INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

RESUME

SOCIOLINGUISTICS

Lecturer :

Bunga Ayu Wulandari, S.pd., M.Eng., Ph.D

Created by :

Utami Putri Ingerti (RRA1B215003)

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

MAJOR OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITAS JAMBI

2017
 FIRST MEETING
SOCIOLINGUISTICS

 What is sociolinguistics ?

As a general, sociolingusitics known as relationship between language and

society and the context. We also called it as a social identity even education reflect.
Because the way people talk is influenced by social context in which they are talking.
We can take an example in our daily activity that we change our style in
communication based on the context.

We can take example from the book between Ray and his mother. Ray has a
problem in his school. And tell it to his mother about his annoyance to his teacher.
He used rude utterance to express his anger. His mother understood. And she
changed topic to reduce Ray’s anger. And we know it, both of them have a good
relationship. (an intimate and friendly one)
Another example is when we feel annoy or angry with our teacher in school,
because the teacher asks to go out from his class, and the headmaster ask to us what
going on is, we still used a politeness utterance. And it is because we know the status
of headmaster higher than us as a student.

 What is a sociolinguist ?

Based on the example, This response indicated Ray’s awareness of the social
factors which influence the choice of appropriate ways of speaking in different social
contexts. And it is known as Sociolinguistics, is concerned with the relationship
between language and the context in which it is used.

 Why do we say the same things in different way ?

We can take example from book, in page 3. We know that Languages provide
a variety of ways of saying the same thing. Such as addressing and greeting others,
describing things, paying compliments. As examples 1 and 2 illustrate, we choose
provide clues to social factors, such as the relationship between people in some
situations, and how the speaker feels about the target person. In example 3 ,
Margaret’s mother’s choice of dear expresses to express her feelings towards
Margaret. If she had been annoyed with her daughter, maybe she just says name
Margaret , or not greeted her at all. The choice of one linguistic form rather than
 another is a useful clue to nonlinguistic information. Linguistic variation can provide
social information.

 What are the different ways we say things ?

Example 4
Sam : You seen our ‘enry’s new ‘ouse yet? It’s in ‘alton you know.
Jim : I have indeed. I could hardly miss it Sam. Your Henry now owns the
biggest house in Halton.

Based on the example, it illustrated of social influences on language choice.

Sociolinguists are also interested in the different types of linguistic variation used to
express and reflect social factors. We can see that Sam missed some vowel of words
than Jim didn’t. Between Sam and Jim, they have different social backgrounds, even
different educations and occupations and that is indicated by their speech. As far as I
know, someone that talk such Sam do, it is indicate that low education. For example like
using word “Ain’t”.
And also when we talk with the person that sale something in traditional market,
someone that manage many vehicles in the road/park, talk to our lecturer, or talk with
someone who has higher status than us, outomaticaly we change our style to speak and
we choose words that appropriate with whom that we talk. (language choice)

 Social factors, dimensions, and explanations

Social Factors :
It has relation with the participants or others relate to its uses, even the social
setting and function of the interaction.
and we can consider some things, such as :
1. The participants:
(a) who is speaking ?
(b) who are they speaking to ?
2. The setting or social context of the interaction: where are they speaking?
3. The topic : what is being talked about?
4. The function : why are they speaking?

Social dimensions :
These are:
1. A social distance scale concerned with participant relationships. (low & High
solidarity)
2. A status scale concerned with participant relationships. (low & high status)
e.g : Between President and citizent / teacher and student
3. A formality scale relating to the setting or type of interaction. (formal & informal)
e.g : - when we talk with our friend, it usually use informal situation.
- Such as seminar or coverence, it use formal situation. and exactly, we
change our style in speaking in that situation.
4. Two functional scales relating to the purposes or topic of interaction.
(The referential and affective function scales)
Language can convey objective information of a referential kind and it can also
express how someone is feeling.

Explanations :
The first two steps which need to be taken are:
1. to identify clearly the linguistic variation involved (e.g. vocabulary, sounds,
grammatical constructions, styles, dialects, languages)
2. to identify clearly the different social or non-linguistic factors which lead
speakers to use one form rather than another (e.g. features relating to
participants, setting or function of the interaction).

