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Definition: Sociolinguists study the relationship between language and society. They are interested in explaining why we speak differently in different social contexts, and with identifying the social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social meaning

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Why do we say same thing different ways?

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Why do we say same thing different ways?

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- Languages provide a variety of ways of saying the same thing – addressing and greeting others, describing things, or paying compliments
- The choice of one linguistic form rather than another is a useful clue to nonlinguistic information. Linguistic variation can provide social information

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Part 1: Language shift in different communities (migrant minority and non-migrant community)

non - migrant community: Political, economic and social changes can occur within a community, and this may result in linguistic changes too.

Migrant majority: When language shift occurs, shift towards the language of the dominant powerful group.

The dominate language is associated with status, prestige, social success

Language shift does not necessarily occur: Multilingualism is widespread

Language shift could occur: One primary indigenous language is use

Part 2: Language death

The process of language death affects all the areas of the grammar

Language shift – the process by which one language displaces another in the linguistic repertoire of a community.

Language loss – Attrition process, when an individual’s proficiency in their first language diminishes.

Language death – The situation where all the speakers of a language die so that their language dies with them.

Part 3: Factors contributing to language shifts

Economic, social and political factors: poverty (may lead to migration), social and political dominance by the linguistic majority

The social and economic goals of individuals in a community are very important in accounting for the speed of shift.

Demographic factors:

Resistance to language shift tends to last longer in rural than in urban areas.

The size of the group is sometimes a critical factor

Intermarriage can accelerate language shift.

Attitudes and values: language shift is slower when the minority language is high valued

Part 4: How can a minority language be maintained?

Language maintenance: process by which a minority language community sets out to inhibit the shift or loss of their language.

Bilingual education where the goal is to produce bilingual pupils.

Institutional support

Ethnolinguistic vitality: Three components are involved:

The status of the language as indicated by attitudes towards it;

The size of the group who uses the language and their distribution (e.g. concentrated or scattered)

The extent to which the language enjoys institutional support.

Linguistic landscapes: language used in public text

Public or official bilingual or multilingual signs:

indicate a community where several languages have official

indicate linguistic repertoires of some individuals may be restricted to just one of those languages

indicate that the sign writer wishes to convey an impression of sophistication

The order in which languages occur on signage can also convey a subtle political message

Part 5: Language revival: Attitude is the most important factor relevant to language revival

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National languages, language policy, and language planning

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National languages, language policy, and language planning

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2.4.1. National and official languages

A national language is the language of a political, cultural and social unit, symbolizes national unity.

An official language is used in government business; its function is practical; and it is not symbolic.

One language could serve both functions

Two official languages and one national language

Paraguay:

Guaraní and Spanish ( official languages)

Guarani ( national language)

Tanzania:

Swahili and English  ( official languages)

Swahili (national language)

Three official languages and one national language (Bislama)

Vanuatu: Bislama, English and French (official languages)

Bislama (national language)

In multilingual countries government declares a particular language to be the national language for political reasons

If this national language cannot serve all the initial and external functions of government business,... -> identify one or more official languages

The identification of official languages may also be necessary when the choice of national language is problematic

2.4.1.1. Official status and minority languages

English

a world language and international lingua franca

an official language in many countries - Pakistan, Fiji, Vanuatu, Jamaica and the Bahamas …

Often share official status with an Indigenous language - Malay in Malaysia, Swahili in Tanzania and Gilbertese in Kiribati

Not legally an official language of England, the USA, or New Zealand → not been considered necessary to legislate het the language of the majority is an official language

In New Zealand:

English is the official language of government and education

Mãori and New Zealand Sign Language have legal or de jure status as official languages.

Mãori official language in 1987

In Wales

Welsh has official status under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

Equal treatment to English and Welsh, producing all public documents and signage in both languages

Not have official status in the rest of Britain.

2.4.1.2. What price a national language?

“One nation, one language” many regarded as a way of symbolizing the unity of a nation → very few languages with this kind of status before about 1500 - when the number increased dramatically

In some multilingual countries, a national language:

a lingua franca and official language

a symbolic unifying function

A single dominant group, the issue of which language to choose → as the official language to represent the nation generally does not arise

Numerical dominance is not always what counts >< Political power is the crucial factor.

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2.4.2. Planning for a national official language.

Language planning: A deliberate, systematic attempt to address the communication issues of a society by studying the varieties (languages/ dialects), and developing a policy concerning their form, selection and/ or use.

2.4.2.1. 4 interrelated step

Selection: Choosing the variety or code to be developed.

Codification: standardizing its structural or linguistic features. - “corpus planning”

Elaboration: extending its functions for use in new domains  developing the linguistic resources for handling new concepts and contexts.

