Preguntas Sociolinguistica

Feb 2013
Diachronic Variation
Languages change over time. They are in a constant flux because people use them endlessly & the
continuous use makes them change. Pronunciation changes in all languages, but it does not vary
randomly because the sounds of related languages correspond to others in apparently systematic
ways ¨sound shift¨
• Syntactic change affects the patterning of sentences: altering of word order. E.g.: Proto-Indo-
European (OV) vs English (SVO).
• Semantic change: words may vary their meanings total or partially because they are closely
connected with everyday usage and the contemporary culture.
• Changes in word meaning: caused by the meeting of new demand of the lexical
resources of a language.
• Change of use: closely related to social changes.
• Generalization and specification.
• Borrowings: new words introduced from other languages. Due to the constant
phenomenon of globalization and widespread media.
What are the origins of Sociolinguistics? Sep b 2013

Sociolinguistics has spread in the last 30 years together with other branches of linguistics
(psycholinguistics, pragmatics) & was considered a “step-child” until becoming a consolidated field of
research. It comprises various areas of study & research (historical & comparative linguistics,
dialectolody & anthropology).
Europe → sociolinguistics started with the study of historical linguistics & linguistic geography. Three
main fields of interest: dialectology, regional languages & linguistic situation of colonized countries.
USA → emerges from the contact of linguistics with other disciplines
Nowadays, sociolinguistics is a truly consolidated discipline & it can be divided into subfields
(pragmatics, language gender, pidgin & creole studies…). The more recent developments of discourse
analysis & pragmatics are considered part of sociolinguistics by some scholars while others consider
them areas of study in themselves.
Expand on the aspects that need to be taken into account when carrying sociolinguistic research
Feb b 2016
It is based on the collection of large amounts of data and the later statistical analysis of this data in
order to find general tendencies or regularities. Every speaker will show some degree of stylistic
variation depending on:
• Relations of power or solidarity with the interlocutor.
• Social context.
• Topic.
Early sociolinguistic research was based on the use of questionnaires to collect data on attitudes and
behaviours. Perfectly valid but presents several shortcomings
• Creates a very unnatural situation and informants may just answer what they think the
researcher wants to know.
• Little room to gather information that has not been taken into account when it was
1
designed.
• Face to face interviews (sociolinguistic interview):
• Interlocutor’s speech may be carefully planned or modified because of the
circumstances.
• Time and effort consuming.
• Recordings:
People tend to forget they are being recorded and also brings the methodological problem
about how to observe the way people speak when the researcher is not there and in situations
that might be private, this is known as the ´observer´s paradox´.
A term developed by William Labov to refer to a phenomenon that takes place when doing
sociolinguistic research. The issue raises when the sociolinguist needs to gather data from a single
speaker or a group of speakers in a speech community. The problem is that observing and gathering
(for instance, recording) that speech is difficult because as soon as the informants realize that they are
being observed they can - and consciously or unconsciously they generally do - change their speech
and make use of a less natural talk (e.g., more careful pronunciation, less idiomatic expressions, a
variety further away from the vernacular, etc.). What really interests sociolinguists is the way people
speak when they do not know that they are being observed.
Factors that affect language planning

The following factors significantly determine the development and the incidence of language planning
in a speech community:
• Socio-democratic factors, profoundly affect language planning as the number of languages that are
spoken and the number of speakers may favor the use of one language or the other.
• Linguistic factors may also play a role as the degree of development of a language and the existence
of a literary tradition may be taken into account when decicing which language should promoted
or preserved.
• Socio-psychological factors affect people's attitude towards one language or the other.
• Political factors can influence the adoption of a specific alphabet as for example the adoption of
latin alphabet in Turkey.
• Religious factors are also important.
The four main actions in language planning

