Introduction to Linguistic : Sociolinguistic

1. INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC
“SOCIOLINGUISTICS”
How to Different Social Group Use Language
Subject Guided : Aulia Hanifah Qomar, M.Pd.
ARRANGED BY :
THE EIGHT GROUP
1. DEWI MUFIDAH 13106907
2. FENI WAHYUNINGSIH 1066837
3. KHOLILU ROHMAN 1292317
4. NURUL KHOTIMAH 13107987
STATE ISLAMIC COLLAGE OF
(STAIN) JURAI SIWO METRO
2014

2. PREFACE
First at all, give thanks for God’s love and grace for us. Thanks to God for
helping us and give us chance to finish this assignment timely. And we would like
to say thank you to Mrs. Aulia Hanifah Qomar, M.Pd.as the lecturer that always
teaches us and give much knowledge about how to practice English well. This
assignment is the one of English task that composed of Sociolinguistic.
We realized this assignment is not perfect. But we hope it can be useful for
us. Critics and suggestion is needed here to make this assignment be better.
Hopefully, we as a student in STAIN JURAI SIWO METRO can work more
professional by using English as the second language whatever we done. Thank
you.
Metro, November 18th 2014
Author,

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
COVER ....................................................................................................... i
PREFACE ....................................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... iii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1
A. Background ........................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION ......................................................................... 3
A. Sociolinguistic ....................................................................................... 3
B. Language and Dialect .......................................................................... 4
C. Regional Dialect ................................................................................... 5
D. Social Dialect ........................................................................................ 6
E. Style, Register and Belief ...................................................................... 7
CHAPTER III CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 8
A. Conclusion ........................................................................ 8
REFERENCES . ............................................................................................. 9

4. CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Problem Background
When two people speak with one another, there is always more going
on than just conveying a message. The language used by the participants is
always influenced by a number of social factors which define the relationship
between the participants. Consider, for example, a professor making a simple
request of a student to close a classroom door to shut off the noise from the
corridor. There are a number of ways this request can be made:
a. Politely, in a moderate tone “Could you please close the door?”
b. In a confused manner while shaking his/her head “Why aren’t you shutting
the door?”
c. Shouting and pointing, “SHUT THE DOOR!”
The most appropriate utterance for the situation would be a. The most
inappropriate would be c. This statement humiliates the student, and provides
no effort by the professor to respect him/her. Utterance b is awkward because
it implies that the teacher automatically assumes that the student should know
better than to leave the door open when there is noise in the hallway. The
inappropriateness is a social decision tied to the social factors which shape
the relationship between speaker ( the professor), and the listener (the
student).
When choosing an appropriate utterance for the situation, there are
factors that you must consider in order to effectively convey the message to
the other participant.
1. Participants- how well do they know each other?
2. Social setting- formal or informal.
3. Who is talking- status relationship/social roles ( student vs. professor)
4. Aim or purpose of conversation.
5. Topic

5. Do you notice that there is a difference in the way you speak to your
friends and the way you speak to your relatives, teachers, or others of
professional status? When telling your friend that you like his/her shirt, you
say: “Hey, cool shirt, I like that!”. When telling the President of the company
your parents work for that you like his/her shirt, you say: “You look very nice
today, I really like that shirt.” This is called choosing your variety or code.
This can also be seen on a larger scale, diglossia, where multilingual nations
include a variety of accents, language styles, dialects and languages. Each of
these factors is a reflection of the region and socio-economics background
from which you come from. In monolingual societies, the region and socio-economic
factors are determined by dialect and language style.
It is not uncommon in our nation to see that languages other than English are
spoken inside the home with friends and family. However when these
bilingual or even trilingual families interact socially outside of their home,
they will communicate in English. Even church services may use a variation
of the language, one that you would only hear in side the church or in school.

6. CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Sociolinguistic
Sociolinguistics is defined as:
1. The study that is concerned with the relationship between language and the
context in which it is used. In other words, it studies the relationship
between language and society. It explains we people speak differently in
different social contexts. It discusses the social functions of language and
the ways it is used to convey social meaning. All of the topics provides a
lot of information about the language works, as well as about the social
relationships in a community, and the way people signal aspects of their
social identity through their language (Jenet Holmes, 2001)
2. The study that is concerned with the interaction of language and setting
(Carol M. Eastman, 1975; 113).
3. The study that is concerned with investigating the relationship between
language and society with the goal of a better understanding of the
structure of language and of how languages function in communication (
Ronald Wardhaugh, 1986 : 12).
Sociolinguistics is a term including the aspects of linguistics applied
toward the connections between language and society, and the way we use it
in different social situations. It ranges from the study of the wide variety of
dialects across a given region down to the analysis between the way men and
women speak to one another. Sociolinguistics often shows us the humorous
realities of human speech and how a dialect of a given language can often
describe the age, sex, and social class of the speaker; it codes the social
function of a language.
It also studies how language varieties differ between groups separated
by certain social variables, e.g., ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level of

7. education, age, etc., and how creation and adherence to these rules is used to
categorize individuals in social or socioeconomic classes. As the usage of a
language varies from place to place, language usage also varies among social
classes, and it is these sociolects that sociolinguistics studies.
It is generally recognized that the term sociolinguistics was coined by
Currie (1952) in an article exploring the relationship between speech and
social status, which is of course still one of the main aims of the field (see
Chambers 2002, for a fuller description of Currie’s work). Currie’s paper did
not present any new data, but was basically a discussion of how some of the
trends then present in linguistics, especially in dialectology, could be
developed into a new field of investigation.
B. Language and Dialect
Language is the human ability to acquire and use complex systems of
communication, and a language is any specific example of such a system
(Wikipedia). Then, dialect is a variety of a language that is distinguished
from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar,
vocabulary and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others
geographically or socially.
Wardhaugh (2006) distinguish the terms language and dialect as follow:
Lower part of variety language is dialect and as the main part is language,
therefore we can say that Texas English and Swiss German are dialects of
English and German. Some languages have more than one dialect for instance
English are spoken in various dialects. Language and dialect can be the same
when language was spoken by a few people and has only one variety but
some expert say it is unsuitable to say dialect and language is the same
because the requirement of lower part cannot be found. We can say also
Dialect A, B, C and so on is the part of language X because it is spoken by
many varieties dialect A, B, C. Edward (2009) also define dialect as a variety
of a language that differs from others along three dimensions: vocabulary,

8. grammar and pronunciation (accent). Because they are forms of the same
language. He states also dialects are mutually unintelligible. Indeed language
is major part of dialect. The others dialect that is mutually unintelligible for
example Dutch and German speaker cannot understand each other even
basically both of them have same language, another example is Mandarin and
Cantonese, Thai and Lao, Hindi and Urdu, Serbia and Croatian etc.
Wardhaugh (2006) also distinguish the term vernacular and term Koine.
Vernacular is the speech passed down from parent to child as primary mode
of communication and Koine is speech shared by people of different
vernaculars. UNESCO in Mesthrie (2001) define also vernacular as a
language which is the mother tongue of a group which is socially or
politically dominated by another group speaking a different language.
Vernacular traditionally viewed as the mother tongue of a speaker, the
vernacular refers to non-standard varieties often recognized to stand in
contrast with the standard variety (Llamas et al., 2007).
Seven criteria of language :
1. Standardization: Codification of language: grammars, spelling books,
dictionaries, literature. It is possible to teach. To make standardization, it
requires choosing one elite vernacular and it can be prestigious.
2. Vitality: the existence of a living community of speakers.
3. Historicity: a particular group of people finds their identity by using a
particular language.
4. Autonomy: Other speakers of a language must be felt different from other
languages
5. Reduction: particular variety may be regarded as a sub-variety rather than
as an independent entity.
6. Mixture: Feelings about the purity or lack of purity of variety.
7. De facto norms: speakers recognize as ‘good’ speakers and ‘poor’ speakers
and that the good speakers represent the norms of proper usage. (Adopted
from Wardhaugh, 2006).

