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Language and Society
BS Education (BSE 101)
Tarlac State University
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Southern Masbate Roosevelt College, Inc.
Katipunan, Placer, Masbate
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COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION
FOUNDER Dr. Victor V. Lepiten Victor Elliot S. Lepiten, IIIPRESIDENT
GERALYN P. ALBURO
INSTRUCTOR
Every society has a number of choices to make in terms of which language to be used and when. When it comes to multilingual societies, decisions also need to be made concerning how many languages the society will support, how many languages members of the society are expected to learn and so on. In this module, we will take a look at the layers of language use in bilingual and multilingual societies. We will also take into consideration the language policy choices that governments must make. Finally, we will explore how individuals in a multilingual society use language. Happy Learning at home!
After completion of the course students are expected to be able to:
- demonstrate a working awareness of the methodological processes around bilingualism and multilingualism
- engage with bilingualism and multilingualism within various educational contexts
- demonstrate an understanding of the policies on bilingualism and multilingualism and their relationships to the language classroom
- demonstrate an understanding of the social, cultural and educational issues specific to bilingual and
multilingual children and adults and their relationship to the larger society
- review the literature and research on bilingualism and multilingualism and apply this to their academic and professional context
- demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between language acquisition and bilingualism and
multilingualism
- engage in critical thinking and demonstrate skills in practicing reflective teaching
All activities enclosed should be carefully read and performed accordingly. In cases of printed and written activities, all tasks should be printed in a short bond paper following the given format: Name Year Level, Subject, Time/Day Address Contact Info Printed activities should be in font size 11 and Font style “Candara.” Use cursive writing for every written task. Leave a great storage on your phones for video projects from time to time since your subject cannot see your live performances. In every video project, do not forget to introduce yourself. No Name your file to your Last name and first name initial+ Name of the activity (Ex: ALBURO, G.-- CREDO by E. Christian Buckner) Change your facebook names to your real names (the ones appearing on my class record) for easy dissemination of information if necessary. Do not let your subject teacher guess your names on social media if you will not adhere to this instruction.
LANGUAGE PROGRAMS AND POLICIES IN MULTILINGUAL SOCIETY
MODULE (PRELIM)
NAME:__________________________________
CONTACT INFO.:__________________________
ADDRESS:_______________________________
YR. & SECTION:___________________________
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS COURSE
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
Since you are too many for me to handle, please add me on facebook: “Geralyn Pepito Alburo”. This is necessary so I can tag you on important matters or announcements. Agree with your blockmates/classmates to create a GC named “BSED ENGLISH I- LANGUAGE PROGRAMS AND POLICIES IN MULTILINGUAL SOCIETIES” and add me on. Your subject instructor will provide you further instructions or activities through it. Update and check the GC from time to time. Deadline is deadline. Late submissions will no longer be catered. Failure to follow the instructions would mean deductions on your submitted tasks. No part nor page of this module should be lost. Compilation will be checked at the end of the semester. Stay safe at home God bless!
- Your Subject Instructor
Before we finally start, “Why is it important to study language?” Write your own thoughts in 3 paragraphs.
INTRODUCTION
Language, our primary tool of thought, perception and expression, is at the heart of who we are as individuals. It is arguably clear that languages are constantly changing, sometimes into entirely new varieties, leading to subtle differences in how we present ourselves to others. People cannot live without language as fish cannot live without water. That is, the fish is in the water and water is in the fish; likewise, human is in the language and language is in human. Besides, there are diverse views to the origin of language, its acquisition and/ or learning and the pertinent policies and implementation in a given country. For fortune or pity, some countries are monolingual, others bilingual; multilingualism is for many countries in the world who were colonized. In this regard, multilingualism so often is seen as a handicap to development. However, multilingualism needs to be developed as strength and achievement, not criticized as a failure. In a relationship, diversity breeds individual search for identity, control, status and similar quests of life. It must be clear that such differences are inevitable to bring attitude differences and the resultant identity conflict. We will try to pinpoint key notions with regard to language and society, language diversity and development, language policy and development and language attitude and development in their respective order.