Securing its acceptance: Steps may be needed to enhance its prestige and to encourage people to develop pride in the language or loyalty towards it - “status planning” or “prestige planning”

Corpus planning (based on the allocation of its use) - it is aimed at developing that language (or variety) for the functioning in all areas in society

Status planning: (based on the importance of the language); it changes the function of a language (or variety) and the rights of those using it.

2.4.2.2. Attitudes to Swahili

A successful national language needs to serve a variety of functions. The following have been identified as important:

Unifying: it must unify the nation, and offer advantages to speakers over their dialects and vernaculars.

Separatist:it must set the nation apart from surrounding nations. It should be an appropriate symbol of separate national identity.

Prestige: it should be recognised as a proper or “real” language with higher status than local dialects and vernacular languages.

Frame-of-reference function: the standard variety serves as a yardstick for correctness. Other varieties will be regarded as non-standard in some respect.

2.4.2.3. Developing a standard variety in Norway

Gained independence in 1814 from Denmark

Faced with the diglossia situation:

H language - Danish

L varieties - a range of Norwegian dialects

No standard Norwegian language.

Upper- class people

Danish with Norwegian pronunciation in formal situations

a compromise between that and local Norwegian dialects in informal contexts

Lower-class: Norwegian dialects, with Danish influence.

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2.4.3. Linguistic landscapes in social and political context

“Top-down” signs are official signs, designed by public authorities,

“Bottom-up” signs are non-official signs, usually produced by individuals or groups.

Suggested a continuum from official to non-official rather than a simple either- or categorization

Nikolas Coupland - all linguistic landscaping is generated “from above”, since people’s reasons for choosing what to portray are influenced by language ideologies.

An analysis of the linguistic landscape can provide useful clues as to the gap which often exists between official language policy and actual linguistic practices.

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2.4.4. The linguist’s role in language planning

The nuts and bolts of language planning are handled by committees, commissions or academies.

The focus of much language planning activity has altered from the promotion of national and official languages in countries trying to establish their autonomy, to include concern for minority and endangered languages.

2.4.4.1. Codification of orthography

Governments often get involved with spelling reform → The steady replacement of anglicized spellings with Welsh names

Missionaries often good linguists who produced a spelling system which accurately represented the pronunciation of the language.

Printers and publishing houses:

Wellington printers have preferred the macron

Auckland printers have favoured the double vowel.

2.4.4.2. Developing vocabulary

Hebrew faced the problem of finding words for everyday colloquial things which had previously been referred to in people’s vernacular languages.

A language will need vocabulary for more specialised or formal domains (Swahili, Tok Pisin and Malay, or for concepts and objects introduced from another culture, as with Navajo in the USA)

In advising others on usage, they are often faced with the dilemma of which of these options to recommend:

1. a word borrowed from English

2. an equivalent Māori word which is perhaps not well known or with a slightly different meaning which could be adapted

3. a word newly created from Māori resources.

The Commission - not simply a mechanical one of making Māori a more suitable instrument for official communication and modern education.

Coining words is another solution

Commission can have a sense of humor

2.4.4.3. Acceptance

The next step in the process involves the politicians and the people as much as the sociolinguist.

Certain linguistic forms be adopted by the media and used in schools

But people have to accept and use them:

The Norwegian government’s ambivalence between Bokmål and Nynorsk in Norway

the government’s regular pronouncements in the media on new “official usages” which represent attempts at compromise have not always been accepted.

people often ignore

A variety which begins with some status always has a useful headstart

2.4.4.5. Acquisition planning

Acquisition planning - spread a linguistic variety by increasing the number of its users. → language-in-education planning - the most widespread method

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Greetings:

may or may not be followed by conversation

may also function as a summons

mainly social function: establishes the proper level of interaction

Affective and referential functions of speech: there are several categories relating to these functions

1. Expressive - utterances express the speaker's feelings

2. Directive - utterances attempt to get someone to do something

3. Referential - utterances provide information

4. Metalinguistic - utterances comment on language itself

5. Poetic - utterances focus on aesthetic features of language

6. Phatic - utterances construct solidarity, rapport and empathy with others

Any utterance may in fact express more than one function

Any function may be served by a stretch of discourse - doesn't exactly coincide with any utterance

fundamental functions of language

the speaker (expressive)

the addressee (directive)

the message (referential)

The phatic function

an affective or social message

Other speech function categories have been identified

"tell me why" function - utterances seemed to be aimed at learning more about the world

commissives function - promises and threats

performatives or declarations function - marriage vows, bets and declarations of war

