What do Sociolinguists do? 1

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What do Sociolinguists do? 1

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

Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to
Sociolinguistics, 2nd edition. London Longman,
2001, p. 1.
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What do Sociolinguists do? 2

• 1. Identify clearly the linguistic variation
  involved (e.g. vocabulary, sounds, grammatical
  constructions, dialects, languages)
• 2. Identify clearly the different social or
  non-linguistic factors which lead speakers to use
  one form rather than another (e.g. features
  relating to participants, setting or function of
  the interaction).

Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to
Sociolinguistics, 2nd edition. London Longman,
2001, p. 11.
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Sociolinguistic Relativity

• The patterns and conventions of language
  behavior, known as sociolinguistic rules or rules
  of speakingare far from universal across
  cultural groups. The norms and values which
  inform speakers knowledge as to what is
  appropriate to say to whom, and under which
  conditions, show considerable variation from
  community to community around the world, not only
  from one language group to another but within
  language groups as well.

Wolfson, Nessa. Perspectives Sociolinguistics
and TESOL. Boston Heinle Heinle Publisher,
1989, p. 14.
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Factors in Sociolinguistic Variation (Alternative
to SPEAKING Model)

• 1. Participants Who is speaking to whom?
• 2. Setting Where are they speaking?
• 3. Topic What is being talked about?
• 4. Function Why are they speaking?
• 5. When
• 6. How

Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to
Sociolinguistics, 2nd edition. London Longman,
2001, p. 8.
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Social Dimensions

• ? Social Distance Scalehigh/low solidarity
• ? Status Scalehigh/low status
• ? Formality Scalehigh/low formality
• ? Functional Scales Referentialhigh/low
  information content
• Affectivelow/high affective content

Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to
Sociolinguistics, 2nd edition. London Longman,
2001, pp. 9-10.
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Learners Responsibility

• ? Learn EXPLICITLY about YOUR OWN culture's
  Sociolinguistic Rules so you can become more
  sensitive to others.
• ? Learn / Internalize the Sociolinguistic Rules
  of TARGET culture so maybe you can avoid GIVING
  Offense AND TAKING Offense.
• ? Learn about CULTURE SHOCK (at least some
  aspects of it) better

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Language Teacher's Responsibility 1

• It is not the responsibility of the language
  teacher as linguist to enforce Anglo-Saxon
  standards of behavior, linguistic or otherwise.
  Rather, it is the teacher's job to equip the
  student to express her/himself in exactly the way
  s/he chooses to do sorudely, tactfully, or in an
  elaborately polite manner. (Thomas 198396)

Wolfson, Nessa. Perspectives Sociolinguistics
and TESOL. Boston Heinle Heinle Publisher,
1989, p. 31.
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Language Teacher's Responsibility 2

• What we want to prevent is her/his being
  unintentionally rude or subservient. It may, of
  course, behoove the teacher to point out the
  likely consequences of certain types of
  linguistic behavior. (Thomas 198396)"

Wolfson, Nessa. Perspectives Sociolinguistics
and TESOL. Boston Heinle Heinle Publisher,
1989, p. 31.
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