TECHNICAL TRAINING

UNIT 6

Sociolinguistics and
Multiculturalism
Elena Oliver

OBJECTIVES
1. To make a reflection and analysis on some sociolinguistics key concepts (language
variation, minority, majority and minorized languages, bilingualism and diglossia,
standard register, colloquial register, lingua franca, etc.)
2. To value a multilingual education and the need for educating plurilingual students.
3. To reflect on linguistic diversity in the world.
4. To sensitize students on the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity in the
classroom.

TABLE
0. Initial questionnaire.
1. Linguistic variation.
Linguistic varieties and fields of use.
Factors of variation.
Communicative exchange types (individual, social, institutionalized).
The norm and the standard. Normative reference.
2. Language varieties. The Standard.
Presence of varieties in the field of education.
Standard English.
English as a Lingua Franca.
3. Linguistic diversity in the world.
4. The role of schools in plurilingual education.
5. Annex. Glossary. Sociolinguistic concepts.

0. INITIAL QUESTIONNAIRE
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false. Distribute the questions in groups of
four people, reason them out and draw your own conclusions.
a.

Every language is a dialect and every dialect is language.

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b.

Languages are fixed homogeneous codes.

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c.

Some dialectal varieties are more suitable than others.

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d. A good language user is one who can adapt his or her speech to the interlocutors social, academic
and professional level.
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e. Registers are mainly defined when they are written.
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f. Colloquial register implies no formality level.
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g. A language is so considered because it is used by a high number of people and its opposite to a
dialect, which is used by few people.
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h. Standard register acts as a cohesive device and a hallmark for a given linguistic community.
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FINAL TASK
Reflect on the presence of students from diverse sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds in
our classrooms. Write a text about the importance and mutual benefit of the integration of
students languages and cultures in the classroom.

1. LINGUISTIC VARIATION
Task 1
Make a short comment on the following text and concept map:
Llus, before going to class to explain the topic that he has prepared, has gone home to change
clothes, but he opens the closet and doesnt know well what to wear. Sometimes hes been very well
dressed, since he was coming from a working meeting; yet other times, he has used more casual
clothes, more sports clothes, because he feels more comfortable; he even wore his tracksuit one day
because theres a gym behind the building ... How should he dress? If he dresses too formal, his
classmates will think that he wants to look like a doctor in the subject. Of course, not wearing a 25button jacket: he would seem too dressed up, and very solemn, wouldnt he? But obviously, he
would like to impress both the teacher and the rest of the group. It's a topic that he has prepared,
that he controls and finds fascinating. Man! It will be probably hot, but if he wears shorts and light
clothing, although its nothing so special, people will pay more attention to what he wears rather
than to what he says. He decides to wear standard clothes, because he thinks they are more
appropriate for the situation.

(Llus Lpez del Castillo)

Task 2
Order the following greetings from more to less formal and copy them back in the right column.
+ FORMAL
Hi, Anna!
Mrs
Dear Sir:
Distinguished Gentleman,
Very distinguished Lady
My very dear friend:
honey
Honourable Sir,
Eh, buddy,
Appreciated

- FORMAL

Task 3

Hugh Laurie: British slang vs American slang

Watch this short interview with Hugh Laurie, where he makes jokes using British and American slang
words. After watching the clip, could you translate these slang words into Standard English?
British English Slang:
Chin-wag: ____________________________________
Chuffed to bits: ________________________________
American English Slang:
Ba-donka-donk: _______________________________
Flossing: _____________________________________
Shawty: _____________________________________

Task 4
Join the slang words with their standard.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Anorak:
Argy bargy:
Bamboozle:
Bevvy:
Damage:
Doddle:
To be in edge city:
Fag:
Flicks:
Flunk:
Fuzz:
Gob:
Grub:

Mary is collecting all kinds of pink things. Shes a complete anorak!

There was an argy bargy in the pub last night.
I dont trust you. Are you bamboozling me?
Were going for a bevvy. Coming?
Waiter, whats the damage?
This exam is doddle!
Hes in edge city this morning! Dont say him anything!
Got a fag, mate?
Whats on at the flicks, mate?
Ive flunked all my exams!
Call the fuzz!
Shut your gob!
The grub in this pub is really great!

14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Ice cold:
Item:
Kudos:
Loopy:
Oomph:
Quack:
Yummy:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
t.

Gimme an ice cold!

Are Peter and Susan an item? Really?
Youre the winner! Kudos!
This guys real loopy! Hes freaking my out!
Come on! Give it a bit of oomph! You can!
This hospital is full of quacks! Dont go there if youve an emergency!
Brownies! Yummy!
Beer
A bad doctor
Freaky
A couple
Energy
So easy
Meal
Congratulations
Delicious
bad mood
mouth
quarrel
cinema
drink
bill
cigarette
Police
Crazy
To pull someones leg
Not pass

Task 5

Regional accents in Great Britain

A) After watching the BBC interview about regional accents in Great Britain, answer the
following questions.