4.2.1.1. Directives

The directive function - getting people to do things

vary in strength

suggesting or inviting them to do

ordering or commanding

expressed in imperative form

polite attempts - use interrogatives or declaratives

Intonation, tone of voice and context

Social factors affect a speaker's choice of the appropriate form of directive

social distance

relative status and roles

gender and age

formality of the context

Close friends or intimates - more imperatives

superiors use imperatives to subordinates

clear-cut rules - use minimally explicit forms and be confident they will be interpreted accurately

Formality and status - choice contributes to constructing dimensions of interaction

Expressing directiveness less directly and more politely

The required action - a subordinate clause of the declarative sentence

directives upwards - indirect forms, hints

Relative influenced by age and size

Routineness or reasonableness of the task

The addressee's gender girls and women tend to favor more polite and less direct forms of directives than males

male doctors typically used imperatives (eg: eat more fruit), while female doctors tended to use less direct forms (e.g. maybe you could try fresh fruit for dessert)

women use less direct forms of directive - receive less direct forms

Relative power or status and social distance

we - pronouns can be used to balance solidarity with power

Exception a community of lower - class male migrant agricultural workers on the eastern coast of the USA

all the directives took the form of imperatives

the insecure and unpleasant work conditions - antagonism evident in many of their social interactions

Relations workers - bosses - mistrust and tension - unhappy social relationships

a threat can sometimes be more effective

considerations of politeness - using terms of address for exemplification

Identity construction: a more abstract function of interaction

Identity constructions influenced by

the social setting

one's social role

particular goals and responses to others

a specific situation

a marco-level social categories constructed by

linguistic features

interactional and local identity categories

When online may construct rather different identities

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Being polite - complicated

involve understanding the language, the social and cultural values

What is politeness?

"...politeness involves contributing to social harmony and avoiding social conflict."

A summon is used to get someone to attend to the summoner; greetings may be used phatically

linguistic politeness

discourse strategies

linguistic devices

Inappropriate linguistic choices may be considered rude assessing social relationships, dimensions of social distance or solidarity, and relative power or status in a specific social context. Understand the social values.

2 different types of politeness

positive politeness

solidarity or rapport oriented

emphasizes shared attitudes and values

Negative politeness

based on power relations

Expressing oneself appropriately in terms of social distance and respecting status differences.

Getting the linguistic expression of social distance "right" as far as your addressee is concerned

British - mutual TLN (Mrs. Landy, Mr. Duncan) the norm between upper working - class neighbors

In North America, the first names (FN) to people you work with

In earlier centuries, Status was the major consideration

used TLN ( or an appropriate kin-term) upwards to superiors

FN downwards to subordinates

Equals used mutual TLN with people they did not know well, mutual FN to friends

Today, more complicated

a conflict of norms in two situations

(1) high status with solidarity

(2) low status with low solidarity

solidarity dimensions tends to win out

type of relationship involved

In Britain - Doctors and patients similarly tend to use mutual TLN

put the emphasis on the social distance dimension even long-standing

Transactional relationships are usually one-dimensional

Age

Adults use FN to children

Young people to receive FN in any context, often be expected to use TLN back

The use of familiarizers

such as mate, dude, babe, bro, sis, cuz, love, etc

depend on the context of a conversation

norms of address usage have changed over time -> more emphasis on solidarity and less on status

However, in many Asian societies

remains on status differences

recognizes relative status explicitly - constructs both the speaker's and the addressee's identities

That interaction is not static

What is considered polite or impolite may emerge, change and develop throughout an interaction

people unintentionally offend others as - different norms and expectations about how to express friendliness or respect

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Linguistic politeness in different cultures

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Linguistic politeness in different cultures

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cross-cultural communication

misunderstanding relates to different assumptions deriving from different "normal" environments

Need to learn what the words mean in the cultural contexts

involves some understanding of the cultural and social norms

Sociolinguistic norms for polite acceptance and refusal

Western culture - plausible reasonably and specific excuse

In some culture - general vague formulas

In Britain and New Zealand - more specific reason

solidarity is the dominant -> privacy is reduced and vagueness about one's activities is seen as evasive.

How do you get enough to eat

parts of India and Taiwan, parts of the Arabic-speaking world - impolite to accept food when it is first offered. Only on the third offer is it appropriate to accept

Plying someone with food is - positively polite behavior, sharp economic differences culture

In many countries, being forced to repeatedly refuse offers of food- embarassing

4.2.3.1 Greetings

an affective function of establishing non-threatening contact and rapport

culture specific

The Maori ritual of encounter - complex procedure

rules governing which particular elements occur on any particular occasion

The more formal and important the occasion, the more speeches there are, and the longer they are

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LINGUISTIC VARIETIES AND MULTILINGUAL NATIONS.

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LINGUISTIC VARIETIES AND MULTILINGUAL NATIONS.

