prep eng 242 intro to sociolinguistics€¦ · web viewdiglossia. a linguistic division of labor....

ENG 242: SociolinguisticsDr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Purpose of this material: a) Supplementary notes to textbookb) Weekly, lesson-by-lesson review guide

Chapter 1: What do sociolinguists study?

1. What is a sociolinguist?

He/she who studies relationship between language and society:

a. Why we speak differently in different contexts

b. The social functions of language

c. How language conveys social meaning

2. Why do we say the same thing in different ways?

a. Relationship between people: formal/informal; patient/impatient; ethnic closeness/distance

b. Attitude towards others: nice/rude; kind/indifferent

c. Topic of discussions

d. Social setting

3. What are the different ways we say things? (that is, varieties)

a. Vocabulary (choice of words)

b. Sounds

c. Word structure (morphology)

d. Grammar (syntax): active/passive

e. Dialect

f. Language

4. Social factors, dimensions and explanations

a. Social factors: participants (who?), setting (where?), topic (what?), function (why?)

b. Dimensions: social distance scale, status scale, formality scale, functional scales

Functional Scales: referential (WHAT?) versus affective (HOW?)

c. Explanations: linguistic variation; social factors

ENG 242: Sociolinguistics

Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Chapter 2: Language choice and multilingual communities

1. Choosing your variety or code

a. What is your linguistic repertoire?

b. Domains of language use: family, friendship, religion, education, employment

c. Modeling variety or code choice

d. Other social factors affecting code choice

i. Social distance

ii. Status

iii. Formality

iv. Function

2. Diglossia

a. A linguistic division of labor

2 distinct varieties used in the community; one high (H), another low (L)

Each variety for distinct functions

High variety not used in everyday conversation

Differences: pronunciation, grammar (syntax), lexicon (vocabulary)

b. Attitudes to H vs L in a diglossia situation: respect & admiration for H; denigration of L

c. Diglossia with and without bilingualism

d. Extending the scope of “diglossia”

e. Polyglossia

f. Changes in a diglossia situation

3. Code-Switching or Code-Mixing, 35

a. Participants, solidarity, and status

b. Topic

c. Switching for affective functions

d. Metaphorical switching

e. Lexical borrowing

f. Linguistic constraints

g. Attitudes to code-switching

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Chapter 4: Linguistic Varieties and Multilingual Nations

1. Vernacular languages

a. Unstandardized, uncodified, and without official status

b. Acquired at home Vs. school

c. Used for limited functions

d. Defs.:

i. UNESCO: the first language of a group socially or politically dominated by a group

with a different language

ii. A language which is not an official language in a particular context.

iii. In a monolingual community: the most informal and colloquial variety of a language

which may also have a standardized variety.

iv. A language that is used for everyday interactions (without implying that it is

appropriate only for informal domains

2. Standard languages

a. Def.: A variety which is written and which has undergone some degree of

regularization/codification; it is recognized as a prestigious variety/code by a community, and it

is used for H functions alongside a diversity of L varieties.

b. Codification: Achieved through grammars, and dictionaries which record, and sometimes,

prescribe, the standard forms of the language.

c. Three important criteria in development of standard English:

i. Influential/prestigious variety

ii. Codified and stabilized

iii. Served H functions

d. Note: A standard dialect has no particular linguistics merrier; it merely reflects the dialect of

the politically powerful and socially prestigious.

e. World Englishes: UK, US, Nigeria, Australia, India, Singapore, South Africa, Malaysia…

i. Standard English has served as a “bridge” in areas/communities where there are other

dialectal varieties of English.