1. What is the general opinion of parents around the country about their children and regional
accent?

2. What does Helen do in her job? What kind of customers does she have?

3. Is Jo Cameron proud of her accent?

4. What does Jo do when she speaks to the audience in reference to her accent?

5. What is Jos opinion about politicians speech?

6. What English dialects are mentioned in the interview?

7. What kind of advice does Helen give to her customers about their regional accent?

8. Why are Irish and Scottish English well considered?

B) Discuss in pairs about the content of the interview. Do you agree with Helens opinion or
would you rather regional accents be regarded as cultural heritage?
C) Do you think accents and dialects are the same?
D) Search the Internet for further information about English dialects.

Task 6

How is the Internet changing language? By David Crystal

Technology is changing the language, what kinds of technological variations are mentioned in the
video?
Technology produces a new style of English. Can you describe this new style?

Task 7

Texting: a new variation of language

A. Could you transform this text message into Standard English?
I HAD 2 GET UP 1HR RLY DIS MRN.
Y DONT WE LEAVE DE CLOX ALONE?
I H8 GORDON BROWN
.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.

What is texting?
Is texting only used by children?
What is the average of abbreviations in text messages?
Are abbreviations a new thing?
Why does Crystal think texting is good for literacy?
Is texting changing social behaviour?
Do you agree with David Crystal? Discuss in pairs.

Task 8
Answer true or false to the following statements:

Bilingualism and Diglossia

1. Bilingualism is the practice of using two or more languages in alternation by a
person.
2. Bilingualism is the practice of using two or more languages in alternation by a
group of people.
3. Bilingual people use both languages at the same level.
4. Being bilingual means being biliterate.
5. Diglossic situation implies both a high language and a lower one coexist
6. Diglossic societies make complementary use of two distinct codes in daily
exchanges.

Try now to define bilingualism and diglossia and describe any particular case you know.

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2. Standard English. ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA

Task 9
The rise of a certain dialect as the standard variety of that language takes place simultaneously
with the rise of a given social group as the most powerful one. It is under such circumstances
that the standard variety begins to acquire the social prestige with which we tend to associate
the notion of standardness.

For many years, Standard English has been closely linked to a particular accent, the so-called RP
(Received Pronunciation). This upper-class kind of accent began to be endorsed in the most
famous English fee-paying or Public schools at the end of the nineteenth century. From then on,
RP came to be viewed as the best English accent, that is, the accent everyone should master or
aim at achieving. Due to its social and educational prestige, RP is also referred to as The
Queens English or even BBC English (in the early years of broadcasting it was very rare to hear
any other accents on the BBC). Surprising though it may seem, this social accent is not
necessarily linked to Standard English, which can be spoken with any regional accent.
Despite the widespread foreign (and ESL) belief that everyone in England speaks Standard
English with an RP pronunciation, it should be pointed out that according to Melchers & Shaw
(2003: 47), only 12 per cent of the population of England are speakers of Standard English;
nine per cent speak Standard English with a regional accent. What these figures suggest is, first
and foremost, that the number of speakers of Standard English in England is very small, and
secondly, that only 3% of the total population of England speak Standard English with an RP
accent.

Miguel ngel Martnez Castro: The degree of institunalization and acceptance of certain English dialects

Write a composition trying to explain why Standard English is based on the London dialect
(economical, social and cultural reasons).
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Task 10
In groups of 3 or 4 people, analyze and discuss the next text.

The case of English

In accordance with Council of Europe policies and principles, which underlie the concept adopted
here, all languages are of equal value, and while they have the same value, they represent and
convey values.

However, it is increasingly difficult to pretend that this is always true in the eyes of public opinion,
decision-makers, parents of pupils and the pupils themselves. It is only realistic to note the
increasingly pre-eminent position of English, reflect on this without prejudice, and take adequate
action to ensure that other languages have their place and space in education systems.

The privileged position enjoyed by English at school is evident in different ways:

-

In many if not the majority of member States other than those which are Anglophone, it is
the first foreign language studied in the early stages of schooling; in this it corresponds to
the wishes of parents, to a necessity (true or assumed) of study and work and to
representations (usefulness, distinction etc) strongly rooted in society.

- English is increasingly considered and dealt with by the school as a kind of basic
unavoidable skill (which maintains its status) comparable for example to new technologies.
-

English can, finally, be considered by school as largely sufficient in itself, as a common

"lingua franca" which facilitates the least costly response to the problems of the organisation
of the teaching foreign languages.

However, it is important to make people aware - at different levels of responsibility (decisionmakers, parents, public opinion, the media and so on) - that while English must have a place in
the language curriculum, it is far from sufficient to meet a societys language needs and that it can
implement only in a limited way the developmental purposes of plurilingual and intercultural
education.