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1. Khái niệm, phân loại (chia ra làm 2 loại standard - chuẩn và vernacular - địa phương <không chuẩn>).

1. Vernacular languages.

It generally refers to a language which has NOT been standardised and which does NOT have official status.

The use of swear words. (chửi thề)

KHÔNG có hình thức viết chính thức (thường sử dụng văn nói nhiều)

A vernacular is an uncodified or unstandardised variety (không có hệ thống quy tắc chính thức). The second refers to the way it is acquired – in the home, as a first variety (được học từ nhỏ ở nhà chứ không thông qua trường lớp). The third is the fact that it is used for relatively circumscribed functions - chức năng giới hạn (sử dụng trong một số tình huống nhất định)

→ It is the language of solidarity between people from the same ethnic group.

vernacular contrasts with ritual + classical language.

2. Standard languages.

Used: by the economically powerful merchant class (influential); in the Court (prestigious - uy tín cao)

The area:

The largest proportion of the English population lived at that time was in a neat triangle containing London, where the Court was based, and the two universities, Oxford and Cambridge.
→ Vào thời điểm đó, phần lớn dân số Anh sinh sống trong một khu vực hình tam giác bao gồm London (nơi đặt hoàng gia/cung đình) và hai trường đại học danh tiếng là Oxford và Cambridge.

An important agricultural and business area, the center of political, social and intellectual life in England.
→ Đây cũng là một khu vực nông nghiệp và thương mại quan trọng, là trung tâm chính trị, xã hội và trí thức của nước Anh.

The codification process was accelerated by the introduction of printing.
→ in ấn → chuẩn hóa nhanh hơn.

A standard variety

is written and has undergone some degree of regularization or codification (for example, in a grammar and a dictionary)

is used for H functions alongside a diversity of L varieties (đc sd trong các chức năng chính thức H functions - như hành chính, học thuật, luật pháp; không chính thức - L varieties - ngôn ngữ đời thường)

Codification (chuẩn hóa)

developing grammars (quá trình phát triển hệ thống ngữ pháp)

developing dictionaries (quá trình xây dựng từ điển)

> tạo ra sự thống nhất về hình thức, hạn chế sự biến đổi trong cách viết, cách dùng từ.

Elaboration (mở rộng chức năng): Use of the codified language (in administration, education, literature..)

→ Standardization is not a property of any language: not all languages have a standard variety! (nhiều ngôn ngữ trên thế giới vẫn chưa được chính thức hóa thành một hệ thống chuẩn.)

🔷 THE IDEAL GOALS OF A STANDARD LANGUAGE:
Codification → minimal variation in form (giảm)
Elaboration → maximal variation in function (mở rộng)

World English.

Standard English – a language with a status of prestige variety of English – is spoken in many countries.

"World Englishes" / New Englishes may be identified as Inner, Outer, and Expanding circles of English.

inner-circle varieties (tiếng mẹ đẻ)

outer-circle varieties (TA là nn2)

expanding circle varieties (học TA như là 1 nn nc ngoài)

→ Distinctions between the circles are very difficult to maintain (ranh giới giữ các vòng trong đang mờ dần vì Sự giao thoa văn hóa và di cư; Sự lan rộng vai trò của tiếng Anh trong giáo dục, công nghệ, kinh doanh toàn cầu; Nhiều người ở “expanding circle” có trình độ tiếng Anh cao hơn cả ở “outer circle”)

→ An alternative approach: identifying people with different degrees of proficiency; the range of functions English serves. (Phân loại người dùng theo mức độ thành thạo tiếng Anh, không quan trọng xuất thân quốc gia; Xét đến mục đích sử dụng tiếng Anh)

2. Lingua Francas.

a language serving as a regular means of communication between different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community.  (ngôn ngữ được sử dụng thường xuyên để giao tiếp giữa các nhóm ngôn ngữ khác nhau trong một cộng đồng đa ngôn ngữ - liên quan yếu tố lịch sử, chính trị…: cái này hơi giống nhân tử chung trong toán) → vd VN có nhiều nhóm dân tộc thiểu số, trên quy mô trong nước thì tiếng việt là lingua francas để mọi người trong các nhóm dân tộc thiểu số có thể giao tiếp với nhau)

a language used for communication between people whose first languages differ. (giữ những ng có nn mẹ đẻ khác nhau) → vd trong liên minh châu âu (tiếng đức, pháp…) có các ngôn ngữ mẹ đẻ khác nhau của từng quốc gia → chọn TA dùng chung trong tài liệu chính trị… (nôm na ngôn ngữ trung gian thôi)

In a country, the most useful and widely used lingua franca is an official language or the national language.

In multilingual communities, lingua francas may eventually displace the vernaculars.

