw, national politics or administration, literature,

"t.1. u"t it can be used

in international relations, international organizations, research, educationat specialized levels, publicity and business, among other functions. Inthe Expanding circle governments ofren have poliii", io ,uf"guard thestatus of the national or local languages regulating the use of ñnglish ineducation and the media. Hou,evér; Elglisñ is alsJ p"r."irr"a as a usefullanguage, and the advantages of being proficient in ii are clear. This oftenmeans that parents want their children to learn English and pupils alsoperceive the potential^benefits of being proficient in-that language. Thisfact is especiallv manifest in eastern Eriropean countries that want to jointhe developed western economies, and óountries withi'irr" Eu where

tr

*

fr


there is a clear need to speak international languages that allow peoplecommunicate and operate in this wide job market.

In terms of the linguistic features of English used in the ExpandingCircle, it must be added that there is a marked tendency to use astandardized variety like BrE and AmE. However, two stages can beperceived, one in which the clear influence exerled by one variety favorsthe use of that variety (for example when films and TV programs are notdubbed), and another one where the interchangeable influence of thesetwo varieties gives way to what is often called'mid-Atlantic'English, thatis, when features from British and American usage are mixed becauselearners are overtly exposed to both varieties (e.g., at the word level thefollowing words can be used indistinctivel¡r: candy - sweets, trunk - boot,lift - elevator, autumn - fall, etc.). Some other features of the samephenomenon can be found in spelling, for instance, where lear-ners do notfollow one of the varieties consistenth (e.g., when someone writes neigftborand colour, or analyze and analyse, etc.). Another possibility may be thatof students who receive the influence of BrE through their formaleducation but the influence of AmE through the music and the media. Atthe pronunciation level, this possible mixture of American and Britishpronunciation can be added to features derived from the speaker's mothertongue, so that standardization is rather difficult and unlikely. trinally, interms of lexis, under these circumstances there is a clear risk of allowinginterference between English and the mother tongue in the case of falsefriends, i.e., words in both languages that show some sort of formalsimilarities but which vary greatly in meaning. This phenomenon resultseither in miscommunication or in the use of words that acquire a newmeaning in'local English' (e.g., more and more frequently in Spanish theword influenciar is heard on the news instead of influir, or the wordsecretario instead of ministro when referring to the North American orBritish government, i.e., British Foreign Secretary). Another interestingphenomenon is the increasing presence of borrowings from English andhow they influence other modern languages.

(Please go to the exercises section and do exercise 7 and B.)

10. EXERCISES

1. Think about your learning of English and answer the followingquestions regarding some sociolinguistic aspects:

a) What variety of English do you speak?

UNIT 6 179

b/ why did you decide to learn this variety, if you did? If it was notyour own choice, what made you learn this variety?

c) Have you always had contact with the same variety? why (not)?

d) rf you have had access to more than one variety/dialect, are youconsistent in it? Why? Why not?

e/ Now that you have studied English for years, what decisionsregarding your learning of a language would you change?

2. Take any language learning book and find a dialogue in it. you canuse a language course for secondary school, for example, but do not bothertoo much about the language level. Read the dialogue and analyze thesociolinguistic information it contains (e.g., turn taking, polite words orformulas, situation, etc.). Do you think it reflects a realistic situation? whv(not)?

3. Think about the way the speech event of par.tings is structured inSpanish. Take two or three different situations and describe both, thedifferent stages and the language formulas that are employed. In order todo this exercise you can either reflect on a typical situation or just payattention to the way other people do it.

4. Analyze the following excerpt and place any of the three moves(r)nitiation, (R)esponse, and (F)ollow up in the dialogue next to therelevant utterance. Take into account that more than one move can occurwithin a single utterance.

| ..1

T- we can correct now question one and you can finish the rest atho1ne. Most of you have finished already, so let us correct until three,and [...] Ok. First. It is an invitation to attend the opening ceremony of'the school year. Mm... Juan What have you got for ihat?

"

S- Mm, What is this invitation to ... or... about.

T- What is this invitation for, ... Ok, that is a possibility, anythingelse?

s- t...1

T- what is this letter ... you have to mention the word invitation , whatis thcLt letter you have, or you received, or you got ... or anything similarto that, Ok? ... José, What about you, number two. ih" tirirrtr¡otRevolution will be our topic for next week.

S- I have What is our topic for next week?

180 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGI]ISTTCS

T- Mm, ... Yeah, but it is possible you are not repeating too manynew words ... What's our topic for next week? ... The Industrial Revolutionwill be our topic for next week ... Ok, It's not impossible ... Any otheroption?

S- What will be the topic f-or the next week?

T- Next week, not the next week, next week, What will the topic benext week? or When will we study the Industrial Revolution?

S- What are we going to do the next week?

t...1

5. Read the previous excerpt again and write a paragraph (around 150words) answering the following questions:

a/ Is the teacher dominating too much?

b) Is the language "natural" and "real". Why (not)?

c) What type of teaching methodology do you think is being used(innovative, traditional, etc.)? Explain.

d) Do you think this excerpt reflects a tlpical teaching situation? Why?

e) Do you think students have enough chances for "fuII" and "real"interaction?

f) Oo you think students learning English as a foreign language in aclassroom setting have access to real and idiomatic language?

6. Can you suggest other situations in which spoken language is organizedand purposive in the same way as in the classroom? Describe them.

7. Why might Indian English be called a New English? (Given that itprobably dates back to 1800 approximately). You may want to see chapter5 also.

8. Take an empty world map where only the political boundaries aremarked. Take three pencils and color in the countries belonging to theInner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle (use one colorfor each set of countries). Then try to get information about the currentpopulation of each country, the language or languages used, the numberof speakers of each language, and some important fact about its history(for instance, in the case of former colonial countries the date ofindependence, or some other fact that you consider of relevance). Thepurpose of this activity is for you to have a global perspective of theinfluence of English in the world, and the current state of the art. Tocomplete this activity you can use any updated encyclopedia.

UNIT ó 181

11. REFERENCES

Bnun'r¡'rr, ch. 1995. 'Peoplet choice and language rights' fvideorecord ing): EFL inlanguage policy. university of york, Audio-Visuil cent.e. i.r,t, tetEpt.

cnncóN BerrRÁN, R. 2001. 'La enseñanza der vocabulario en inglés como L2: elefecto del énfasis en la forrna lingüística en el aprend izaje de!og.r.do, falsos'.Unpublished doctoral disserration. University bf Sevlllé.

cnrcr, J. K. 1996.'Intercultural communication', in S. L. McKay and N. H.Hornberger, sociolinguistic s and Language kaching. cambridge: cambridgeUniversity Press.

corrpnrrr, J. (ed.) 2002. Language in the Legar proces.s. Houndmills, uK: palgarveMacmillan.

cnvsrar, D. 2003. (2nd ed.). English as a Global kmguage. cambridge: cambridgeUniversity Press.

Eeres, D. 2001. 'Discourse Analysis and the Law', in R. Mesthrie (ed,.) ConciseEncy clopedia of- Sociolinguis tic s. Oxford, UK: pergamon.

F,e,RcH, c. and G. Kaspen. r989.'Internal and external modification of ininterlanguage request realization', in S. Blum-Kurka, J. House and G. Kasper(eds.), Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and, apologie.s. Nor-wood, NJ: Ablex.

FINpcaN, E. 1997. 'Sociolinguistics and the Law', in F. coulmas (ed.), The Hanclbookof Sociolinguistics. Oxford, UK: Blackwell publishers.

Gnanror, D. 1997. The Future of English? London: The British council.JpNrrNs, J. 2003. world Englishes: A resource book for stud.ents. London, uK:

Routledge.

K¡csnu, Y. 1992.'culture, style and discourse: expanding noetics of English,, inB. Kachru (ed.), rle other Tongue. English Aiross ctlrtures,2nd ed,irbana,IL: University of Illinois press.