Plurilingual and intercultural education as a project

Language Policy Division. Council of Europe

Task 11

We are now going to analyze David Crystals point of view about English as a Lingua
Franca or global language. After watching the next videos, try to answer next questions.

Video n. 1: Global English

a) What kinds of power have made English a lingua franca? Explain the reasons.

Video n. 2: Which English?

b) What is David Crystals opinion about which English should be taught?
c)

May the students be aware about English variations?

Video n. 3: Should English be taught as a global language?

a) What should students attain in reference to English learning?
b) What is the main impact of teaching global English?

3. LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN THE WORLD

Task 12
Once you have read these texts, discuss them in class and answer the questions:

A) My name is John Heart. I come from Ireland. The language of my country is Gaelic or Irish. My
grandfather still speaks Gaelic, although he never wanted to teach it to my father because he
thought that English was a superior language. For him, it was necessary to imitate the upper
classes, the politicians...that used English. In High school I study Gaelic for a few hours, but I
dont speak it. When my country got independent from Great Britain, the constitution declared
Gaelic and English as official languages, but as the upper classes continued speaking English,
and the lower classes wanted to imitate them, they mostly taught English to their children.
Nowadays, the Government wants to help in retrieving the language.

B) Hi, my name is Maria Gutirrez. I live in the Philippines and I speak Spanish. Many years ago,
Spanish conquistadors brought us their language. But since our country started receiving the
influence of the USA, there are very few people that speak Spanish: we only use it at home,
because we do everything else in English (Education, media). But there is another language in
my country, the Tagalog.

C) I am Hans von Belle. I come from Belgium. There are three official languages in my country.
On the one hand, French in the Walloon region, in the south of Belgium; on the other hand,

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Flemish in Flanders, which is the northern part of the country, and German is spoken in a very
little region too. In the city of Brussels, both languages are official. My first language is
Flemish, although I speak French too. In Flanders, when I am with my friends, I study, I read
the news, I go to the cinema, I use, Flemish. Even when I go to the Walloon region, I use
French, everyone does. Things were very different before, because it was very unpopular to
speak Flemish, since the only official language was French. Fortunately, things have changed
and now there is more equality between both languages.

a) Have you recognized any of the situations described above as your own?
b) Do you think there could be a non-controversial situation of languages in contact?

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Task 13
Answer the following questions:
a) How many languages are spoken in Europe today?
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b) Are any languages better than others?

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c) Taking into account only the own languages, not the immigrants, how many monolingual
countries do you know in Europe?
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d) Do you know in which of the following countries are more languages spoken?
a) In USA

b) In China

c) In Russia

d) In Indonesia

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Task 14

Visit one of the websites that your teacher will recommend about languages in the world.

Analyze how many languages are spoken in European countries like Switzerland, France, Italy,
Portugal and the United Kingdom.

Find out which languages are official in these countries, which are used as languages learned as
a subject in school, and which are used as a means of communication.

Prepare a report that compares the situation of a given country with the situation of languages in
the Valencian Community.

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4. THE ROLE OF SCHOOLS IN PLURILINGUAL EDUCATION

Language of schooling
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/LE_texts_Source/EducPlurInterProjet_en.pdf

The language of schooling, which is usually the official or national language, is the very core of
plurilingual and intercultural education: it is crucial because:

it has to be regarded as the pivotal language of all language education: plurilingual and
intercultural education must be devised on the basis of that language and on how it is
taught;

it is the first formal and institutional linguistic education that strongly shapes and
governs representations of the nature of a language and its teaching/learning;

descriptive approaches that reveal the internal variability of each language appear in
principle to be more suited to this basic function of the language of schooling (see
paragraph 1.3 above).

This stress on the language of schooling and its pre-eminence should allay any fears that
plurilingual and intercultural education may constitute a danger to the individual identitybuilding process of learners whose first language is the national language or again, on another
level, to national cohesion and unity. On the contrary, this type of education tends to help
learners develop awareness of their specific characteristics through approaches that contrast or
compare them with those of other identities and cultures: it is through a knowledge of others
and their otherness (a kind of detour approach to learning) that a full awareness is acquired of
the different facets of one's own identity.

However, how far the language of schooling plays a part in plurilingual and intercultural
education depends on the context: for some contexts, for example, where national unity has
been achieved fairly recently or where stress is placed on the primary role of the state language
as an element in identity construction and as a means of national unity, it is doubtless easier to
embark on plurilingual and intercultural education through the teaching of foreign languages in
which the symbolic investment may be smaller than it would be for the national language. In
that specific case foreign-language teachers could be trained to be able to work towards opening
up all teaching of languages and other school subjects to plurilingual and intercultural education.

The fact remains that consideration of the variability of the language(s) of schooling can be the
first step towards awareness of the internal plurality of every language and a starting point for
plurilingual and intercultural education.

