Academia.eduAcademia.edu

An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

description19 papers
group1,763 followers
lightbulbAbout this topic
Sociolinguistics is the study of how language varies and changes in social contexts. It examines the relationship between language and society, including factors such as region, class, gender, and ethnicity, and how these influence language use, attitudes, and identity.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Sociolinguistics is the study of how language varies and changes in social contexts. It examines the relationship between language and society, including factors such as region, class, gender, and ethnicity, and how these influence language use, attitudes, and identity.

Key research themes

1. How is identity constructed and negotiated through language in sociolinguistic interactions?

This theme explores the ways in which language both shapes and reflects individual and collective identities, emphasizing identity as a dynamic, interactional, and socially constructed phenomenon. It investigates micro-level language use in social interactions, the role of power and ideology, and the co-construction of identity within local contexts, which is central to understanding societal language practices.

Key finding: The authors present identity as a constructionist, dialogic process emergent in social interaction, highlighting how language varieties, power, and ideology interplay in identity formation. Their detailed examination of... Read more
Key finding: This work reframes language from a mere conduit for information transmission to a complex social action through which identities and social realities are enacted. It critiques the 'conduit metaphor', drawing on frameworks... Read more
Key finding: The paper argues for linguistic ethnography as an essential methodology to capture the fluid and mobile nature of identity in superdiverse contexts. Through the example of the Tusványos festival in Transylvania, it... Read more
Key finding: This study challenges the micro/macro-sociolinguistics dichotomy by positioning language ideology research as bridging individual interaction and societal language hierarchies, thus shedding light on how identities and power... Read more

2. What methodological advances have enriched the empirical study and theorization of sociolinguistics?

This theme addresses the evolution of methods in sociolinguistic research, highlighting interdisciplinary approaches that incorporate ethnography, conversation analysis, hermeneutics, and critical philosophy. It also includes reflections on challenges of epistemology, data collection, and ethical considerations, leading to deeper insights into language as socially embedded and meaningful beyond pure empirical systems.

Key finding: The final chapter provides a thorough reflection on sociolinguistic fieldwork methodologies, including participant observation, transcription practices, and ethical/legal issues, emphasizing the importance of... Read more
Key finding: This work critiques the dominance of empirical linguistic system study within sociolinguistics, advocating for inclusion of the subjective and interpretive dimensions of language meaning through hermeneutic and heuristic... Read more
Key finding: Emphasizes the pivotal role of verbal interaction analysis in family language policy research, proposing interactional sociolinguistics and linguistic ethnography as comprehensive frameworks to investigate intergenerational... Read more
Key finding: Advocates linguistic ethnography as a method suited to study sociolinguistic phenomena amid globalization and superdiversity, providing granular empirical insights within complex, mobile social fields, effectively... Read more

3. How do sociolinguists conceptualize and analyze language variation and change across social contexts and linguistic systems?

This theme focuses on understanding the mechanisms and sociocultural factors driving language variation, code-switching, pidgin and creole formation, and language shift. It encompasses studies of sociolinguistic variables such as gender, social status, multilingualism, and speech community concepts, and examines how languages influence each other structurally and socially.

Key finding: Detailed discussion of language variation and change is offered, including historical variationist perspectives, the standard/non-standard dichotomy, and social meanings tied to variation. The text bridges traditional... Read more
Key finding: Explores language contact phenomena such as borrowing, creolization, and the development of mixed languages, illustrating how structural features and social power dynamics facilitate linguistic change and language shift,... Read more
Key finding: Empirical study evidences prolific code-switching among Bangladeshi social media users between Bangla and English, revealing levels, motivations, and sociocultural functions of switching practices; this supports the claim of... Read more
Key finding: Provides a pedagogical framework highlighting core sociolinguistic concepts such as dialects, speech communities, social networks, and community of practice, focusing on how social variables (place, gender, status, sexual... Read more
Key finding: Introduces and distinguishes pidgin, creole, and expanded pidgin languages, emphasizing the sociohistorical contexts of their emergence, the linguistic structures borrowed from lexifier and substrate languages, and their... Read more

All papers in An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

Code-switching and mixing have always been universal phenomena mainly due to linguistic borrowing. The native Bengali speakers have constantly been switching and mixing codes for decades, making it necessary for academic consideration.... more
Use of language and power in combined form as a ''discourse '' against PLWH (people living With HIV/AIDS) and its contentious socio-linguistics and socio-political apprehended have received remarkably little bit of... more
Chapter 10 discussed ways in which linguistic choices are influenced by social contexts. We adapt our talk to suit our audience and talk differently to children, customers and colleagues. We use language differently to construct different... more
Using two or more languages in a singular context or conversation is similar to going with the flow these days, specifically on social sites. This is referred to as "code-switching" by sociolinguists. The study aims at finding... more
Using two or more languages in a singular context or conversation is similar to going with the flow these days, specifically on social sites. This is referred to as "code-switching" by sociolinguists. The study aims at finding... more
Using two or more languages in a singular context or conversation is similar to going with the flow these days, specifically on social sites. This is referred to as "code-switching" by sociolinguists. The study aims at finding out the... more
conducted in the field of "family language policy" have demonstrated the central importance of the multiple language dynamics at play within bilingual and multilingual families, which are considered to be privileged places for... more
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bentuk sapaan yang terdapat dalam bahasa Tetun dialek Fehan berdasarkan bentuk pronomina persona yang ada dalam bahasa Tetun dialek Fehan. Fokus penelitian ini adalah percakapan sehari-hari yang... more
At least since Aristotle, language has been seen as distinctively human in its complexity. Ethologists have increased our appreciation of how other mammals-dolphins, chimpanzees, gorillas, and so on-employ sounds to signal one another in... more
Introduction to sociolinguistics in English as a second language - Learning framework - VILT- This 4.16-hour-long class is designed to provide an overview of some of the essential Sociolinguistics concepts such as the difference between... more
Presentation slides that introduce the origins and features of pidgin and creole languages while also addressing the novel category of expanded pidgins (a.k.a. "pidgincreoles"). Created for an undergraduate sociolinguistics class at the... more
A language is considered as a sexist language if it conveys attitudes that stereotype a person according to gender rather than judging on individual merits. Feminists believe that English language is a sexist language because it involves... more
Abstrak Pragmatik adalah bidang yang mengkaji bentuk ekspresi menurut distansi atau jarak sosial yang membatasi partisipan yang terlibat dalam percakapan tertentu. Distansi sosial ini dapat tercermin dari tuturan para penutur mulai dari... more
2013 1 BAB I PENDAHULUAN A. Rumusan Penelitian Hampir dipastikan budaya dapat mempengaruhi gaya berkomunikasi setiap orang, baik dalam komunikasi verbal dan non verbal. Perbedaan gaya berkomunikasi ini dapat terjadi dalam percakapan antar... more
Download research papers for free!