Lingua francas often develop initially as trade languages – illustrating the influence of economic factors on language change. (ban đầu phát triển như nn thương mại)

3. Pidgins và Creoles.

1. Pidgins.

A pidgin is a language which has NO native speakers.

Pidgins (được sinh ra do sự pha trộn từ vựng/ cấu trúc giữa các ngôn ngữ khác với nhau, thường đc rút gọn grammar, dùng trong giap tiếp thực tế)

develop as a means of communication between people who do not have a common language. (phương tiện giao tiếp giữa những người không có chung ngôn ngữ)

likely to arise when groups with different languages are communicating in a situation where there is another dominant language.

“Mongrel jargons" (ngôn ngữ pha tạp) và "macaroni lingos" (ngôn ngữ không chuẩn) → coi thường

do NOT have high status/ prestige.

three identifying characteristics:

restricted domains and functions (sử dụng trong ngữ cảnh nhất định, k sd trong các lĩnh vực chính thức/ văn hóa cao).

simple structure.

low prestige and attracts negative attitudes.

can develop into fully-fledged languages or creoles.

2. Creoles. (hầu hết xuất phát từ pidgins)

is a pidgin which has acquired native speakers.

is a pidgin which has expanded in structure and vocabulary to express the range of meanings and serve the range of functions required of a first language.

Pidgin can become so useful as a lingua franca → Creoles

Creoles can be used for all the functions of any language – politics, education, administration, original literature

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1. Gender-exclusive speech differences: highly structured communities.

If a community is very hierarchical:

within each level of the hierarchy men are more powerful than women,

differences may be just one dimension of more extensive differences reflecting the social hierarchy as a whole.

có thể xem vd thực tế cách xưng hô trong tiếng việt.

Western urban communities

women’s and men’s social roles overlap → the speech forms overlap.

women and men do NOT use completely different forms.

tend to use different quantities or frequencies of the same forms.

→ nam nữ bình đẳng hơn, sd ngôn ngữ same nhau (vd nam và nữ đi làm có thể dùng ngôn ngữ lịch thiệp văn phòng.. để nói chuyện, khác trc kia nữ ở nhà nam đi làm, nữ dùng nn nội trợ nhiều hơn)

2. Gender and social class.

The linguistic features which differ in the speech of women and men in Western communities = speech of people from different social classes.

Men use more vernacular forms than women. Group 1 - the highest social group.

Women generally use more standard grammatical forms than men.

Multiple negation – vernacular form

more frequent in men’s speech than in women’s.

in every social group

This pattern is typical for many grammatical features.

The pattern is clear, consistent and widespread, and it is evident from a very early age.

Men use more vernacular forms when talking to a male interviewer:

men in formal contexts seem to be less responsive to the speech of others, and to their conversational needs

the interview context was different for women and men.

Women use more standard forms than men in a formal interview.

their sensitivity to contextual factors – reflect social distance

status-conscious individuals

→ In societies where women do not have access to education and thus have restricted opportunities to acquire the standard variety, they do not use more standard forms than men. (Việc phụ nữ sử dụng ngôn ngữ chuẩn nhiều hơn nam giới không phải lúc nào cũng đúng.)

Interpreting their significance – influenced by a researcher’s theoretical framework and beliefs about the relationship between language and social factors.

status dimension

solidarity dimension

3. Age-graded gender of speech.

Pitch of voices between women and men

develops at puberty

difficult to guess the gender of a five-year-old / identify the gender of a swaddled infant from its wails and coos

Social and cultural factors contribute – sounds more masculine to speak with a lower-pitched voice

Male voices generally sound lower in pitch than women’s

Adult voices sound deeper than children’s.

Age-grading – Refers to features of people’s speech which vary at different ages: e.g. pitch, vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. (đặc điểm trong lời nói của con người thay đổi theo từng độ tuổi)

Slang

A type of informal, vernacular vocabulary (which is subject to rapid change).

reflects a person’s age.

prerogative of young people

signals membership of the young

Slang is so ephemeral (not last long)

useful clue to guess a person’s age

spread because of online communication and social media.

get picked up by adults → emerging to replace the terms now used by adults.

4. Age and social dialect data.

Gender and social classVernacular use in English-speaking countries are fewer for middle-age speakers, increases for old-age speakers: a decrease of social pressure.

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Addressee as an influence on style

4.1.1.1 Age of addressee

Speak to a child: grammatically simple, more explicit

Speak to an adult: more complex with subordinate clauses, low frequency words

Speak to the elder: less complex grammar, A simpler range of vocabulary

4.1.1.2 Social background of addressee

audience design

The influence of the addressee or audience on a speaker’s style.

Speakers vary their style according to their (perceived) audience.

E.g., same newsreader on different radio stations read the same news on two different stations during the same day → produce consistently different styles for each audience.