Plurilingual and intercultural education as a project

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5. ANNEX. SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONCEPTS

CONCEPTS RELATED TO LINGUISTIC VARIATION
1. System, standard and speech
2. Linguistic Variation
3. Language and Dialect. Dialectal variation
4. Stylistic or functional variation: the registers
5. The standard
http://www.uni-due.de/SVE/VE_Terminology.htm

1.

SYSTEM, STANDARD AND SPEECH

We are rational beings, a being that thinks and who is empowered through language to transmit our
thoughts, to communicate with other human beings. This communication can be produced in many
ways. Sometimes, to wink, only a gesture is enough. Communication, then, is the fact to transmit
a message that can be understood by the person to whom it is directed to. Because this act of
communication can be produced, it is necessary to transform ideas and thoughts in signs, signs to
which we give a certain value. In order to understand, in order to communicate, we must reach an
agreement so that each sign is given the same value by everyone. All signs will constitute a system
or code which is nothing but a set of rules or laws agreed by all members of a community.
Language is the code that contains the rules to express ourselves. Every language has its proper
phonetic rules, morphosyntactic, lexical... So, for example, Spanish and English are two different
languages because they dont follow the same rules, the same code.
Language, however, remains an abstract object, ideal. Each speaker has a specific and partial
domain in linguistics that is determined by a combination of factors: economic, cultural,
geographical.... Therefore, it is necessary to differentiate two concepts: language (social and
essential) and speech (individual and accidental) (Saussure). When any person uses a particular
language, he/she makes it in accordance to his/her own linguistic competence. We call this particular
application of the language, speech.
Yet there is another term that we should clarify, the concept of rule. In everyday speech, some laws
of the code are often modified, and some of these changes are just becoming normal. These
variations are called linguistic items. An example can clarify the concept. A rule in the normative is
the following: the suffix ing in the gerund of written English or the personal pronoun You (2nd
person plural). However, we can find more than one form or ways of pronouncing just in England

/I /

(standard pronunciation) or

/In/

(a typical non-standard pronunciation).

One more

example: Yous is a certain non-standard varieties of English meanwhile You is used in all standard
varieties and some other non-standard varieties. These expressions are examples of linguistic items.

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LINGUISTIC VARIATION
Variation is inherent in a language, as evidenced by the fact that a particular community, even when
speaking the same language derived from the geographical and social characteristics of speakers or
the contexts in which they are. There are many ways of speaking and each way is a variety. Variety
may be defined as a set of linguistic items within a social distribution.
There are two kinds of factors that determine linguistic variation. Some are related to the speakers
characteristics (sex, age, geographical origin, social and cultural level, etc.), and some depend on
the characteristics of the situation in which communication is produced (degree of familiarity
between interlocutors, intentionality, subject, communication environment, etc.). The variation
depending on the speakers is called dialectal variation, while the variation depending on the situation
is known as functional or stylistic variation (registers).
Linguistic variation is a universal fact. There is no monolithic or uniform language. All show
differences associated with groups of people or particular situations of use. From the whole
community to the individual speaker, we find groups of people from different nature, inserted into
larger groups, each of which has differentiated linguistic forms. Even between two individuals, which
may seem similar, there are differences in the use of language that can be detected or described by
any attentive observer. And in the same individual we would find ways of speaking or writing
significantly different depending on the time or situation.

Even the most highly regulated of languages, perceived as "unified" and "homogeneous", is actually
a space of plurality composed of multiple intersecting variations1:

variations in time caused by various factors (societal and economic changes, contacts
between languages etc), which represent both processes of adaptation to new "concrete"
needs and processes occurring inside the language (simplification, diversification etc);

variations in space depending on the geographical areas where the same language is spoken
(accent, intonation, vocabulary, turns of phrase etc);

variations between the spoken and written, which are characterised by types of discourse,
syntax, vocabulary, register, production modes etc which are partly common and partly
specific;

variations in the medium used (face-to-face versus telephone, e-mail versus letter,
newspaper article versus TV report versus Internet blog etc);

variations according to social strata, where language operates as one of the main rungs on
the social ladder;

variations in specialised discourse, technical languages, scientific fields etc which can become
part of everyday social usage;

Plurilingual and intercultural education as a project. Language Policy Division. Council of Europe (2009)

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variations caused by language games, humour and irony, collective or individual creativity,
the work of literary creation (in the broad sense of the term: "ordinary" literature, but also
literature for young people, detective novels, strip cartoons, advertising, songs, sketches
etc) which are part of the written, audio(visual) and sound landscape of everyday life.

2.

