BIL3083 SOCIOLINGUISTICS IN ESL CONTEXT(Week 3)

DIALECTA dialect is a variety of a language used recognizably in a specific region or (a social dialect) by a specific social class (Spolsky, 2006).

A dialect is a subordinate variety of a language (Wardhaugh, 2010).Exp. Texas English, Swiss German are dialects of English and German.

The language name (i.e. English or German) is the superordinate term (Wardhaugh, 2010)

Every form of English (or any language) is a dialect (Stockwell, 2002).

Dialect refers to the word choices, syntactic ordering and all the other grammatical choices a speaker could make.

A language consists of one or many dialects, all of which are more or less mutually intelligible to other speakers of the language (Stockwell, 2002).

Example:The most prestigious dialect in Britain is UK Standard English (UKSE), originally a southern dialect of English which has become the form used in most print media, law and education.

ACCENTThe term dialect should not be confused with the term accent.

Standard English is spoken in a variety of accents, often with clear regional and social associations (Wardhaugh, 2010).

Exp. Accents associated with North America, Singapore, India, Liverpool (Scouse), Boston, New York, etc.

Many people who live in such places show a remarkable uniformity to one another in their grammar and vocabulary because they speak Standard English

The differences are merely those of accent, i.e., how they pronounce what they say.

Exp. Received Pronunciation (RP) an accent associated with a higher social or educational background, with the BBC and the professions, and is most commonly taught to students learning English as a foreign language (Wakelin, 1977) (cited in Wardhaugh, 2010).

Exp. Other names for RP Queens English, Oxford English, and BBC English a social accent, rather than a regional one (Wardhaugh, 2010).

Dialect OR accent?Edward Finegan (2004:363)When we say that dialect refers to a language variety, we mean a language variety in its totality including vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, pragmatics, and any other aspect of the linguistic systems.We mean the same thing when we use the terms language and variety. Those terms refer to an entire linguistic system.

When people use the word accent, it refers to pronunciation only. When we discuss a Southern accent or a Boston accent, we mean the pronunciation that is characteristic of the Southern dialect or the Boston dialect. (Finegan, 2004).The term accent is used in reference to varieties that differ only phonetically or phonologically (William McGregor, 2009).

CODECode refers to the different varieties of language (Stockwell, 2002)

An individual might choose to speak in a particular language, or dialect, or register, or accent, or style, (i.e code) on different occasions and for different purposes.

The choice of code can be used to claim in-group identity with other speakers.

Code-switchingCode-switching is the phenomenon, common in bilingual speech communities, in which speakers switch from one language to another within the same conversation (William McGregor, 2009).Code switching (or code mixing) often occurs even within the same utterance.

Example:This morning I hantar my baby tu dekat baby sitter tu lah.This morning I took my baby to the babysitter.

QuestionSWhat is the situation in Malaysia with respect to the codes?Dialects?Accents?

SOCIAL FACTORSSocial factors have important influences on the use of a particular language (or linguistic) variety (Holmes, 2001).

In any situation, linguistic choices will generally reflect the influence of one or more components (factors).

(1). The participants:Who is (are) speaking?Who are they speaking to?, etc.

(2). The setting (or social context) of the interaction:Where are they speaking?, etc.

(3). The topic:What is being talked about?

(4). The function:Why are they speaking?

Who?Where?What?Why?

SOCIAL DIMENSIONSThere are several important dimensions for analysis which relate to the social factors (Holmes, 2001):

(i). Solidarity dimension(ii). Status dimension(iii). Formality dimension(iv). Functional dimension

Solidarity(1). A social distance scale concerned with participant relationships (how well we know someone).(The solidarity social distance scale)Intimate Distant ----------------------------------------------------High solidarity Low solidarity

status(2). A status scale concerned with participant relationships (social status)(The status scale) Superior High status | | | | Subordinate Low status

formality(3). A formality scale relating to the setting or type of interaction (assessing the influence of social setting or type of interaction on language choice)(The formality scale) Formal High formality | | | | Informal Low formality

Functional(4). Two functional scales relating to the purpose or topic of interaction (convey objective information and expresses how someone is feeling)(The referential and affective function scales) Referential High information Low information content ------------------------------------- content

Affective Low affective High affective content -------------------------------------- content

ExercisesHere is the forecast for the Tanjung Malim district until midnight Tuesday issued by the meteorological service at 6 oclock on Monday evening. It will be rather cloudy overnight with some drizzle, becoming fine again on Tuesday morning. The outlook for Wednesday a few morning showers then fine.(i). What information does the utterance provide about the relationship between the people talking in the context of their talk?(ii). What is the function of the utterances in the context? Does it convey primarily affective or referential information?

Good morning, little one. You had a good big sleep, didnt you, pet?

(i). What information does the utterance provide about the relationship between the people talking in the context of their talk?(ii). What is the function of the utterance in the context? Does it convey primarily affective or referential information?

Excuse me, Mr. Wong. Ive finished your letters, sir.

(i). What information does the utterance provide about the relationship between the people talking in the context of their talk?(ii). What is the function of the utterance in the context? Does it convey primarily affective or referential information?

QuestionHow do you relate these scales with the situation in Malaysian schools?What about in the ESL classroom, specifically?

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