CHAPTER 1
LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY
Language and society deal with issues pertinent to sociolinguistics Language is societal; we cannot talk about society without language and vice-versa. The way human is configured physiologically and anatomically is totally different from capable animals: ape, chimpanzee, dogs, monkeys, bees, parrots, rats, cats, etc. The language faculty in the cerebrum is the mighty and sophisticated power house of the language to process and produce language. Language is societal, human born with healthy and normal physio-anatomy. OTISM occurs when there is physiological and anatomical disability/impairment. As language is classified and well structured, the society does so. The most vibrant finding to study, classify people for anthropologists, sociologists, social workers, social psychologists, sociolinguists, etc. is the finding of linguistics. Multilingualism, bilingualism and monolingualism at individual, group, regional, societal, national or global levels indicate the relationships between language and society. Sociology of language, sociolinguistics, X-linguialism, communication using language, etc. are the major evidences to believe that the relationship between language and society are undeniable.
The following points need to be considered as they affect language use: Age-grading Professional continuum
sociocultural, socio-economic, socio-political, religious, and linguistic patterns of the society. In addition, the linguist contends, in a day-to-day communicative situation, the use of kinship terms, modes of address and modes of greetings represent socio-cultural milieu of a certain society; they have important place in the use of language in society and sociology of language.
1.1. Authority in Language and Society
Countless scholars (Cameron, 1998; Phillips & Hardy, 1997; Habermas, 1995; Elen, 1993; Lynch & Woogla, 1990; Duck, 1982; Sacks, et al. 1974; etc.) identified that individual/group epistemological and moral responsibility, the context and audience, issue sensitivity, gender, class, status, political accountability, religious power-God, education and professionalism grant or deny people the right or the legitimacy to use language and express or manipulate their thought/idea and message, the manacles in language and society (Jaspers, Ostman & Verschueren, 2010).
1.1. The Physiological and Anatomical Configuration of Humanity
Human being is created special anatomically and physiologically to create and beautifully produce language for communication than other clever and capable animals such as bees, chimpanzees, birds(e. parrots), dogs, etc. That is man is born with a language faculty in the cerebrum as sophisticated powerhouse to process and produce language.
1. KEY TERMS IN LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY
“Anyone who wants to talk about the many varieties of a language is immediately faced with severe problems, the initial manifestations of which are largely terminological” (Zwicky & Zwicky, 1982: 213 in Lewandowski, 2010). For the same purpose, the following terms need to be defined clearly and briefly.
1.2. Sociolinguistics and Sociology of Language
Sociology of language focuses on the language's effect on the society, but sociolinguistics focuses on the effect of the society on the language (Spolsky & Francis, 2007). Importantly, the sociology of language seeks to understand the way that social dynamics are affected by individual and group language use. To elaborate, sociology of language deals carefully with who is 'authorized' to use what language, with whom and under what conditions; how an individual or group identity is established by the language that they have available for them to use.
Different scholars have defined sociolinguistics in different ways with similar implication:
Sociolinguistics as the study of the relationship between languages, language use, and social context. In other words, sociolinguistics is another aspect of language apart from how it works as a system rather than looking at sound, grammar, and cognition. (Owen (2011)
- It is the study of language in relation to society. (Hudson (1996:4)
- It is concerned with investigating the relationships between language and society with the goal being a better understanding of the structure of language and of how languages function in communication. [Wardhaugh (2006:13)]
According to Ellis(2005),the major objective of sociolinguistics is to explain how speakers‟ variable and linguistic variations are correlated with variation in the speakers‟ social characteristics. Its primary concern is to study the correlation ship between language use and social status, with describing language use as social phenomena and where possible, it attempts to establish causal links between language and society, pursuing the complementary questions of what language contribute to making community possible and how communities shape their languages using them. Since sociolinguistics is a meeting ground for linguists and social scientists, some of who seek to understand the social aspects of language while others are primarily concerned with linguistic aspects of society, there are two centers of gravity known as micro- and macro-sociolinguistics, which represent different orientations and research agenda. However, there is a general agreement that both perspectives are very important for complete understanding of language as a social phenomenon.
Micro-sociolinguistics investigates how social structure influences the way people talk and how language varieties and patterns of use correlate with social attributes, such as class, sex(gender),and age. Macro-sociolinguistics studies what societies do with their languages, that is, attitudes and attachments that account for the functional distribution of speech forms in society, language shift, maintenance and interaction of speech communities.