KaspeR, G. and K. R. Rosp. 2001. 'pragmatics in language teaching', in K. R. Roseand G. Kasper (eds.). pragmatics in kLnguage reachiig. cambriáge: cambridgeUniversity Press.

MsrcHER.s, G. and P. Snaw. 2003. world Englishes. London, uK: Arnold.Noxnrs, J. 2001.'use of address terrns on the German speaking Test', in K.R. Rose

qd G Kasper (eds.). pragmatics in Language Teachiig. caribridge: cambridgeUniversity Press.

Rose' K. R. and G. K¡spsn (eds.). 2001. pragmatics in Language Téaching.Cambridge: Cambridge University press.

SnvcrarR, J. M. and R. M. courrru¡o . 197s. Towards an analysis of cliscourse. oxford:Oxford University press.

Sporsrv, B. (ed.) 1999' Concise Encyclopedia of Eclucational Linguisllcs. Amsterdam:Elsevier.

SwarN, M. 1995. 'Three functions of output in second language lear'in,e,, in G. cook& B. Seidlhofer (ed1.l,

"rinciple and practice in the íud\, of apptiJct lingtListics:

studies in honor of-H.G. widdowson. oxford: oxford u.ri.l".ritr-pr.rr.


T¿*.oNp, E. and M. Sw¿ru. 1995.'A Sociolinguistic Perspective on Second LanguageUse in Immersion Classrooms.' The Modem Language Jountal,7912: 166-178.

WorrsoN, N. and J. MaNEs. 1978. 'Don't 'Dear' rne.' Working Papers inSociolinguisllcs. Austin, TX: SEDL. Reprinted inWomen and Language inLiterature and Society, eds. S. McConnell-Ginet, R. Borker, and N. Furman,1980, pp. 79-92. New York Praeger.

WorrsoN, N. 1989. Perspectives: Sociolinguistics andTESOL. Boston: Heinle &Heinle Publishers.

WorrsoN, N. 1983. 'An empirically based analysis of complimenting in AmericanEnglish', in N. Wolfson and E. Judd (eds.), Sociolinguistics and LanguageAcquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.


Now you can üsit the website for this subject where you will find somefurther references and complementary readings.

13. FURTHER READINGS AND QUESTIONS

13.1. Text 11

Read the following text carefully and comment on it emphasizing anyaspect you consider of relevance. After the text you will find some questionsthat may be helpful. Write ai'ound 250-300 words in total.

t...1

A source of intercultural miscommunication highlighted by thefindings of cross-cultural studies is sociolinguistic transfer. Sociolinguistictransfer refers to the i.rse of the rules of speaking of one's own speechcommunity or culturaj group when interacting with members of anothercommunity or group. This can occur in interactions in which one ormore of the interlocu¡ors is using a foreign or second language butemploying the rrles of speaking of his or her native language. It can evenoccur in interactions between individuals who have the same natir-eIanguage but belong to speech communities that have different rules ofspeaking, as would be the case, for example, with British and AmericanEnglish speakers.

To illustrate how sociolinguistic transfer can be a source ofintercultural misconr*.nunication, we turn to some studies of complimentgiving and responciing behavior.[...] Wolfson (1983) points out thatdifferences in the distrlbution of compliments in different communitiesare potential sources of intercultural miscommunication; that is, there

UNIT 6

is foequently interactional trouble when members of one cultural groupcompliment in situations in which compliments are inappropriate formembers of other groups. She cites the time when former presidentcarter, during an official visit to France, complimented a French officialon the_fine job he was doing. Editorial comment in the French press thenext day revealed that carter's remarks had been interpieted asinterference in the internal politics of France. The frequency ofcomplimenting is also a potential source of miscommunication,according to wolfson. She points out that the high foequency with whichAmericans compliment leads to their being perceived by members ofother cultures as "effusive, insincere, and possibly motivaied by ulteriorconsiderations" (1 989, p. 23).

Chick (199ó: 332)

Issues to consider:

a) Do you think that the relative distance between the languages orcultures involved in cross cultural communication plays a role inintercultural miscommunication ?

b) Have you ever been involved in a situation of interculturalmiscommunication? Do you think that it could have been avoided?If your answer is yes, how?

c) To what extent do you think that the foreign language learner canbe trained to avoid intercultural miscommunication and takeadvantage of sociolinguistic transfer from his/her L1?

73.2. Text 12


one question which arises in any discussion of global English iswhether a single world standard English will develop, fori'ring asupranational variety which must be learned by global citizens of ihe21st century. Like most questions raised in this book, this demands amore complicated answer than those who ask probably desire.

There are, for example, at least two dimensions to the question: thefirst is whether English will fragment into many mutually unintelligiblelocal forms; the second is whether the current 'national' standarás ofEnglish (particularly US and British) will continue to compete as modelsof correctness for world usage, or whether some new world standardwill arise which supersedes national models for the purposes ofinternational communication and teaching.

183

184 AN INTRODUCTiON TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

The widespread use of English as a language of -wider

communication

will continue to exerl pt"rr.tté towards global uniformity as well as give

rise to anxieties aboui'declining' standards, language change and the

loss of geolinguistic diversity. But as English shifts from foreign-language

to seco]rd-laigt.g" status lot ut increasing number of people' we can

also expect to-see-English develop a larger number of local varieties.

These contradictory tensions arise because English has two main

functions in the world: ii provides a vehicular language for international

communication and it forms the basis for constmcting cultural identities'

The former function requires mutual intelligibility an-d- common

standards. The latter "rr.J.t.ug"t

the d'evelopment of local forms and

hybrid varieties. As English pluyt utt ever more important ro-le jn the

fiist of these functions, ii simultaneously finds itself acting as a language

of identity for larger numbers of people around the world' There is no

need to feaq however, that trends towárds fragmentation will necessarily

threaten the role of English as a lingua franca. There have, since the first

records of the l.rrguale, been major differences between varieties of

English.

Themechanismswhichhavehelpedmaintainstandardusageinthe p^st may not, however, continue to serve this function in the

future. Two major technologies have helped develop national'standard-language forms. thé first was printing, t\t invention of*t i.t p.""idá .;fi*ity' in communication by means of prirrted books.

Accoráing to scholais such as Anderson (1983), such fixity was a

,r"."rr../.equirement for the 'imagined communities' of modern

nation states. But with increasing use of electronic communicationmuch of the social and cultural effect of the stability of print has

ák""ay been lost, along with central'gatekeeping' agents s.uch as

.dito.. .rrd publishers who maintain consistent, standardised forms

of language.

The second technology has been provided by broadcasting' which

in many ways becam" -oi. important than print in the socially mobile

communitiás of the 2gth century. But trends in global media suggest

that broadcasting will not necessarily play an-important role inestablishing and riaintaining a global standard. Indeed, the patterns offrug-.rrtuiion and localisation, which are significant_trends in satellite

brJadcasting, mean that television is no longerable t-o::rye such a

function. How can there be such thing as 'network English' in a worldin which centralised networks have all but disappeared?

Meanwhile, new forms of computer-mediated communication are

closing the gap between spoken and written English which has been

constrirctedlatoriously over centuries. And cultural trends encourage

the use of informal and more conversational language, a greater tolerance

of diversity and individual style, and a lessening deference to authoritr:

These tren"ds, taken togethe4 suggest that a weakening of the institutionsand practices which maintained national standard languages is taking

UNIT 6 185

place: that the native-speaking countries are experiencing an'destandardisation' of English.

