Social Problems and Social Policies: An Illustration from Sociolinguistics

Abstract

Language spoken and abilities in its social use are critical individual attributes, ranking with ethnicity, sex, and age in their association with access to life chances. Sociolinguistic variables have been neglected by sociologists, however, and language-related social problems are neither recognized nor understood. The structure of society is clearly the source of sociolinguistic discrimination, but a first step in the definition of language-related social problems requires more specific identification of: (1) affected populations; (2) the nature of difficulties and/or disadvantages experienced by those populations; and (3) the settings and circumstances in which those difficulties and disadvantages are most severely experienced. Moreover, social policies directed to ameliorization of language-related problems, just like those oriented to other social problems are formulated primarily by officials and bureaucrats on the basis of their perceptions of: (1) recommendations made by scholarly researchers (often in disagreement among themselves); (2) demands made by the affected populations (often in conflict themselves over goals and means); and (3) attitudes held by the dominant majority (sometimes concerned about others' problems but usually interested in minimizing threats to its own privilege). I discuss some implications of the interaction of these factors, and make some modest recommendations about how social scientists might work more effectively on sociolinguistic aspects of social problems.