SLA, Opcja

ETHNICITY

most ethnic groups believe that their language is the best medium for preserving and expressing their traditions, However, the Chinese, for example, identify themselves ethnically even though they speak languages or dialects which are mutually unintelligible, Some cultures have survived even though their language has virtually disappeared like Yiddish in Georgia or Gullah in North East Florida,

VIEWS AND ATTITUDES

There are differences between white and black speakers in the US and many Americans can assign people to one of the two ethnic groups. However, although the stereotypes of black or white speech provide listeners with a correct identification most of the time the diagnostic differences are entirely the result of learned behaviour People do not speak as they do because they are white or black Speakers acquire the linguistic characteristics of those they live in close contact with There is no racia

matched guise technique in social psychology

is used to investigate language attitudes It involves playing recordings of different speakers reading aloud the same passage of prose but using different accents, dialects or language Subjects are asked to listen to the recordings and to evaluate the speakers on parameters such as friendly-unfriendly intelligent-unintelligent reliable-unreliable etc. The technique is called matched-guise because two of the speakers are the same person appearing in two different guises using two different variet

Social class

Social stratification is reflected in language varieties; social class dialects differ in pronunciation grammar and vocabulary

REGIONAL AND SOCIAL DIALECTS COMPARISON

There are similarities between the emergence of regional and social varieties mainly because of barriers and distance Physical isolation of villages may explain why their dialects are different. But instead of rivers or mountains, there are also social barriers of class, age, race or religion and social distance between the highest and the lowest classes which underlie language variation

Social isolation

of some groups may explain why their languages or dialects remain relatively unaffected by those of other groups religious groups in Baghdad have limited contact with each other and Christians Moslems, Jews maintained distinctive dialects. Social distance between the castes in an Indian village leads to differences in speech

Socially prestigious variants

are those features adopted by a high status group as linguistic indications of social status

stigmatized variants

are those features associated with low status groups for example Midwestern cities

PROCESS OF ASSIMILATION HYPERCORRECTION

There is some movement in the social hierarchy and then the speakers attaining a higher status adjust linguistically to a particular dialect. Moreover lower classes tend to assimilate language features associated with high status groups When a particular language feature is highly valued in a speech community the speaker from a lower class may overextend it and then we have to do with hypercorrection which is “overextension of a favoured feature to linguistic environments in which the feature is

RESTRICTED and ELABORATED CODE

According to the policy makers in postwar Britain in the late fifties, ability not social background should be the decisive principle in the educational choice. However statistics showed that the working class was under-represented in grammar schools and higher education. Working class children do not perform so well at school as middle-class children of the same intelligence Basil Bernstein a sociologist who studied the problem, claimed that there is a systematic relationship between social cla

Age

Within a speech community there is a system of social rules of language behaviour for particular age groups For example the use of slang or taboo words by teenagers can be accepted in certain situations but the same language used by middle-aged persons particularly those of high socioeconomic status) would be regarded as highly inappropriate and received with shock or disgust

PRE ADOLESCENT STAGE

can be characterized by the use of peer group local dialect with a great amount of stigmatized forms and little stylistic variation Very often the speakers first reject parental norms and then gradually approximate to adult patterns during their school years

Adult stage

further education occupation and achievement of social status may bring about an attempt to conform their speech to status groups to modify it towards prestige forms and bigger stylistic variation

Old age stage

Older people used to preserve some language patterns learned early in life although they are already out of use and sound peculiar to the representatives of the younger generation Along with some lexical peculiarities sounding odd to younger people for example icebox there occur differences in pronunciation and grammar as well Finally old people do not seem to pay much attention to speech and also their stylistic variation tends to diminish

WHY IS WOMENS SPEECH DIFFERENT

Otto Jespersen claimed that the differences have a biological basis. There are some differences in neurophysiological processes e.g. phonological processing in males is located in the left hemisphere, in females both in left and right hemispheres But there is no evidence that such differences account for differences between male and female speech. The biological basis and the physiology of the vocal tract can only explain the differences in the height of pitch The vocal cords are shorter, lighte

