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Sociolinguistics1. An IntroductionHainan University Bai Lifang
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Outline
1. Objectives of the course . !eaching "ethod
#. $efinition of sociolinguistics %. Language and conte&t '. $ifferent for"s of linguistic variation
(. Social factors in linguistic variation
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1. Objectives of the course
!hrough this course) you*ll 1+ get to ,no- about the i" ortant
conce ts and "ain areas ofsociolinguistics. + be able to find out the i" act of
e&tralinguistic factors on language ) suchas age) gender) rofession) social status)ethnicity) olitics) etc.
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#+ thin, about language and observe theusage around you. /ind interest in thin,ingabout and listening to the s eech of
eo le around you. %+ Learn to use language a ro riately in
different conte&ts.
Objectives of the course
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. !eaching "ethod
!he course -ill "ainly be given in the for"of lecture) but the students are highlyencouraged to be actively involved in theclassroo" activities) including
1+ 0uestions and ans-ers + discussions #+ oral resentations
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2ou are su osed to attend the lecture read relevant "aterials
observe the articular use of language inarticular situations
do the analysis -or, by using the theories
learned in the lecture or read in thereference boo,s
resent the result to the class.
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#. $efinition of sociolinguistics
3ardhaugh4 53ardhaugh 1 + Sociolingistics investigates the
relationshi s bet-een language andsociety -ith the goal being a betterunderstanding of the structure of language and of ho- languages function inco""unication.
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3hat are included in the 6society78 9eo le
lace Social syste"
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Language and eo le Age) gender) race) nationality) class
Language and lace :egion) occasionLanguage and social syste"
9o-er) ideology) olicy) oliteness
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language
eo le
lace Socialsyste"
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Sociolinguists are interested in e& laining -hy -e s ea, differently in different social
conte&ts) -hat are the social functions of language ho- language is used to convey social
"eaning.
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:ay
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Example 1 :ay4 Hi "u". ;u"4 Hi. 2ou*re late. :ay4 2eah) that bastard Sootbuc,et ,e t us in
again. ;u"4
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Example 2: :ay4 Good afternoon, sir . 9rinci le4 What are you doing here at this
time 8 :ay4 Mr Sutton kept us in, sir .
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Example 1: :ay4 Hi mum . ;u"4 Hi, youre late . :ay4 Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in again. ;u"4 Nanas here . :ay4 h sorry. Where is she 8 Example 2:
:ay4 Good afternoon, sir . 9rinci le4 What are you doing here at this time 8 :ay4 Mr Sutton kept us in, sir .
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=reeting4 Hi vs. =ood afternoon
Address4 ;u" vs . Sir :eferring to the teacher 4
that bastard Sootbuc,et vs. ;r Sutton:eferring to the event >e t us in again vs. ,e t us in
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:ay*s utterance tells his "other
-hy he is late) his choice of -ordsho- he feels about the teacher concerned )
tells us
so"ething about his relationshi -ith his "other.
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!he clues -e can get fro" the s eech4 !he relationshi -ith "other4
Inti"ate and friendly !he relationshi -ith the rinci al4/or"al) distant) res ectful
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3e use language to as, for and giveeo le infor"ation .
3e use it to e& ress indignation andannoyance ) as -ell as ad"iration andres ect.
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;argaret 3al,er
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As she arrives ho"e she is greeted by 6 Hi mum % fro"her daughter.
@enny) 6hello dear ) ha-e a good day % fro" her "other. And si" ly 6 youre late again /% fro" her husband.Later in the evening the resident of local flo-er club calls
to as, if she -ould li,e to join. ' Good e-ening, is that Mrs. +illington 87 She as,s. ' No, its Margaret Walker, but my husbands name is
0a-id +illington % ) she ans-er. 'What can 1 do for you 87 /inally calls 6 Hello Meg, sut )yt ti 87
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Languages rovide a variety of -ays ofsaying the sa"e thing.
!he choice of linguistic for" is a usefulclue to non linguistic infor"ation.
Language variation can rovide socialinfor"ation.
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9ractice4 ;a,e a list of all the na"es you are called
by eo le -ho ,no- you. 3ho uses it to you and -hen and -here 8 $o so"e eo le call you by "ore than
one na"e 8
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3e use different e& ressions in differentconte&ts.
Linguistic variation can rovide socialinfor"ation.
