Sociolinguistic Analysis Research Articles

Aspects of effective communication (european experience): digital, informational, and sociolinguistic dimensions

Introduction: The modern era of digital technologies and globalization has brought about significant transformations in communication methods. This article explores how digital, informational, and sociolinguistic dimensions influence the processes of effective communication, focusing particularly on European experiences.Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of digital transformation, information transparency, linguistic diversity, and cultural adaptation on effective communication in modern European society. The research aims to uncover both the benefits and challenges posed by these factors in the context of communication processes.Methods: This research employed a theoretical approach, synthesizing a wide range of literature and conducting psychological and sociolinguistic analyses. Comparative methods were used to assess different strategies of communication in European contexts, while particular attention was paid to understanding how digitalization and sociolinguistic factors interact.Results: The findings suggest that digitalization enhances accessibility and the speed of communication but introduces challenges, such as the digital divide and data protection issues. Information transparency and accessibility have been identified as crucial in building trust and ensuring the effective exchange of information. Moreover, sociolinguistic factors, especially cultural and language adaptation, have proven essential for effective intercultural communication in Europe.Conclusions: The study concludes that successful communication strategies must incorporate digital, informational, and sociolinguistic aspects, particularly in multilingual and culturally diverse contexts. Awareness and adaptation to cultural norms and linguistic nuances are vital for creating more effective communication practices in both international and local interactions. Practical recommendations include focusing on cultural sensitivity and data transparency to further enhance communication processes

Contribution of the English Language to Advancing Travel and Tourism

This article explores the intricate relationship between language and tourism, focusing on the role of English as a global lingua franca in facilitating communication and cultural exchange. While English is often viewed as a colonial language used for resource exploitation, its knowledge is a resource that attracts and facilitates tourists, enriching tourism. The research questions address how English has become integral to tourism and its impacts on tourist experiences and destination choices. The study employs a historical and sociolinguistic analysis, examining the historical, political and economic factors contributing to the globalization of English. The paper emphasizes the importance of effective communication in tourism, illustrating how language proficiency in English enhances tourist experiences and influences destination selection. Additionally, it highlights the significance of linguistic diversity in enriching the tourism experience and promoting inclusivity. Findings indicate that English proficiency significantly enhances tourist experiences while linguistic diversity adds value to tourism. The paper advocates for sustainable tourism practices that embrace cultural and linguistic diversity. Overall, it calls for a deeper understanding of the interplay between language and tourism to foster cultural appreciation and sustainable tourism practices globally.

Makkan Arabic in the digital age: A sociolinguistic analysis of the representation of fricative, stop, and sibilant variation in WhatsApp text messages

This study examines Makkan Arabic speakers’ orthographic representation of standard and colloquial variants in their WhatsApp text messages. In particular, we examine the role that speaker gender, speaker age, gender composition of conversations, and topic of discussions play in Hadari Makkans’ representation of standard and colloquial variants of the variables (th), (dh), and (Dh). Statistical analyses reveal that women favor colloquial variant stops [t] and [d], while men exhibit a preference for standard variants [θ] and [ð], particularly when conversing with other men. For (Dh), however, both women and men favor the standard variant [ðˤ]. Age also plays a role in the distribution of variants, with speakers favoring standard variants as they age. The use of fricatives [θ] and [ð] also increases when participants discuss formal topics, which suggests an implicit association between standard language and formality, despite the inherent informality of WhatsApp interactions. This study provides insights into how phonological variation is orthographically represented within a written genre designed to mimic spontaneous conversation and enriches the broader discourse on Arabic language variation and digital communication.

Epitaph in English: A sociolinguistic Analysis

The study examines the use of language in epitaphs from a sociolinguistic perspective. The current study aims to analyze the syntactic and morphological aspects of epitaphs in English beside examining the use of euphemistic expressions. The study Identifies social factors like gender, age, and status that influence the writing of epitaphs and how the deceased's role in life is portrayed. Finally, the study aims to explore the cultural values and beliefs about death and the afterlife reflected in English epitaphs. This genre has received little attention in studies. In order to achieve the aims of the study, the researcher proposes some hypotheses which are: (i) There are significant differences in the syntactic and morphological structures of English epitaphs. (ii) The use of euphemistic expressions expresses differently in English epitaphs. (iii) The social status, age and gender of the deceased are reflected in English epitaphs. (iv) Culture and religion influence the content of English epitaphs. The study analyzes 13 English epitaphs using qualitative research design. The key findings indicate differences in morpho-syntactic structure, with no gender markers used in English epitaphs . implicit euphemisms is found in English epitaphs. Social factors like gender, age, and status are more frequently reflected in English epitaph. There are differences in the linguistic cues used for male versus female epitaphs. The study provides insights into how language reflects cultural and societal norms in funeral rituals.

