Sociolinguistics in

Language
Teaching
 Topic 1

Language and Dialect

• Text
 1.1 OPERATIONAL
DEFINITIONS
• Mutual unintelligibility

• Difference of size
Dialect Language

Dialect is any set of one or more Language is the superordinate term

varieties of a language because it comprises the total sum
of all the variants of a specific
language
• Socio-historical
Dialect Language

Due to political and religious

differences between counties, minor
linguistic differences between the
two varieties can be magnified.

• writing system
Dialect Language

Dialects tend to represent the non- A full-fledged language has a writing

standard, even the sub-standard system and is used in formal
documentation.
• Power
Dialect Language

The language is usually one which

belongs to the politically and
socially superior group of speakers.

• Solidarity
Dialect Language

This refers to common interest, the

feelings that tie or bond one with the
other.
• How do we differentiate language
and dialect?

• Bell (1976 in Wardhaugh 1998), has

outlined seven criteria which may
help differentiate language and
dialect.
 A language may fulfill any or
several subsets of these criteria:

• standardisation;
• vitality;
• historicity;
• autonomy;
• reduction;
• mixture; and
• de facto norms.
1.1.1 Standard and Vernacular
Languages
1. Selection
• A variety or a combination pf
varieties can be selected and
developed into a standardised
language.
• Usually the dialect of the politically
and socially prestigious will be
selected.
2. Codification
• Some agencies or academies will
produce dictionaries and grammar
to define what is correct and
incorrect.
• The decisions made by these
organisations must be shared and
accepted by all users of the
language.
3. Elaboration and Function
• The selected variety must cater for
various functions and situations.
ex. Government bureaucratic
educational
business
scientific
legal
4. Acceptance
• The selected variety must be accepted as
the standard language by the target
population.
Vernacular language
• refers to language which is
unstandardised and has not been made
official.
• It is colloquial.
• Can be acquired at home.
• Used among family and close friends.
The term vernacular implies the
following:

it is uncodified and unstandardised;

it is acquired in the home, as the first
variety; and
it refers to any language which is not
the official language of a country.
 1.2 SPEECH
COMMUNUTIES
• Compromise all the people who use
a given language and dialect.
Lyons(1970:3260)

Weaknesses of the definition

• People from the same group often
speak in the same way.

• They may use the same code and

share the same norms and values.

• They may be said to belong to the

same speech community.
 1.2.2 Intersecting
Communities
• According to Wardhaugh
(1999:124), the term community
or group refers to “any set of
individuals united for a common end,
that end being quite distinct from
ends pursued by other groups.”
• An individual may simultaneously
belong to several communities.
• They constantly switches from one
community identification to another.
• At times, the switch may even take
place in a single utterance.
1.2.3 Social Network

• Social networks deal with the

characteristics of interaction between
people that is, how individuals in society
relate to each other.
• Diagram I – strong
• Diagram II – weak
• Diagram III - weaker
There are two important terms
which are used to describe
different types of network density
and plexity.

• Chad’s social network relationship

• Density refers to the measure of ties
among the members.
• If A has five friends, and all five
know each other, the network is
dense.
• If only two of them know each other,
it is less dense.
• If none of them know each other,
then the network is loose, as
illustrated by Diagrams II and III.
• Plexity refers to the range of
interactions that the speakers are
involved in with different individuals.
• A uniplex relationship is one where a
speaker is linked to the other person
only in one area.
• A multiplex relationship refers to
interactions with other speakers in a
variety of contexts.
1.3 LANGUAGE
VARIATION
• According to Hudson (1996:2), a
variety of language refers to “a set
of linguistic item with similar social
distribution.”