LANGUAGE AND DIALECT: DIALECTAL VARIATION

The application of code varies from one area to another within the same linguistic domain. We call
dialect to any variation that a language presents. All languages have a division in areas where they
are spoken in different ways. And, even within a dialect area, we can find smaller territories that
have special characteristics, which lead us to speak about sub-dialects. In the English case we can
consider as dialects American English, Australian English, Canadian English and so one or subdialects such as Cockney, Geordie, Brummie, Pitmatic, Mackem, Scouse, Mancunian, etc.
Delimiting the language region where the same dialect is spoken is not always easy, as there is no
straight line, no specific point from which we can say we are already within another dialect area.
Linguists use the term isogloss. It is an imaginary line which marks the boundary between the
presence and absence of a linguistic item, in a given area. Yet, between the different dialects, there
will be the so called dialectal transition zones, as there may be two areas that have common
characteristics that take part in a common dialect, while each of these may have some features that
relate them to another dialect.
As we see, the term dialect is a linguistic scientific concept that needs to get rid of the pejorative
connotation (provincial varieties), and this point is out of the control of Linguistics. There is a totally
false conception that attributes the term dialect to the linguistic systems that have failed to achieve
a political and social status, giving the category of language to those who have succeeded. That is to
say, they have totally distorted the concepts of language and dialect. We usually call language to the
variant that has achieved a certain cachet, while dialect is often used as a little language category
and so the term dialect is subjected to the term language. This conception, which has been used by
many sectors with their own interests, is totally out of science. As already explained, no one uses
the whole language system, but a specific dialect, when speak. In short, we all speak dialects.
Nobody speaks language at its purest state.

Dialectal variation
a) Geographical variation, only one language can be spoken in different ways depending on the
place. The English speaking area is not geographically continuous. It is spoken in the United
Kingdom but in other countries such as Ireland, USA, Canada, South-Africa, Australia, New
Zeeland, Ghana and these countries are far from the English origin. In this sense, a dialect is
regarded as a geographical variety of a language, spoken in a certain area, and being different in
some linguistic items from other geographical varieties of the same language. We have two kinds
of dialects depending on their origin:
Constitutive dialect: as the result of the natural evolution of language: United Kingdom
English.

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Consecutive dialect: as the result of colonization, settlement or repopulation: American

English, Australian English, etc
But also there may be variations depending on the speakers region, and also in smallest areas:
according to the county, city, town or neighbourhood (Cockney, West Country dialect, Brummie,
Geordie, Scouse, Pitmatic, etc). In dialect maps variation is represented by isoglosses which will
indicate the boundary line delimiting the area in which a given linguistic item occurs.
b) Social variation, according to the speakers social group or sociocultural state, very distinctive
variations among speakers of one language can be produced. Between well-positioned classes
and lower sectors from the same linguistic community, there may be different social accents that
identify and differentiate them, between teachers and students, politicians, criminals, etc. They
are slang or Jargon.
The Slang is a quite restricted set of new words and new meanings of older words, mixed
with linguistic items with a much larger social distribution. Changes beginning in informal
styles and in the lower classes will reach the upper class formal style much later as in the
case of slang.
The jargon is a set of vocabulary items used by members of particular professions, that is,
their technical terms: computer jargon, the jargon of the advertising business, farmers
jargon
c)

Temporal variation is the one determined by the epoch: language of the fifteenth and
nineteenth century has its peculiarities, and nowadays, the way teenagers talk is different from
the way the elder people talk. In the vast community of all who communicate fluently and
competently with one another in English, changes will be more advanced in younger speakers
than among older ones. We can divide English language in four phases:

Old English (5th to

11th century), Middle English (11th to 15th century), Modern English (16th to 19th) and
Contemporary English.

3.

STYLISTIC OR FUNCTIONAL VARIATION: THE REGISTERS

If we care about what we wear when we have a commitment, we also look at us when we talk. We
do not talk the same way when we are among friends or family (surely we do in a more careless
way) or when we have to express ourselves in front of a stranger (we will do it more carefully, we
will respect the forms of courtesy or social conventions, and surely we will control more what we
say)
It is part of speakers knowledge of their language to use different styles and rely on the other
speakers knowledge of the world to communicate with speakers employing different variants of the
language system from their own.
Language is constantly adapting to situations, and therefore, there are more appropriate language
forms depending on different situations. The functional variety or register is a kind of language
which has linguistic characteristics relating to a context or a specific use. According to the use of
language we do, we use different registers. The factors that will define these variations are: the

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subject that is talked about, intent or purpose of the speakers, the degree of familiarity between
interlocutors, the degree of formality required by the situation and the channel used in
communication.
Sohn2 (1999) pointed out that language has essentially two functions: transmission of information
and knowledge on the one hand and establishment and maintenance of human relationships on the
other.

He defined the linguistic politeness levels (human relationships) of language as follows:

The plain level, which is the lowest level, is used, in general, by any speaker to any child, to
ones own younger sibling, child, or grandchild regardless of age, and to ones daughter-inlaw, and also between intimate adult friends whose friendship began in childhood.

The intimate level is between close friends whose friendship began in childhood or
adolescence.

The familiar level is slightly more formal than the intimate level, typically used by a male
adult to an adolescent such as a high school or college student or to ones son-in-law, or
between two close adult friends whose friendship began in adolescence.