Examining the Use of Address Terms among Postgraduate Students in an Online Speech Community and Their Implication

This paper examined the terms of address as an important part of verbal behavior through which the behavior, norms and practices of a society can be identified. As a classic study in sociolinguistics, Brown and Gilman (1960) pronominal address system highlighted the semantic power and solidarity in relation to address terms. Since then, several studies have emerged on address terms in various social domains notably academia, religion, politics and many more. However, most of these studies did not give much consideration to online speech communities. This study therefore focuses on sociolinguistic analysis of address terms among postgraduate students in an online speech community using ethnographic approach. The study selected three (3) postgraduate online groups from the University of Cape Coast. One hundred and fifty chats (150) were collected from each group and studied to reveal the key address terms used by the students to address each and also the factors influencing the choice of the address terms. The study revealed that the key address terms used among postgraduate students are personal names, descriptive phrases and titles. Again, the study revealed the following as the factors influencing the choice of address terms: situational and socio-cultural factors, level of formality, innovativeness and playfulness, gender and age variations.

NETIZENS' PERCEPTION OF MUSEUM PUSAKA NIAS AS A TOURISM DESTINATION ON THE FACEBOOK PLATFORM IN GUNUNGSITOLI

This study examines netizens' perceptions of the Nias Heritage Museum as a tourism destination through analysis of comments on the museum's Facebook platform. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the research analyzes Facebook posts and comments from 2023-2024 to understand how social media users perceive and engage with the museum online. The study employs sociolinguistic analysis to examine language variation, identity expression, cultural context, and language functions in user comments. Findings indicate generally positive perceptions of the museum, with netizens using both Indonesian and the Nias regional language to express cultural pride and identity. The research reveals that posts with diverse language use and strong cultural context generate higher engagement. Additionally, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of Facebook as a promotional tool for the museum, highlighting the platform's ability to reach a wide audience and foster community interaction. This research contributes to understanding digital communication strategies for cultural heritage sites and offers insights for optimizing social media engagement in cultural tourism contexts.

Work-family interface during COVID-19: a sociolinguistic study of working mums’ identity and mental health

BackgroundThe dramatic reconfigurations of work-family roles and social boundaries resulting from the social restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic led working mums to look for online sites as spaces of emotional support and regulation where they could vent their emotions, share their concerns and griefs, and seek advice. They also became interactional spaces where mums’ relevant identities were reassessed and enacted as they aimed to balance work-family roles and improve their wellbeing. The paper explores how working mums discursively negotiated their multiple identities in an online support forum during times of global struggle, how these identity constructions reflect the domains of Work-Family Conflict (WFC) and how working mums perceived these identities are related to their mental health.Methods127 posts of Chilean working mums published in a public online support forum for working mums collected during the first half of 2020 were analysed in three phases. The first one involved a thematic analysis to identify themes and subthemes related to working mums’ identity construction in the data. The second phase involved conducting a narrative analysis of working mums’ microstorias in order to identify a master narrative crafted by these working mums, and contesting and conforming ideologies of motherhood, among others. Finally, the third phase involved a fine-grained discourse analysis of the most representative extracts illustrating working mums’ identity negotiation.ResultsThe sociolinguistic analysis showed that working mums’ discourses displayed three themes of self-reflection, namely, diminishing self-care, reassessing their self, and enhancing self through self-care. Identity-related sub-themes for each main theme are discussed and discursively analysed. Two main points are emphasised: (1) the identity that was most salient in working mums’ discourse was their personal identity (rather than work-family roles and identities), and (2) microstorias allowed working mums to challenge the hegemonic power of dominant discourses around their identities and their work-family roles.ConclusionsThe study shows that a sociolinguistic approach to the exploration of working mums’ identity negotiation is useful to highlight the ways in which mums contest binary assumptions of work-family roles and the need to reconsider working mums’ life domains so that they reflect working mums’ actual identity needs and lived experiences. Future lines of research are outlined.

Political persuasion in international affairs: A computational sociolinguistic inquiry utilizing historical analysis of US Congressional rhetoric from 1873 to 2017

Negative sentiment, when used in the context of persuasion, can play a significant role in the effectiveness of spoken rhetoric. In this paper, sentiment analysis of publicly delivered Congressional speeches on relevant foreign policy legislation and events will be the center of exploration, evaluated through historical trends of that corresponding period. This evaluation element will be key in determining whether or not negative sentiments were successful and how overall sentiment in a speech evolved over one hundred and fifty years through computational sociolinguistic analysis. The paper explores the increase in negative sentiment by drastic global events, illustrating how negative sentiment became a necessity for significant foreign policy action.

