Sociolinguistics 8

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Sociolinguistics 8

• Inequality linguistic and social

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8 types of linguistic inequality

• High/low power
• Positive/negative bias in language
• Standard/non-standard dialects
• Nice/nasty accents
• Linguistic competence/incompetence
• Pragmatic competence/incompetence
• Conversational power/solidarity
• Affinity/lack of affinity for language

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Benign inequality

• Unequal power is inherent in social structure.
• In most cases its accepted by both sides.
• In such cases its benign.
• We signal it linguistically
• In relation to our addressee.

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Illegitimate power

• But it can be illegitimate and language gives
  powerful support.
• (policeman to black doctor in Southern States of
  US). P What's your name, boy? D Dr Pouissant.
  I'm a physicianP What's your first name,
  boy.D Alvin.

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Solution legislation, education

• Why is language so hard to resist?
• Because its part of our shared culture.
• It reinforces inequality by repetition.
• It transmits inequality to the young.
• Solution
• Ban discriminatory language use.
• Train those in work to avoid it.
• Educate the young to understand and avoid it.

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2. Bias in language

• This concerns how we refer to other people (not
  necessarily the addressee).
• It can be legitimate,
• e.g. criminal/daring, terrorist/freedom fighter
• but even these words can be mis-applied.
• But the bias can also be illegitimate,
• E.g. man/woman, he/she treat male as normal

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MAN means Person
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3. Standard/non-standard

• Most modern societies have selected one variety
  as the standard variety for
• Public writing
• Education
• Public and formal occasions
• In some cases (e.g. English) this is also the
  native dialect of professional families.
• ? 10 of population

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Standard and non-standard

• Standard
• I did it.
• Those books
• I didnt see anybody.

• Non-standard
• I done it.
• Them books
• I didnt see nobody.

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Diglossia and education

• But in some countries the standard is not spoken
  natively by anyone.
• E.g. German-speaking Switzerland
• In such countries
• everyone learns the standard at school.
• the standard is always presented as a complement,
  not a competitor, to the local non-standard.

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The solution in the UK

• Education
• Teach Standard English at school
• As a complement to Non-standard.
• Describe the forms explicitly.
• Treat the alternatives as equal but different.
• This is already the official government view.
• Thanks to linguists.
• Exactly what needs to be taught?
• Call in the linguists!

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Accent and dialect

• Dialect shows in writing.
• E.g. Standard, Non-standard (London, )
• Accent doesnt just pronunciation.
• E.g. RP, London, Liverpool,
• Only about 2 speak RP (based on Trudgill PhD)
• Standard can be combined with many different
  accents
• E.g. your lecturers
• Accent is important for self-classification.
• Schools should not teach accent.

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4. Speaker evaluation

• People do evaluate speakers on the basis of their
  accent or dialect.
• Often the evaluation is negative.
• Research methods
• E.g. subjective reaction tests
• Listen
• Evaluate speaker e.g. for intelligence,
  friendliness
• For example, which speaker is a solicitor?
• This speaker?

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Or this one?
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Prejudice and classification

• We classify people in terms of person-types.
• We can then inherit a lot of information
• Classification is essential to survival.
• But inherited information can be wrong.
• Generally true, but not in this case.
• Bad luck.
• Not even generally true.
• Prejudice.

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Prejudice in a picture
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Solution

• Education.
• Discuss and undermine prejudices.
• Especially those relevant to education
• Teachers prejudices about pupils.
• E.g. RP therefore clever.
• Pupils prejudices about teachers.
• E.g. RP therefore boring.

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5. Linguistic (in)competence

• Babies know no language.
• Educated adults know a lot.
• Children and uneducated adults know less.
• Some people know more language than others.
• E.g. two 11-year olds.

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A letter about a school trip

• Dear perant's
• There is a school trip to an Animal farm on the
  18th of march.
• We will be going on minney bus it costs 3 pound.
  They will be staying all day so they will need a
  pack lunch. There are some shops there so they
  can bring some money. I wouldn't bring a lot thoe
  because if they lose it it's a lot they've just
  lost

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Another one

• Dear Parents
• A visit has been arranged for the Year 6 class
  J12, to Mountain Peaks Field Study Centre, on
  July 18th, leaving school at 9.30 am. This is an
  overnight visit. Your child will be travelling by
  coach and will be accompanied by Mrs Medway the
  class teacher and her assistant Miss Skinner.

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Solution

• Education
• Teach language explicitly at school.
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• But what is this language?
• Call in the linguists!
• This helps the weaker children who cant learn
  just from exposure.
• This is government policy in England.
• With help from linguists.

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6. Pragmatic (in)competence

• Institutions have special conventions for using
  language.
• E.g. in schools
• You answer adults questions even if they
  obviously know the answer.
• Like middle-class homes.
• You use the present tense for literary works,
  even if the events are in the past.
• Romeo loves Juliet
• Shakespeare presents Romeo as a sensitive soul.

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Solution

• Education
• Teach the conventions explicitly.
• Which means that you should be aware of the
  conventions.
• Call in the linguists!

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7. Conversational strategies

• One theory about conversation management
• Males aim at power
• Females aim at solidarity
• For example he fights for power so he can talk
  about his hospital experience.

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Mother and daughter

• Whereas these women dont care about power, but
  do care about differences of opinion.

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Is there a problem?

• Men interrupt more, and are less likely to be
  interrupted, than women.
• If one person dominates conversation or meetings
  or ., there is a problem
• For others, who cant contribute
• For them, if others consider them boring
• Solution education??

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Affinity for language

• Females are better at language.
• They develop a little faster as infants.
• They develop a lot faster as adolescents.
• They score much higher marks at school than boys
  at all ages.
• Especially for writing.
• Theyre more likely to study
• Foreign languages
• Linguistics

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Solution

• Education
• Teach boys
• more explicitly
• with clearer structures
• Boys enjoy grammar.
• But linguistics is a science where girls shine.
• So linguistics is good for everyone.