Language Choice (s1)

7/30/2019 Language Choice (s1)

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LANGUAGE CHOICE (S1)Kinds of language choice, social

factors, dimensions


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Kinds of choice

Language choice whole languages.

A person who speaks 2 or more languages has to choose which oneto choose is sometimes called CODE-SWITCHING (Greenfield, 1972,Sankoff 1980).

Where pieces of language are used while a speaker basically using

another language, this is called CODE-MIXING. One criterion that is sometimes offered to distinguish switching

from mixing is that grammar of the clause determines the language.

If words taken BORROWING.

Variation of the same language (intra-language variation) : accent

(ex. Welsh accented English) and Received Pronunciation). Language choice happens in monolingual and bilingual societies.

Orthographic and pronunciation may be used as criteria forborrowing from switching.


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SOCIOLOGY : DOMAIN ANALYSIS.

Joshua Fishman (1964, 1965, 1968) : domains are taken to beconstellation of factors, such as location, topic, and participants.

Fishman : 5 domains : home, beach, church, school, and work place.

Parasher (1980) 7 domains: (1) family, (2) friendship, (3)neighborhood, (4) transactions, (5) education, (6) government, (7)

employment. situations. Ex, friendship domain is composed into 5situations:

conversing with friend and acquaintances

people at clubs and social gatherings

introducing friends to others

discussing personal problems with friends/colleaguesarguing with friends/colleagues in heated discussions.

Sociologists : individual motivation rather than social structures (person-centered not society centered.)


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DOMAIN OF LANGUAGE USE

Domain Addressee

Setting Topic Variety/code

Family Parent Home Planning a familyparty

--------

Friendship Friend Beach How to playbeach volley

-----------

Religion Priest Church

Choosing theSundayliturgy

----------

Education Teacher School Solving a mathsproblem

----------


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DIGLOSSIA

Three criteria of diglossia :

2 distinct varieties of the same language areused in a community, with one regarded asH variety and the other L variety.

Each variety is used dor quite distinctfunctions; H and L complement each other.

No one uses the H in everydayconversation.


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Choice of H or L

Religion (sermon, prayers)

Literature (novel, non fiction)

Newspaper (editorial)

Broadcasting : TV news Education :written materials, lectures.

Education : lesson discussion

Broadcasting : radio Shopping

Gossiping


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SOCIAL FACTORS

Social factors are relevant for in accounting forthe particular variety used.

Some relate to the users of language theparticipants; others relate to its uses the social

setting and function of the interaction. Who istalking to whom (e.g. wife-husband, costumershop-keeper, boss worker).

The setting or social context (e.g. home, school,

work). The topic has proved an influence on language

choice


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COMPONENTS WHICH INFLUENCELINGUISTIC CHOICE

1.The participants : who is speaking andwho are they speaking to ?

2. The setting or social context of theinteraction :where are they speaking ?

3. The topic : what is being talked about ?

4. The function : why are they speaking ?


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SOCIAL DIMENSIONS

4 different dimensions for analysis :

1. A social distance scale concerned withparticipant relationships.

2. A status scale concerned withparticipant relationships.

3. A formality scale relating to the setting

or type of interaction. 4. Two functional scales relating to the

purposes or topic of interaction.


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THE SOLIDARITY SOCIALDISTANCE SCALE

Intimate --------------------- DistantHigh solidarity Low solidarity

The scale is useful in emphasizing that how well we know someone is a relevantfactor in linguistic choice.

STATUS SCALEsuperior high status

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subordinate low statusThis scale points to the relevance of relative status in some linguistic choices.

Ex. The choice of sirSams [h] dropping reflected his lower social group status in the society and the

opposite is Jim.In formal transaction as one with the bank manager in his office or at a ritual

service in church, the language used will be influenced by the formality ofthe setting. For friendly chat, people use colloquial language.


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THE REFERENTIAL AND AFFECTIVEFUNCTION SCALES

ReferentialHigh------------------------------ Lowinformation informationcontent content

AffectiveLow ------------------------------ High

Affective affectiveContent contentThe two functions identified in these scales are particularly pervasive (dpt

menembus) dan mendasar. Language can convey objectiveinformation of a referential kind; and it can also express how someoneis feeling. Rays utterance : Yeah that bastard Soothbucket kept us inagain simultaneously expresses both information about why he islate, and also conveying his feeling about his teacher.

The gossip ---- a great deal of new information + feeling about thosereferred to.

The more referentially oriented an interaction, the less it tends to expressthe feelings of the speaker. Ex. The weather forecast


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THE STEPS WHICH NEED TO BE TAKEN

IN PROVIDING AN EXPLANATION

1. to identify clearly the linguistic variation involved (e.g.vocabulary, sounds, grammatical construction, dialects,languages)

2. to identify clearly the different social or non-linguistic

factors which lead speakers to use one form rather thananother (e.g. features relating to participants, setting orfunction of the interaction).

First : what are the linguistic forms used in this village ?Second, what are the social factors which lead people to

use one set of forms rather than the other ? And finally:can we explain why particular social factors lead to theuse of one set of forms rather than another ?

Language Choice (s1)

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