NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Mid-Semester Exams December, 2020
BS-English 5th Semester (Morning)

Subject: Sociolinguistics Total Marks: 30

Course Code: ELL 305 Time Allowed: 1.30 Hours

Note: Attempt all questions.

Q1. Individual variations among speakers of a specific speech community can be found,
however, we may be impressed by the amount of agreement that is often found among
speakers. Discuss with relevant examples. (15)

Q2. Compare and contrast the given below two definitions of speech communities: (15)
1. “the speech community: any human aggregate characterised by regular and frequent
interaction by means of a shared body of verbal signs and set off from similar aggregates by
significant differences in language use.”
(Gumperz, 1968)

2. “The speech community is not defined by any marked agreement in the use of language
elements, so much as by participation in a set of shared norms; these norms may be observed
in overt types of evaluative behaviour, and by the uniformity of abstract patterns of variation
which are invariant in respect to particular levels of usage” (William Labov, 1972)