1...1

since ELT publishers from native-speaking countries are likely tofollow markets

-most of the language pubúshers already p.o.rrd.materials in several standards- it will be non-native speakers who decidewhether a us model, a British one, or one based on a second-languagevariety will be taught, learned and used. At the very least, Englishtextbooks in countries where English is spoken as a second langirageare likely

1o puy more attention to local varieties of English and to tol¡iietheir product by incorporating materials in local vaiieties of English.

t...1

Graddol (1997 56-59)

Issues to consider:

a) Do you think that the situation described in this article has changedsince it was written (in 1997)?

b) }{ow do you see the future of the English language, both as a nativelanguage and as a lingua franca?

c) Do you think that there is a 'network English' , i.e. aspecial type orvariety of English used in the internet? why (not)? provide io*"examples.

d) what is the situation of spanish as a global language and as alinguafranca? How do you see it in relation to English in the future?

e) Do you agree with Graddol's statement'[...] English textbooks incountries where English is spoken as a second language are likelyto pay more attention to local varieties of English and to localisetheir product by incorporating materials in local varieties of English[...]'?


14. KEY WORDS

The following list of key words contains some important terms that

ur" pr".".rr"¿ inirti, ,rttli.á ¿"fi"ltion for each term can be found at the

end of this book, in the glossary'

. :.'

Communicative comPetence

Discourse analYsis

Discourse markerEthnograPhY of communication

EthnographY of sPeaking

EthnomethodologYInformantInterferenceLingua francaLinguistic competence

Language functionsLWCMicro-sociolinguisticsNew EnglishesPragmatic competence

ProficiencYSociolinguistic comPetence

Sociolinguistic relativitYSpeech actTurn-taking

Model exam

In this section, a model exam is provided so that students can have aprecise idea of what they will be requested to do in the formalexaminations that take place at the end oi the terrn anJtüt provide thebasis for evaluating their level of u.hi"rr"-"rrt.

Questions

l' choose two of the following issues and explain them in your ownwords' write around 100 wórds for each;¡,h. ilquestions.a) 'Style'as a variable in sociolinguistics.b) Explainwhat a diglossic siruation is.c) Canadian immersion programs.

2' Define the following five terms taken from the glossary. providebrief definitions of nt more than 60 words each.a) Acrolect

b) Language attritionc) Lingua francad) Minority language

e) Variety

3' comment, from a sociolinguistic point of view, on the folrowingexcerpt. You are expected to relate this extrac,," ,rr" contents ofthe subject in no more than 300 words.The child g.p*ing_rp in the province, say, in some mounlain village,learns to speak in the lo;al araeJ. tn time, to be sure, this rocal dialectwill take in more and mo.. forms lo* tt".o"J".J,furrguages... Thechild, then, does not speak the rtu"áu.á h"r;;;'. n*'Iutirr" rongue.


It is only after he reaches school, long after his speech-habits are for-rned,

that he is taught the standard language. No language is like the native

language that"one learned at one's mother's knee; no-one is ever perfectly

,rrré iná language afte'wards acquired. 'Mistakes'in language are simply

dialect forms carried into the standard language'

Excerpt form L. Bloomfiled (1970)'Literate and illiterate speech"

American SPeech, 2: 432-9.

Key to the model exam

Erercise 7

In the first exercise the student is provided with three topics which

have been discussed in the Unidades DidíLcticas. Students should select

only two of the three issues listed and explain them in their own words.

Conciseness is highly valued in this exam and, therefore students

completing the test should be very precise and provide brief answers

stating the most important points (100 words for each question).

Ererci,se 2

In the second exercise five key words from the glossary are given and

the student is expected to define them in his/her own words. Again, long

convoluted answers should be avoided and each of the five terms should

be explained in around 60 words.

Erercise 3

The third part of the test consists of the commentary of a readingpassage. The itudent is not expected to summarize t]ne excerpt but tocomment on it making reference to the contents of the subject. The

purpose of this exercise is to see to what extent the student has understood

ihe contents of the subject and has developed a critical view ofsociolinguistic principles. No single answer can be provided for thisexercise but here is a model one:

In this excerpt Bloomfield refers to the 'native language'as the

language, or variéty of language that is first acquired in-terms of orderof Jcqriisition and he states that no other language will ever rival thisfirst óne. This argument is to some extent arguable because at timeseducation can compensate and even surpass the knowledge of the mother

MODEL EXAM 191

tongue. Many examples of language attrition can be found when aspeake4 for instance, in the case of an immigrant who goes into anothers_pee-ch community and develops a second'íanguage ít tfr.

"*p"rrr. of

the first.

This extract also raises the chomskian conception of the native spea-ker as_an idealized speaker whose linguistic intuilions represent the ádyreliable source for descriptive adequacy. chomsky's description of thénative speaker seems detached form reality and from the sociardimensions_ of languages relying on native speakers' intuitions and settingaside social and cultural factors. There is a problem in using the nativespeaker as a model of language proficiency bécause s,4re may ñave limitedvocabulary and low grammatical competence while the reverse may betrue of a non-native speaker. English may be someone's second o. thirdlanguage, yet that does not imply that his/her competence is lower thanthat of a native speaker.

The references in this fragment can be further extended to the issueof creole languages that although not being considered, on manyoccasions, as standard languages, are in fact the mother tongue ofmillions of speakers that do not have contact with a standard languageuntil they get into the educational system and receive formal education.Nevertheless, they are considered, and indeed consider themselves, creolenative speakers.

K"y to the exercises

This section provides some model answers for the exercises andactivities presented at the end of each unit. On most occasions, theseexercises have an open answer and no single response can be provided.Active participation in the web discussion forum will allow the studentspeer-exchange of answers and debate.

Unit 1

Erercise 5

(This passage is taken from the famous novel Three Men in a Boat byJerome K. Jerome published in 1889.)

The word deuce in its meaning in this passage is, according to TheLongman Dictionary of English Innguage and Culture, old-fashioned. Theword aren't is never nowadays written ar'n\ (and indeed is underlined inred by the spell checker in the word processing package on which thisbook is being in prepared).

There are a number of other expressions which native speakerinformants suggest may be old fashioned: for example, you silly cuckoo,rather an amusing thing (instead of a rather amusing thing, and I waslaughing so (instead of I was laughing so much). However native speakerintuition is notoriously unreliable in such matters. To support such claimsone would need to make careful study of a large corpus of contemporaryEnglish and of a large corpus of English written in the late nineteenthcentury.

It is worth noting that the expression gimme (for give me) has adistinctly modern flavour.


Erercise 6

Abrupt: It means 'repentino, brusco, inesperado' ('sudden, hasty,precipitate') and not'abrupto'which in English is steep, although wecan find the word abrupt referring to someone's character. The wordabrupt comes from Latin abruptus'precipitous, disconnected'. In the16th c. (Shakespeare) it meant'broken away'or'marked by suddenchange', and in l7th c. it changed its meaning to 'steep'.

Disgrace: It means 'deshonra , vergüenza' . It doesn't mean 'desgracia' whichin English is misfortune, for example, I had the misfortune to lose myticket.In the 1óth c. it meant'disfavor', 'dishonor', 'shame, or cause ofthis' jus like French 'disgáce' and Spanish'desgracia'.

Edit: Its means 'corregir, preparar la edición de, dirigir un periódico' . Itdoesnt mean 'editar'which in English ís to publish. Formerly this wordmeant'to publish' (rare) or'to prepare an edition of' (in the 18th c'),and'be the editor of' (in the 19th c.).

Journal: It means 'revista especializada, diario'and not'iornal'which inEnglish is day's wage (or pay).In PdE this word means 'periodical,rnagazine' .In the l4th c. it was 'a book' or 'record', 'a service-bookcontaining day-hours'in the ecclesiastical field. In the 1óth c. it meant'performed, happening or recurring every day, daily', but it also meant'a book containing notices concerning the daily stages or routes orother information for travelers'. In relation to trade it meant'a dailyrecord of commercial transactions' (16th c.). In the 18th c. it acquiredthe meaning of 'a day's travel, a journey'.

