Social factors like class, ethnicity, gender, age, and education influence language variation. Labov's study found class affected pronunciation patterns, with upper classes using standard variants and lower classes using non-standard variants. Ethnic groups develop language varieties through substrates and adstrates. Gender influences language choice, with men using more direct and non-standard forms while women use more standard forms. Younger generations adopt new slang that differs from older generations. Education level also impacts language, with more educated speakers using standard dialects. These social dimensions are core to understanding sociolinguistic variation.

1. GHAZI UNIVERSITY,
DERA GHAZI KHAN
Sociolinguistics
Topic: Social Factors Governing Language Variation.
Submitted to : Sir Maqsood Alam Rizvi
Submitted by : Zara Naseer
Roll no: 11
Department of English
M.Phil Linguistics
Semester 2nd

2. Introduction:
 Variation is a characteristic of language: there is more than one way of
saying the same thing. Speakers may vary pronunciation (accent), word
choice (lexicon), or morphology and syntax (sometimes called "grammar").
 Language variation is a core concept in sociolinguistics, to the extent that it
requires reference to social factors. Language varies from one place to
another, from one social group to another and from one situation to another.
It is universal characteristic of human language that speakers of the same
language who live in different parts of a continuous territory do not speak in
the same way, the speech of each locality differs in some features from the
speech of each neighboring locality.
 And the thing that social forces contribute to linguistic change is also clear.
Younger people alter their speech so as to differentiate themselves from their
elders. Islanders want to sound different from mainlanders. Middle-class
speakers attempt to sound different from the working class, and vice versa.
Men and women tend to speak the way that their sex is “supposed to” speak.
In the end, sometimes consciously and Sometimes unconsciously, people
speak like the people they want to think of themselves as being; linguistic
differentiation is a matter of the presentation of self in everyday life.

3. Social Factors Governing Language
Variation:
 Class, ethnicity, and gender, age, and education
are main social factors that play a role in language
variation. Class is the structure of relationships
between groups where people are classified based
on their education, occupation, and income.
Ethnicity refers to a group of people that share
cultural characteristics and gender deals with the
traits associated with men and women. This
division among groups in each factor contributes to
the differences of their use of the English
language.

4. Class:
 Labov’s study addresses and depicts how class, ethnicity, and gender
influences language variation. One example of how class affects
language variation is evident in the New York City study by Labov.
He displays the social classes in four classes: the lower working
class, the upper working class, the lower middle class, and the upper
middle class. He also displays the styles of speech in three styles,
which are casual, careful conversation, and reading. According to the
data, the upper middle class speakers almost always use the
standard ing variant and the lower working class speakers almost
always use the non-standard in variant. Each class prefers the use of
one pronunciation over the other regardless, of the style of speech.
However, the lower working class shifted from using in in casual
speech to using ing in the reading style.
 The middle class uses more formal or “elaborate” code whereas the
work class uses public or “restricted” codes.

5. Ethnic Groups:
 Ethnic groups affect language variation, because they
usually have to learn the language that is prominent in an
area. Although they view language as a part of their
identity, they have to compromise their languages and
substitute it with another, or combine both languages.
 Ethnic groups learn the dominant language in an area when
the majority of the people speak that language. Their
variety of the dominant language is called the "substrate,"
because it shows the differences between it and their
language.
 Immigrants that arrive in a new location quickly learn the
dominant language. Their language is called the "adstrate,"
and it affects the way they speak the dominant language.
The adstrate and substrate could create a variety of the
dominant language, and would differ from the normal
version of the language.

6. Gender:
 Gender affects language variation by influencing the
language choice between men and women. A man and a
woman’s speech differ from one another in matters of
degree. Men’s language can be direct, non-standard, and
aggressive. Women’s language can be less harsh,
emotional, and standard. Many languages have alternative
forms that are used only by men or by women. In some
cases, the men and women speak different dialects, or they
don't speak the same language to each other. Trudgill
concludes that women consistently use forms which more
closely approach those of the standard variety or the
prestige accent than those used by men. In other words,
female speakers of English use linguistic forms which are
considered to be better than male forms. It also makes it
difficult for each gender to fully understand the opposite
sex.

7. Speaker’s age/Generation
Gap:
 Age can determine how English learners express themselves and you as a
teacher can easily see the difference in language variation if you teach a
class of children as opposed to a class of adult learners. . As Ali leaves behind
his teenage years and becomes an adult, he slowly leaves behind the old
ways of expression he used to have both for oral and written discourse. For
example, as Ali joins college, he gets used to more formal ways of
expressions with people. When he greets people he no longer feels
comfortable saying “Hey.. what's up?”. Instead he prefers “Hi good morning”.
This is not just because Ali is in college. This is also because he is mature
now and he spontaneously feels more comfortable using more formal
language.
 We often come across the term generation gap. There are obvious differences
between the younger and older generations and these quite naturally are
reflected in speech. We often hear older people complain about the strange
language forms that youngsters pick up and use. These different forms are
usually no more than transient expression taken from pop culture which last
only while they are in vogue. These is also a difference in word frequency,
different generation tend to use certain words and expressions more than
others.


8. Education:
 Education is another social factor which plays
an important role in language variation.
Within each dialect area, one notices linguistic
variation according to education and social
standing. The uneducated speech is most
easily identified with the regional dialect,
while educated speech tends to transcend
regional limitations. Assiri(2008) claimed that
speakers’ level of education is affecting the
choice speakers make between using standard
and non standard language.

9. Conclusion:
 To conclude we can say that, variation in language is
an important topic in sociolinguistics, because it
refers to social factors in society and how each
factor plays a role in language varieties. Languages
vary between ethnic groups, social situations, and
specific locations. From Labov’s study, people can
determine that variation is a characteristic of
language that can be influenced by class, ethnicity,
gender, and education. People notice these
variations by interacting with people from different
ethnic backgrounds and people with different social
standings. According to his research, Labov realized
that there are many ways of speaking, and each
way of speaking is influenced by social factors in a
society.