Sociolinguistics an Introduction

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Sociolinguistics1. An IntroductionHainan University Bai Lifang


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Outline

1. Objectives of the course . !eaching "ethod

#. $efinition of sociolinguistics %. Language and conte&t '. $ifferent for"s of linguistic variation

(. Social factors in linguistic variation


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1. Objectives of the course

!hrough this course) you*ll 1+ get to ,no- about the i" ortant

conce ts and "ain areas ofsociolinguistics. + be able to find out the i" act of

e&tralinguistic factors on language ) suchas age) gender) rofession) social status)ethnicity) olitics) etc.


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#+ thin, about language and observe theusage around you. /ind interest in thin,ingabout and listening to the s eech of

eo le around you. %+ Learn to use language a ro riately in

different conte&ts.

Objectives of the course


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. !eaching "ethod

!he course -ill "ainly be given in the for"of lecture) but the students are highlyencouraged to be actively involved in theclassroo" activities) including

1+ 0uestions and ans-ers + discussions #+ oral resentations


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2ou are su osed to attend the lecture read relevant "aterials

observe the articular use of language inarticular situations

do the analysis -or, by using the theories

learned in the lecture or read in thereference boo,s

resent the result to the class.


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#. $efinition of sociolinguistics

3ardhaugh4 53ardhaugh 1 + Sociolingistics investigates the

relationshi s bet-een language andsociety -ith the goal being a betterunderstanding of the structure of language and of ho- languages function inco""unication.


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3hat are included in the 6society78 9eo le

lace Social syste"


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Language and eo le Age) gender) race) nationality) class

Language and lace :egion) occasionLanguage and social syste"

9o-er) ideology) olicy) oliteness


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language

eo le

lace Socialsyste"


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Sociolinguists are interested in e& laining -hy -e s ea, differently in different social

conte&ts) -hat are the social functions of language ho- language is used to convey social

"eaning.


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:ay


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Example 1 :ay4 Hi "u". ;u"4 Hi. 2ou*re late. :ay4 2eah) that bastard Sootbuc,et ,e t us in

again. ;u"4


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Example 2: :ay4 Good afternoon, sir . 9rinci le4 What are you doing here at this

time 8 :ay4 Mr Sutton kept us in, sir .


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Example 1: :ay4 Hi mum . ;u"4 Hi, youre late . :ay4 Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in again. ;u"4 Nanas here . :ay4 h sorry. Where is she 8 Example 2:

:ay4 Good afternoon, sir . 9rinci le4 What are you doing here at this time 8 :ay4 Mr Sutton kept us in, sir .


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=reeting4 Hi vs. =ood afternoon

Address4 ;u" vs . Sir :eferring to the teacher 4

that bastard Sootbuc,et vs. ;r Sutton:eferring to the event >e t us in again vs. ,e t us in


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:ay*s utterance tells his "other

-hy he is late) his choice of -ordsho- he feels about the teacher concerned )

tells us

so"ething about his relationshi -ith his "other.


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!he clues -e can get fro" the s eech4 !he relationshi -ith "other4

Inti"ate and friendly !he relationshi -ith the rinci al4/or"al) distant) res ectful


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3e use language to as, for and giveeo le infor"ation .

3e use it to e& ress indignation andannoyance ) as -ell as ad"iration andres ect.


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;argaret 3al,er


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As she arrives ho"e she is greeted by 6 Hi mum % fro"her daughter.

@enny) 6hello dear ) ha-e a good day % fro" her "other. And si" ly 6 youre late again /% fro" her husband.Later in the evening the resident of local flo-er club calls

to as, if she -ould li,e to join. ' Good e-ening, is that Mrs. +illington 87 She as,s. ' No, its Margaret Walker, but my husbands name is

0a-id +illington % ) she ans-er. 'What can 1 do for you 87 /inally calls 6 Hello Meg, sut )yt ti 87


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Languages rovide a variety of -ays ofsaying the sa"e thing.

!he choice of linguistic for" is a usefulclue to non linguistic infor"ation.

Language variation can rovide socialinfor"ation.


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9ractice4 ;a,e a list of all the na"es you are called

by eo le -ho ,no- you. 3ho uses it to you and -hen and -here 8 $o so"e eo le call you by "ore than

one na"e 8


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3e use different e& ressions in differentconte&ts.

Linguistic variation can rovide socialinfor"ation.