4.1.2. Accommodation theory

Speech accommodation: the speech of each person converges toward the speech of the other person they are conversing with – the style becomes similar!

Condition:

the speaker intends to please the addressee

trying to make the conversation more fluid – a politeness strategy!

4.1.2.1 Speech convergence

Speech convergence: Converging towards the speech of another person

considered a polite speech strategy.

implies the addressee’s speech is acceptable and worth imitating.

a way of signaling that you are on the same wavelength.

4.1.2.1 How do speakers accommodate?

Simplified speech to foreigners and children (vocabulary, grammar);

Selecting the language (or variety) of the addressee in multilingual communities.

4.1.2.3 Speech divergence

Negative attitude: Deliberate choice of the language or variety not used by the addressee

signal the speakers’ wish to distinguish themselves from their addressees.

who aspire to a higher social status will diverge upwards

the use of Arabic instead of English

minority ethnic groups use their own linguistic variety in interaction with majority group members

Giving a speech in a minority language to an audience made up largely of majority group monolinguals

Positive attitude:

Where the divergent forms are admired, divergence can be used to benefit the speaker.

A small difference, such as a slight foreign accent (provided it is one which is viewed favorably), can be appealing.

A foreigner – using an accent or vocabulary which signals inadequate control of the language.

Referee design:

A third party’s style is employed for special effect

imitate your teacher to amuse your friends

adopt a prestige accent to impress your boss

4.1.2.4 Stylization

Stylization
The variety employed differs from the speaker’s normal style – it is stronger or higher.

the speech of comedians and singers

“crossing” – young people temporarily cross over into another group’s speech variety.

May involve features of a particular regional accent, or stigmatized vernacular grammatical features, or very formal grammar, or very erudite vocabulary, or high pitch or a distinctive intonation pattern.

Parody and pantomime typically involve stylization.

4.1.2.5 Accommodation problems

Over-convergent can offend listeners. May be perceived as:

patronizing and ingratiating

Sycophantic

evidence that the speaker is making fun of others

Accent accommodation was seen as going too far → misleading about his “true” identity.

Reactions depend on the reasons people attribute for

If unavoidable → more tolerant

will be heard as uncooperative or antagonistic.

E.g., uses English in Montreal

The importance of considering the context: attitude issues!

4.1.3. Context, style, and social class

4.1.3.1 Formal contexts and social roles

1. The degree of formality determines the choice of style: the context and the roles of participants in the formal setting is relevant!!

A law court – formal setting – social roles of participants override their personal relationship in determining the appropriate linguistic forms.

Classrooms – a child’s mother or father is the teacher

4.1.3.2 Different styles within an interview:

The Labovian methodology - elicit a wider range of styles within the interview context

distinctions - the amount of attention that people were paying to their speech.

two strangers - an interview schedule of questions to be answered, and a recording device as another member of the audience, it was relatively easy to elicit more formal styles.

Social dialectology

observer's paradox

4.1.3.3 Colloquial style or the vernacular

Objective of the interviewer: to collect colloquial or vernacular style data.

Recorded small groups of people rather than individuals and chosen a very comfortable or informal setting.

Strategies which encourage people to shift towards a more vernacular style

Colloquial style vs. standard speech: several linguistic features may distinguish these two styles.

4.1.3.5 Hypercorrection

Post-vocalic [r] for range of social groups and five styles in New York:

The patterned relationships between social group and linguistic variation

The structured hierarchy of social classes is indicated by each of the distinct lines drawn

Variation in speech style increases as they pay more attention to their speech.

The lower middle class (LMC), to pronounce [r] even more often than the upper middle class (UMC) in the two most formal styles.

hypercorrect behavior -usage goes beyond the norm involves extending a form beyond the standard

linguistic insecurity - Anxiety or lack of confidence about "correct" or standard linguistic usage, especially in formal situations. People sometimes hypercorrect or over-extend a particular usage when they are unsure of themselves.

4.1.3.6 Stereotypes, markers and indicators

Markers a linguistic feature which can indicate people's social class, style and identity.

When New Yorkers pronounce post-vocalic [r] in more formal contexts, they will usually be evaluated as educated and as speaking appropriately. This feature is a marker since it stratifies for both style and social group.

Stereotypes a linguistic feature which is generally negatively evaluated or stigmatized. People are aware of stereotypes and generally avoid them.

Example: ain't is a classic stereotype feature of lower class or uneducated speech in much of the USA.

Indicator - a feature which does not have any overt social evaluation attached to it and which generally does not attract explicit attention within a speech community.

4.1.3.7 Third- wave variationist approaches to the concept of style

third- wave variationist approach, linguistic features index social meanings

1. expressed through stances or personae and social types

2. style - mediating between linguistic variables and identity categories.

