Introduction to Language and Society Course Our Textbook Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books. Most of the PowerPoint slides for this course come from this book. 1/16

Outline of Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams, Chapter 10: Language in Society Dialects Accents Dialects of English Phonological Differences Lexical Differences Syntactic Differences Standard Language Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language, 7th edition. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. 2/16

Outline of Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams, Chapter 10: Language in Society Banned Languages Revival of Languages African American English Pidgins and Creoles Styles, Slang, and Jargon Taboo Language Language, Sex, and Gender Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language, 7th edition. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. 3/16

Table of Contents of Trudgill’s Sociolinguistics LANGUAGE AND 1. Society (= Sociolinguistics) 2. Social Class 3. Ethnic Group 4. Sex / Gender 5. Context 6. Social Interaction 7. Nation 8. Geography 9. Contact 10. Humanity 4/16

Sociolinguistic Course Goals  Teach you something that may change the way you look at language use.  Help you avoid misunderstandings between people from different cultures.  Help you avoid giving offense.  Help you avoid being offended. 5/16

Language Uses  Communicate information  Establish relationships  Maintain relationships  Evaluate/Assess people (their status) 6/16

What might the way someone speaks tell us about them? 1. Social/Class background (Social Dialect); 2. What kind of work (maybe, maybe not) 3. Where from (Regional Dialect) 4. Education 5. Ethnic group 6. IN group / OUT group 7/16

 Pronunciation (Accent)  Vocabulary  Syntax (Grammar) Linguistic Variation  Pronunciation (Accent)  Vocabulary  Syntax (Grammar) 8/16

Taiwan and Beijing Mandarin Dialect Differences 1 Pronunciation Retroflexes ㄓ ㄔ ㄕ / ㄗ ㄘ ㄙ Labials ㄅㄆㄇㄈ + ㄥ ㄥ / ㄨㄥ Use of word-final suffix -兒 / NO -兒 9/16

Taiwan and Beijing Mandarin Dialect Differences 2 Vocabulary Locative suffixes: 上 面 (-面 / -邊 / -頭) Specific words for tomato, taxi, potato, etc. 10/16

Taiwan and Beijing Mandarin Dialect Differences 3 Syntax Past A-not-A Questions 你 有 沒 有 吃 蘋 果？ Resultative Verb A-not-A Questions 你 聽 不 聽 得 懂？ 11/16

Some Social Factors in Language Variation  Hometown  Education  Status in society  Age  Gender  Formality of situation 12/16

Communicative Competence (Based on Hymes) 1. Grammatical Competence 2. Sociolinguistic Competence 3. Discourse Competence 4. Strategic Competence Oxford, Rebecca L. 1990. Language Learning Strategies. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, p. 7. 13/16

Sociolinguistic Competence  What do you call the Department chair when you address him?  What do you call people you meet for the first time?  How do you interact POLITELY with others?  How do you ask someone to do you a favor?  What questions are considered taboo?  What do you say to comfort someone whose family member has died?  What does it mean when someone invites you to “Drop by anytime.”? 14/16

Sociolinguistic Competence (in L1)  You know how to compliment people.  You know how to respond to compliments.  You know how to ask someone for help.  You know how to respond (refuse) politely.  You know how to apologize if you accidentally step on someone foot.  And how to reply.  You know the polite way (and the rude way) to say many things. 15/16

Sociolinguistic Errors vs. Grammar Errors  The latter are obviously grammar errors  The former we assume you must have made INTENTIONALLY—YOU ARE JUST RUDE 16/16