1.2. Speech Community
The definition of speech community is debated in many sociolinguistic literatures. However, various sociolinguists tend to involve varying degree of emphasis on the two points such as:
- Shared community membership
- shared linguistic communication.
Speech community is a concept in sociolinguistics that describes a more or less discrete group of people who use language in a unique and mutually accepted way among themselves. Speech communities can be members of a profession with a specialized jargon, distinct social groups like high school students or hip hop fans. In addition, online and other computer mediated communities, such as internet forums, often constitute speech communities. Members of speech communities will often develop a slang or jargon to serve the group's special purposes and priorities. In addition to this, Gumperz (1968) defines a speech community as “Any human aggregate characterized by regular and frequent interaction by means of a shared body of verbal signs and set off from similar aggregates by significant differences in language usage”. - is a group of people speaking a common dialect.
- is a distinct group of people who use language in a unique and mutually accepted way among themselves, who speak a common dialect. To be considered part of a speech community, one must have a communicative competence. That is, the speaker has the ability to use language in a way that is appropriate in the given situation such as members of a profession with a specialized jargon, distinct social groups such as vandals, high school students, soldiers, fans, the family, etc. In this field, interactional sociolinguistics looks at different styles of interaction by speech communities.
1.2. Language Planning
- either be called language policy is making deliberate well calculated efforts to influence the function, structure and acquisition of languages within a speech community and a country/state. It takes the educators‟ philosophy, “To fail to plan is to plan to fail”.
1.2. Dialect
In sociolinguistics , it is the collection of phonetic, phonological, syntactic, morphological and semantic attributes that make one group of speakers noticeably different from another group of speakers of the same language (Lewandowski, 2010). Dialectologists study dialect, but variationist sociolinguists are very much interested in looking at social variation within dialects and examine how variation is rule governed.
1.2. The Dialect Continuum and the Dilemma
If we have ten dialects (1-10) in a row 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, each dialect is highly similar to its immediately adjacent neighbors; conversely, when we move farther away from each type the similarities become fewer and fewer. That is, dialect one 1 is very similar to 2, less similar to 3, even less similar to 4, and by the time we get to 8, 9 or 10, 1 is no longer mutually intelligible with these. By the criterion of mutual intelligibility, we can thus say that dialect 1 and 10 belong to different languages. But if we take dialect 5, which may be mutually intelligible with both 1 and 10, which language does 5 belong to?
1.2. Idiolect
Just as there is variation among groups of speakers of a language, there is variation from speaker to speaker. No two speakers of a language speak identically. Each speaks her or his own particular variety of that language. Hence, an idiolect is the variety of language spoken by each individual speaker of the language. It is, therefore, one person’s language.
1.2. Sociolect
- is often used interchangeably with social dialect (the latter form seems to be more commonly used and preferred). [Lewandowski (2010)]
- It is concisely defined as a variety or dialect which is thought of as being related to its speakers‟ social background rather 10 geographical background‟ (Trudgill, 2003; Grabias, 2001 in Lewandowski, 2010). In other words, it is the language spoken by a particular social group, class or subculture, whose determinants include such parameters as: gender, age, occupation, and possibly a few others for the purposes of secrecy, professionalism, expressiveness, etc.
1.2. Regional dialects
This is linguistic differentiation based upon on membership in a longstanding geographically isolated or separate group. In other words, a group of people are more or less isolated or are prevented from freely mingling with nearby populations due to mountains, rivers, forests, etc., and then those populations will develop unique linguistic characteristics which will eventually become distinguishing elements of their regional dialects. There are some common misperceptions about dialects. These common misperceptions are: a. dialect is substandard, b. dialect is incorrect and c. dialect is slang. However the sociolinguistics fact is that “everybody speaks a dialect. Sometimes people get confused to differentiate language from dialects. There is linguistic criterion to differentiate language from dialect. Most linguists suggested that dialect is mutually intelligible while language is not.
1.2. Register.
- is a „diatypic variety‟ or variety „according to the use‟. (Halliday (1978) mentioned in Lewandowski (2010)
- It is what you are speaking (at the time) which is determined by what you are doing (nature of social activity being engaged in) and expressing diversity of social process (social division of labor). So in principle registers are ways of saying different things and tend to differ in semantics (and hence in lexicogrammar, and sometimes phonology, as realization of this). As extreme cases, they are restricted languages, languages for special purposes; and at typical instances, they are occupational varieties (technical, semi-technical). In addition, the principal controlling variables are field (type of social action), tenor (role relationships) and mode (symbolic organization).
