Group 7a Sociolinguistics Definitivo

8/12/2019 Group 7a Sociolinguistics Definitivo

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SOCIOLINGUISTICSAPPLIED LINGUISTICS / 3rdYEAR


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1. WHAT IS SL?

Time changes all things; there is no reason why language

should escape this universal law.

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)

Speech is not a personal possession but a social.

Willian Dwight Whitney (1827-1894)


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1. WHAT IS SL?

It sounds too academic

A clue: It must be related to society

An Applied Linguistics branch dealing with the socialfactors which affect the use of language


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1. WHAT IS SL?

Language changes constantlyat different levels and at

diverse places and times (Bright, 1998)


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Language is a symbolic

indicator of behaviour = A

person's background, character,and intentions are judged by the

use of language (Linguistics

Program, n.d.)

1. WHAT IS SL?


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1. WHAT IS SL?

SL channels the interest in the entwining (connection)

of language and society

Two key concepts in SL:

Variation: Language is likely to change

Contact: Language changes spread through

contact (Eble, 2005)


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1. WHAT IS SL?

Social factorsbringing about change in language:

Traditionally, class, ethnicity, age, and sex, together with

educational level, growing up learning or religious beliefs =Attributes of the speaker

But also, social attitudes, cultural differences,

discriminatory language or language policies =Particular to a certain group of people


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1. WHAT IS SL?

SL studies both general issues, e.g. How do religious

beliefs influence on language?, and more specifictopics,

e.g. What are the traces of French in Cajun Vernacular

English?


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2. THE ORIGINS OF SL

Sociolinguistics developed over the last 50

years = a relatively modern discipline

Analysis of language and society in a systematic

way = clear relationship between the two

phenomena

Three progenitors Anthropology, Linguistics

and Sociology (fields which somehow overlap) =

interdisciplinarity of SL


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Sociolinguistics Fathers: William Labov (b. 1927) in the US,

and Basil Bernstein (b. 1924) in the UK

Other terms proposed Sociolinguistics, Sociology ofLanguage and Linguistic Anthropology

SL first mentioned by English anthropologist Thomas Callan

Hodson in 1939 (The origin, 1979)


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Basic notion underlying SL Language as a social

instrument(more than words)

It represents social behaviour (LinguisticsProgram, n.d.)

SL A prominent discipline today

Two trends have characterized SL development:a large number of specialized areas

results applied to social, educational and political problems


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3. ISSUES SL DEALS WITH

Pass the salt!

Would you mind passing the salt?

I think this food could use a little salt

Mm,not a simple matter of sentence structure

This is Sociolinguistics

SL studies both general questions

and particular problems


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A. Gender-mixed vs. Non gender-mixed conversations

Varieties of speech associated with a particular gender

Men use less minimal responses(mhm, yeah) Men use questionsfor information; women for different

purposes

Men are more verbally aggressive inconversation

Mens language is less formalthan women's


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B. Telling jokes

Individual variations: group, person, situation, gender,

age, educational level. (Kuypers, 2006)

Universal patterns: setting and characters

a Dutchman, a German and a Belgian

a man walks into a bar

a married couple

a dumb blonde

a woman at the doctor's

a fly in the soup



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C. Status of French and English in Canada

Official languages since 1982

Mother tongue: 60% English vs. 24% French

Canadian English: British and American elements

Canadian French: Status worse than European French + Many

Anglicisms: anyway, checker, cute, whatever, etc.

Before: English as the language of prestige and business Now: Canadian French in both social and economic life


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D. Status of English in the United States

82% English / 12% Spanish

Several unsuccessful legislative proposals

American English + Canadian English = North AmericanEnglish

Spanglish:bilingual speakers in the U.S.

Gloria: Open my gift!

Jay: Here we have a phonein the shape of a mouth!Gloria: Youre welcome! Very sexy!

Jay: Dont tell me. I mentioned a few times that I would

like to have a saxophone and you give me thisI got it!

Is this a sexy-phone?

Gloria: Happy birthday!!!(Taken from Modern Family)


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4. BRANCHES OF SL

SL covers many sub-fields which are given several different

names. Among the most known ones there are (Trudgill,

2003):

Language Variation and Change

Pidgin and Creole Languages

Language Attitude Studies


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4. BRANCHES OF SL

Dialectology: The study of regional or social varieties of a

language

Social Dialectology: The study of a variety of speech

associated with a particular group within a society

Functional Variation (Register):The study of how

language is used differently by individuals for a specific

purpose or in a particular social context

Language variation and change


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4. BRANCHES OF SL

Study of how people evaluate othersbased on the

language behaviour they observe

Two major approaches:

Behaviourist attitudes are in people's responses tosocial situations

Mentalist attitudes as a reflection of an internal

state

Language Attitude Studies


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4. BRANCHES OF SL

A question open to debate:Does it make any sense to propose a classification on the

basis of the aspect of language affected, that is,

vocabulary, grammar and/or pronunciation?


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4. BRANCHES OF SL

Example:Vocabulary change

Slang words that are non standard in formal conversation

Jargon words that are used in specialised environments


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5. CONCLUSIONS

An AL branch dealing with the social factors which affect the use of language

Traditionally, class, ethnicity, age, and sex (Attributes of the speaker). But

also social attitudes, cultural differences, or language policies (Particular to a

group of people)

A relatively modern discipline / The term was used for the first time in 1939

Interdisciplinarity of SL steming from Anthropology, Linguistics and Sociology

SL studies both general issues, e.g. How does humour work? and particularproblems, e.g. Which is the status of French in Canada?

Many sub-fields within SL: Language variation and change + Pidgin and Creole

Languages + Language Attitude Studies, etc.


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6. SOURCES

Part 1. What is SL?

Bright, W. (1998). Social factors in language change. In F. Coulmas (Ed.), The handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 82-91). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Downes, W. (1998). Language and Society. (2nd ed.). Cambridge: CUP.

Eble, C. (2005). What is Sociolinguistics? Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/sociolinguistics/sociolinguistics/#eble

Linguistics at NC State University. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.ncsu.edu/linguistics/aboutsociolinguistics.php

Part 2. The origins of SL

The origin of Sociolinguistics. (1979). In Language in society. Retrieved October 12, 2011 from

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=LSY&tab=currentissue

Jaffe, A. (Ed.). (2009). Sociolinguistics perspectives. Oxford: OUP.

Meyerhoff, M. (2006). Introducing Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Routledge.

Part 3. Issues SL deals with

Bilous, F. R., & Krauss, R. M. (1988). Dominance and accomodation in the conversational behaviours of same- and mixed-gender dyads. Language &

Communication, 8, 3, 183-194.

Bond, K. (2001). French as a minority language in bilingual Canada. In Karen s Linguistics Issues Web page. Retrieved October 26, 2011.

Kuyper, G. (2006). Good humour, bad taste: A sociology of the joke. Berln: Walter de Gruyter.

Part 4. Branches of SL

Ammon, U., Dittmar, N., & Mattheier, K. J. (2004). International handbook of the science of language and society. (2nd ed.). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

Trudgill, P. (2003).A glossary of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: OUP.

http://www.hevanet.com/alexwest/pidgin.html


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Sociolinguistics: An invitation*

They worked as a team:

Beatriz Guilln Velasco

Mara Garca Parra

Mari Carmen Garca Snchez

Jos Jimeno Serrano

We hope you have enjoyed the presentation

Thanksfor your attention

Group 7a Sociolinguistics Definitivo

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