The blunt level, which is gradually disappearing from daily usage probably due to its
authoritative connotations, is sometimes used by a boss to his/her subordinates or by an old
generation husband to wife.

The polite level is the most popular lever towards an adult, and is used by both males and
females in daily conversations.

4.

The deferential level is used in formal situations such as new reports and public lectures.

THE STANDARD

The standard variety, supradialectal and referential, is characterized by its remarkable uniformity.
It can be defined as a coded language variety that serves the communication needs (especially
cultural and intellectual) of a modern linguistic community. The standard, therefore, is the variety
selected to fill the proper functions of a language common and cultured register. It is an
intermediate register between the colloquial and the more specialized register and is recognized as
more correct and acceptable than other varieties.
Construction of a standard language and the standardization of a language is a complex process
involving a wide number of areas. It is a variety that is made by the use. Therefore, we need not
only norms (fixing spelling, grammar and lexical selection) but also adequacy to a wide range of
social uses. Standardization cant be considered achieved without a proof of its use and the
spreading of the standard variety in supradialectal, public and mass uses.
Standardization is a need for languages and also a right. Its not a laboratory phenomenon but a
social fact, in the sense that no standard forms are considered valid unless they are socially
accepted. Those responsible for planning standardization can study and make proposals, but this will
not be valid until they have been widely used and accepted by speakers. In linguistic conflict

Ho-Min Sohn 1999: The Korean Language. (Cambridge Language Surveys.) CUP

18

situations, the standardization phenomenon is more complex. The tendency of standard language is
to occupy fields of use previously reserved to the dominant language. There is a conflict in
referential functions.
It has two special roles:
On the one hand, to facilitate communication among speakers of a community, regardless of their
linguistic area, age, social class or profession. On the other hand, being the most visible sign of
linguistic normalization of a minorized language. It is part of the normalization process of the public
use of this language, and it is essential in order to give an answer to the communication needs of a
modern society. It acts as a reference model in a particular area or in all areas. It differentiates what
is considered valid and what is considered not appropriate. It enables efficient and assured
communication, especially in formal situations (media, academic fields, relations with institutions...).
In normal circumstances, standard becomes the representation of the language for speakers and it
even defines the very concept of linguistic community itself.
It is also characterized by its stylistic versatility. That is to say, the ability in adapting to different
social uses. This variety develops itself in the transmission of information for the general public and,
in this sense, it is distinguished from informal varieties (colloquial and vulgar), as well as from other
formal varieties that, despite having a standard basis, they have other specific functions (literary,
scientific, technical, legal, administrative...). Their knowledge is also reflected in the use of nonformal varieties. In modern societies, it is quite normal for the standard to try to cover colloquial
areas as well, as a result of generalizing education, spreading of culture and importance of the
media. Lets consider, for example, more or less neutral situations in which speakers need a
precision and control over what they say.
Standard is also the variety within the field of academic use. It is learned in school and especially, by
reading and listening to the media. It has to be known (shared) and felt as own (accepted). With the
arrival of the audiovisual media, a norm of oral standard (oralization of writing) with all the
peculiarities oral channel involves has been created.
Although standard tends to unify registers, a total homogenization is impossible, especially in oral,
where intonation and phonetic differences are unavoidable. Standard does not oppose dialects; it is
not a geographic variation predator, but the only guarantee of the existence of these varieties,
because, as we said before, it enables historical continuity of the language as a whole.
Standard variety of language, then, is the meeting point for different varieties and is a neutral
instrument of communication and common to all speakers, valid to give an answer to all
communication needs of public administration, education and the media, and it is essential to give
language a coherence and a prestige.

5. ENGLISH STANDARD3

Bentez Castro, Miguel ngel.

The degree of institutionalisation and acceptance of certain English dialects.

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It was the loss of Normandy what provokes the need of a national and representative language. The
problem was which dialect should be selected. And the winner was, obviously, London dialect. For
centuries England had had a standard written language, but no standard spoken language. In the
end of the 18th century, however, this situation started to change drastically.

The middle class

changed their speaking habits in the direction of the most prestigious variety of spoken English.
This standard variety derived from the south-eastern triangle around London, were the Normans
established both their court and the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge. As time went by,
this variety was gradually imposed from above over the range of regional dialects.

The

establishment of London dialect as standard is a historical process originating not in purely linguistic
endeavours and purposes, but in the rise to power of a certain social group.
England is not the homogeneous country that we perceived as foreigners.