Sympathy: It means' c o wtp as ió n, c o mpren s ió n, s o lidaridad' (' compassion,pity, concern, agreement, harrnony') and not'simpatía'whích in Englishis friendliness, Iiking, affection According to The Oxford EnglishDictionary this word means 'affinity between certain things, by virtueof which they are similarly or correspondingly affected by the sameinfluence, affect or influence one another'. This word was adopted inthe 1óth c. from the Latin word sympathia.

Unit 3

Erercise 3

A. CarsNo, the car get in one long line.Sometime in one long line.Maybe, get about fifty, sixty cars, yeah.

KEYTO THE EXERCISES t97

And then, it's not only one line,They get several more other lines,They get some more cars, too, eh?And, the teamsters is,Always bringing cars, and,Always taking out, see.

B. My jobSo, my job is to seeThat no more, no more, no trouble in the fieldThey grab their car.Then, some of them, they tell,Ey, I thinkMy company no more, though, yeah.You see, if no more, no more companyWell,I go find,See, that's my job, see

Ererci.se 5

AustraliaBelgiumBrazilCanadaColombiaFinlandFranceHaitiIndiaKenyaNew ZealandNorway

EnglishFlemish Dutch, French, (German)PortugueseEnglish, FrenchSpanishFinnish, SwedishFrenchFrenchHindi, English, 14 regional languagesSwahili, EnglishMaori, EnglishNorwegian (Nynorsk, Bokmál)

Guaraní, SpanishPilipino, EnglishMalay, Mandarin, Tamil, EnglishSwahili, EnglishSpanishZaire

Papua New Guinea English, Tok Pisin, Hiri MotuParaguayPhilippinesSingaporeTanzaniaUruguayZaire


Unit 6

Erercise 1

T- We can correct now question one and you can finish the rest athome. Most of you have finished already, so let us correct until three, andt...] Ok. First. 1/ is an invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the schoolyear. Mrn... Juan What have you got for that? (I)

S- Mm, What is this invitation to ... or ... about (R)

T- What is this invitation for, ... (F) Ok, that is a possibility, anythingelse? (I)

s- t...1

T- What is this letter ... (F) vou have to mention the word invitation,What is that letter you have, or you received, or you got ... or anythingsimilar to that, Ok? (F) ... José, What about you, number two. TheIndustrial Revolution will be our topic for next week.

S- I have What is our topic for next week? (R)

T- Mm, ... Yeah, but it is possible you are not repeating too many newwords (F) ... What's our topic for next week? ... The Industrial Revolutionwill be our topic for next week ... (F) Ok, It's not impossible ... Any otheroption? (I)

S- What will be the topic for the next week? (R)

T- Next week, not the next week, next week, What will the topic be nextweek? or When will we study the Industrial Revolution? (F)

S- What are we going to do the next week? (R)

Erercise 6

You can describe, for example, the linguistic encounter in any of thesesituations:

Doctor <> patient

Shop-assistant <> customer

Clossary

Aboriginal languages:The languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians before the arrival of

English colonizers. Aboriginal English is the technical name given to acontinuum of varieties of English ranging between standard ÁustralianEnglish and creoles used by Aboriginal Australians.

Acrolect:when decreolization takes place, i.e., a creole language coexists with

a standard language and the latter exerts some influé.r." o.r the former,a range of varieties develop. In such a situation a continuum appears inthe language and speakers in that speech community show a-range ofdifferent pronunciation features, which are usually associated with sócialstratification. The acrolect is the top and educated variety which is closerto the standard and further away from the creole. The airolecl can evolveinto a New English.

African American Vernacular English (AAVE):(see Black English Vernacular)Sometimes called Black English Vernaculaq, Black English, or Ebonics,

it refers to the language spoken in black communities in the United States.some linguists consider it a significantly different linguistic system fromthe standard dialect since it does not confor- to lt, pronunciation,grammatical structure, idiomatic usage, vocabulary etc. In the 1960's theissue of AAVE became a source of concern in the education system as itwas perceived that black students performed below average in schoolsand the reason was thought to lie in their language skilis. It was consideredthat Black English speakers had to face the double load of having to dealwith linguistic differences in the classroom as well as in the course content.This issue has been a source of concern ever since.

e Anal¡ic language:Languages can be classified into typologicar categories based on how

words are formed. An analytic language is one in which words tend to

202 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOC]OLINGUISTICS

be one syllable long with no affixes, as in Chinese or Vietnamese. Thefunction of words in a sentence is shown primarily by word order.Analytic languages are also known as isolating languages. (See syntheticlanguage.)

Auxiliary language:It is a language that is used for a special purpose and has, among

others, a specific functional goal. Pidgins are auxiliary languages but thereare also instances of artificial auxiliary languages such as Esperanto,Business English, Maritime English and Air-Tiaffic control English. These

languages sometimes have a specialized jargon and that tends to be themost difficult part as they are not very complex from a syntactic point ofview.

Basilect:When decreolization takes place, í.e., a creole language coexists with

a standard language and the latter exelts some influence on the former,a range of varieties develop. In such a situation a continuum appears inthe language and speakers in that speech community show a range ofdifferent pronunciation features, which are usually associated with socialstratification. The basilect is the bottom variety which is closer to thecreole and further away from the standard.

Bidialectal:This term is closely related to bilingualism. In the same way that

someone speaking two languages would be considered bilingual, someonewho can use two dialects can be considered bidialectal (see Dialect). It alldepends, of course, on what is considered a dialect, but the grounddefinition would be a variant of a language due to geographical differences.Nevertheless, being bidialectal implies that the differences between theconcerned codes is not so great as to prevent mutual intelligibility.

+ Black English Vernacular:(also African American Vernacular English)This term refers to the non-standard English spoken by lower-class

African Americans in US urban communities. This term substituted BlackEnglish which assumed that all black people used the same variety. It has

been demonstrated that the differences that distinguish Black Englishfrom standard English are paralleled in varieties of Black language spokenin other parts of the world such as the Caribbean and West Africa.

In the UK, Black English is the result of the linguistic change formcreole languages spoken by Afro-Caribbean immigrants which were

GLOSSARY 203

influenced by English as a dominant language in the UK. This languagehas also become more Englishlike for the UK-born descendants of theseformer immigrants.

Borrowing:This term is used in comparative and historical linguistics to refer to

words or phrases which have spread from one language or dialect and areused in another. Although less evidently and less frequently, borrowingscan also occur at a different linguistic level such as syntactic. Theborrowing language may have various ways of incorporating the foreignform into the recipient language's phonology, morphology and syntax.Borrowing can be originated by a wide range of different causes including:

a/ Close contact between two or more language codes in multilingual

c)

situations which favors the transfer of elements.The domination of some languages by others due to cultural,economic, political, religious or other reasons.A sense of need because technology or culture advances morerapidly in countries speaking certain languages.

d) A sense of prestige associated with words or expressions comingfrom other languages.

The difference between code-switching and borrowing is not alwaysclear. There is no doubt in the case of historically transferred forms whichhave settled in the target language (e.g., words like castle, forest andtempest , come from French; and, words Iike call , egg, and law , come frornNorse). Code-switching, howeveq is spontaneous, affects all levels oflinguistic structure simultaneously and is unstable as it depends on thecontext and the relationship between the speakers (e.g., the Spanglish thatis often heard in places such as Gibraltar or Texas). On some otheroccasions, borrowings may resemble code-switches because they maintaina foreign status and retain another languages' syntax (e.g., Fixed phrasesfrom Latin:. ad hoc, sine qua non, etc.).