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ii. Standard English has served as a language of wider communication (LWC) in

multilingual countries, such as India, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and sub-

Saharan Africa.

iii. The varieties:

1. Singlish (Singapore): distinctive stress patterns, vocabulary, grammar,

semantic concepts

2. Indian E: distinctive stress patterns, vocabulary, and end-tag kya (“right?”)

3. Inner-circle English varieties: spoken in predominantly monolingual countries

(US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia)

3. Lingua francas: Defs.:

a. “a language of communication between two people,” p. 81

b. A language of wider communication, p. 81

c. “a language serving as a regular means of communication between different linguistic groups

in a multilingual speech community,” p. 81

4. Pidgins and creoles

a. Def.: “a means of communication between people who do not have a common language,” p. 84

Based on this definition, a pidgin cannot be a mother tongue.

b. Why do pidgins develop?

i. Slave trade (Caribbean)

ii. Trade/commerce

5. Linguistic structures of pidgin languages

a. Lexicon based on “prestige” language

b. Grammar based on vernacular languages

c. Characteristics:

i. Linguistic: simplified structure, small vocabulary, no inflections (for tense, number, or

gender)

ii. Restricted domains and functions

iii. Generally has low prestige & attracts negative attitudes

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

d. Attitudes: Do not have high status or prestige

i. Among non-speakers: ridiculous, funny

ii. Among Europeans: debased forms of European languages

iii. Among speakers: ???

6. Creoles

a. Def.: “a pidgin which has acquired native speakers,” 88

b. Differ from pidgins in range of functions, structure, & attitudes towards them

i. Australian Roper River Creole

ii. Cameroon Pidgin English

iii. Functions as lingua francas: used extensively during the day, in market, at church, in

offices, on public transport, & at home

iv. Once developed, a creole may e used just like any “prestige” or high status language—

in politics, education, administration, & original literature.

c. Attitudes: Among speakers—positive:

i. Tok Pisin: high status and prestige in Papua New Guinea

ii. Haitian Creole: strong loyalty as it better expresses people’s feelings

7. Origins and endings: arguments

a. Common origin for all pidgins and creoles—back to 15th-century Portuguese pidgin

b. Separate/independent origins

c. Decreolization--definition: When features of a creole tend to change in the direction of a

competing standard variety in a community with no social barriers, 93

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Homework (15 points of Test 1—out of 50 points; due at start of test)In our discussion of Chapter 4 (Language choice and multilingual communities), we talked about lexical borrowing as an aspect of languages coming in contact with each other. Think about various situations and interactions between people in Oman (business, education, government, home, TV, newspapers…) and identify the influence that Arabic has on other languages and vice versa (i.e., how other languages have influenced Arabic). Also think about what you hear/read in other languages, and then make lists of borrowed words and acronyms as shown below. In each case, indicate the origin, the meaning, and any other information about usage.

Borrowings from ArabicIdentify the borrowing, the target/receiving language, the meaning in the target language, and the current meaning in Arabic.

Borrowings into ArabicIdentify the borrowing, the source language, the original meaning in the source language, and the current meaning in Arabic.

Borrowed acronyms into ArabicIdentify popular acronyms that have entered the Arabic from other languages

Borrowings from Arabic (5 items, 5 points)Borrowing Target/receiving

languageCurrent meaning in Arabic Original meaning

Borrowings into Arabic (5 items, 5 points)Borrowing Source language Original meaning Current meaning in Arabic

Borrowed acronyms into Arabic (5 items, 5 points)Borrowing Source language Full meaning

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Chapter 5: National Languages and Language PlanningIntro.: Guarani, Paraguay:

Spoken by 90% of the population

Preferred to Spanish (the official language)

Is a national language

Unique in Latin America

1. National and Official Languages

Definitions: a. National language: “the language of a political, cultural, and social unit,” 100

b. Official language: “a language which may be used for government business,” 100

Functions: a. National language: national identification and unity

b. Official language: for internal/national and external/international communication and

functions

Official status and minority languages

English: The world's lingua franca?

Yet not official where it is native!

What is the “price” of a national language?

-national identity

-serves as a unifying rallying point

-cost not an issue if the country doesn't have many competing languages

-political power and language choice: Filipino (new name for Tagalog) vs. Malay (Indonesian trade

language)

-India and Africa

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

2. Planning for a national official language

Form, functions, and attitudes

Choice of Swahili in Tanzania: pragmatic and ideological

-Serves as a lingua franca

-Provides an economical solution

-Provides a culturally acceptable symbol of unity

-Convenient compromise

3. Developing a standard variety in Norway (independent reading)

Selecting a code

Codification and elaboration

Acceptance

4. The linguist's role in language planning

Language academies; committees, commissions, & academics; missionaries

Codification of orthography

Developing a vocabulary

-For more specialized and formal domains (math, geography, law, government?)