9. C. Regional Dialect
Certain differences from geographical area one to another in
pronunciation, in the selecting and constructing of words, and in syntax of a
language such distinctive varieties of local variety are called regional
dialects (Wardhough, 2006). The study that investigates different varieties on
the basis of clusters of similar and different features in particular regions,
towns or villages is called regional dialectology (Edward, 2009).
It is quite interesting that the discriminations respondents make in
exercises like the Map drawing task and the accent-ordering task are often
similar to the discriminations linguists make between varieties. Dialect–patois
distinction is Patois is usually used to describe only rural forms of speech; we
may talk about an urban dialect, but to talk about an urban patois. Patois also
seems to refer only to the speech of the lower strata in society; again, we may
talk about a middle-class dialect but not, apparently, about a middle-class
patois. Finally, a dialect usually has a wider geographical distribution than a
patois. According to Llamas et al. (2007) patois refer to a non-standard
spoken variety and can carry the negative connotation of ‘uneducated’, and so
is rarely used in sociolinguistics.
The term patois is found without negative connotation among some
speech communities. Dialect geography is the term used to describe attempts
made to map the distributions of various linguistic features so as to show their
geographical provenance. Now we go to Dialect vs. Accent section. Dialect
is the variety of vocabulary, syntax, pronunciation. Accent is variety only in
pronunciation. Accent also well-known as RP (receive pronunciation).
Standard English as the prestige dialect of British English, prescribed in
official and formal settings and approved for writing in the education system.
RP is standard accent which can be taught and it is prestigious. British accent
is preferred one to teach because it is lack a regional association within
England.

10. It is also known as BBC, Oxford, Queen English, and being Standard
English in England. It tends to be spoken by educated speakers regardless of
geographical origin.
D. Social Dialect
In Sociolinguistics, a variety of speech associated with a particular
social class or occupational group within a society. Also known as sociolect.
Social dialect or sociolect is a variety of language (a register) associated with
a social group such as a socioeconomic class, an ethnic group (precisely
termed ethnolect), an age group, etc (Wikipedia). Sociolects involve both
passive acquisition of particular communicative practices through association
with a local community, as well as active learning and choice among speech
or writing forms to demonstrate identification with particular groups.
Social dialect is difference speech associate with various social groups.
Social dialects create among social groups and are related to a variety of
factors such as social class, religion, and ethnicity. In India, for example,
caste is one of the clearest of all social differentiators. Branch of linguistic
study that linguistically city characterized is called social dialectology.
Even though we use the term 'social dialect' or 'sociolect' as a label for
the alignment of a set of language structures with the social position of a
group in a status hierarchy, the social demarcation of language does not exist
in a vacuum. Speakers are simultaneously affiliated with a number of
different groups that include region, age, gender, and ethnicity, and some of
these other factors may weigh heavily in the determination of the social
stratification of language variation. For example, among older European-
American speakers in Charleston, South Carolina, the absence of r in words
such as bear and court is associated with aristocratic, high-status groups
(McDavid 1948) whereas in New York City the same pattern of r-lessness is
associated with working-class, low-status groups (Labov 1966). Such
opposite social interpretations of the same linguistic trait over time and space