Co-ordinate bilingual:This term applies to someone who has learnt two languages and both

languages have been learnt in different contexts, and they are kept distinct.It probably entails the existence of two meaning systems with two differentwords. This raises the question whether both languages develop togetheror separately in the brain. Neurolinguisitic findings suggest that wordsare stored together in the case of early bilingualism, from childhood, butkept in separate places if bilingualism was developed later.

b)

t


4 Communicative competence:This terrn was first introduced by the American anthropological linguist

Dell Hymes in opposition to the chomskian conception of native speaker'slinguistic competence which referred to the linguistic intuitions of anidealized native speaker. Dell Hymes considered that the linguisticknowledge of grammar, pronunciation and lexicon is not enough asspeakers also have other types of linguistic knowledge about how to usethat language properly in society. This additional knowledge allowsspeakers to be sensitive to some determining factors such as the context,the type of interlocutor, and the register, for example. Communicativecompetence is acquired by native speakers of the language but it alsoneeds to be acquired by non-native speakers, together with linguisticcompetence. The ethnography of speaking studies what is necessary tobe communicatively competent in different speech communities.

Compound bilingual:This term describes a situation in which one language has been learnt

after the other and, therefore, through the first one. Both languages areclosely connected as they are composed of a single meaning system withtwo words or labels for a single meaning. This raises the question whetherboth languages develop together or separately in the brain. Neurolinguisiticfindings suggest that words are stored together in the case of earlybilingualism, from childhood, but kept in separate places if bilingualismwas developed later.

Corpus planning:This term refers to the actions undertaken in order to partially modify

the nature or characteristics of a ianguage in some way, for instance,decisions regarding what pronunciation to adopt from those available;decisions regarding what syntactic or morphological patterns to use; or,even what regional forms adopt as the standard. CP may also control theincorporation of new vocabulary. CP is closely related to status planningwhich refers to whether the status of a language could or should be raisedor lowered.

. Dialect:Geographical variation affects languages in the form of dialects. This

refers to how locality correlates with differences in the way people speakthe language. People who speak a dialect often use different words orpronunciations for the same word. This type of variation may also affectsyntactic and intonation patterns. Nowadays, dialect variation tends todiminish due to the fact that the media and the communication

GLOSSARY

infrastructures have a homogenizing effect on languages. Sometimes thedistinction between dialects and languages is not quite clear associopolitical factors may play an important role in the decision. It mustbe added that not even dialectolo-eists agree on a single definition of 'dialect'.

Dialectology:rt is the study and search for idiosyncratic features in language use

withina geographical area. Dialectologists usually analyze tñe tlpicalvocabulary pronunciation, intonation patterns, and other Lharacteiirti..,and try to match these with specific geographic areas.

Discourse analysis:This field of research refers to the analysis of linguistic units above

the sentence level, i.e., texts or conversations. By analyzing written oraural texts, discourse analysts explore the differeni functions of lurrg.rug"in social interaction.

Discourse marker:These are words, phrases or sounds that have no content meaning but,

however, play an important role in marking conversational struclure,signaling conversational intentions and assuring cooperation on the partof listeners. some discourse markers in English are: actually, really, oh,Yeah, etc. Notice that the types of discourse markers and theii usesfrequently change across languages.

Domain:This term refers to the combination of social and situational factors

that generally influence the choice of code by speakers: code, dialect,locâtion, registe4 style, topic, etc. For example, thé lungrrug" of home willdefinitely be different to the language used at a forma'ímleting at work.The same speaker will use different styles, an informal one for the formersituation and a formal one for the latter. This concept is frequently usedin studies of code-switching in multilingual coniexts where váriouslanguages, dialects or styles are employed in different social settings.

Dormant bilingual:Bilinguals who do no longer use their languages but who acquired

them in the past and reached a comprehensive ktro*l"dg" and command.

Endangered language:Languages normally develop, merge or die, and whenever a language

is at risk because the number of speakers decreases we can sav thai thát

205

206 AN INTRODIJCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

language is endangered. This can be the result of many factors but bador adverse language planning is generally behind the progressivedisappearance of a language. Economics, or rather the lack of imporlanceof a language for business, can cause its death. Many Amerindian languagesare in this situation at the moment.

English-lexifier creole:(see Lexifier)This term refers to any creole which is English-based and therefore

has received borrowings from English. Due to the post-creole continuum,that language may still be receiving words from English.

. Ethnography of communication:A term that in addition to the definition of the ethnography of speaking

includes nonverbal aspects of communication, for instance, distancebetween speaker and hearer, eye contact, etc.

: Ethnography of speaking:This branch of sociolinguistics studies the norms and rules for using

language in social situations in different cultures. This is the reason whyit is so important for cross-cultural communication and that also accountsfor its relation to communicative competence. The ethnography ofspeaking deals with aspects such as the different types of language to beused under different circumstances; how to make requests, grantpermission, or ask a favor; the degree of indirectness desired in certainsituations; how to express your opinion or interrupt your interlocutor;how and when to use formulaic language (greetings, thanking, etc. ), etc.

Ethnomethodology:This branch of sociology deals with the content of what is being said

rather than the way it is being said. Ethnomethodologists do not studyspeech or language but the content of what is being said and, what is more,what is not being said because of shared knowledge or common-senseknowledge.

Heritage Language:This is a language spoken by an immigrant group or individual in

another country. For example, in Canada, a country largely composed ofimmigrants, there are close to 200 languages spoken by these types ofgroups. This terrn is to be distinguished form Indigenous Language whichalso refers to a minority language but in this case alludes to the nativesof that land. In Canada, for instance, about 50 indigenous languages are

GLOSSARY 207

spoken some of which are only spoken in that country and none of whichis considered an official language of Canada.

ff5rpercorrection:A manifestation of linguistic insecurity, for instance, in a social group.

It can manifest itself by the overuse of the socially desired forms in árefulspeech or reading, especially in an attempt to speak or write in an educatedmanner. For instance, a speaker of a non-standard variety of English maypractice more self-correction when speaking formally árrd *.k" ,rr" oimore sophisticated vocabulary or a more clear pronunciation.

¿ Inforrnant:In empirical research this term refers to any person who provides

information to be analyzed and is consequently a source of datá for theresearcher. A native speaker providing insights of his/her use of languageis an informant, but also a student who attends a class that is beingobserved to gather information about the students'progress.

Interference:In language teaching and learning this term is used to refer to any

negative influence (e.g., lexical, syntactic, phonological, etc.) that onelanguage exerts over the other, either the L1 on the L2 or vice versa.Interference usually hinders the learning process and causes a problemto the language learner whereas positive interlinguistic influence helps orfavors the language learner.

Language Academy:In some countries like Spain (The Royal Academy), France (The French

Academy), Ireland (The Irish Language commission), Norway (The'Norwegian Language council), etc., there are institutions which play a rolein safeguarding standards, so they try to regulate the evolution of ttre languageby means of protecting the language from foreign unwanted influences aná,in a way, by trying to control the evolution of language. This sort of controlis more likely to be successful in written language than in spoken languageand the task is rather difficult these days when the media exerts considerableinfluence on languages all over the world and globalization threatens thepreservation of minority languages and the integrity of others.

f- Language attrition:Gradual language loss. This term can refer to the loss of a mother

tongue that has been acquired and due to lack of use - probably becauseit is not the language of the community - it is gradualiy forgoiten. This


happens quite frequently among the second and the third generation ofimmigrants. In second language learning, it can refer to the loss of alanguage that was learnt through formal instruction but graduallyforgotten after a period of disuse.

Language conflict:In multilingual situations languages are frequently in some sort of

conflict caused by ideological, political or economical reasons. Some issuestypically generate problems in multilingual settings such as decisionsregarding the election of an official language, the choice of a givenlanguage for formal education, or the selection of a language to be usedin courts, among others. Another typical situation of language conflictoccurs when two or more languages compete for status in society. Manycurrent language conflicts result form different social status andgovernment's preferential treatment of the domain language.

Language election/selection:Some developing countries, at some point, need to make decisions

with regards to their sociopolitical evolution and their internationalrecognition. For instance, Mozambique adopted Portuguese, the formercolonial language, as its official language. Something similar happenedto India, which in spite of an initial desire to detach from their formercolony, later assumed English as an additional official language. Thesedecisions are normally made for practical purposes either because thenation-state needs a agglutinative language to overcome a wide linguisticvariety andlor because some advantages are seen in the possibilitr- ofhaving a LWC as an official language.