Emphasizes the dynamic nature of stylistic choices.

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1. Khái niệm Discourse.

Discourse analysis provides a tool for sociolinguists to identify the norms of talk among different social and cultural groups in different conversational and institutional contexts, and to describe the discursive resources people use in constructing different social identities in interaction → giúp hiểu cách ngôn ngữ phản ánh xã hội và con người, và cách chúng ta dùng lời nói để thể hiện bản thân và mối quan hệ với người khác.

“discourse”

refers to stretches of spoken or written language which extend beyond an utterance or a sentence (một đoạn hội thoại, bài phát biểu, bài viết hay cuộc trò chuyện có ý nghĩa đầy đủ)

a means of structuring knowledge and social practice

→ giúp con người truyền đạt thông tin, hiểu biết, và duy trì các quy tắc xã hội (vd: diễn ngôn y tế → bác sĩ đặt câu hỏi bệnh nhân → bệnh nhân trả lời → bs giải thích..; diễn ngôn chính trị → bài phát biểu của tổng thống/ chính trị gia → thể hiện quyền lực, quan điểm, và ảnh hưởng đến hành vi xã hội)

2. Pragmatics and politeness theory.

1. What is pragmatics? (ngữ dụng học) (gần giống hàm ý, nghĩa ngữ dụng k nằm ở câu chữ, mà phụ thuộc vào ngữ cảnh và kiến thức nền của người nghe để suy ra.)

Studies explanations for how individuals use linguistic resources to produce and interpret meaning in interaction.

The study of how context affects linguistic interaction.
→ Relationship between participants’ background knowledge → the analysis goes beyond grammar and word meaning.

2. Conversational maxims and implicatures (phương châm hội thoại và hàm ý)

According to Paul Grice:

people are following a basic cooperative principle and being succinct, truthful, relevant and clear.

4 maxims of cooperative talk:

Quantity: say as much as but no more than is necessary.

Quality: do not say what you believe to be false, or that for which you lack evidence.

Relation: be relevant.

Manner: be clear, unambiguous, brief and orderly.

→ However, People do NOT always follow these rules.

3. Conversational maxims and politeness.

People do not follow the conversational maxims – considerations of politeness, and this is one place where pragmatics overlaps with sociolinguistics.

Robin Lakoff, “the mother of modern politeness theory” – three rules of politeness:

Don’t impose → Negative politeness

Give options → Negative politeness

Be friendly → Positive politeness

Brown and Levinson (1987) – 3 social factors that are universally relevant to polite conversational practices:

how well you know someone

what is their status relevant to yours

ranking of the imposition (mức độ gây phiền hà)

4. Sociolinguistics, politeness and rapport management

Politeness strategies are not universal – they are social and culture-specific!

Asian values: sincerity, respect, consideration, negative politeness strategies - avoidance and mitigation - as opposed to focusing on the social distance and solidarity dimensions.

Greek, Turkish, and Moroccan Arabic politeness involves positive politeness strategies, and the expression of concern, consideration, friendliness, and intimacy.

Different groups had different expectations concerning:

how their sociality rights should be recognized

what constituted an adequate demonstration of respect for their social identities in a formal context. (biểu hiện phù hợp của sự tôn trọng đối với bản sắc xã hội)

3. Ethnography of speaking.

The ethnography of speaking (the ethnography of communication)

an approach to analyzing language that has been designed to heighten awareness of culture-bound assumptions.

Dell Hymes, framework for the analysis of communicative events.

Contextualization cue (dấu hiệu của những giả định ngữ cảnh đã có sẵn; Giúp người tham gia suy luận ra cách hiểu có khả năng đúng nhất cho phát ngôn)

strong stress and high volume – indicating that speaker found the performance surprisingly good. (Nhấn mạnh và nói to)

falling intonation – an indication of providing definitive information (Ngữ điệu hạ xuống)

discourse moves – conversational opening

supportive moves – to signal as members of the same team

non-verbal behaviors – facial expressions, head nods, gestures, silences

Miscommunication – when different sociolinguistic norms involved. (hiểu lầm trong gt)

4. Conversation Analysis (CA)

Communication as a jointly organized activity (like dancing)

Focus: structure of conversation at micro-level.

Adjacency pairs:

E.g., greetings, questions/answers, acceptances/refusals, farewells, invitation/acceptance, etc.

“Related utterances produced by two successive speakers in such a way that the second utterance is identified as a follow-up to the first.” (2 phát ngôn có lq đc tạo ra bởi 2 ng nói liên tiếp nhau: cái 2 là phản hồi của cái 1)

CA emphasizes – only make use of information available from the text being analyzed and should NOT refer to extra-textual, ethnographic information.