• Ex. sports commentary, Malaysian

English, lower class New York
English, upper class New York
English
• Variety may refer to as large as
several different languages to as tiny
as a single item.
• Variety relates to the association
between linguistic items (sounds,
words, grammatical structures, etc.)
and external factors such as
location, social class, age and
gender.
• Sociolinguists are interested in
investigating if there are patterns or
conventions in the use and usage of
the linguistic items and the range of
speakers and situations that they are
associated with.
• Sociolinguists are interested in
investigating if there are patterns or
conventions in the use and usage of
the linguistic items and the range of
speakers and situations that they are
associated with.
• Language variation in a monolingual
community can be categorised into
two:
• regional dialect; and
• social dialect.
1.3.1. Regional Dialects
•When a person travels from one
region to another, he/she is likely to
encounter noticeable changes in the
way language is spoken by locals.
•These changes are not just confined
to pronunciation, it also involves the
choice of words and syntax.
•Such distinctive varieties of language
are called regional dialects.
• The study of regional dialect comes
under the field of dialect geography.

• Dialect geography attempts to “map

the different distribution of
various linguistic features so as
to show their geographical
provenance” (Wardhaugh,
1999:42).
• Such identified boundaries and maps
are drawn to distinguish the areas
where certain items are found from
those that are absent.
• These boundaries are called
isoglosses and the main purpose of
isoglosses is to differentiate areas
where a certain feature is employed
from another where it is not.
• When we have a situation where
several isoglosses coincide, it is
called dialect boundary.
• The term dialect is employed if there
is a strong literary tradition of
writing associated with the regional
variety.

• In the absence of literary tradition, it

is referred to as patois.

• Patois also describes the variety of

speech from rural areas.
Dialect vs Patois
1.3.2 Social Dialects
• The variety of social group or social
class can also lead to differences in
speech, and this is referred to as
social dialects.

• The term social group or social class

can be used to refer to ethnic,
occupation, status, caste, education,
income, racial, religion, etc.
• For instance, ethnic variation has
led to the identification of a dialect
associated with a specific ethnic
group such as “Black dialect” in
cities such as New York, Detroit and
Buffalo (Labov, 1966).
Factors affecting social dialects
•Migration
•Occupation
•Family structures
•Economic levels
•Style
•Register
1.3.3. Style
• Language varies not just among its users
but what is it used for.
• Variables that influence style
1.3.4 Register

•This is how we use language to

express our social identity and social
competence.
•There are some forms of usage and
non-linguistic features which
determine it.
• Communicative Competence
• Speech Situations

 Speech situations determine different

registers.
 Different registers favour certain
choices among different utterances
each of which may fulfil the
requirements of grammar and
cooperative principle.
• Linguistic Features of Register
• Three Non-linguistic Factors
Influencing
Register

This is based upon 3 important

nonlinguistic factors which are also
called S-factors, or F–factors.
• Speakers and Familiarity
– Forms of Address,
– Politeness Morphology
– Ellipsis,
– Contractions
– Code-switching
• Setting and formality
Special forms of language use in
particular settings
• Subject and Function
– Jargon and Slang
– Speaking vs. Writing
– Linguistic Characteristics of Genres
(contractions, passive verbs, third-
person pronouns )
 1.4 DIGLOSSIA,
LANGUAGE DIALECTS
AND VARIETIES
• Diglossia is defined as a relatively
stable language situation where
primary dialects of the language exist
alongside a divergent and very highly
codified variety.
• A diglossic situation is interesting as it
offers insight into the ambiguous
concepts of language and language
dialects.
• A key characteristic of diglossia is that
both high and low varieties are kept apart
in their functions.
1.4.1 The Origins of Diglossia
– Diglossic situation could have happened
in a society when there was a
significant amount of literature in a
language very similar or identical to the
natural language of a community.
– A diglossic situation is interesting as it
offers insight into the ambiguous
concepts of language and language
dialects.
–
• SELF-CHECK 1.3
– A dialect is said to be a variation of a
given language. However, dialects may
become a language. When will this
happen?
– What are the criteria that we need to
have for a dialect to assume this role?
– State your reasons.