Language functions: (or functions of language)Language is frequently described as having three main functions

descriptive, expressive, and social. The descriptive function of langua.=is to carry factual information. The expressive function of language i. _

provide information about the speaker's personal feelings, preferen..,etc. And the social function of language serves the purpose of mainrair-,_social relations between people.

Language loss:This term refers to a situation where language shift in z St::_

community ends in the total shift to another language. For instance. irll€ -

a group of immigrants that go to a new country and, graduallr', in r.=two generations blend into the new speech community as their lar-¡',-:rbecomes eventually extinct (e.g., the language loss of Dutch immi.'r'., , . ,

GLOSSARY

Australia). This phenomenon would be referred as language death if alanguage shift ends with the total loss of a language from the world, i.e., allspeakers shift to a different one (e.g., Manx on the Isle of Man).

Language Policy Division:This department of the EU is located in Strasburg and has

responsibility for actions concerning the progress of language educationpolicies within the EU member states. This Division is in charge of theelaboration of guidelines and policies related to language learning andthe development of policy planning regarding linguistic diversity. Amongother responsibilities, they (a) assist member states with policy evaluationand depiction (at national and local levels); (b) elaborate instruments forpolicy analysis; (c) provide assistance regarding linguistic minoritieslanguage education; etc.

Language revitalization: (or Language revival)Language planning efforts made in order to revive a language that

because of social or economic reasons has decreased in number ofspeakers or which was even lost (see Language death). A language shiftcan lead to the spread of a dominant language and the loss of the minoritylanguage. The reasons underlying LR can vary but they are often causedby a group's search for cultural and/or ethnic identity of a group. The bestexample of a successful LR is Hebrew which was a classical liturgicallanguage for centuries and is now a living language. An instance of a notso successful program to revitalize a language is Irish in Ireland wheregovernmental efforts and programs have tried to reintroduce the use ofIrish in schools without much success.

Language spread:It consists of an increase in the use of a language or language variety

for a given communicative function by a specific social or ethnic group.LS can either refer to a traditional language within a speech communityor a language that is adopted aslinguafranca or LWC, as has been the caseof English during the 20th century. Languages also spread within a nationas a new mother tongue instead of as an additional language and in thatcase we would rather talk about language shift. Extreme cases can evenlead to language death as has happened with the spread of Spanish andEnglish in America resulting in the loss of many Amerindian languages.

Lexifier:(see English-lexifier creole)This term refers to the language from which most of the vocabulary

has been taken to form a pidgin or creole. English, French, Spanish and

209

2r0 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

Portuguese have been lexifier languages as a consequence of the formercolonial past of countries speaking native languages. The contactbetween one or more of these European languages and a native languagefavored the development of pidgins and creoles in different parts of theworld.

LinguafrancazIt is a language which is usually used by speakers who have different

mother tongues and, therefore, need a common language to communicateamong them. Linguafrancas have existed since ancient times (e.g. Greekkoiné Arabic, Mandarin, etc.) but the most remarkable example nowadaysis English, which is spoken by some people as a mother tongue, manyothers use it as a second language, and still others as a foreign language,but, as a r-ule, it serves as atinguafranca for international and interculturalcommunication. In spite of being widely used, the knowledge of differentspeakers may vary considerably depending, quite often, on the domainswhere the language is to be used and the functions it is meant toaccomplish.

Linguistic competence:It refers to lexical, phonological, syntactical knowledge and skills

and other dimensions of language as system, independently of thesociolinguistic value of its variations and the pragmatic functions of itsrealizations. This component relates to the range and quality of knowledge(e.g., in terms of phonetic distinctions made or the extent and precisionof vocabulary) but also to cognitive organization and the way thisknowledge is stored (activation, recall, etc.).

LWC: (Language of Wider Communication)This term is equivale nt to lingua franca . Two instances of LWC in the

times of the Roman Empire are Latin in the west and koiné Greek in theeast. After World War II, English became a LWC. (See lingua franca).It isa language used by speakers of different languages to communicate witheach other.

¿ Macro-sociolinguistics:This term refers to the study of sociolinguistic aspects in large groups

of speakers as opposed to micro-sociolinguistics that studies areas relatedto small groups. Macro-sociolinguistics deals with the relationship betweensociological factors and language as, for example, language planning,language shift and multilingual matters.

GLOSSARY 211

Mesolect:When decreolization takes place, i.e., a creole language coexists with

a standard language and the latter exerts some influence on the former,a range of varieties develop. In such a situation a continuum appears inthe language and speakers in that speech community show a range ofdifferent pronunciation features, which are usually associated with socialstratification. The mesolect is the intermediate variety, or varieties, whichis between the creole and the standard.

¿Micro-sociolinguistics:The study of sociolinguistics in relation to small groups of speakers,

speech communities or the speech of individuals. This branch ofsociolinguistics deals, for example, with the analysis of face-to-faceinteraction and discourse analysis. This term is used in opposition tomacro-sociolinguistics which refers to larger scale study of languagein society.

Minority language:These are languages that live in the shadow of a culturally dominant

language which puts the minority language at risk. As a result of politicalor social factors, these languages are very often not the languages of allareas of activity by native speakers as they can be excluded from certainspheres as administration, education, or mass media (e.g., Scottish Gaelicis widely used in church but marginally in other social gatherings). Thesefactors often require speakers of minority languages to be bilingual asthey will need to operate in at least two languages. Minority languagesmay be -or may have been at some point in their history- at risk eitherby political decisions affecting their maintenance or by the lack ofvocabulary to cover certain topics. Some actions can be undertaken topromote minority languages (see chapter 5) by means of language planningand language policies. Some instances of minority languages are Irish,Welsh and Scottish Gaelic which exist in the shadow of English, or Bretonin the shadow of French.

4-Native speaker:A person who has spoken a language since early childhood. This term

is rather controversial in linguistics because it assumes the existence ofa speaker that can be appealed in questions of correct usage because s/heis reported to represent the authority that can determine correct or deviantusage. Native and non-native are not clear cut homogeneous categoriesas variation depending on individual factors (origin, education, etc.) isenorrnous and all speakers are, in turn, native speakers of a given language

2t2 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

or dialect. In second language learning they have traditionally representedthe model to follow in the process of learning but this has proven to bean inefficient approach as the processes of first and second languagelearning are naturally and necessarily different. Moreovel recent studieshave shown that, contrary to popular belief, 'native speaker introspection'is an unreliable guide to actual usage.

New Englishes:This term refers to any of the varieties of English that have emerged

as a consequence of the ample spread of this language during the colonialperiod. Examples of New Englishes are the English spoken in India, Kenya,Singapore or Jamaica, among others. Also know as World English, it doesnot emphasize the dichotomy between native and non-native use butembodies the recognition of English as an international language thatshows formal and functional variation in different contexts, as a result ofits use in multilingual and multicultural contexts.

Observer's paradox:A term developed by William Labov to refer to a phenomenon that

takes place when doing sociolinguistic research. The issue raises whenthe sociolinguist needs to gather data from a single speaker or a group ofspeakers in a speech community. The problem is that observing andgathering (for instance, recording) that speech is difficult because as soonas the informants realize that they are being obser-ved they can - andconsciously or unconsciously they generally do - change their speechand make use of a less natural talk (e.g., more careful pronunciation, lessidiomatic expressions, a variety further away from the vernacular, etc.).What really interests sociolinguists is the way people speak when they donot know that they are being observed.

Pragmatic competence:This term is concerned with the functional use of linguistic resources

(production of language functions, speech acts, etc.) used on auralcommunication or scripts of interactional exchanges. It also concerns themastery of discourse, cohesion and coherence, the identification of texttypes and forms, irony, parody, etc.

tPragmatics:It is a branch of linguistics that studies the use of language in

communication, i.e., the relationships between utterances and the contextsand situations in which they are used. Within pragmatics, discourseanalysis studies language in discourse.