Gender Differences in the Use of Negation Markers in Qassimi Arabic: A Sociolinguistic Analysis

This study investigates the use of negation markers in the Qassimi Arabic (QA), a variety of Najdi Arabic, spoken in central-north Saudi Arabia. Employing a qualitative approach, we observed the speech patterns of 28 Qassimi speakers (14 male, 14 female; ages 28–34). The local negators Muhub/Mub were used by 39% of males but only 12.4% of females. Conversely, the supralocal negator Mu was used by all females (35.6%) and a smaller portion of males (12.9%). These findings highlight gender differences in negation marker preference within the Qassim dialect. The study aims to improve communication between genders and encourage broader understanding of linguistic variation in Najdi Arabic.

Linguophilosophical and sociolinguistic analysis of the french words “Globalisation” and “Mondialisation” in relation to the concept of globalization

Linguophilosophical and sociolinguistic analysis of the french words “Globalisation” and “Mondialisation” in relation to the concept of globalization

A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Traditional Marriage Terms in Awgbu-Igbo

This research is a sociolinguistic analysis of traditional marriage terms in Awgbu, an Igbo-speaking community in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study, which adopts a qualitative research design, aims to gain insights into the social, cultural and linguistic changes in Awgbu-Igbo regarding traditional marriage terms. For data collection, indigenous Awgbu older men and women from the five villages in Awgbu who are knowledgeable in traditional marriage practices of Awgbu were interviewed using traditional marriage list of Awgbu. Traditional marriage terms, consisting of 40 terms, were collected from their responses. The theoretical framework for data analysis is J.R. Firth’s (1957) and Fillmore (1984) Lexical Semantics Theory. The findings from this research show that traditional marriage terms have socio-cultural significance in Awgbu. These terms have also changed due to globalisation, modernisation, and Christianity. Such changes involve the eradication of the ị́gbāḿmị́ị́ ceremony and ínēnē ụ́nọ̀ rites due to globalisation. Also, the use of òbènè (calabash), ìtóòtù (ceramic pot) and ìkóḿmị́ị̄/ḿmānyá (traditional cups) are now replaced with gallons, plastic and breakable cups. Likewise, the practice of égwúìtìrìm̀mọ́nwụ́ which involves dance and music performance is no longer feasible, signaling the loss of an exciting Awgbu culture.

Code-Switching Used in Indonesian-Japanese Interpersonal Communication: A Sociolinguistics Study

This research analyzed code-switching used during interpersonal communication events between Indonesian and Japanese native speakers who understand both languages. This sociolinguistic analysis examines the phenomenon of code-switching based on socio-cultural and socio-situational. In this study, the data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. Findings have found that several factors underlie code-switching in interpersonal communication: the ability of language participants, speakers' shifting moods and wills, conversational topics, speakers' sense of solidarity, speakers' incapacity to use linguistic codes, and speakers' propensity to use the idea that a first-learned vocabulary (cognitive primacy). The purposes of code-switching in a conversation are to facilitate communication, strengthen the bond between the speaker and the speaking partner, respect one another's cultural backgrounds, facilitate discussion, enhance foreign language proficiency, and serve as a reminder to speakers to address specific topics or provide an answer to a question.

Socio-Linguistic Analysis of The Problems of Vulnerable and Critically Endangered Turkic Languages in Kazakhstan