In fact, England is a

country divided economically, socially and even linguistically into two main regions:

Northern

(Northumbria: Northern England and Southern Scotland) and Southern England and the reason of
this division is a geographical one: the river Humber. This river marks the economical and linguistic
distinction between Southern and Northern English.
In England there are four major dialectal areas: South, the Midlands, East Anglia and Northern. The
upper-class South-Eastern English spoken in and around London was the basis upon which a
Standard English was created and this is the English language we all have studied at school and
which norm has been set out in the numerous grammar books and dictionaries that have been
published over the years around the South East by Oxford and Cambridge. British dont have an
official Language Academy as we have (RAE, AVL) for establishing the norm.
For many years, Standard English has been closely linked to a particular accent, the so-called RP
(Received Pronunciation) known as the Queens English or BBC English. RPs former popularity
seems nowadays to be on the wane because is the upper-class accent and a sign of social
domination by Southern England. Many people in England are adapting this social accent to their
regional accents because those who used non-standard varieties were branded as uneducated and
rude people who lacked the glamour associated with standard variety of language. But things are
changing even BBC is now using regional dialects and accents in their programs.

English Standard properties:



It is the variety of used by educated users, e.g. those in the profession in, the media, and
so on.

It is the variety defined in dictionaries, grammars, and usage guides.

It is regarded as more correct and socially acceptable than other varieties.

It enjoys greater prestige than dialects and non-standard varieties: non-standard varieties
are felt to be the province of the less educated.

It is used as a written language.

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It is used in important functions in the society in the government, the parliament, courts,

bureaucracy, education, literature, trade, and industry.

6. ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA

As you may know, English is becoming the first global lingua franca. We understand a lingua franca
as a way of communication between speakers of different first languages. English is nowadays an
international and global language. If we want to communicate with someone all around the world
we will need English whatever the matter will be.

English is considered a powerful language:

politically, militarily, scientifically, economically and culturally speaking. There are many countries in
the world where people speak English as first language but, on the other hand, in the vast majority
of countries English is at school and young students are learning English as a second language or the
first foreign language. Day after day, English speakers are in crescendo. If we want to travel we
need English, if we want to publish a scientific investigation it will be in English, if we want to trade
with foreign countries we will need to speak in English, we will need English to communicate with
other people from another country different from ours.

A language achieves a genuinely global

status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country and English is now the
language most widely taught as the chief foreign language.

7. PLURILINGUAL AND INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION4

As you know, Valencian educational system is a bilingual one. We have two official languages and
our educational system includes one or more foreign languages.

We have linguistic plurality and

diversity in our classrooms and both are part of everyday reality and everybodys daily experience.

We are living in a multilingual society.

Every country is multilingual with its national

language and varieties, minority languages, regional languages or dialects.

In fact,

contemporary societies are linguistically diversed because of increased economic and

professional mobility which tends to increase more and more.

Every language is plural. Even the most highly regulated of languages is actually a space of
plurality composed of multiple intersecting variations.

Every school is a space open to plurality of languages and cultures. The school brings
together speakers with different repertoires who have one language in common or several
language varieties. School is a place of contact among those repertoires, and between those
repertoires and varieties of the language of schooling.

Plurilingual and intercultural education as a project. Language Policy Division. Council of Europe. (2009)

21

All education is plurilingual because it should welcome the linguistic diversity present in
every society, it may teach (in) a language of schooling which does not correspond to the first
language of the learners or some of them, it exposes learners to varieties of the official
languages which are not those to which they are exposed in their home environment, it
expands and enriches learners initial linguistic and discursive repertoires.

Every identity is plural:

school helps to construct the identities of those it teaches and

educates, but in contemporary European societies this identity cannot be monolithic and
unchanging.
What does Plurilingual and intercultural education mean?5
In an intercultural approach, it is a central objective of language learning to promote the favourable
development of the learners whole personality and sense of identity in response to the enriching
experience of otherness in Language and culture.
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (Council of Europe, 2001)

A plurilingual and intercultural education represents a new perspective characterised by the fact that
it involves not only foreign languages but that languages in proximity, the languages of the
repertoires of learners, the languages of schooling and all subjects, are integral to it.

Intercultural learning and teaching has two goals or challenges:

1st:

Language education does not mean having a native-like proficiency. English is used as a lingua

franca to communicate effectively.

2nd: Cultural exploration and mediation. Language used to explore different cultures, and to mediate
in those situations where cultural misconceptions occur.

Intercultural exploration involves

discovering ones own culture as well as the cultures of others.

What does to be intercultural and communicative competent mean?

Intercultural communicative competence is conceived of as a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes:

A) Knowing the self and the other.

B) Knowing how to relate and interpret meaning.
C) Developing critical awareness
D) Knowing how to discover cultural information
E) Knowing how to relativise oneself and value the attitudes and beliefs of others.

Michael Byram in Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

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A) KNOWING THE SELF AND THE OTHER

People often find a way of relating to others by joining certain clubs or leisure groups or taking up
particular hobbies. In these settings, they often bond with others by gossiping and telling stories or
anecdotes about their lives and experiences, thus offering the opportunity to dramatise and
negotiate their personal and group values.

B) KNOWING HOW TO RELATE AND INTERPRET MEANING

Meaning can be communicated via spoken or written language in a variety of genres but it can be
also communicated non-verbally, through facial expressions, gestures, and even more general forms
of behaviour. The very instability of meaning makes non-verbal behaviour a perennially fascinating
resource for cultural exploration.

