MID TEST SOSIOLINGUISTICS

1. What is Sociolinguistics?

Sosiolingusistics is about language in social. how we communicate to other people and learn about what make the language different each groups.how language can connect people , and solve the problem in language that affect the other people’s communication.

2. Why do we learn Sociolinguistics ?

Because we need to communicate with other people. Language is a way to connect people. We can see Malay as example. Malay have many language inside its own language. Sometimes we can get new word from other tribes.

Now in sociolinguistic we need to learn how this happened, why this differences can be happened. So after we get the reason. We know about the its language better.

3. What is relation between language and society ?

Relation language and society is without language we can’t communicate to each other.

Society can be called if we interact to other people with language. So that’s the relation between language and society.

4. Please mention and explain the branches of linguistics !

The Branches of linguistics

1.      General linguistic generally describes the concepts and categories of a particular language or among all language. It also provides analyzed theory of the language.

Descriptive linguistic describes or gives the data to confirm or refute the theory of particular language explained generally.

2.      Micro linguistic is narrower view. It is concerned internal view of language itself (structure of language systems) without related to other sciences and without related how to apply it in daily life. Some fields of micro linguistic:

a.      Phonetics, the study of the physical properties of sounds of human language

b.      Phonology, the study of sounds as discrete, abstract elements in the speaker's mind that distinguish meaning

c.      Morphology, the study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified

d.      Syntax, the study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences

e.      Semantics, the study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics) and fixed word combinations (phraseology), and how these combine to form the meanings of sentences

f.       Pragmatics, the study of how utterances are used (literally, figuratively, or otherwise) in communicative acts

g.      Discourse analysis, the analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed)

h.      Applied linguistic is the branch of linguistic that is most concerned with application of the concepts in everyday life, including language-teaching.

3.      Macro linguistic is broadest view of language. It is concerned external view of language itself with related to other sciences and how to apply it in daily life. Some fields of micro linguistic:

a.      Stylistics, the study of linguistic factors that place a discourse in context.

b.      Developmental linguistics, the study of the development of linguistic ability in an individual, particularly the acquisition of language in childhood.

c.      Historical linguistics or Diachronic linguistics, the study of language change.

d.      Language geography, the study of the spatial patterns of languages.

e.      Evolutionary linguistics, the study of the origin and subsequent development of language.

f.       Psycholinguistics, the study of the cognitive processes and representations underlying language use.

g.      Sociolinguistics, the study of social patterns and norms of linguistic variability.

h.      Clinical linguistics, the application of linguistic theory to the area of Speech-Language Pathology.

i.        Neurolinguistics, the study of the brain networks that underlie grammar and communication.

j.        Biolinguistics, the study of natural as well as human-taught communication systems in animals compared to human language.

k.      Computational linguistics, the study of computational implementations of linguistic structures.

5. What is Standard language ? Giving an Example !

A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse.

Example : like English language. It’s a world wide language.

6. Elaborating the Language, dialect, and accent please !

·        Language consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and use of complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so; and a language is any specific example of such a system.

·        Dialect is.a regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists.

·        An accent is a stress or emphasis on a particular part of something, usually a word. Pronounce the word "doofus" with the accent on the first syllable: DOO-fuss. We use accent for different kinds of emphasis in speech.

7. Giving an example of formal language and informal language !

·        Formal : The Boy whom I met in Singapore was interested in working in Australia.

·        The Boy I met in Singapore was interested in working in Australia. Informal: relative clause without the relative pronoun whom

8. What aspect of language are sociolinguistics interested in ?

Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on language. It differs from sociology of language, which focuses on the effect of language on society. Sociolinguistics overlaps considerably with pragmatics. It is historically closely related to linguistic anthropology, and the distinction between the two fields has been questioned.

9. When 2 or more people from different language meet and tried to communicate, what should they do ?

a)     Pidgin

b)     Creole

c)      lingua franca

 I choose pidgin because I can tell my secret or something that embarrassing to my geng or my best friend, and just only me and they know about that.

10. Why do people switch and mix a language ?

1)     The reason why do people switch and mix a language because the listeners more understand what we said.

2)     They need to mix and switch their language because of education. They need to do that because they need to teach it to other people. They mix their language in order to make the listener familiar to that language.  

11. Giving an example of code switching and code mixing !

1)     We want to get something: A lot of folks code-switch not just to fit in, but to actively ingratiate themselves to others. We can not tell you how many dozens of stories we got from people who work in service industries who said that a Southern accent is a surefire way to get better tips and more sympathetic customers. Apparently everyone who works in a restaurant picks up "y'all" immediately upon arriving at their job. If you can pull off the right accent in the right context, you can get all kinds of favors, as this story from Patti Hollingshead illustrates:

We lived in Ireland some years ago and noticed there were often two prices for goods and services — reasonable prices for the locals and much more expensive costs for others (Americans). It was not easy, but I practiced my Irish accent until we qualified for 'local pricing'. Still, they would often ask me where I was from, as my accent was anything but flawless. But I'd come up with the name of some obscure town hundreds of miles away, which explained my 'odd' Irish accent and usually satisfied them. Once, to my, "Ack, I'm from dahn twards Clara Bog," the guy responded in Gaelic.

I had no idea what he was saying. I continued to smile, laugh, and nod at what I hoped were appropriate times as he excitedly talked on and on. Finally, another English speaking customer entered the shop and he flipped back to English then whispered to me, "We need to be careful here (in Northern Ireland) about speaking Irish." "Oh, aye," I replied.

I pulled my wallet out to pay for my my flowers and he held up his hands, "No, me lass, keep yer money. 'twas a pleasure speakin' to ya."

2)     We want to say something in secret: We collected many sweet stories of people code-switching in order to hide in plain sight, a habit most common among people in love. Because this tactic often relies on assumptions, it can get one in trouble, as Veronica Rodriguez can attest:

I am from Venezuela and speak Spanish and English fluently and without an accent in either language. However, I look what most would describe as "Middle Eastern," this means that not only do people assume that I am from Turkey or Lebanon and try to speak to me in Farsi or Arabic and become very disappointed when I don't, but many times Hispanic people assume that I don't speak Spanish. This ultimately leads to someone speaking very candidly around me thinking that I cannot understand what they are saying.

I also speak French fluently enough to get myself into trouble. Living in Chicago during college I encountered lots of interesting people on the L. We often chose to comment on some of these people in French rather than English or Spanish since it was far less likely that someone would understand us. One rainy afternoon a very nice-looking man ran into the train, and my friend and I made some comments to each other in French about how handsome he was. To our surprise, he answered back, "Merçi!" — in perfect French.

Suffice to say,we were both extremely embarrassed and decided that maybe we would keep our comments to ourselves from then on.

3)     It helps us convey a thought: Certain concepts need that perfectbon mot to come across effectively. Many people switch languages or employ colloquialisms to express particular ideas, as in this story from Jennifer Monahan:

I ... work in a bilingual school, and my coworkers and I code-switch constantly. Here ... code-switching centers around lexical gaps: Nonprofit fundraising is a very American idea, so the French speakers tend to switch to English when that's the topic. Same with technology; if I learned about a piece of equipment or software in English I have a hard time discussing it in French. It's not just a language proficiency issue, my coworkers who are native French speakers follow the same pattern. So we tend to talk about "le smartboard" or "un programme de planned giving." And some concepts just don't translate. French kids eat lunch in the school cafeteria; the notion of bringing lunch from home is, well, foreign. So is the notion of having a designated container to bring your lunch from home. So we all refer to "le lunchbox."