The relationship between linguistic choices and the social contexts in which they are
made is sometimes easiest to see when different languages are involved.
 SECOND MEETING

Language choice in multilingual communities

 Choosing your variety or code

Code  a neutral term (language, dialect, etc)

Choosing a code is a situation which people communicate with others by
choosing their appropriate system or language.
A person might use different code when he or she talks to different people.
This choice of code is determined by several factors, such as to whom he/she is
talking, the social context of the talk, and the function and topic of the discussion.
This is very useful, particularly when it is used to describe code choice in large
speech community, to talk at typical interaction.
People may select a particular code because it makes easier to disscuss a
topic, regardless of where they are speaking.
For example like, when I was in Java, I used bahasa to speak to other people.
Because if I still use Jambi language they will not understand what I am saying.
There are social factor that affecting code choice :
a. Social distance
b. Status relationship between people
c. Formality
d. Function or goal of the interaction.

Domains of language use involves typical interaction between typical participants in

typical setting, such as family, friendship, school, and work place. in addition to
domains, dimensions also influencing code choice.
In this part, we change our topic discussion depend on with whom we speak.

Modelling variety or code choice :

a. It is depend on participants, setting, and topic.
b. Also the language choice.

 Diglossia

Diaglossia refers to a situation in which two dialects or languages are used by a

single language community.
Diglossia is a characteristic of speech communities rather than individuals. Diglossia
has three crucial features:
1. Two distinct varieties of the same language are used in the community, with one
regarded as a high (or H) variety and the other a low (or L) variety.
2. Each variety is used for quite distinct functions; H and L complement each other.
3. No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation.

the basis of when H will be used and when L will be used in diglossic communities.
 High Variety Low Variety
Religion H
Literature H
Newspaper H
Broadcasting : Tv news H
Education (written material, lectures) H
Education (lesson discussion) L
Broadcasting : Radio L
Shopping L
Gossiping L

No one uses H for everyday interaction. But it is still depend on the context. Different
with arabic-speaking country, Arabic is revered as the language of the Al-Quran.

Polyglossia
The term polyglossia has been used for situations like where a community regularly uses
more than three languages. For example like kalalas’ case, it has 40 varieties.

 Code-switching or code-mixing
Participants, solidarity and status

Example
[ The Maori is in italics. THE TRANSLATION IS IN SMALL CAPITALS. ]
Sarah : I think everyone’s here except Mere.
John : She said she might be a bit late but actually I think that’s her arriving now.
Sarah : You’re right. Kia ora Mere. Haere mai. Kei te pehea koe ?
[ HI MERE. COME IN. HOW ARE YOU ?]
Mere : Kia ora e hoa. Kei te pai . Have you started yet?
[ HELLO MY FRIEND. I’M FINE ]

People sometimes did code-mixing if they are making conversations. Such as the
example above and also in our daily activity. One case like saying goodbye to friends
after the class. “Hati-hati ya, see you tomorrow”. It combined between Bahasa and
English. Or even take from region language such as Java “Sayurnya iki piro, bu ?”.
The reason people did it because as a signal of group membership and shared
ethnicity with an addressee. And we can call it as a solidarity if we met people with
the same background language. Then the status relations between people of their
interaction. Another reason is to exclude someone. It is mean that tell something
and make people around the speaker don’t understand. Usually tell about secret, the
important things or others.
 THIRD MEETING

Language maintenance and shift

 Language shift in different communities

Migrant minorities
It is talk about Language shift, is language transfer or language replacement by a
speech community to speaking another language. It is happen when the language of
soecity more influence in that situation and displace the minority of mother tongue.
For example such as occupation. And also we can take example from book of
Maniben’s experience. it is typical for those who use a minority language in a
predominantly monolingual culture and society. Before she uses English in her daily
activity, she used Gujerati language.
Language shift is not always the result of migration. Political, economic (work) and
social changes can occur within a community, and this may result in linguistic
changes too.

Non-migrant communities
Non-migrant communities can also experience language shift as the result of today’s
world era which is forcing a new term of a good life. The new term here means, if
you want to get a good job or beauiful wife, then you have to be able to speak
English fluently. Speaking English fluently will bring you a better job and that also
resulting in a better life. That also creates new fact of why English language is
important in globalization era these days.

Migrant majorities
We can see an example that how the whites came to America which formerly
inhabited by Indian tribes. They came as migrant majority and brought their own
language, that is English language and later on it became the first language used by
them until now.

 Language death and language loss

when all the people who speak a language die, the language dies with them.

 Factors contributing to language shift

We can see clearly some factors contributing language shift from those explanations
are economic, political, social, demographic, attitude and values.
Economic : the important of learning L2 for a better job and living. Most of people
learn English and also Mandarin because these two languages share a great
contribution in economic and political aspect. (business)
 Attitude and values : when the language is seen as an important symbol of ethnic
identity, it will be maintained longer and vise versa.