GLOSSARY 213

Proficiency:It is someone's skill in using a language, generally as a second language.

This term describes the degree of skill that someone has attained in alanguage and his/her ability over the four basic skills: speaking, reading,writing and listening.

(Proto)-Indo-European:Languages can be classified genetically. This classification involves

comparing the structure of different languages in order to show commonparentage. Indo-European is the best-known language family. The majorIndo-European subgroups are: Indo-Iranian, Armenian, Albanian,Anatolian, Hellenic, Italic, Celtic, Baltic, Slavic, and Germanic. Englishbelongs to the Anglo-Frisian group of the West Germanic branch of theGerrnanic subfamily. An unattested (reconstmcted) language is indicatedby the termproto-.

Sabir:This was a lingua franca used in the Mediterranean area from the

Middle Ages to the twentieth century. It is interesting to know that thislanguage has been kept stable for centuries in spite of not having nativespeakers and being just a contact language used by speakers that do notshare a common language. The origin of pidgins is not clear and there isan ongoing debate about it, but some specialists, the monogeneticists,suggest that all pidgins based on an European language derive from thislingua franca.

Sociolinguistic competence:This term refers to the sociocultural conditions of language use.

Through its sensitivity to social conventions (rules of politeness, normsgoverning relations between generations, sexes, classes and social groups,linguistic codification of certain fundamental rituals, etc.), thesociolinguistic component strictly affects all language communicationbetween representatives of different cultures, even though participantsmay often be unaware of its influence.

iSociolinguistic interview:It is a technique to collect speech samples to gather information about

a given speaker, or group of speakers, in a speech community. Thisqualitative method of research is of prime importance for the sociolinguistas it provides face-to-face interaction with the informant with a techniquethat allows recording for later analysis.


Sociolinguistic relativity:When people coming from different social and linguistic backgrounds

interact, quite naturally they tend to analyze and judge each other's systemand taking their own system as a reference. The more interaction withdifferent cultures, dialects, registers, etc. the more referents speakers willhave and, therefore, the more capable they will be of perceiúng their cultureand way of thinking as just one of many. This way, speakers may be able tounderstand and shape their own perception of cultural and sociolinguisticidentities. Sociolinguistic relativity entails the acknowledgement ofsociolinguistic diversity.

¿ Sociology of language:This term refers to a branch of sociolinguistics that studies large scale

processes of interaction between language and its use in society. Alsoreferred to as macro-sociolinguistics, it deals with the relationship betweensociological factors and language, especially language choice. Some ofthe issues studied by the sociology of language are language planning,multilingualism, and language shift.

Speech act:It is an utterance that represents a functional unit in interaction.

Utterances can have a locutionary meaning or an illocutionary meaning.The former refers to the basic literal meaning of the utterance which isconveyed by the parlicular words and structures used. The latter refers tothe effect the utterance has on the listene¡ or the text on the reader.

Status planning:This term refers to actions aiming at raising or lowering the status of

a language or dialect and which basically refers to decisions regarding theselection of particular varieties for particular purposes or communicativefunctions. SP is closely related to corpus planning as language planningpolicies can never be solely corpus-oriented or status-oriented.

¿ Synchronicvariation:This term refers to the instances and characteristics of variation which

occur at the present time in language. That is, the way variation affectslanguage at a given time in history for instance: gende4 register; style, etc.Diachronic variation, however, looks at language from a historical pointof view and considers linguistic change through time.

,' Synthetic language:In inflectional languages words have a number of suffixes which vary

their shape according to the word they are added to. A single suffix can

GLOSSARY 21.5

express a number of different grammatical concepts, as in Latin. S¡mtheticlanguages are also known as inflectional. (See analytic language)

Türn-taking:In conversation analysis this term describes the fundamental

mechanisms on which conversation is based, that is, the right and/orobligation to speak with the interlocutor. General conversational patternsare arranged in a way that only one speaker speaks at a time but the wayturn-taking is organized depends on cultural specific factors. Conversationneeds to be two-way otherwise it turns into a monologue.

nlVariety:This term is used to refer to a sort of language that is considered as a

separate entity for some reason but which generally shares a great dealof common features with a standard or other varieties. Therefore, it is notconsidered a different language. A given dialect, accent, style or registercan be considered a variety, which is a term preferred by linguists as it isless loaded. Language varieties can be very wide spread and standardizedsuch as Australian English or American English but they can also be verylocalized such as Cockney (in London) and Scouse (in Liverpool).

Conceptual index

aboriginal languages, 122, 127 -8, 133,1,36, 140-r, 173,201

Aboriginal English, 83, 173acculturated bilingual, 99acrolect, 79, 80-1, 108, 201address b ehavior, I 62 -4Afrikaans, 87, 128African American Vernacular English

(AAVE), 81,20t,202age, 15, 33, 35, 36, 38, 44, 51, 94, 98,

rt6, 139, r41,, 16lAmerindian languages, 1.27, 206, 2O9

anal¡ic language, 30, 201,21,4applied sociolinguistics, 26, 17 3

Arabic,34, 100, lO8, I29,2lOartificial language, 71, II1, I33auxiliary language,2O2basilect, 80-1, 202Basque, 34, 1,1.I, 122, 148bicultural, 46, 99, 123, l4lbidialectal speaker, 83, 100, ll8,2O2bilingual

-children, 104, 153-education, 17, 104, 116-7, 1,21-5,

t+l, r48, 151-2, 166bilingualism

additive-, 83, 99, 142adolescent-, 98adult-, 98balanced-, 93, 98-100childhood-, 98dominant-,98individual-, 9ósocial-, 96subtractive-, 99

Black English Vernacular,23, 201, 202borrowing, 32, 77, 103, 131, 132, 146,

148, r78,203Catalan, 34, 125-6, 127, 148circle

inner-, 17ó-8expanding-, 176-8outer-,176-8

classroom-discourse, 17, 168-language, t59, 167 -I7 0

choicecode-, 17,100-1,I04word-, 24, 28, 36, 4I, 51,, 54, 59

Chomsky, 23-4,l9lcode

-choice, 17, 1.00-1_, lO4-mixing, 103-4,113-4

codification , 1.29, I32,213competence

communicative-,24, 46,98, 1,17 , 159,t6t-2,204,206

linguistic-, 24, 717 , 161-2,204,210pragmatic-, L61-2, 17 1, 212sociolinguistic-, 161-2, 213

compound bilingual, 97, 204Common European Framework of

Reference for Languages, 145communicative

-competence, 24, 46, 98, Il7 , 159,161-2,204,206

-functions, 70, 145,214corpus planning, 153-4, 204, 21.4

creolization, 69-72, 107decreolization, 80- I , 20I , 202, 2ll


dialect, 24, 32-4,43, 58, 63, 81-3, 100,107, r09, rtl, tl4,134,136,143,166, r79,202,203,204

dialectology, 26, 205diaspora, 175-ódiglossia, 16, 17 , 34, 105-9, II4, 165discourse analysis, 17 , 26, 58 , 205 , 211 ,

212discourse marker, 162, 167,205domain, 28, 32,35, 53, 63,93-5,98,

112, lr4, r32, 145, r77,205,208,2r0

dormant bilingual, 205dual-linguistic system, 123endangered language, 205-6EnglishJexifier creole, 206, 209Esperanto, 7 I, 83, 133, 202ethnographic approach, 26, 38ethnography of communication, 20óethnography of speaking, 204, 206ethnomethodology, 206forensic linguistics, 172-4Galician, 34, 100gende4 15, 17, 26, 27, 33, 36, 44-5, 56-

60,72,74,2r4geographic variation, 27, 41, 51, 17 4globalization, 29, 32, 123, 132, 1,46,