' $iff t f " f li i ti
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'. $ifferent for"s of linguisticvariation
!he different -ays -e say things 9ronunciation 3ords =ra""ar
$ialect language
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?&a" le % Sa" 4 2ou seen our enry*s ne- ouse yet8 It*s in
alton you ,no-. @i" 4 I have indeed. I could hardly "iss it Sa".
2our Henry no- o-ns the biggest house in
Halton.Sa" a coal "iner Henry Sa"*s son
@i" Henry*s old friend$ifferent ronunciations
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!"ample 2 5a+ :efuse should be de osited in the rece tacle
rovided. 5b+ 9ut your rubbish in the bin) @ill.
:efuse vs. rubbish$e osit vs. ut:ece tacle vs . bin
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He"nesberget)
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?&a" le ( All the villagers ,no- and use t-o distinct ,inds
of
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!he t-o dialects differ in ronunciation)and -ord for"s.
!he social considerations for the choiceof language4 the artici ant)
social setting)the to ic
ur ose of the interaction.
$ifferent dialects
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Sauris) Italy
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?&a" le E !he adults -ere all trilingual4 =er"an) /riulian) Italian Before 1F(( the village had been art of the Austrian
e" ire) and its villagers all s o,en =er"an.=er"an dialect at the ho"e) and to neighbours andfello- villagers.!he regional language /riulian -ith eo le fro" thesurrounding area outside the village) and in the ub. It isa language of friendshi and solidarity.
Italian tal,ing to those fro" beyond the region) andreading and -riting)at the church and the school. 5@anetHol"es) DD14 (+
$ifferent languages
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Sociolinguists use the ter" variety 5orso"eti"es code+ to refer to language in conte&t.
A variety is a set of linguistic for"s used unders ecific social circu"stances) i.e. -ith adistinctive social distribution.
!herefore) variety is a broad ter" -hich includesdifferent accents) different linguistic style)different dialects and even different languages
-hich contrast -ith each other for socialreasons.
( Social factors in linguistic
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(. Social factors in linguisticvariation
Social factors accounting for the articularvariety used4
1. !he artici ants 4 3ho is s ea,ing and 3ho are they s ea,ing to 8 . !he setting or social conte&ts of the
interaction 4 3hereare they s ea,ing 8 #. !he to ic 4 -hat is being tal,ed about 8 %. !he function 4 -hy are they s ea,ing 8
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Social di"ensions 9artici ants4
solidarity social distance scalestatus scale
Setting for"ality scale
!o ic /unction
:eferential and affective function scales
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!he solidarity C social distancescale
Inti"ate $istant
High solidarity Lo- solidarity
!he scale is useful in e" hasiGing that ho- -ell
-e ,no- so"eone is a relevant factor inlinguistic choice.e.g. ;eg vs. ;rs. Belington
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!he status scale
Su erior high status
Subordinate lo- status
e.g.1. !he use of sir*) ;rs.*) to the lecturer by thestudents
. !he h dro ing reflect so"eone*s lo-er
social grou
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!he for"ality scale
/or"al High for"ality
Infor"alLo- /or"ality
1. Useful in assessing the influence of social setting
or ty e of interaction on language choice.. Often degrees of for"ality are largely deter"inedby solidarity and status relationshi . But notal-ays.
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!he referential and affectivefunction scales
Language can convey objective infor"ation of a referential
,indJ it can also e& ress ho- so"eone is feeling. :eferential
High lo-Infor"ation infor"ationKontent content
affectiveLo- high
Affective affectiveKontent content
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!he referential and affectivefunction scales
!he "ore referentially oriented aninteraction is) the less it tends to e& ressthe feelings of the s ea,er.
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1D 1 1D
#D FD! " # 1 D 1FD
# $%& DD '( )1D #D *
1D +, " -./012345 1 '( "-.46 1 78*
High infor"ation) lo- affective
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9:; ?@ABBCD EFGHIJK L;MNO* PFQHJKRNS*
EFTGHUIVWVXYKZ;M[ PFTQH\]XYZ^* EF_`GHUabIcdZ WXefgh*
PF_`QHdi ajkNS*EFlHImdK*
PFHURn;opNS
lo- infor"ation) high affective
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Konclusion
Linguistic variation occurs at the levels ofsounds) -ord structure) gra""ar) dialects andeven language.
Our choice of linguistic variety de ends on -ho-e are tal,ing to) -here -e are tal,ing) -hat -eare tal,ing and -hy -e are tal,ing.
Language choices convey infor"ation about the
social relationshi s bet-een eo le) socialstatus of eo le) setting of interaction) to ic ofdiscussion and ur ose of discussion.