THEORETICAL

CONSIDERATIONS
WEEK 1
PREVIEW
• Definition of sociolinguistics
• Relationship between language &
society
• Canons of sociolingustics
• Different ways of saying things
• Contributing dimensions
 DEFINITION

"Sociolinguistics.. is that part of linguistics which

is concerned with language as a social and
cultural phenomenon. It investigates the field
of language and society & has close
connections with the social sciences,
especially social psychology, anthropology,
human geography and sociology.“
(Trudgill, 1974: 32)
 DEFINITION

"The sociolinguist’s aim is to move towards a theory

which provides a motivated account of the way
language is used in a community, and of the choices
people make when they use language."
(Holmes, 1992:16)
 DEFINITION

• A study of the relationship between language and

society.
• It helps to identify the role of language in the society
and how the society affects the language.
• It helps us to understand why we speak differently in
various social contexts.
• It helps to uncover the social relationships in a
community.
 LANGUAGE & SOCIETY

• People express language differently.

• The language used by individuals reflects their
social functions in the society.
• Sometimes there are more than one language
used in a sociey.
• A language may also vary in different speech
communities.
 CANONS

Dell Hathaway Hymes (1927-2009)

- sociolinguist, anthropologist and folklorist
- works mainly about languages of Pacific Northwest
- created Dell Hymes Models of Speaking, coined the
term communicative competence within language
education
 CANONS

Robin Tolmach Lakoff (1942)

- linguist
- works are mainly on language and gender
- established features of women speech
- developed Politeness Principles
 CANONS

Joshua A. Fishman (1926-2015)

- one of the founding fathers of sociolinguistics
- a recognised leader in bilingual education, language and
ethnicity, multilingualism and language planning
- last position as Distinguished University Research Professor
of Social Science Emeritus at Yeshiva University New York.
 THE DIFFERENT WAYS IN SAYING
Linguistic variation
1.Pronunciation
2.Word structure
3.Grammar
4.Vocabulary
5.Dialect
6.Style
7.Slang
 WHY DO WE SAY THINGS
DIFFERENTLY?
1. Social factors
a) participants
 Participants - solidarity
What is Solidarity?
unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on
community of interests, objectives, and standards
From: www.merriam-webster.com

Solidarity is a scale of perceived like-mindedness or similarity of

behavioral disposition between a speaker and addressee
deriving from their similar background, acquaintances or
personal characteristics
From: http://www.sil.org
 WHY DO WE SAY THINGS
DIFFERENTLY?
b) setting
 WHY DO WE SAY THINGS
DIFFERENTLY?
c) topic
 WHY DO WE SAY THINGS
DIFFERENTLY?
d) function
Referential
functions

Affective functions
 LANGUAGE & SOCIETY

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Penjara.mp4
 Class Activity

• Choose one of the factors that influence

language expressions (from a – d). Prepare
two role plays which show how things are
expressed differently. Explain the differences
in linguistic variation involved.
WEEK 2: LANGUAGE CHOICE
Read Chp 2 (p19-35) of Holmes (2008) & carry
out internet search. Find answers to these
questions:
a) What is a linguistic repertoire?
b) Are domains of language use important in a
society? Why?
c) What are the factors affecting code choice?
d) What is the difference between diglossia and
polyglossia?