-Acceptance

-Acquisition planning

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Ch. 7: Gender and Age, 157

1. Gender and Exclusive Speech Differences: Highly Structured Communities

The Amazon Indians: inter-tribal marriage

The Gros Ventre American Indian tribe (Montana, USA): differences in pronunciation and

morphology

Yana and Chiquita (N. Ameriacan and S. American Indian langs.) suffixation of some men’s

forms

Traditional Japanese: prefixation of some women’s nouns; differences in vocabulary

Bengali (India): younger persons not allowed to address elder by name; wives may not call

husbands by name

Oman/Middle East??

2. Gender-Preferential Speech Features: Social Dialect Research

Yorkshire, UK: Ms. (boys), Mrs. (girls)

More –ing [ ] vs. [in] for women than men

Montreal: more l-deletions in “il fait”, “il y a” for men than women

Sydney: more [f] for [] as thing for men than women

3. Gender and Social Class

Deletions: initial “h”

-ing vs. -in

Homework assignment : Identify the speech differences between Omani men and women.

Explain the differences

USA (Detroit) —double negatives: more by men than women

Men: informal/colloquial

Women: informal/”correct” standard/favored

Boys: -in; cluster simplification: las, tol,

Girls: -ing; regular forms: last, told

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

4. Explanations of Women’s Linguistic Behaviour

a) social status

women more status conscious than men

US and Ireland: Women in the workforce use more standard forms than unemployed or stay-

home moms.

b) Women’s role as guardian of society’s values: higher expectations of women than men

c) Subordinate groups must be polite:

Subordination = politeness

Need to safe face vs. lose face

Turn argument on its head, bottom p. 169

d) vernacular forms express machismo

Macho connotations of masculinity and toughness

Usage has covert prestige (vs. overt prestige of standard)

Standard forms tend to e associated with female values and femininity.

YET vernacular forms also generally associated w/ relaxed, casual, informal settings for men

AND women!

e) Some alternative explanations:

Categorization of women: Researchers using women’s husbands’ occupations as a major

criterion in assigning women to a particular social class

Problem: Women may be more educated and, thus, have a more prestigious job than their

husbands!

Influence of interviewer and context: When people wish to be cooperative, they tend to

accommodate; they tend to accommodate to the speech of the interlocutor/interviewer

collecting the data.

Women interviewed by highly educated male strangers, while men interviewed by other men.

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Different interview questions for men than for women, p. 170:

o Women: childhood games, skipping rhymes

o Men: fights, terms for girls’ sexual organs

Results: -Men’s use of vernacular forms a function of interview Qs.: different for men than

women

-Women’s greater use of standard speech forms—an indication of their sensitivity

to contextual factors: a) social distance

b) social status and role

5. Age-Graded Features of Speech, 173

Voice pitch

Physical growth

Vocabulary: swear words, slang

Pronunciation: presence/absence of [t] vs. [?]

Grammar

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

For Test 2 (chapters 5 & 7): Terminology

national language

language planning

gender-exclusive features

official language

status planning

age-graded features of speech

machismo

corpus planning

contextual factors of speech

government business

social class

gender-preferential features

national language planning

selection

codification

elaboration

securing acceptance

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Ch. 11: Speech Functions, Politeness, and Cross-cultural Communication, 270

Speech Functions, 271

Expressive

Directive

Referential

Metalinguistic

Poetic

Phatic

Heuristic (learning)

Commissive (promises & threats)

Performative (declarations, vows, bets)

Directives, 273

As with much interpersonal communication, context is critical (or important), and these factors must be taken

into consideration: social distance, relative status, and degree of formality.