The main goal of the article is to reveal the importance of preserving the use of native Turkic-speaking languages that are endangered such as Crimean Tatars, Tuvan, Balkars, Kumyks, Karachay, Nogai, Gagauz, Sakha and Khakass in Kazakhstan to pass the linguistic practices to the future generation before these ethnic groups disappear. The war times, the period of Great Famine, Stalin's repressions, deportation, all these events had their toll not only on Kazakhs, but also on all the Turkic peoples in general. The Turkic peoples who inhabited the Kazakh land during those hard times still live in our country. The state language of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the Kazakh language. Despite the fact that Kazakhstan is multi-ethnic, there are no obstacles for representatives of the ethnic minorities as to use their native tongues. These ethnic groups have less representation demographically as a reason their linguistic usage and practice is vulnerable. In this regard, the results of the national population census of 2021 in the Republic of Kazakhstan Statistical collection demonstrates the changes of the ethnic group from 2009 to 2021 (https://stat.gov.kz/national/2021/). The population has changed drastically. The problems of the vulnerable and critically endangered Turkic languages spoken by relevant ethnic minorities in Kazakhstan have been considered in this article.This article provides a general overview of how the oldest family classification affected the endangered Turkic languages in Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, systematic grouping can be started by works of Arat. Arat proposes classifying a group of Turkic languages as “dialects” and “sub-dialects”, using the term “Turkic dialects” for modern Turkic languages from 1947 to 1951. But Arat's own classification of Turkic languages and subsequent classifications have not yet been consistently discussed in a comparative context. The article also provides an overview of the main works of such famous Turkologists as Talat Tekin’s “New classification of Turkic languages”, Benzing’s “Classification of the Turkic Languages” based on Samoilovich's classification and Karl Menges’s “Turkic languages and peoples”.The current state of the Turkic languages, the main problems of the vulnerable and critically endangered Turkic languages spoken by ethnic minorities has been considered in the article and also a socio-linguistic study of the situation in Kazakhstan, being the subject of research, has been conducted. The percentage based indicators and frequency analysis were performed by collecting data during the study using both qualitative and quantitative analytical methods. Hence, a 14 questions questionnaire was prepared with purpose of data gathering on the usage of the language and its application on day today life. The questionnaire was distributed in 2020 to collect data from 150 participants in ethnic groups. The data collected was found to be insufficient thus an alternative research method was applied to process the data. Interviews were conducted to analyze the qualitative aspects of the research. Audio recordings have been made during the interviews and recordings have been analyzed in the article. Regarding the research analyses, a concept has been formulated as to vulnerable and critically endangered Turkic languages spoken by relevant ethnic minorities in Kazakhstan.As a result of the analysis, the article discloses the similarity and differences of endanger Turkic languages in phonetic, morphological, syntactic and semantic terms, determining the level and scope of the use of native languages in Kazakhstan by Turkic ethnic communities.

A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Ironic Expressions in English and Kurdish

This paper, which is part of the requirements of an MA degree, is entitled "A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Ironic Expressions in English and Kurdish." It provides further insight into the sociolinguistic application of irony. Irony, which is categorized into verbal and situational is when something that was expected to have a specific result instead of results in a completely different or opposite outcome. The paper argues that expressing one thing while implying another is not always irony. In some instances, the ironic statement alludes to the fact that the idea being refuted is what underlies the truth of a situation, a claim, or a previous way of thinking. Data on Kurdish irony are gathered through observation and are explained in English, while data on English ironic expressions are collected from the corpus of English including books and online sources. The investigation of the topic is conducted using a descriptive methodology. Each sort of irony is described and illustrated, and the figurative connotation in both languages is also emphasized. The main objective of the study is to clarify the figurative meaning of irony in the two languages. The most significant findings comprise first, that irony has a positive connotation in literal contexts while it has a negative connotation in figurative contexts. Second, figurative language, which is frequently used in communication, contains irony. Additionally, ironic expressions are italicized in both languages.

What We Talk about When We Talk about Women: Benevolent Sexism in Historical Studies of Women Journalists, 1974–2023

ABSTRACT This article examines histories of women journalists published in our field’s two leading journals, American Journalism and Journalism History, to understand how these women and their work have been described by historians like us throughout the course of their publication. This article argues that much like the women journalists they study, many historians of women journalists have infused their work with “benevolent sexism,” a term that describes seemingly positive, yet covertly diminishing language reflective of the neoliberal, individualist, merit-based feminism many female academics have adopted to fit in with a male-dominated academy. Through a sociolinguistic analysis of ninety-five journal articles published about historical women journalists, this article identifies systemic problems in how we write about women and offers practical solutions to improve our work going forward.

New media as a subject of political communication

The media space is the most dynamic and rapidly developing not only technological, but also economic, cultural, social and political phenomenon of our time, and new communication channels are being formed in the global digital network. The purpose of the article is to analyze new media as a subject of the political process. The subject is new media, and the object is the cultural and political identification of an individual in new media. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that new media are an innovative and extremely important tool in determining cultural and political identity. Countries belong to the same civilization, which means that their culture is based on identical values – this is of fundamental importance, since the effectiveness of the imposed system of values and norms can be realized in a particular country only if the tasks being disseminated are consonant with the values of society. Conceptual, phenomenological and sociolinguistic analysis, the method of system analysis, and the historical and cultural method were used as methods and approaches. As a result of a comprehensive analysis, the following conclusions were drawn: the disseminated values can be effective only if they are in tune with the civilizational model of the region, and on the contrary, the imposed foundations will not effectively affect society if they contradict its civilizational identification and cultural and political affiliation. The actions of an individual and society as a whole are determined by his self-identification, therefore, a political course can be effective in a particular country if the tasks being implemented are consonant with the values of society. This study may be useful for researchers studying communication in the digital environment, the impact of new media on the agenda, the realization of political goals through online media, as well as for international journalists, diplomats, political scientists and media researchers when writing analytical materials on topics related to the working concepts of the current study.

