Language Choice in Multilingual Communities PDF

Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Introduction ! Each language has many different forms of it, e.g. : Arabic has many forms such as: formal (classical Arabic), informal (Saudi dialect)... ! Variety or code: A specific form of a language. The standard language is a variety too, e.g.: a variety can...

Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Introduction ! Each language has many different forms of it, e.g. : Arabic has many forms such as: formal (classical Arabic), informal (Saudi dialect)... ! Variety or code: A specific form of a language. The standard language is a variety too, e.g.: a variety can be a language, an accent, a dialect, etc. ! Speech Community: A group of people who speak the same variety. " Monolingual community: One variety " Bilingual community: Two varieties " Multilingual community: More than one variety Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Example #1 # Kalala is 16 years old. He lives in Bukavu, an African city in eastern Zaire with a population of about 220,000. It is a multicultural city with more people coming and going for work and business reasons than people who live there permanently. Over 40 groups speaking different languages can be found in the city. Kalala, like many of his friends, is unemployed. He spends his days roaming the streets, stopping off periodically at regular meeting places in the market-place, in the park or at a friend’s place. During a normal day, he uses at least three different varieties, or codes, and sometimes more. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Notes on example #1: Varieties Context of Place (Where?) 2 varieties of Shi, 1. Formal Shi " His tribe’s weddings, funerals. his tribal 2. Informal Shi " With his family, in the market-place language with vendors from his tribe. 3 varieties of 3. Formal (standard) " At school, official transactions: Sawahili ( e.g.: when he applies for a job). 3. Informal: Kingwana " People he meets in the streets and (local) market-place (not from his own tribe). 4. Informal: Indoubil " With his friends regardless of their tribes. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA What governs the variety we choose? ! Choosing the appropriate variety in multilingual communities depends on: ① Social factors and dimensions ② The repertoire of the addressee ! Repertoire: A group of language varieties mastered by the same speaker to different degrees of proficiencies and for different purposes. " These varieties may include: One’s first language, dialects, languages learned at school or in visits abroad... etc. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Example #2 $ “Anahina” is a bilingual Tongan New Zealander living in Auckland. At home with her family, she uses Tongan almost exclusively for a wide range of topics. She often talks to her grandmother about Tongan customs, for instance. With her mother, she exchanges gossip about Tongan friends and relatives. Tongan is the language the family uses at meal-times. They discuss what they have been doing, plan family outings, and share information about Tongan social events. It is only with her older sisters that she uses some English words when they are talking about school or doing their homework. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Domains of Language Use ! Domain: Typical interactions between typical participants in typical settings, e.g.: in example #2, the domain of the interaction is family in which we have typical participants (family members) in the typical setting (home) about typical topics (family activities). Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Exercise Domain Addressee Setting Topic Code/Variety Family Parent Home Planning a family party Friendship Friend Beach How to play beach tennis Religion Priest Church Choosing the Sunday liturgy Education Teacher School Solving a math problem Employment Employer Workplace Applying for a promotion Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Example #3 ! In Paraguay, a small South American country, two languages are used: Spanish (the language of the colonisers) and Guarani (the American Indian indigenous language). People in Paraguay are proud that they have their own language which distinguishes them from the rest of South America. Many rural Paraguayans are monolingual in Guarani, but those who live in the cities are usually bilingual. They read Spanish literature, but they gossip in both Spanish and Guarani. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Exercise Domain Addressee Topic Setting Code/Variety Parent Home Planning a family party Friend Cafe Telling a joke Priest Church Raising money for the poor Teacher Primary School Telling a story Lecturer University Solving a math problem Official Office Getting an import licence Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Notes ! The components of a domain do not always fit with each other. o Within any domain, individual interactions may not be the typical ones expected. People may select a particular variety because it makes it easier to discuss a particular topic regardless of where they are speaking. o A student may discuss academic matters at home using the language associated with the domain of education rather than the one associated with the domain of family. This is known as leakage. ! Leakage: Using the variety of a particular domain in another domain for simplicity. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Diglossia ! How can the situation of a country or a community can be described as having diglossic situation? ! Pay attention to the situation in Eggenwil in example #6! Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Example #6: In Eggenwill, a town in the Aargau canton of Switzerland, Silvia, a bank- teller, knows two very distinct varieties of German. One is the local Swiss German dialect of her canton which she uses in her everyday interactions. The other is standard German which she learnt at school, and though she understands it very well indeed, she rarely uses it in speech. Newspapers are written in standard German, and when she occasionally goes to hear a lecture at the university it may be in standard German. The national TV news is broadcast in standard German, but weather broadcasts now use dialect. The sermons her mother listens to in church are generally in standard German too, though the more radical clerics use Swiss German dialect. The novels Salvia reads also use standard German. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Diglossia ! Diglossia: Two distinct varieties of the same language used in the community with one regarded as a high variety (H) and the other a low variety (L). ! Each variety is used for distinct functions. No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation. For example: Bahasa Indonesia, we use standard Indonesian (BI Baku) for formal situations while in everyday conversation we use informal Indonesian. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Characteristics of H and L Varieties High Variety Low Variety %Used for official and formal situations %Used for informal situations and such as on national TV, news everyday conversation. broadcast, newspapers, literary writing... etc. %Used for writing and spoken in formal %Mainly spoken, (written in chat). events. %Technical and formal terms. %Mainly names of objects and everyday activities. %Learned at school. %Acquired at home. %Codified %Not Codified Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Linguistic Differences between H and L ! H grammar is more complicated than L grammar. ! There are differences in sounds and pronunciation. ! The vocabulary is almost the same but H has formal technical terms. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Attitudes Towards H and L High Variety Low Variety It is admired even if not People don’t think that it is understood. worth describing. It is prestigious and thought Some people value it and of as having a higher status in believe that it is the best way society. to express their feelings because it is the language they use everyday. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Diglossia and Polyglossia ! Diglossia is a characteristic of a speech community rather than individuals. Individuals = Bilingual Communities = Diglossic ! Polyglossia: More than two distinct varieties of the same language used for clearly distinct purposes. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Code-switching ! Code-switching: Changing varieties across sentences boundaries. ! Code switching can be: ① Domain-based (Situational): It depends on where we happen to be. ② Addressee-based: When it is constrained by who we are talking to. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Why do we code-switch? ① Situation: When there is an obvious change in the situation. To hide information from a third party. For example: The arrival of someone. ② Topic: Achieve a better explanation of a certain concept. For example: When a teacher switches from English to Indonesian to make sure students understand what she says. ③ Social reasons: a) Signal solidarity and reduce social distance. b) Increase social distance. c) Show off, impress or persuade an audience. d) Reflect one’s ethnic identity, e.g.: Two African Americans talking in standard English in the workplace and one switches to AAVE (African American Vernacular English). Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Code-mixing vs Lexical-borrowing ! Code-mixing: changing varieties across phrases boundaries. It is also called tag switching. ! Lexical borrowing: resulting from the lack of vocabulary and it involves borrowing single words – mainly nouns. ! Code-mixing involves a choice between the words of two languages or varieties, but lexical- borrowing is a result of lack of vocabulary. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Please note! ! Switches motivated by the identity and relationship between the participants express a move along the distance scale. & Preacher switches from standard to vernacular to reduce the distance and create solidarity. & Manager switches vernacular to standard to increase the distance and lessen solidarity. Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA Presented by: ANTON WAHYANA