LECTURE 31

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY

LECTURE 32

What is sociolinguistics?

The study of the social aspects of language use is called ‘sociolinguistics’.

Sociolinguistics is the study of • how speakers use language

• people’s attitudes to language use

• the motivations for language change

• why there is variation in language

LECTURE 33

Different approaches to the Study of Language in Society

Social structure may either influence or determine linguistic structure and/or behavior

Linguistic structure and/or behavior may either influence or determine social structure

The influence between language and society is bi-directional: language and society may influence each other

There may be no relationship between linguistic structure and social structure and each is independent of each other

LECTURE 34

Language and society

LECTURE 35

Sociolinguistic research Who’s done what?

During this course we’ll be looking at ground-breaking research which has been carried out by people whose

names are now synonymous with sociolinguistics.

William Labov, an American linguist currently Professor of Linguistics at the University of

Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His early interest was language change and its interaction with the social

dimensions of class and age, and Ebonics.

LECTURE 36

Sociolinguistic research: Who’s done what?

Lesley Milroy: detailed account of inner city Belfast middle and working class language use. From this

work she developed social network theory. Now University of Michigan Professor and Chair of

Linguistics.

Peter Trudgill a British sociolinguist from Norwich. Specialist in dialect. Trudgill undertook a detailed

investigation of Norwich dialect usage, confirming the close linguistic relationship between class and

language use. Jenny Cheshire, now at Queen Mary, used

participant observation to gain data about the relationship between use of linguistic variables and

peer group culture by adolescents in England.

LECTURE 37

How is language use studied?

We can distinguish several different types of ‘language’ going on around us

spoken language written language public (billboards)

social (internet, books, leaflets) Braille

intimate private (letters, diaries)

LECTURE 38

How do researchers study spoken language use?

select some aspect or feature of language; examine who is using this feature, or where it is being

used; collect examples (the data); analyse the data

LECTURE 39

What are data (which is a plural noun) and where can they be found?

Data are samples of natural language that show usage of the feature being studied, to provide evidence to

prove or disprove a hypothesis. Spontaneous spoken language is always the preferred variety for

sociolinguistic study.

Some data sources: casual conversation between friends spontaneous speech broadcast on television or radio formal interaction between strangers workplace interaction discussion groups published verbatim transcripts of interactive speech

LECTURE 310

What are data (which is a plural noun) and where can they be found?

Published sources newspapers advertisements leaflets books magazines internet sites

LECTURE 311

Data collection methods Recordings: using a tape recorder to record speech. Tapes

need to be transcribed. Transcripts: e.g. published transcripts of parliamentary debates

are sometimes available in certain countries. Using a corpus: collections of types of natural speech or writing,

collected according to a given set of principles, often available on-line, which can be analyzed quantitatively. E.g: London-Lund

Corpus and British National Corpus. Interviews, questionnaires / self-reporting: Some researchers

ask people, by interview or questionnaire, what their usual spoken form is, for a particular feature.

Introspection, anecdotal: these methods have been used by researchers in the past, but today more empirical data is

preferred. Published sources and public records: several sources

provide statistical data about language use: the census

LECTURE 312

Sample size and relevance

How much data is needed? What is an appropriate sample size? Need to ensure that the sample is

properly balanced, that it contains reasonably equal numbers of all types of informants.

LECTURE 313

Observer’s Paradox, ethical considerations, other problems

e.g. technical, logistical.

Researchers need to take account of factors which may compromise the data in some way, e.g. the

Observer’s Paradox (what is being observed changes because it is being observed); ethical considerations;

technical and logistical limitations.

LECTURE 314

Observer’s Paradox, ethical considerations, other problems

e.g. technical, logistical

Overcoming the Observer’s Paradox• to become an accepted member of the target group

• to become an ‘insider’

• surreptitious recording

LECTURE 315

Observer’s Paradox, ethical considerations, other problems e.g. technical, logistical

Ethical constraints• Ethics committees

• permission to use recorded material

• rights of informants to edit material

LECTURE 316

Observer’s Paradox, ethical considerations, other problems e.g. technical, logistical

Technical and logistical problems• recordings need to be transcribed –

time-consuming process

• recordings need to be clear and uncompromised by background noise

• logistical constraints – travel, distance, time, money