• Selection of a norm, Multilingual countries very often need to make important decisions regarding
the language or languages that will become official, or simply the language for education or any
stitution purpose.
• Codification, given the circumstance mention above, if an indigenous language is chosen as the
standard, it may be necessary to make some changes and adapt it to meet the requirements os a
language of wider communication within a multilingual country.
• Modernization, technological and scientific developments probably require modernization of
specific vocabulary and very often a decision has to be made whether to adopt loan words or coin
new terms based on indigenous roots.
• Implementation, once a decision has been made, the chosen language needs to be officially
implemented and used in all sort of official forums.
2
European Union language planning and policy
There is a need to convert the rich heritage of diverse languages and cultures from a barrier to
communication into a source of mutual understanding. A better knowledge of European modern
languages will facilitate communication and interaction among Europeans and will promote mobility
and mutual understanding.
In this case the aim of a particular language planning and policy is to unify millions of speakers under
a political and economical administration and given the amount of different languages it seems
necessary to find a common ground for interaction without losing either cultural or linguistic identity.
The EU has already taken some action regarding the second/foreign language teaching and learning
within the member states and in a White Paper published in 1995 (Teaching and learning: towards the
learning society) it is stated as a general objective that everyone, irrespective of his/her academy
training should gain proficiency in two languages apart from their mother tongue so that they can
communicate in those languages.
(Esta última pregunta es demasiado larga para ceñirnos a las 100 palabras y me resulta difícil de
resumir).
Analyse the social dimension of bilingualism

The study and depiction of bilingualism can give prominence to the social side of the phenomenom,
which refers to various languages in contact. Social bilingualism is an aerea of research dedicated to
the study of its social dimension as characteristic of bilingual and multilingual societies where more
than one language is spoken by a peech community or social group. It does not mean that all speakers
in that speech community have a command over both languages; it implies that at least some members
are capable of using the other language.
Explain codification as an action in language planning

Multilingual countries need to make important decisions regarding the language(s) that will become
official, sometimes turning into language conflict due to some groups may think they are being
disadvantaged. Because of this, it is sometimes necessary to introduce a lingua franca, which is the
case of English in India and Ghana. If and indigenous language is chosen as the standard, it may be
necessary to make some changes and adapt it to meet the requirements of a language of wider
communication within the multilingual country. Some changes that may be needed: adapt the
language and update its vocabulary; adopt new alphabet, or simple standardise the language that
previously was found only spoken.
Differences between linguistic competences and sociolinguist competences

Linguist competence refers to lexical, phonological and syntactical knowledge and other skills, and
other dimensions of language as a system. It comprises the knowledge of vocabulary, pronunciation
rules, etc, but also de cognitive organization and storage of this knowledge in the brain of the language
learner. However, language is a social behaviour and is more than just a knowledge of linguistic system.
Sociolinguist compentence is concerned with the social and cultural conditions for the use of language
and the social conventions that rule its use. It comprises norms regaring politeness, relations between
the sexes, different classes... The lack of knowledge of sociolinguistics rules and behaviors may result
into communication breakdown.
3
Explain the relationship between standard English and World Englishes
Standard English RP (Received Pronunciation) is the variety of English used by the media and taught in
schools. It also refers to the variety used by the social elite, therefore, considered as ´prestigious´. The
varieties of English that have emerged due to the ample spread of English during the colonial period
are known as ´World Englishes´. The dispersal of English over the world can be divided in two phases:
first diaspora, relates to the migration of 25,000 people from England, Scotland and Ireland to North
America, Australia and New Zeland and second diaspora, 18th and 19th centuries in West Africa linked
to slave trade and the development of pidgins and creoles, whereas in East Africa English was used in
government, education, etc. and was kept as an official language or as a second language in other
countries.

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Feb 2013

What are the origins of Sociolinguistics? Sep b 2013

USA → emerges from the contact of linguistics with other disciplines

Factors that affect language planning

The four main actions in language planning

Analyse the social dimension of bilingualism

Explain codification as an action in language planning

Differences between linguistic competences and sociolinguist competences

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