 How can a minority language be maintained ?

It is about the time. Where language is considered an important symbol of a minority
group’s identity, for example, the language is likely to be maintained longer and vise
versa.
 If families from a minority group live near each other and see each other
frequently, their interactions will help to maintain the language.
 Intermarriage within the same minority group is helpful to maintain the
native language.
 In one family such as children and grandchildren live together and use the
same minority language can help to maintain it.
 And also a language can be maintained when it is valued as an symbol of
identity for the minority group.
 FOURTH MEETING

Linguistics varieties and multilingual nations

 Vernacular languages
It generally refers to a language which has not been standardised and which does
not have official status. There are three components of the meaning of the term
vernacular, then. The most basic refers to the fact that a vernacular is an uncodified
or unstandardised variety. The second refers to the way it is acquired – in the home,
as a first variety. The third is the fact that it is used for relatively circumscribed
functions.
the term vernacular is sometimes used to indicate that a language is used for
everyday interaction, without implying that it is appropriate only in informal
domains.

 Standard languages
A standard variety is generally one which is written, and which has undergone some
degree of regularisation or codification (for example, in a grammar and a
dictionary); it is recognised as a prestigious variety or code by a community, and it is
used for H functions alongside a diversity of L varieties.

World Englishes
Is a term for emerging localized or indigenized varieties of English, especially
varieties that have developed in territories influenced by the United Kingdom. World
English refers to the English language as a lingua franca used in business, trade, and
other spheres of global activity. World Englishes refers to the different varieties of
English and English-based creoles developed in different regions of the world.

Model’s of world Englishes Kachru’s model.

Expanding circle
(china,korea,arabia,taiwan,
turkey)
Inner circle
ooo
(US,UK,Canada,
Australia)

Outer circle
(bangladesh,zambia,south
africa,pakistan)
1. Inner circle
Refers to the parent countries of English or the colonising nations such as Britain.
2. Outer circle
A second or nonactive language and use in different functional domain, such as
government, education, law, and so on.
3. Expanding circle
Is considered as a foreign language and is used in highly resctricted domains such as
for international communication

 Lingua francas
A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native
language are different. Lingua francas often develop initially as trade languages.

 Pidgin and creoles

A pidgin is a language which has no native speakers. Pidgins develop as a means of
communication between people who do not have a common language. So a pidgin
is no one’s native language. Pidgin languages are created from the combined efforts
of people who speak different languages. A creole is a pidgin which has become the
mother tongue of a community and it has native speakers.
 FIFTH MEETING
National languages and language planning

 National and official languages

National language refers to some language that has some particularly status within
the nation.
It is the main language of political, social, and cultural practices, where people use it
as a symbol of their national unity or official language is the language used by
government for formal situation. For example such as Bahasa Indonesia that we
always use in our country. Or English and French are both official languages in
Canada.

What price a national language?

Many countries have regarded the development of a single national language as a
way of symbolising the unity of a nation. ‘One nation, one language’ has been a
popular and effective slogan. Such as Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesia, English in
England, French in Frence and so on.

 Planning for a national language

 Selection : selecting the variety or code to by developed.
 Codification : standardising its structural or linguistic features.
 Elaboration : extending its functions for use in new domains.
 Securing and acceptance : acceptance by people in term of attitude &
prestige.

 The linguist’s role in language planning

Linguist have played an important role at the micro level of language planning
activates. Many of them work as members of communities with a lot of infuence on
language planning, and expecially on the standardization or codification of a
particular variety.

Acquisition planning  sociolinguists can make a contribution to organized efforts

to spread a language by increasing the number of its users, by using it in the
education system ( language in education planning) or in the media domains such as
newspapers, radios, and other.
 SIXTH MEETING
Regional and social dialects

 Regional variation

Example 2
A British visitor to New Zealand decided that while he was in Auckland he
would look up an old friend from his war days. He found the address,
walked up the path and knocked on the door.
‘Gidday,’ said the young man who opened the door. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I’ve called to see me old mate Don Stone,’ said the visitor.
‘Oh he’s dead now mate,’ said the young man.

The visitor was about to express condolences when he was thumped on the
back by Don Stone himself. The young man had said, ‘Here’s dad now mate’,
as his father came in the gate.