11. point to the arbitrariness of the linguistic symbols that carry social meaning.
In other words, it is not really the meaning of what you say that counts
socially, but who you are when you say it."
Ethnic group in USA AAVE (African American Vernacular English),
also known as Ebonics, Black English (BE), Black English Vernacular (BEV)
show hyper corrective tendencies in that they tend to overdo certain imitative
behaviors freely use the habitual form of misapplication rules. Hyper
correction is the overgeneralization of linguistic forms which carry obvious
social prestige often through the misapplication of rules (e.g. allows deletion
‘They are going’ can become ‘They going’ and dog pronounce as the vocal of
book : dug).
E. Styles, Registers And Beliefs
In sociolinguistics, a style is a set of linguistic variants with specific
social meanings. In this context, social meanings can include group
membership, personal attributes, or beliefs. Style relates to the typical ways in
which one or more people do a particular thing. Style in language behavior
thus becomes alternative ways of expressing the same content. Style is the
way speakers speak, the speaker also can make a choice weather informal and
formal, it depends on circumstance and the age and social group of participant
(Wardhaugh, 2006).
Registers are the varieties of language associated with people's
occupation. Registers are the languages that are used in the pursuance of
one's job. They are stylistic, functional varieties of a dialect or a language.
They may be narrowly defined by reference to subject matter (field of
discourse), to medium (mode of discourse) and level of formality, that is style
(manner of discourse). Registers are, therefore, situationally conditioned
discourse oriented varieties of a language.

12. Registers refer to particular ways of using language in particular
settings within that community. Register is a set of linguistic items were
associated with discrete occupational and social groups. Surgeons, airline
pilots, bank managers, sales clerks, jazz fans, and pimps employ different
registers, they develop similar vocabulary and intonation. we also talk about
dialect, register, and style independently, we may talk casually in local
variety of language, write formal technical study and also making judgment
“better or worse” to speaker who has the same background.
Registers may be classified on the basis of style. This refers to the
relation among the participating people who may talk of religion in a temple,
or at a seminar with scholars or in a restaurant with friends. In a religious
gathering people may be serious, in a seminar analytic while in a restaurant
casual. The following type of stylistic varieties may be noticed - archaic,
colloquial, humorous, formal and ironical.
Belief is systems of ideas or ideology, some people believed that certain
language is lack of grammar; we can speak English without accent. Also
English is believed false language; pronunciation is based on spelling, and
slipping language. The representations of belief can operate the interests of an
identifiable social class or cultural group. This tendency will create language
behavior and attitude by several group of people act or behave toward
language differently and sociolinguist should strive for understanding how
people behave toward language and linguistic feature rely on person as being
particular place, a social class members, and specific profession.

13. CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
A. Conclusion
Sociolinguistics is a term including the aspects of linguistics applied
toward the connections between language and society, and the way we use it
in different social situations. It ranges from the study of the wide variety of
dialects across a given region down to the analysis between the way men and
women speak to one another.
Language is the human ability to acquire and use complex systems of
communication, and a language is any specific example of such a system
(Wikipedia). Then, dialect is a variety of a language that is distinguished
from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar,
vocabulary and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others
geographically or socially.
Certain differences from geographical area one to another in
pronunciation, in the selecting and constructing of words, and in syntax of a
language such distinctive varieties of local variety are called regional dialects.
Social dialect is difference speech associate with various social groups.
Social dialects create among social groups and are related to a variety of
factors such as social class, religion, and ethnicity.
Style relates to the typical ways in which one or more people do a
particular thing. Style in language behavior thus becomes alternative ways of
expressing the same content. Registers refer to particular ways of using
language in particular settings within that community. Register is a set of
linguistic items were associated with discrete occupational and social groups.
Belief is systems of ideas or ideology, some people believed that certain
language is lack of grammar, we can speak English without accent.

14. REFERENCES
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Retrieved on November 20, 2014.
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20, 2014.
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Janet Holmes. (2007). An Introduction to sociolinguistics. Harlow: Longman.
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Martin J. Ball. (2010). The Rutledge Handbook of Sociolinguistic Around The
World. Taylor & Francis e-Library.
Miriam Meyerhoff. Linguistics and English Language. University of Edinburgh,
UK.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th edition). (2010). New York : Oxford
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R.A. Hudson. (2001). Sociolinguistics. United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of
The University of Cambridge.
Ronald Wardhaugh. (2010). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Wiley-Blackwell.
Walt Wolfram. (2004). Social Varieties of American English : Language in the
USA, ed. by E. Finegan. Cambridge University Press.