' $iff t f " f li i ti


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'. $ifferent for"s of linguisticvariation

!he different -ays -e say things 9ronunciation 3ords =ra""ar

$ialect language


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?&a" le % Sa" 4 2ou seen our enry*s ne- ouse yet8 It*s in

alton you ,no-. @i" 4 I have indeed. I could hardly "iss it Sa".

2our Henry no- o-ns the biggest house in

Halton.Sa" a coal "iner Henry Sa"*s son

@i" Henry*s old friend$ifferent ronunciations


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!"ample 2 5a+ :efuse should be de osited in the rece tacle

rovided. 5b+ 9ut your rubbish in the bin) @ill.

:efuse vs. rubbish$e osit vs. ut:ece tacle vs . bin


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He"nesberget)


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?&a" le ( All the villagers ,no- and use t-o distinct ,inds

of


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!he t-o dialects differ in ronunciation)and -ord for"s.

!he social considerations for the choiceof language4 the artici ant)

social setting)the to ic

ur ose of the interaction.

$ifferent dialects


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Sauris) Italy


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?&a" le E !he adults -ere all trilingual4 =er"an) /riulian) Italian Before 1F(( the village had been art of the Austrian

e" ire) and its villagers all s o,en =er"an.=er"an dialect at the ho"e) and to neighbours andfello- villagers.!he regional language /riulian -ith eo le fro" thesurrounding area outside the village) and in the ub. It isa language of friendshi and solidarity.

Italian tal,ing to those fro" beyond the region) andreading and -riting)at the church and the school. 5@anetHol"es) DD14 (+

$ifferent languages


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Sociolinguists use the ter" variety 5orso"eti"es code+ to refer to language in conte&t.

A variety is a set of linguistic for"s used unders ecific social circu"stances) i.e. -ith adistinctive social distribution.

!herefore) variety is a broad ter" -hich includesdifferent accents) different linguistic style)different dialects and even different languages

-hich contrast -ith each other for socialreasons.

( Social factors in linguistic


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(. Social factors in linguisticvariation

Social factors accounting for the articularvariety used4

1. !he artici ants 4 3ho is s ea,ing and 3ho are they s ea,ing to 8 . !he setting or social conte&ts of the

interaction 4 3hereare they s ea,ing 8 #. !he to ic 4 -hat is being tal,ed about 8 %. !he function 4 -hy are they s ea,ing 8


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Social di"ensions 9artici ants4

solidarity social distance scalestatus scale

Setting for"ality scale

!o ic /unction

:eferential and affective function scales


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!he solidarity C social distancescale

Inti"ate $istant

High solidarity Lo- solidarity

!he scale is useful in e" hasiGing that ho- -ell

-e ,no- so"eone is a relevant factor inlinguistic choice.e.g. ;eg vs. ;rs. Belington


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!he status scale

Su erior high status

Subordinate lo- status

e.g.1. !he use of sir*) ;rs.*) to the lecturer by thestudents

. !he h dro ing reflect so"eone*s lo-er

social grou


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!he for"ality scale

/or"al High for"ality

Infor"alLo- /or"ality

1. Useful in assessing the influence of social setting

or ty e of interaction on language choice.. Often degrees of for"ality are largely deter"inedby solidarity and status relationshi . But notal-ays.


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!he referential and affectivefunction scales

Language can convey objective infor"ation of a referential

,indJ it can also e& ress ho- so"eone is feeling. :eferential

High lo-Infor"ation infor"ationKontent content

affectiveLo- high

Affective affectiveKontent content


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!he referential and affectivefunction scales

!he "ore referentially oriented aninteraction is) the less it tends to e& ressthe feelings of the s ea,er.


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1D 1 1D

#D FD! " # 1 D 1FD

# $%& DD '( )1D #D *

1D +, " -./012345 1 '( "-.46 1 78*

High infor"ation) lo- affective


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9:; ?@ABBCD EFGHIJK L;MNO* PFQHJKRNS*

EFTGHUIVWVXYKZ;M[ PFTQH\]XYZ^* EF_`GHUabIcdZ WXefgh*

PF_`QHdi ajkNS*EFlHImdK*

PFHURn;opNS

lo- infor"ation) high affective


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Konclusion

Linguistic variation occurs at the levels ofsounds) -ord structure) gra""ar) dialects andeven language.

Our choice of linguistic variety de ends on -ho-e are tal,ing to) -here -e are tal,ing) -hat -eare tal,ing and -hy -e are tal,ing.

Language choices convey infor"ation about the

social relationshi s bet-een eo le) socialstatus of eo le) setting of interaction) to ic ofdiscussion and ur ose of discussion.

Documents

Sociolinguistics an Introduction