174,207Haitian Creole, 70,73, 106, lO7Hawaiian Creole English, 17, 70, 73-5,

83heritage language, l2l, 206Hindu, 25,43-4,109historical linguistics, 26, 203Hymes,24,70,204hypercorreclion, 207immersion programs, 12 l, I4l-3, 148,

165,170India, 17 , 25, 33-4, 43, 45, 71, 80, 85,

lo9, 128-9, 130, 137-8, 153, 17 4-6,180,208,212

informant, 36-7 ,207 ,212,213interference,36,82, 104, 126, 178, 182,

207interlingual communication, 133Jamaican Patwa, 17 ,75-7, 106jargon

bastardized-, 70

language-academy, l3O-1,207-attrition, 25,207-8-conflict, 111,,208-contact, 15,16,ltj-2-election/selection, 208-functions, 162, 208, 212Jearning, 94, I25, 144, 149, 159, 160-

t, 162, 166, 170, r72, 180,208,209,212

loss, I35,207,208-maintenance, 25 , 123, 127 , 133, 1.35,

r36-planning, 17, 25, 26, 73, 85, 1,21-3,

r25, 126-135, r37, 14r, 143-5, t48,153-4, 205 , 209 , 210, 211 , 214

-policy, 16, 25, l2l, 123, 125-6, 130,r35,137,144,149, r54

-Policy Division, 209-purification , 130-1, 134-reform, 131-revival, 131.,209-revitalization, 209-shift, 131, 135, 136'7, 208, 2O9, 210,

214-spread, l3I-2,209-standardization, 1 3 1 -2-teaching, 1.6,24,37, Il3, 144, 159-

162, 170-2,207Labov, 28,36, 37,38,63, l13,2I2legal language, 54-5, 61, 17 3

level of education, 36, 116lexifier, 7 4, 7 5, 79, 206, 209-210lingua franca, 69, 7I, 77 , 86, 88, 129,

r33, 166, 175, 177, t84, r85,209,210,2t3

linguistic-assimilation, 127-competence, 24, II7, 16l-2, 2O4,

209,210-pluralism, 128

loanwords, 32LWC, 1 33, 159 , 166, 208, 209macro-sociolinguistics, 25, 210, 2II,

214Maori, 139-I4OMelanesian Pidgin English, 69mesolect, 80,2I1,

CONCEPTUAL INDEX 221

micro-sociolinguistics, 25, 210, 2I Iminority language, 83, 123, I24, 126,

t35-7, l4t, 144, t47, 148, 153,206, 207 , 209, 2tr

mode, 54,149modernization, 130, 1.31, 132, 134multilingualism, 17, 34, 96, lO9-1,11,

138, 146,214native speake4 23-4,5I, Il3, 126, 144,

159-160, 162, 17 r, 174, 185, 204,207,2tr-2,2t3

natural language, 111neurophysiological differences, 59New Englishes, 176,212observer's paradox, 36, 212Old English,29-32pidginiazation, 69-71pragmatic competence , 162, 17l, 212pragmatics, 17 , 26,58, 83, 17l-2,212proficiency, 93, 96, 99, 112-3, 141-3,

r44,146, r49,152, 164, 165,168,177,2r3

(proto)-Indo-European, 29-30, 21'3registe¡ 17, 33, 40, 45-6, 53-6, 61, 62,

9s, 100, 101, 107 , 1,09, tt3, t2s,162-3, 17 8, 204, 205, 2r4, 215

rrrles of speaking, 160, 1.62-5, 182Sabir,213second language, 24, 27 , 77 , 82, 93 , 98 ,

99, 113, l4I-2, 159-160, 16l, 165,170, 175, 183, 185, 207-8,2L0,2rr,213

semantic change,31,41sociolect, 54sociolinguistic competence, 161-2, 2I3sociolinguistic interview, 37, 213sociolinguistic relativity, 2 1 4sociology of language , 17 ,24-5,214speech act, 762 , 167 , 17 I , 2f2, 214

speech community, 17, 23-4, 27, 32-5,4t, 45, 46, 51, 58, 81, 96, 99, 106,108-9, 114, 1r8, 122, t28-9, r30-r,t59-160, 161,, t65-6, r82, 201, 202,208, 209,2r\, 212

bilingual-, 34diglossic-, 166monolingual-, 34multilingual-, 34,114

speech repertoire, 33standard

English, 73, 7 5-6, 81, 84, 17 4-8, 183,202

status planning, 153, 204,214stylistic simplifi cation, I23 -3style, 17, 28, 34, 37 , 45,51-3, 56, 60,

63,64,100, 107, 133,162, 172-3,177, 184,205,214

switchintersentential-, 102intrasentential-, lO2

synthetic language, 2OI, 214Tok Pisin, 17 ,72,73,77-80, 87 , 1.06,

128,176tenol 54, 6lterminology unification, 132, I33turn-taking, 24, 27, 59, 167, 215Universal Declaration of Linguistic

Rights, 14ó-7variation

diachronic-, 29-32stylistic-, 35, 5l-3, 56synchronic,214

varietyhigh-,34, 105low-, 34, 105

vernacularizalion, 127, 128World Englishes, 17, 146, 167, 174-8,

212

I4 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS

UNIT 6

1. Sociolinguistics and language teaching/learning2. Communicative competence in language teaching/learning ""'3. The sociolinguistic behavior of English speakers: Rules of

speaking3.1. Address behavior3.2. Telephoning

4. Sociolinguistic perspectives on language use in immersionclassrooms

5. Analysis of the EFL classroom language ......""'ó. Implications for language teaching7. Pragrnatics in language teaching8. Language in the iaw ....".....9. Standard English and World Englishes

10. Exercises .............1 1. References ...........12. Resources on the web13. Further readings and questions '......'.....

13.1. Text 11 .............13.2. TexI 12 ..........-..

14. Key words

r59t6r

r62t62r64

165t67L7017lt72174t78181t82r82t82183186

Model ex¿ün 187

Key to the exercises ...'.'..... 193

Glossary 199

Conceptual index 217

r,¡Itt

t2 AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGU

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1.

2.

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UNIT 2

1. Some variables in sociolinguistics1.1. Style1.2. Register ..............1.3. Gender ...............Speech accommodation ........ExercisesReferences

2.

3.

4.5.

6.Resources on the web ..........Further readings and questions .............

UNIT 3

Pidginization and creolization ..............Some instances of pidginsSome instances of creoles3.1. Hawaiian Creole English3.2. Jamaícan Patwa (or Patois)3.3. Tok Pisin ........Decreolization ..........The use of pidgins and creoles in education ..............ExercisesReferencesResources on the web ..........Furlher readings and questions .............9.1. Text 5 ...............9.2. Text 6 ...............Key words

UNIT 4

Bilingualism: Introduction ........Bilingualism: Definitions and dimensions ...............Code Choice ..............3.1. Code-switching3.2. Code-mixing ........

1.

2..t.

UhT\E,R

L\DEX 13

4.5.

6.7.

8.

9.

10.11.

12.tt6tt6tt6t1.7118

Code-switching in bilingual childrenDiglossiaDiglossia and bilingualismMultilingualismLanguage contactExercisesReferencesResources on the webFurther readings and questions .............

r04105t07109110rt2115

12.1. TextT12.2. Text 8

13. Key words

UNIT 5

1. Bilingual education2. Language policy3. Language planning

3.1. Some factors affecting language planning3.2. Actions in language planning ...............3.3. Aims of language planning3.4. Individual language planning ...............

4. Minority languages ...............5. Language shift in minority languages6. Some particular sociolinguistic situations .............

ó.1. Indiaó.2. NIew Zealand6.3. The Canadian experienceEuropean Union language planning and policyThe role of EnglishThe Universal Declaration of Linguistic RightsExercisesReferencesResources on the webFufiher readings and questions

t21.r25126128129130t34135r361.37

t37t39r40t43t451.46

1481501511-51

15115115-s

Documents

An Introduction to Sociolinguistics