Sociolinguistics PDF - 4th Year Primary Education

Sociolinguistics 4th year, Primary Education 1st term, Sept-Dec 2024 Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 1  SESSION 2 MICRO- & MACRO SOCIOLINGUISTICS Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 2  Major Issues of Micro-sociolinguistics Small talk (or phatic communion as coined by MALI...

Sociolinguistics 4th year, Primary Education 1st term, Sept-Dec 2024 Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 1  SESSION 2 MICRO- & MACRO SOCIOLINGUISTICS Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 2  Major Issues of Micro-sociolinguistics Small talk (or phatic communion as coined by MALINOWSKI) : It is the use of language to share feelings or establish a mood of sociability. It is usually represented by ritualised formulas, e.g. exchanges about the weather and time, intended to attract the attention of the listener or extend communication. In short, a phatic utterance communicates not ideas but attitude. Sequencing of utterances: It is the relationship between utterances. In some cases, the sequence of utterances is quite strictly regulated, as in greetings, but there is a range of possibilities depending on the situation. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 3  Speech event: It is a particular instance when people exchange speech, such as an exchange of greeting, an enquiry, a conversation, etc. X. Hello, how can I help you? Y. I’m looking for a blue T-shirt. X. I’m awfully sorry. The blue T-shirts are out of stock. Y. It’s ok. Bye. Speech act: It is an utterance as a functional unit in communication. Utterances could have: 1. no meaning to communicate, 2. a surface meaning only, or 3. an underlying meaning (+ the surface meaning) Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 4 Types of speech acts by SEARLE: 1. Representative speech acts describe states or events, such as a claim or a report. 2. Expressive speech acts express the feelings or attitudes, such as thanking, complaining, apologising, etc. 3. Commissive speech acts commit the speaker to doing something in the future, such as a promise or a threat. 4. Directive speech acts get the listener to do something, such as a request, a command or a suggestion. 5. Declarative speech acts change the state of affairs in the world, such as the act of marriage. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 5  Major Issues of Macro-sociolinguistics Language contact occurs because of adjacency of and communication between two (or more) languages/ dialects, leading to a change on the different levels of the languages/ dialects. Language variation is the study of distinctive forms of a language as a social activity. The several systems of a language is conditioned by such factors as regionality, personality, gender, social class, etc. Multilingualism/ bilingualism is knowing and using more than one language, usually not equally well. Language dominance is the greater ability/ importance of one language for an individual/for a community. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 6  Language spread/ diffusion is the increased use of a language in a given area over a period of time. Language shift is a change from one language to another, e.g. because of migration. Language attitudes could be positive or negative, and they affect mainly learning and social status. Language loyalty refers to the continuity of using one’s mother tongue in multilingual communities. Language vitality is demonstrated by the extent that the language is used as a means of communication in various social contexts for specific purposes. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 7  Language planning/ engineering is the systematic governmental efforts to solve communication problems. Language maintenance is the preservation done by the individuals of the minority. Language revival occurs when a language which has died out is revived. The most famous instance is that of Modern Hebrew which was formed from Classical Hebrew. Language endangerment occurs when the speakers of a language stop to use it, use it in fewer domains, use fewer of its styles, or stop passing it to the following generation. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 8  Language loss could be a gradual decay in whole or in part or a sudden decay due to accidents or disease. Language death takes place when a language stops to be used and when the process is irreversible. Language suicide occurs when people feel that they would be better off economically, politically or socially if they stop using a ‘worthless’ variety and adopt a new ‘useful’ one. Language murder occurs when governments or other institutions try to ‘kill off’ minority languages by passing laws/ punishment. It also refers to when all language speakers are being murdered. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 9  Language and thought Language shapes/ influences the way we think. SAUSSURE likens language and thought to the two faces of a sheet of paper. They are inseparable. EDWARD SAPIR states: Human beings are at the mercy of the language which they use as a medium of expression. We understand the real world through the language habits of the group. We feel we cannot thoroughly apprehend whatever we cannot put into words. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 10  Language and Identity Speech is a form of social identity. It can separate insiders from outsiders. It is used, consciously or unconsciously, to indicate membership of different social groups or different speech communities. A speech community is a group of people who use the same variety and share specific rules for speaking and for interpreting speech. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 11  Language and Culture Culture is the bulk of ideas, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and values. It is a social product, neither inborn nor will-less. It is learnt through relation with others. It has a set of shared meanings which facilitate communication. Meaning is produced and exchanged in the light of cultural and social agreement. Languages are learned and used in cultural context. This is why the use of the Esperanto as a constructed international auxiliary language failed. It was invented in the early 1880s by Dr. ZAMENHOF. Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 12  Language and Gender A sexist language is the language whose words and phrases demean/ignore members of either sex and which needlessly call attention to gender. A language is judged as being sexist : 1.when language users speak or write in distinctive ways that reflect their sex, and 2.when language reveals, embodies and sustains attitudes to gender.Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 13 Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 14  Language of ladies Language of gentlemen Women talk for solidarity. Men talk for status. Men’s speech move from Women’ s speech moves from discussion to decision. decision to discussion. Women are quiet in public but talkative in private. Men are talkative in public but quiet in private. Women use ‘trouble talk’ to create rapport. Men avoid trouble talk to protect status. Women's’ language has a lot of exaggeration. It is The language of men is fact-based and sometimes described as being baby-talk. not emotional. Women’s speech topics revolve around family affairs, Men are more likely to talk about such as the education of children, clothes, cooking, politics, sports, economy, stocks, fashion, etc. current news, etc. Women are more likely to initiate conversations. Men are less likely to initiate conversations. Women are interested in details. Men are not interested in details. Dr. DrSāmeya Masʿūd Sameya Masud 15 13  Language of ladies Language of gentlemen Women’s talk is usually diplomatic (usually indirect and Men’s speech is usually direct and to the implicit). point. Women tend to prefer indirect requests and decision- Men usually use explicit commands. making. The language of women lacks humour. Men speak more humorously than females. Women know lots of color words, such as mauve, Men do not use them. yellow, azure, beige and lavender. Women always use some adjectives, such as charming, divine, lovely, fantastic and cute to express Men seldom use them. their feelings. Women use tag questions specially when Men use less tag questions. expressing their opinions. Women prefer to use a rising intonation even in a Men like to use falling intonation to show declarative sentence. confidence and sometimes power. Dr. DrSāmeya Masʿūd Sameya Masud 16 14  Language of ladies Language of gentlemen Women usually speak in a formal manner and Men tend to use more vernacular. tend to use more standard speech. Women usually use correct grammar and Men use less correct grammar and pronunciation. pronunciation. women employ a greater amount of active Men tend to dominate conversations through listening devices (mmm, yeah, etc.) the use of interruptions and overlaps. Females use more hedges. Men use less hedges. Women use such adverbs like awfully, Men like to use very, utterly, really. pretty, terribly, vastly, quite, so, etc. Women like to use diminutives. Men rarely/ never use diminutives. Women use more interrogative sentences as a Men use fewer interrogative sentences. strategy of continuing a good conversation. Women use eye contact. Men avoid eye contact. Women’s speech is more polite than men’s. Men use slang and swearing more frequently Dr. DrSāmeya Masʿūd Sameya Masud 17 15 Dr. Sāmeya Masʿūd 18