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language attitude - language ideology

not clear distiction

some sociolinguists uses the terms interchangeably

language ideologies - deeply seated beliefs that people hold about language and are reflected in societal values (and the prestige) of languages and languages varieties - tend to include how a person views their own language(s).

Language attitudes - more personal and are more influenced by the beliefs of the individual speaker and hearer.

Linking linguistic attitudes (based in social prejudice) to spurious educational consequences - widespread

[r] - less accents

argue - disadvantages their users in the area of reading in particular

Vs. NOT essential - manage to distinguish the meanings of son and sun even they sound the same

factors influencing social judgments:

politics - people's attitudes to Swedish and Danish reflected Scandinavian politics

Positive feelings to speakers of a language or language variety - affect intelligibility

find it easier to understand languages and dialects spoken by people they like or admire

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1 The participants: who is speaking and who are they speaking to?

2 The setting or social context of the interaction: where are they speaking?

3 The topic: what is being talked about?

4 The function: why are they speaking?

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1 A social distance scale concerned with participant relationships.

Intimate(High solidarity) - Distant(Low solidarity)

2 A status scale concerned with participant relationships.

Superior(High status) - Subordinate (Low status)

3 A formality scale relating to the setting or type of interaction.

Formal(High Formality) - Informal (Low Formality)

4 Two functional scales relating to the purposes or topic of interaction
Referential: High/low information content

Affective: High/low affective content

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What are the different ways we say things?

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What are the different ways we say things?

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ư- Linguistic variation occurs at other levels of linguistic analysis too: sounds, word-structure (or morphology), and grammar (or syntax), as well as vocabulary.

- Choices may even involve different dialects of a language, or quite different languages, as we shall see.

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The social context or setting where specific language varieties are used (e.g., home, school, workplace).

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A societal situation where two language varieties coexist with distinct functions, often with one high (H) and one low (L) variety, used in specific contexts and with social prestige assigned.

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H is prestigious, formal, and often codified (e.g., literary or official language). L is used informally, locally, and may be less standardized.

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With diglossia: Society uses two languages/varieties with clear functional separation.

Without diglossia: Bilingual individuals or communities use multiple languages in overlapping domains without strict functional division.

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The use of multiple languages or varieties within a community, often for different social purposes, with complex relationships among them.

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Alternating between languages or varieties within conversation or sentence boundaries.

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Switching languages based on social context or setting (e.g., formal vs. informal).

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Switching to convey social identity, attitude, or emotion, not necessarily tied to the situation.

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Reactions to code-switching styles are negative in many communities, despite the fact that proficiency in intra-sentential code-switching requires good control of both codes.

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Blending elements of two or more languages within a sentence or utterance.

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Incorporating words from one language into another, often due to contact and influence.

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Switching languages within a single sentence.

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A rule stating switches occur where the surface structures of both languages align.

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Matrix language frame and embedded language

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Matrix language frame and embedded language

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Framework for code-switching where one language provides the grammatical structure (matrix), and the other contributes elements (embedded).

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Switches happen at sentence boundaries rather than within sentences.

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Using multilingual resources flexibly as a single language system, often to make meaning dynamically in interaction.

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The way words are pronounced, often reflecting regional or social background.

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Regional Dialect: A variety of language associated with a specific geographic area, including distinct vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.

Regional Accent: The pronunciation features characteristic of a particular geographic region.

Isogloss: A geographic boundary marking a change in linguistic features, such as pronunciation or vocabulary.

Dialect Continuum/Chain: A range of dialects spoken across a geographic area, gradually changing from one region to another, with neighboring dialects being mutually intelligible.

RP (Received Pronunciation): Considered the standard British accent, historically associated with educated urban speakers and often regarded as prestigious.

Social Accent: Pronunciation features tied to social class, ethnicity, or social group rather than geography.

Levelling: A process where regional dialect features diminish or merge, often due to social mobility and increased communication, leading to reduced dialect differences.

Social Dialect: Variations in speech associated with social groups, classes, or communities.

American Standard English: The mid-20th-century formal American accent often used in official contexts and media, similar to RP in Britain.

Non-standard: Variations of language that differ from the accepted standard, often associated with regional or social groups.

Social Variables: Factors like social class, ethnicity, or education that influence linguistic variation.

Vernacular: The everyday speech of a community or group, often non-standard and informal.

Variant: A particular form or pronunciation that differs from the norm within a language or dialect.

Sociolinguistic Patterns: Regularities in language use linked to social factors such as class, age, gender, or ethnicity.

Sharp and Fine Stratification: The ways in which social and regional divisions are reflected in language, with sharp stratification showing clear distinctions between groups, and fine stratification indicating more subtle differences.