WOMAN SOCIAL CLASS

womens speech is generally more correct for example standard because they are more status conscious They are more sensitive to the prestige pattern and the social significance of social class related linguistic variables. This phenomenon is particularly marked in the lower middle class

WOMAN Social roles

Language differences reflect social roles laid down by society We may speak here about the expressive role imputed to women and the instrumental role associated with men Hence occupations are associated with men, and women are expected to run the house take care of children be nice to hardworking husbands

Male dominance

Male dominance in the language is a reflection of men’s superior position in a society and the role they have traditionally played

SPEECH ACT THEORY AND ITS FOUNDERS

Speech act theory was first formulated in 1962 by the philosopher John Austin

WHAT IS A SPEECH ACT

Speech acts are all the acts we perform through speaking, all the things we DO when we speak The term speech act covers actions performed by a speaker in uttering a sentence such as requesting commanding questioning and informing

FUNCTIONS OR SPEECH ACTS

In one sense we are talking about functions our purposes, intentions), but we are also concerned what the speakers are doing with language and what they are saying When we say that a particular bit of speech or writing is a request or an instruction we are concentrating on what that piece of language is doing, or how the listener/reader is supposed to react and now we deal with speech acts

A LOCUTIONARY ACT

It is the formal SEMANTIC meaning of the words. It is the act of saying something in the full sense of say by means of grammar lexis and extratextual information The act of performing words into sentences that make sense in a language with correct grammar and pronunciation but OUT of the CONTEXT

AN ILLOCUTIONARY ACT

It may be for example an invitation to someone to shut the window – this is the underlying force why the speaker has made an utterance, the intended action by the speaker The illocutionary act or the illocutionary force can be achieved by means of certain words expressing assertion, prediction, warning for example I warn you PRAGMATIC MEANING in the CONTEXT

A PERLOCUTIONARY ACT

It reflects the consequence of the locutionary and illocutionary acts, the effect that an utterance has on the thoughts feelings or attitudes of the listener An utterance may have such an effect on the listener that he becomes alarmed convinced surprised or persuaded in accordance with the speaker intention It is not however under his control and then he may meet the unintended or secondary result

THE UPSHOT

People don’t say what they mean and there are several reasons for speaking indirectly For example it enables them to retreat in front of danger. Indirection also enables us to give others the option of retreat. “Are you busy?” is a more avoidable request than Sit down and talk to me The person then might answer Yes, I am. Sorry. because you have given the option of retreat In fact you can also retreat saying Oh never mind I was just wondering if

PERFORMATIVES

Austin writes about performatives which are acts in themselves. A perfomative utterance is one that describes some act and simultaneously performs that act Examples of perfomative verbs are promise beg admit

DECLARATIONS

Austin also isolated a group of performatives which have a conventional, ritualistic nature. When the speaker says I name this ship “The Queen Elizabeth”, she is performing the action of naming the ship. Other ritualistic examples, of a conventional nature: swearing an oath, sentencing a criminal, opening a building, arresting an offender.

OTHER PERFORMATIVES

Other performatives are also utterances in which saying is doing, but, unlike declarations their related verbs for example vow, arrest, declare, etc.) are not always actually said

PROBLEMS WITH RECOGNIZING PERFORMATIVES

The form of performatives is usually the first person singular, Simple Present, active voice but not always

FELICITY CONDITIONS

The felicity conditions of an illocutionary act are conditions that must be fulfilled in the situation in which the act is carried out if the act is to be said to be carried out properly

Felicity conditions for declarations

There must exist an accepted conventional procedure, having a certain conventional effect for example a procedure for christening babies - not dogs, naming ships not houses These procedures may be different in certain communities The particular persons and circumstances must be appropriate for the invocation of the particular procedure. The uttering itself of the correct and appropriate words is insufficient to achieve the successful performance of the act for example the person for baptising th

Felicity conditions for other performatives

John Searle worked out the conditions for the act of ordering As with declarations, the utterance will only be perceived as the act of ordering if certain conditions are in operation and known to be in operation by both the sender and the receiver. If any of them is not fulfilled the utterance will not function as an order the sender believes the action should be done If I order someone to clean their boots when I do not really believe that this should be done then my order is insincere. the rec