Migration and the mass media have accelerated and intensified the transcultural flow of ideas,
practices and behaviours that are global in extent but local inflection.

C) DEVELOPING CRITICAL AWARENESS

Intercultural language education begins with the assumption that contact between cultures should be
mutually enriching for the individuals and communities involved.

Contact between cultures has

historically taken place in conditions of invasion, colonialism, force immigration and economic
migration. In short, the conditions of contact between languages and cultures have too often been
marked by differences in power, opportunity, and access to intellectual and material resources.
Intercultural language learners have to acknowledge these historical processes and be critically
aware of their continuing impact.

D) KNOWING HOW TO DISCOVER CULTURAL INFORMATION

The intercultural language learner is one who develops an increasingly sophisticated means of
discovering cultural information:

By means of ethnography: the systematic observation and description of cultural practices

By means of semiotics: the observation, description and analysis of sign systems, such as language
itself, but also systems like non-verbal communication, visual symbolism, fashion and dance.

E)

KNOWING HOW TO RELATIVISE ONESELF AND VALUE THE ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS OF

OTHERS.

One way of encouraging respect for the unfamiliar is to make the familiar strange, by decentring
ones perspective of ones own culture.

Corbett, John. Intercultural Language Activities. CUP. (2009)

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Whereas a mere decade or so ago many learners might complain that they would never have the
opportunity to use their second language with other speakers, now the revolution in global
communications has made contact between language users worldwide instant and inexpensive.

The challenge to intercultural language teachers is how to combine classroom teaching with the
manifest opportunities offered for formal and informal learning.

Internet is not only a forum where people from different cultures can meet; it is also an
inexhaustible source of information about different cultures and societies.

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SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONCEPTS
1.

Sociolinguistics

2.

Languages in contact

3.

Bilingualism

4.

Diglossia

1. SOCIOLINGUISTICS
In recent times, division between internal and external elements of language has been accepted. The
former deals with grammar and linguistics the latter, with Sociolinguistics.
Sociolinguistics is a discipline that studies the conditions for language existence. It analyzes the
linguistic6 use in relation to objective reality where it is produced, in its social context. Relations
between language structure and the sociocultural environment where it is practiced and it exists are
the core topic in Sociolinguistics. It means having clear the areas for the use of language, the
territory where it is practiced, linguistic varieties used mostly, speakers category (social, ideological,
age, profession, sex...), the topics discussed, the context in which communications are handled,
intentions, and the form (what means: oral, written) by those who practice communication, in short,
all sociolinguistic variables involved in the communication process.

2. LANGUAGES IN CONTACT
Different linguistic communities do not live completely isolated, but for some reasons (because of
studies, relationships with other linguistic communities, or cultural or political impositions...), each
communitys linguistic system gets in touch with those of others. Obviously, this contact will become
interference at all levels, especially when there are two close communities where one of them, with
more resources and power than the other, try to impose its language.

3. BILINGUALISM
This term has been applied to different meanings depending on the interests that lie behind the
concept. Several disciplines have been involved in the attempted definition (pedagogy, psychology,
sociology, sociolinguistics...). It is though clear that Bilingualism is a polysemic and connotative
concept.
Bilingualism has been understood as the possibility of an individual to use two or more languages at
the same level. But this is a utopian situation that does not exist in reality. Most authors insist that
the term does not submit to a single definition and that it often hides the true situation of a
language that is under worse socio-political conditions. In this sense, different kinds of bilingualism
have been stated:

Individual bilingualism: the case of Valencian people, who speak Valencian and Spanish; or

the case or Irish, Scottish or Welsh people, who speak English and Gaelic or Welsh.

Its referred to the fact that Language is being actually used. Linguistic uses are all relations between language and the rest of the social system. In contrast, linguistic structure,
the essence, is not a subject of study in Sociolinguistics, but so it is the use. A field of use is every occasion in which language is used.

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Territorial bilingualism: the case of the Valencian Community, where there are two territories

historically differentiated from a linguistic point of view. Spanish is spoken inland, and Valencian is
spoken along the coast. Another case in reference to English is Ireland where English and Gaelic
coexist too.

Social bilingualism: when a person uses a language or another and the choice does not depend

on the personal situation or the territory where he/she lives, but on which social groups is society
divided.
We must make clear that bilingualism is always an individual fact, that is to say, people are bilingual,
but not nations, which always have their own language, the native.

4. DIGLOSSIA
The term diglossia has become widespread and it is used to explain the duplicity of functions that
two different languages (in contact and in conflict) have, according to the social inequality of
conditions. There is a language A that is used as a vehicle in areas of formal and written use of
language and education (culture, the mass-media, administration...) and a language B. The
concept of diglossia has also been subject to some revisions, but it is still usable, especially since it is
able to explain the various functions that are produced by languages in contact.

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