Language

1
Language Identity

• Lecture 21

2
Shifting from inward to outward

• SociolinguisticsThe study of language form,
  meaning, and function in social contexts.
• Language identity situational/cultural
  varieties
• Language history language change
• Language contact language birth language
  death
• Language politics official languages

3
Social Uses of Language

• Establish social relationships
• Social facilitator
• Formal vs. informal
• Distant vs. close
• Follow social rules
• Convey info about the speaker
• Emblematicconveying social and personal
  information.
• Language can tell us who you are and how you
  define yourself.
• What kinds of socio-personal info can be conveyed
  by a persons language?
• How do people change their speech to give a
  different impression?

4
Rethinking language

• What makes 2 languages distinct structurally?
• Use different forms (SOV, SVO, etc.)
• Has different meaning expressions (vocabulary)
• Has different pragmatic functions
• A specific system of linguistic forms, meanings,
  and functions.
• What makes 2 languages distinct socially?
• Location spoken
• Culture associated with it
• History
• A linguistic system (speech variety) that is
  politically, culturally, and/or historically
  distinct from other systems.

5
Speech Community

• A group of people with shared community
  membership shared linguistic communication
  (with shared values/norms).
• Family
• Group of friends
• Class of students
• Profession with specialized jargon
• Country or a region
• Formed by many features, including age, gender,
  ethnicity, geography, education, occupation,
  social position.
• Standard language is set by the dominant speech
  community

6
An Aspect of Identity Social Class

• Some countries have/had class systems
• Born into a specific class, distinguished by
  language, social lines very hard to cross
• In US, similar to education occupation
• Correlation between familys class and childs
  education or occupation
• May overlap with ethnicity
• School differences
• Test Scores correlate with Social Class (SAT)
• Students of lower class were behind in class
• Low Teacher Expectations
• Cultural Learning Styles

7
An Aspect of Identity Gender

• If men/women differ in other types of social
  behavior (dress, mannerisms, pastimes, etc.) then
  wed expect them to differ in language as well.
• This view is supported by conventional wisdom
  (folk linguistics)
• Men are
• Women are

8
Vocabulary/stylistic differences

• Girls more grammatically correct, polite
  speech, vocabulary like cute
• Boys non-standard language, swearing

9
Topic difference

• In groups of women only
• Feelings, home/family, relationships, social
  issues
• Generally not work-related even when at work!
• In groups of men only
• Entertainment, politics, travel, work
• Cross-gender accommodation when together
• Broad distinction Women personal Men
  external

10
Style Differences Talkativeness

• Who talks more? Men or Women?
• Johnson and Aries (1983) - women value talk as a
  method of increasing friendship men value
  activity
• But--James and Drakich (1993) - the bulk of
  research findings indicate that men talk more
  than women

11
Style Differences Conflict/Resolution

• Sheldon (1990, 92, 93, 96) Girls negotiate and
  communicate to work out problems
• Boys approach conflict in a dominating, assertive
  manner

12
Style Differences Topic Control

• Women to women topic introduced then developed
• Men to men many new topics introduced, only
  shallowly developed
• Mixed-groups men introduced topics, opinions,
  suggestions women agreed, disagreed, asked
  questions

13
Style Differences Turn Taking

• In US, interruptions are viewed as semi-rude
  other cultures may not see it that way
• West Zimmerman (1983, 1975) Men interrupt more
  than women
• Women use overlaps which men sometimes perceive
  as interruptions

14
Power vs. Solidarity

• Two contrasting dimensions to approaching
  interactions
• Powerdominance
• Solidaritycollaboration
• Tannens article
• Men holding challenging for the floor
• Sizing up the competition vs. Building a
  closeness
• Women asking questions
• Women giving listening responses and
  agreeing/laughing
• Listening Signals agreement or listening

15
Asymmetry

• In titles
• Mr. Miss
• Mrs.
• Ms. ? maybe dont want to
  associate with either
• In Marriage conventions
• Keep own name
• Take husbands name
• Hyphen

16
Asymmetry, cont.

• Family name for Children
• Usually give the fathers name in US not in
  Mexico, Iceland
• Given names
• Gender-based labels
• Female names male names to which somethings
  (diminutive or -a) been added
• Roberto / Roberta
• Paul Paula / -ette / -ine

17
Asymmetry, cont.

• In pronouns
• Every student should buy his own text book.
• Use of male pronouns to subsume all peoplemale
  generic.
• Movement to do away with the generic.
• Every student should buy their own textbook
  (descriptively correct, but not prescriptively
  correct)