CONVERSATION TURN TAKING

Especially in formal situations there are clear rules on the order of speaking for example in parliament or other public meetings, a chairperson decides who can speak and how long In informal conversations turn-taking may depend on power and status who has the floor varies according to rules of the social group For example students will usually fall silent when the professor speaks whether they are in the bar or at the seminar

Strategies for taking a turn

using interjections to signal a request for a turn, such as Mm-hmm Yeah and rising intonation using facial or other gestures to indicate a wish to take a turn; accepting a turn offered by another speaker by responding to a question

Strategies for holding a turn

through intonation using expressions to suggest continuity, such as First Another thing Then

Strategies for passing a turn to somebody else

using phonological signals, such as slowing down the final syllables of an utterance and increasing the pitch change to sign completion of the turn; pausing to provide an opportunity for someone to take up the turn; using a facial or bodily gesture to signal that a turn is finished

Turn types

ADJACENCY PAIRS, INSERTION SEQUENCE, SIDE SEQUENCE,

ADJACENCY PAIRS

Question predicts an answer A greeting, for example, is likely to be answered by another greeting Hi! Oh hello! Congratulations  thanks, Apology acceptance. In an adjacency pair, there is often a choice of two likely responses one is the preferred response because it occurs most frequently); the other the dispreferred response because it is less common

INSERTION SEQUENCE

Sometimes the second part of an adjacency pair can be delayed by an alternation of turns occurring within it one question and answer pair contains another, like this: It might mean avoiding the topic, being polite or afraid of telling the truth

SIDE SEQUENCE

Sometimes speakers switch from one topic to another unrelated one, and then back again

CLARIFICATION OR REPAIR

Here the participants correct either their own words or those of another participant to get the message across to achieve a communicative effect

COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE

Herbert Paul Grice offered a theory which he called conversational implicature and which attempted to explain what people mean saying something, why don’t they say directly what they mean, and how it is possible that others understand this implicated meaning He started with the concept of Cooperative Principle

MAXIM OF QUALITY- TRUTH

say only what is true and does not give information that is false or that is not supported by evidence

MAXIM OF QUANTITY-INFORMATION

economy of word not long sentences say much as neccesary

MAXIM OF RELEVANCE

say what is important and important aspects to discussion

MAXIM OF MANNER - CLARITY

Be clear avoid ambiguilty

VIOLATING CO-OPERATION MAXIMS

The sender INTENDS the receiver to perceive them as such, and in fact, the receiver does perceive them as such Communication may break down if e.g. the receiver does not realize that the violation is deliberate

quality maxim

very often for effect

quantity maxim

We often say more than we need for example to mark a sense of respect

Maxim of relevance

to signal embarrassment or a desire to change the subject

The maxim of manner

is violated for humour (puns) where rival meanings are deliberately tolerated, or in order to establish solidarity between speakers and exclude an overhearer from a conversation. Doctors diagnose patients for medical students in a language which they know the patient will not follow Prisoners children

POLITENESS MAXIMS- ROBIN LAKOFF

Don’t impose i'M SORRY TO BOTHER YOU trying to be polite Give options: are you busy Make your receiver feel good

COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE

Speakers from different cultural backgrounds may have different interpretations of what it means to be true relevant, brief or clear. But even then, despite the differences, the participants enter a verbal exchange assuming that there will be some sort of co-operation between the parties involved. The people try to act efficiently together with others in human interaction

POLITENESS PRINCIPLE A UNIVERSAL PHENOMENON

All humans beings try to avoid intruding upon each other's territory and make the other person feel good For example, in some parts of India, Taiwan and the Arabic speaking world, it is impolite to accept food when it is first offered. Only on the third offer it is appropriate to accept, and only a third refusal is considered definitive

TENSION BETWEEN TWO KINDS OF PRINCIPLES

There are situations, and there are types of relationships, in which one of these purposes becomes dominant, and the other hardly matters at all. In emergencies, when there is a need for immediate action, it is hardly appropriate to follow the politeness principle MOVE Would you mind moving slightly