1.2. LINGUA FRANCA
A term first known in use in 1619, it is a language: standard or a pidgin used for communication between two or more groups that have different native languages. The term lingua franca (Latin: “Frankish language”) was first applied to a pidgin based on French and Italian developed in the
The major factors that might lead to the process of language shift are summarized by Apple, R and Muysken, P. (2005:33-37) as follows: Economic status: this is when groups of minority language speakers have a relatively low economic status. e. g. Masay in Kenya Economic changes: i. modernization, industrialization and urbanization. Social status: this is when a majority language is considered as a language of high status or prestigious language. Quechua in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia have considered themselves to have low social status, and tend to shift towards Spanish. Socio-historical status: when speakers are inspired to struggle for their common interests as members of an Ethno linguistic group, as group members in the past did. Language status: seeking for the use of a language with international communication; especially in a multilingual community. Demographic factors & Mass media.
A. Language Shift
- appeared when increasing number of speakers of the less influential language give way to the pressure of the dominant language, their language which would have been used previously in their homes and communities is replaced from these very important domains by the dominant language. So the community gives up a language completely in favor of the other one (Fasold, 1984, 213).
The term language shift refers to a process in which the speakers of one language begin to use a second language for more and more function until they eventually use only the second language, even in personal and intimate context. Language shift become total when the second language become a symbol of the socio-cultural identity of the speakers (Webb and Edward, 2000, 13).
- sometimes referred to as language transfer or language replacement or assimilation, is the progressive process whereby a speech community of a language shifts to speaking another language. The rate of assimilation is the percentage of individuals with a given mother tongue who speak another language more often in the home. The data is used to measure the use of a given language in the lifetime of a person, or most often across generations within a linguistic community. In relation with language shift there is a situation in which members of the community experiencing language shift began to loss fluency in their native language, which is known as language loss. This doesn‟t mean language death because the language could still exist in a vigorous state elsewhere. Therefore language loss and death are successive stages after language shift. (Webb and Edward, 2000, 113) 2.2. Language Endangerment
An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. Some languages, such as those in Indonesia, may have tens of thousands of speakers but be endangered
because children are no longer learning them, and speakers are in the process of shifting to using the national language Indonesian (or a local Malay variety) in place of local languages. In contrast, a language with only 100 speakers might be considered very much alive if it is the primary language of a community, and is the first (or only) language of all children in that community (Webb and Edward, 2000).
2.2. Language Death
- is another phenomena related to language contact. Following language contact language shift may occur, this usually leads to language death as many scholars agreed on (Fasold, 1984: 213). Death occurs when a certain speech community shifts to a new language totally. When the community shifts to the new one there will be no user of that language any more. Since language and culture are closely connected, the occurrence of linguistic shift may lead to a cultural identity, and eventually, the „death‟ of particular way of life (Webb and Edward, 2000:13).
- is an old phenomenon in the history of language but it is the new field of study for linguistics and sociolinguistics. It started to be studied after mid eighteens. Different scholars label language death with different some frame these labels; language demise, language drift, language shift, language replacement are common.
- is a complete disappearance of a language. This disappearance can be caused by the sudden death of the whole community of speakers, which is a rare case or in a situation of language in contact (competition) and shifting (Columas, 1997: 257).
4 Types of language death
There are four major types of identified language death, each of which has linguistic and sociolinguistic consequences (Campbell and Muntzel, 1989 cited in Chambers, J. K. Trudgill, P. and Schilling-Estes, N., 2003:573-574). These types include: A. Sudden language death-this occurring when a language death occurs when a language abruptly disappears because its speakers die or are killed. In such cases (e. Tasmanian; Nicloeno, a Native American Indian language in California), the transitional phase is so abrupt that there are few if any structural consequences as the language dies. B. Radical language death-this type is distinguished from sudden death by the shift to another language rather the complete disappearance of the speakers of a language. In this death, speakers simply stop speaking the language as a matter of survival in the face of political repression and genocide (e. Salvadorians). C. Gradual language death-this is the most common type of language death which might be resulted due to gradual shift to the dominant language in a contact situation (e. Gaffat, Zay, etc in Ethiopia). D. Bottom-to-top language death-this type is distinguished for it is the result of the situational contraction of language use. In most instances this death results when the dying language will be retained in more casual and informal contexts while it is not used in formal settings (e. Ge‟ez in Ethiopia; Sanskrit in India).