To British ears, a New Zealander’s dad sounds like an English person’s dead , bad
sounds like bed and six sounds like sucks . Americans and Australians, as well as New
Zealanders, tell of British visitors who were given pens instead of pins and pans
instead of pens .
Pronunciation and vocabulary differences are probably the differences people are
most aware of between different dialects of English, but there are grammatical
differences too.
Accents : accents are distinguished from each other by pronounciation.
Dialects : linguistic varieties which are distinguishable by their vocabulary, grammar,
and pronounciation.
Example :
British American
Pavement Sidewalk
Boot Trunk
Bonnet Hood
Petrol Gas
Baggage Luggage

 Social dialects
A variety of language that reflect social variation in language use, according to
certain factors related to the social group of the speaker such as education,
occupation, income level (upper-class English, middle-class English and lower-class
English). For example : standard English classified as a type of social English spoken
by the well-educated English speakers throughout the world.
  Recieved pronounciation (the Queen English) or BBC English (the accent of
the best educated and most prestigious members of English society) is
classified as a social accent.

Caste dialects
A person’s dialect is an indication of their social background. One example we can
take from our country.

An Indonesian student at a British university was trying to explain to her English

friend the complications of social dialects in Java and the ways in which
Javanese speakers signal their social background. ‘It is much harder than in
English,’ she said.
‘It is not just a matter of saying sofa instead of couch , or house rather than
’ouse . Every time you talk to a different person you have to choose exactly the
right words and the right pronunciations. Almost every word is different and
they fi t together in patterns or levels, depending on who you are talking to.
Because I am well-educated and come from a rich family, I am expected to use
five different levels of language.’

Javanese social status is indicated not just in choice of linguistic forms but also in the
particular combinations of forms which each social group customarily uses, i.e. the
varieties or stylistic levels that together make up the group’s distinctive dialect.

Or simple example that I have met, such as : Javanese hard to hide their accent when
they speak English even Bahasa. They still use their dialect.

 Social dialect research in many different countries has revealed a consistent

relationship between social class and language patterns. People from
different social classes speak differently.
 The language one uses often reflects one’s social identity and education, for
example : dropping the initial H in words like house and use of “ain’t” can
indicate a lower socioeconomic background. On the other hand, pronouncing
the letter R in the city of New York is considered as a prestigious feature, but
the opposite is true in London.
 SEVENTH MEETING
Gender and age

 Gender-exclusive speech differences : highly structured communities

Before we begin into deep of the material, first we have to differenciate between
terms sex and gender:
sex  more often associated with biological characteristics
gender  more appropriate for discussing socio-cultural behaviour

Then, also we have to know first that women and men, children and adult speak
differently. It is influence because of their culture and social.
And it also has a opinion such :

It is claimed that women are linguistically more polite

than men

How are the language forms used by men and women different in western societies, give examples?

In western societies, women and men whose social roles are similar do not use forms
that are completely different, but they use different quantities or frequencies of the
same form. For example: women use more standard forms than men, and men use more
vernacular forms than women / women use more ing-forms than men and fewer ing-
forms in words like coming or running. But in western communities, such differences are
also found in the speech of different social classes, therefore the language of women in
the lower and higher classes is more similar to that of men in the same group.

Explain women's linguistic behavior (using forms that are more standard):

1. Social status: women generally have a lower social status in society; therefore they
try to acquire social status by using Standard English.
2. Women's role as guardian of society's values: women use more standard forms
than men, because society tends to expect 'better' behavior from women than from
men (women serve as modals for their children's speech).
3. Subordinate groups must be polite: women use more standard forms than men,
because children and women are subordinate groups and they must avoid offending
men, therefore they must speak carefully and politely.
 4. Vernacular forms express machismo: men prefer vernacular forms because they
carry macho connotations of masculinity and toughness. Therefore women might
not want to use such form, and use standard forms that associated with female
values or femininity.
5. Women's categories: Not all women marry men from the same social class, however
it is perfectly possible for a women to be more educated then the man she marry, or
even to have a more prestigious job than him.
6. The influence of the interviewer and the context: women tend to become more
cooperative conversationalists than men.

 Gender-preferential speech features: social dialect research

Western urban communities  social roles overlap, speech forms also overlap
Different quantities or frequencies of the same forms Collected data
 (for English) shows that women use more –ing [iŋ] and fewer -in’ [in]
pronunciations
 In Canada, the pronunciation of [l] in chunks such as il y a and il fait differs
between women and men
 In Australia, some men and women pronounce the initial sound in thing as
[f], but men do it more than women

Women  more use standard forms

Men  more use vernacular forms