Code Switching and Code Mixing in Modern Public Communication (Indonesian Sociolinguistic Analysis)

This study seeks to examine how language is used in the social interactions of contemporary Indonesian society. The language use in question is an example of how modern culture in Indonesia interacts through code switching and code mixing. Using a qualitative descriptive research design, this type of research was conducted. The information referred to in this study is communication between contemporary Indonesians that demonstrates code switching and code mixing in modern culture. The speech in question takes the shape of a dialogue and includes words, phrases, clauses, and sentences that operate both as code switches and code mixers as well as having parts of both. Sources of data in this study came from the internet, namely previous research data, outstanding issues, and social media. Data analysis techniques were carried out with all utterances that show the occurrence of code- switching and code-mixing in the interactions of modern society in Indonesia. Furthermore, the classification and categories of the entire data are carried out. The data were analyzed by selecting and sorting out the forms and functions of code switching and code mixing in the interactions of modern society in Indonesia. After being analyzed and classified, the data is described and translated to find out the nature and applications of code switching and interference in contemporary Indonesian social interactions.

Sociolinguistic analysis of code switching in medical register

The research work is associated with identifying an in-depth understanding about the ways that are used by patients and practitioners to handle the medical registers of language in medical communication. The research works focuses on the code-switching approaches in the medical communication that is important in patients. However, some challenges are associated with code switching usage in medical communication due to the usage of code switching along with its frequency as well as pattern of code switching. Previous researchers have focused on the impact of patient education level in code switching as well as the role of doctors to handle the approaches. The study is also supported by the concepts of theory of language acquisition device. However, previous research has not focused on the role of administration and leadership in that particular field. A descriptive research design is followed in order to collect primary data from the medical practitioners in order to generate further outcomes that can be valued in that particular research field. Software like IBM SPSS is used to generate results from the collected quantitative data.

Ethnic visibility and ethnolinguistic repertoires: Dearborn English and the hijab

This study explores the intersection of ethnic visibility and linguistic behavior by analyzing the speech of two groups of Muslim female speakers in Dearborn, MI: one group wearing the Islamic hijab and another not wearing the hijab. Recent research shows that the variety of American English spoken in Dearborn is locally recognized and includes certain ethno-local markers such as higher rates of word-final /t/ glottalization and the convergence of voice onset time for lenis and fortis members of bilabial and velar stops. The Dearborn ethnolinguistic repertoire also features a vowel pattern not consistent with surrounding mainstream patterns. The sociolinguistic analysis in the present study explores the intersection between female Dearborners’ sartorial choices in terms of the Islamic hijab and their linguistic behavior with reference to the features of Dearborn English. Labovian Sociolinguistic Interviews were conducted with 16 female Dearborners: 9 with the Islamic headcover and 7 without the headcover. The results show both groups of speakers display similarly high rates of /t/ glottalization, a prominent feature of Dearborn English, in their speech. However, the hijab-wearing group’s stop VOT distribution and vowel patterning is more strongly aligned with the features of Dearborn English, showing compatibility between their sartorial and linguistic choices.

Performing social advocacy: A critical sociolinguistic analysis of selected songs of Beautiful Nubia

This study explores social advocacies in the songs of Segun Akinlolu (aka Beautiful Nubia). The data for the study comprises ten purposively selected songs by the artist. These songs are Seven Lifes, Owuro Lojo (How do you do?), Ma Ba Won So, Baba Mimo, Jangbalajugbu, Ohun Oju Nri, Table Turns, E K'omo L'ede, Small People’s Anthem, and Mind of Your Own. The study blends critical sociolinguistics and discourse historical approach (DHA) of critical discourse studies in data analysis. The analysis shows that through symbolism, imagery, juxtaposition, rhetorical question and irony, Beautiful Nubia prioritizes social advocacies in his songs by enlightening and raising people’s consciousness about patriotism, justice and equity, national courage and resilience, cultural preservation, and linguistic identity. The study concludes that Beautiful Nubia sees music and its performance as public enlightenment undertakings for sociopolitical advancement and societal repositioning.