- Causes of language death
In most instances the likely factors which resulted in language death are non-linguistic rather than linguistic. The major causes of the death can be categorized of economic, political ideological, ecological, cultural etc. In this regard the specific factors which can be embedded in major causes mentioned are listed by Cambel, (1994:1963) cited in Chambers J. K. Trudgill, P. and SchillingEstes., (2003: 575) as follows:
Discrimination Repression rapid population collapse lack of economic opportunities work patterns migrant labor ongoing industrialization resettlement migration rapid economic transformation dispersion literacy communication with outside regions marriage patterns compulsory education military service official language policies famine epidemics religious proselytizing resource depletion and forced changes in substance patterns lack of social cohesion lack of physical proximity among speakers symbolism of the dominant language stigmatization low prestige of the dying variety absence of institutions that establish norms ( schools, academics, texts) particular historical events, etc.
Hence from all what has been posed as the possible factors of language death, we might deduce that the dangers of language death at the disposal of every languages.
2.2. Language Extinction
Extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers. It occurs when a language undergoes language death while being directly replaced by a different one Dead language is a language which is no longer spoken by anyone as their main language. Language extinction also occurs when a language undergoes rapid evolution or assimilation until it eventually gives birth to an offspring, i., a dissimilar language or family of languages
2.2. Code Alternation (Code switching and code mixing)
The difference between code switching and code mixing is one of the most baffling arguments in the study of code alternation. Clyne (1991:161) argues that code switching and code mixing refer to the same phenomena in “which the speaker stops using language A‟ and employs language „B‟. Romaine (1995) views code switching as a phenomenon that occurs in a continuum where both inter-sentential
and intra-sentential code alternation takes place. Other researchers make the distinction between code switching and code mixing based on the place where the alternation occurs.
Moreover, there are different explanations forwarded by different sociolinguists as follows:
Code switching or inter-sentential code-alternation occurs when a bilingual speaker uses more than one language in a single utterance above the clause level to appropriately convey his/her intents.” - It is thus a term in linguistics referring to the use of more than one language or variety in conversation. Bilinguals, who can speak at least two languages, have the ability to use elements of both languages when conversing with another bilingual. Code-switching is; therefore, the syntactically and phonologically appropriate use of multiple varieties. Code-mixing refers to any admixture of linguistic elements of two or more language systems in the same utterance at various levels: phonological, lexical, grammatical and orthographical. (Oha, A. etal 2010). -is also called intra-sentential code switching or intra-sentential codealternation which occurs when speakers use two or more languages below clause level within one social situation.
What is very clear, Bokamba (1989) cited in Ayehomoni (2006:91) defined both concepts in that: Code-switching is the mixing of words, phrases and sentences from two distinct grammatical (sub) systems across sentence boundaries within the same speech event... code-mixing is the embedding of various linguistic units such as affixes (bound morphemes), words (unbound morphemes), phrases and clauses from a co-operative activity where the participants, in order to infer what is intended, must reconcile what they hear with what they understand.
Carlos (2009:68) citing Fischer (1972) suggests that language or code choice in communities where bilingualism or multilingualism is the norm should be analyzed in the context where the speech is produced. Fischer notes that three contextual factors should be taken into account: 1) the relationship amongst speakers; 2) the setting where the talk takes place and; 3) the topic being discussed. In this respect, Myers-Scotton (1992) notes that not only contextual factors play a role in the code choice, but factors such as social identity and educational background also affect the speaker‟s choice of code. Huang (2004) adds up the medium used with a number of factors believed to trigger code alternation.
2.2. Pidgins and Creole
- are new varieties of language generated in situations of language contact (Rickford and McWhorter (1998:163). A pidgin is sharply restricted in social role, used for limited communication between speakers of two or more languages who have repeated or extended contacts with each other, for instance, through trade, enslavement, or migration.
Language and Society
Course: BS Education (BSE 101)
University: Tarlac State University
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