UTS

1.What is socioliguistics?

            Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and society. They are interested in explaining why we speak differently in different social contexts, and they are concerned with identifying the social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social meaning. Examining the way people use language in different social contexts provides a wealth of information about the way language works, as well as about the social relationships in a community, and the way people convey and construct aspects of their social identity through their language.  Sociolinguistics is concerned with the relationship between language and the context in which it is used.While dialect implies lexical, grammatical and/or pronunciation differences, accent is restricted to pronunciation features alone. An accent affects only the phonological level of a linguistic variety.

            When we say that someone speaks with an accent (a foreign accent, a working-class accent, a regional accent), we refer to the person’s individual way of pronouncing language. When we say, however, that someone uses a dialect, we refer not only to his or her pronunciation but also to this person’s use of grammar and vocabulary. it’s clear that dialect and ancent something that can affect people in the social life of communicate. The effect of the use language in social area will give effect for sociology .

2.Why we do learn sociolinguistics?

            Language is interpreted as the form in which humans communicate with one another. Fifth semester at Lancang Kuning College, I was able to learn that language is more than just words. Language is the way humans establish their own identity.

In sociolinguistics class, we covered all the components that form language. One of the most intriguing and interesting aspects of language is sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in its social context. This means that we use language to socially define and express who we are, where we come from, and who we associate with. It is amazing to see how often we judge someone’s character by making assumptions about their background and their character based simply upon how a person speaks.

            To be more simply, sociolinguistics is concerned with language in the social and cultural context. This means that it focuses on the way a person speaks or behaves when they are placed in specific environments or situations. Sociolinguistics also studies the way a person speaks based on various factors like age,gender, race, and culture,social status.

3.) The relation Language between Social

            Language is used differently by different social groups, and there is no way to speak in a completely neutral way that doesn’t signal anything about your identity.

In my opinion, most traditional prescriptive grammar (e.g. don’t end a sentence in a preposition, don’t split an infinitive, etc.) was essentially invented so that people could signal that they were a member of a ‘prestigious’ social class. Most of the rules were created so that English would resemble Latin and French, languages that were highly regarded at the time. These things, for the most part, have no basis in grammar (as defined by linguists) and have everything to do

4.) The Branches of Linguistics

            Lingustics is the study of Language.

The Branches of linguistics

1. 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 e- teaching.

2. 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.

5.) The Standard Language

            A standard language is a variety of language that is used by governments, in the media, in schools and for international communication. There are different standard varieties of English in the world, such as North American English, Australian English and Indian English. Although these standard varieties differ in terms of their pronunciation, there are few differences in grammar between them.

6.) English Language dialect and accent

            Dialects are language varieties used by regional or social groups. These groups define themselves or are defined by others by different extralinguistic factors such as age, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status.

            Whereas dialect denotes regional variation, the language varieties characteristic of different social groups are more correctly referred to as social dialects or sociolects. Sociolects are varieties which are shaped by the social background of the speaker, i.e. by the aforementioned extralinguistic factors. Upper-class speech in the UK and youth language are examples of sociolects.

            While dialect implies lexical, grammatical and/or pronunciation differences, accent is restricted to pronunciation features alone. An accent affects only the phonological level of a linguistic variety. When we say that someone speaks with an accent (e.g. a foreign accent, a working-class accent, a regional accent), we refer to the person’s individual way of pronouncing language. When we say, however, that someone uses a dialect, we refer not only to his or her pronunciation but also to this person’s use of grammar and vocabulary.

            Within linguistics, ‘dialect’ is used as a neutral term to denote the lexical, grammatical and phonological differences between two or more linguistic varieties. However, outside linguistics, i.e. in non-academic contexts, this is different. Dialects often carry negative connotations and are perceived as vulgar forms of speech with low status and prestige.

7.) Formal and Informal Language

            Formal and informal language serve different purposes. The tone, the choice of words and the way the words are put together vary between the two styles. Formal language is less personal than informal language. It is used when writing for professional or academic purposes like university assignments. Formal language does not use colloquialisms, contractions or first person pronouns such as ‘I’ or ‘We’.

Informal language is more casual and spontaneous. It is used when communicating with friends or family either in writing or in conversation. It is used when writing personal emails, text messages and in some business correspondence. The tone of informal language is more personal than formal language.

Examples of formal and informal language are shown below:

Contractions

Informal:    The improvements canʼt be introduced due to funding restrictions.

Formal:      Improvements cannot be introduced due to funding restrictions.

Informal:    I donʼt believe that the results are accurate.

Formal:      The results are not believed to be accurate.

Informal:    The research project wonʼt continue next year.

Formal:      The research project will not continue next year.