Generality: imperatives between close acquaintances or to subordinates; interrogatives & declaratives between

non-acquaintances.

Politeness and Address Forms, 280

Politeness—culturally determined (how about Oman?)

Directness/bluntness: cultural

The use of “please”:

Children: politeness

Adults: make a directive less polite and more imperative (not allowing for contradiction or refusal)

Definition of politeness: taking into account the feelings of others

Positive politeness: oriented towards solidarity

Negative politeness: oriented towards respect; minimizes intrusion

Linguistic Politeness in Different Cultures, 287

Individual review & note-taking

H/W: Identify linguistic and nonlinguistic expressions of politeness in Oman (and, if you can, in the Middle

East). Explain them as best you can.

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Ch. 12: Gender, Politeness, and Stereotypes

1. Women’s Language and Confidence

Social dialectologists: Women are conscious of their status

==►use of standard speech forms (Ch. 7)

Robin Lakoff: Women use language which reinforces their subordinate status

==►They contribute to the subordinate position through their speech.

a. Features of “women’s language” (Lakoff), 298

*Classification of devices: Hedgers (to weaken)

Boosters (to strengthen)

*Both signal lack of confidence, according to Lakoff.

*Problem of research methodology:

Lab conditions with assigned topics

Artificial constraints (separating screen)

Most subjects university students

Unsophisticated data analysis

b. Lakoff’s politeness devices

*Tag questions: -Express uncertainty (rising tone)

-Affective meaning (falling intonation)

-Facilitative

-Soften criticism (Ex. 8)

-Confrontational & coercive (Ex. 9)

*Conclusion: -Women are facilitative & supportive conversationalists (not

unconfident/tentative)

-Consistent with Ch. 7 – use of standard forms

-Women accommodate to the speech of addressees.

-Women are considerate of addressees

-Explanation of women’s ling. Differences between men & women

based on status and power alone likely to be unsatisfactory.

2. Interactions (control of air time)

a. Interruptions (Tables 12.2 & 12.3; Exs. 11, 12; Exercise 5)

b. Feedback (Ex. 12)

c. Explanations

3. Gossip

a. Def.: Idle talk, characteristic of women’s interactions

b. Purpose: -Relieve feelings

-Reinforce shared values

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

c. Characteristics: -Express feelings (affective function)

-Propositions qualified

-Propositions intensified

-Frequent use of facilitative tags

-Completion of other’s utterances

-Frequent agreement

-Supportive feedback

d. Characteristics of men’s gossip:

-Focus on information – things/actions (vs. pers. Experiences/feelings)

-Topics: sports, cars, possessions

-Long pauses (silence)

-Frequent challenge of previous speaker’s position

-Attempt to out-perform previous speaker (vs. being supportive)

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Language Bias: Identifying and correcting sexist language

A. Underline the sexist language in the sentences below, and then rewrite the sentences in gender-neutral

language.

1. On the first day, God made man.

_________________________________________________________________________________

2. Anyone who arrives late will lose his seat.

_________________________________________________________________________________

3. The woman doctor assisted the doctors throughout the delicate operation.

_________________________________________________________________________________

B. Compose your own sentences that contain sexist language. Correct them!

1. _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

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Dr. Funwi AYUNINJAM

Review

Final Examination:

Based on Chapters 7, 11, & 12

Exam Format:

Terminology (matching)

Identification questions (requiring short answers)

Paragraph questions (requiring full answers)

Chs. 7, 11, & 12 Terminology

Gender-exclusive featuresAge-graded features of speechMachismoContextual factors of speechGender-preferential features

Positive politeness & negative politenessCross-cultural communicationStereotypesSpeech functionExpressive functionDirective functionReferential functionMetalinguistic functionPoetic functionPhatic functionHeuristic functionCommissive functionPerformative functionLanguage register

GossipGender identitySexist languageWomen’s languageLexical hedges/hedging devicesBoosting devicesPoliteness devicesFeedback (female vs. male)

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prep eng 242 intro to sociolinguistics€¦ · web viewdiglossia. a linguistic division of labor....

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