Sociolinguistic Perspective Research Articles

Analysis on Verbal Communication of Male Homosexuals from the Sociolinguistic Perspective

Homosexuals, especially gays, have become a sub-cultural group which cannot be ignored in the modern society, therefore, it is necessary to promote the society to envisage the phenomenon of homosexuality. From the perspective of sociolinguistics, this study analyzes the chat histories of homosexual men on the social media in order to explore how they realize self-presentation and further discuss what dilemmas they are facing. This study aims to help homosexuals construct correct social identity and let public members in mainstream culture have a more particular knowledge of homosexuality.

Hyperrealism as an Artistic Phenomenon in French Literature of the 20th-21st Centuries

The article deals with the concept of hyperrealism in the projection on a fictional work of the 20th-21st centuries. The study is focused on the features and techniques of hyperrealism, inherent in different types of art, which have been reflected in literature, in particular French literature. The period of powerful development of digital technologies made scientists wonder about the essence of reality, and taking into account the fact that the latter can create their own reality, their attitude towards it acquires different, modified features: what I see may be or may not be reality. Thus, the dominant philosophy of this period is the attempt to manipulate reality in various forms of art, both verbal and fine art. Hyperrealism in painting, sculpture, and cinema uses similar techniques. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to find out the techniques and means of hyperrealism in the French literature of the 20th-21st centuries. Works of French writers whose creativity is consonant with the techniques of creating/reproducing excessive reality in a literary text were selected as the illustrative base of the research. The methods of component and linguostylistic analysis, as well as elements of communicative-pragmatic and descriptive analyzes were applied to achieve the desired objective. Thus, in the article the narrative technique of detailing the image is positioned as the dominant technique of hyperrealism in French prose works, functioning at the compositional, linguistic, and syntactic levels of the literary text. It is found out that this technique is accompanied by a detailed description of the photograph as a reflection of the development of photorealism precisely in this period and by a realistic description of the city acquiring forms of working with the map. Detailing that runs through the whole content and structure of a fictional work of art is aimed at the reader, in particular at gaining his/her confidence in the events and/or actions depicted. Herewith, the text has a minimum of evaluative characteristics that could simulate the reader's opinion regarding events and/or actions, since all the detailing is directed to the free judgment of the reader. Therefore, the detail is the key element by which you can grab the reality, because changing the detail gives rise to a new spiral of reality. The content of the article can serve for further studies of modifications of the concept of reality, its dependence on the worldview of a man, and its multidimensionality on the material of works of fiction or other arts from the perspective of psycho or sociolinguistics.

Beyond language fluidity: the role of spatial repertoires in translingual practices and stancetaking

ABSTRACT In Research Group Meetings (RGM) and other professional activities, sometimes positions are fluid, but stances illustrate international scholars’ bilingual competence in an RGM in Microbiology. In stances, people index sociocultural values by evaluating discursive figures in talk, proffering epistemic/affective assessments, and positioning each other [Jaffe, A. 2009. “Introduction: The Sociolinguistics of Stance.” In Stance: Sociolinguistic Perspectives, edited by A. Jaffe, 3–28. New York, NY: Oxford University Press]. I show how international scholars troubleshoot and problem-solve with senior colleagues as they enact stances to maintain relationships. Competence entails language fluidity and diverse semiotic resources, or translingual practices [Canagarajah, S. 2013. Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations. London, UK: Routledge], in stances. While existing stance models stress verbal resources [Du Bois, J. W. 2007. “The Stance Triangle.” In Stancetaking in Discourse: Subjectivity, Evaluation, Interaction, edited by R. Englebretson, 139–182. Amstderdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company], they overlook the role of spatial repertoires. This micro-interactional analysis of RGMs demonstrates how diverse semiotic resources inform stances, and argues for stance methodologies and analyses which include multimodal, gestural, and semiotic repertoires. Findings indicate that power relations are managed through scholars’ use of verbal and semiotic resources in interpersonal stances. I argue that bilingual competence should acknowledge the role translingual practices play in stance taking, and the management of professional relationships in such meetings.

Bahasa Anak JakSel: A Sociolinguistics Phenomena

Bahasa Anak JakSel is the phenomena that came up around September 2018. The appearance becomes a yammer because that phenomena contains Bahasa Indonesia and English. The special thing about this phenomenon is not only the combining language, but there are also some commonly used English words in it. English words which are repeatedly used to gather with Bahasa Indonesia . In this research, Bahasa Anak JakSel is chosen to be analyzed through Sociolinguistics theory. This research has two focuses, first is the commonly used English words according to the informants, and second is the reason behind that phenomenon. The data is taken by handing-out questionnaire (Google form) through many online social media platforms. The informants of this research are the origin or have live for a long time in Jakarta as the original language of Bahasa Anak JakSel . This research is done by Sociolinguistics perspective to analyze the languages and the reason behind it. This research uses qualitative method in order to analyze the data and explaining the result in descriptive. The aim of this research is to find out the commonly used English words and some reasons of the informants use Bahasa Anak JakSel . The results of this research are in Bahasa Anak JakSel the commonly used English words divided into some sub groups like pronoun, adverb, adjective, verb, acronym, redundant words and phrase, and untranslatable words. Those are commonly used English words appeared in Bahasa Anak JakSel has some reasons behind, such as language pride, part of social demands, untranslatable word in Bahasa Indonesia , and enriching the English vocabulary.

Code-switching in Advertisement Posters: A Sociolinguistic Analysis

The language choice in the advertisement posters carries a significant role in the absence of audio input. The role of advertisements in the landscape of trade and commerce led many studies in different linguistic communities on the form of the language used but nothing over the choice of Bangla-English code-switching. This leads the study to focus primarily on the purposes of code-switching in advertisement posters. From a sociolinguistic perspective this study tried to explore the relationship between language choice in poster advertisements and consumers’ attitudes toward it. In order to have authentic data, all the stakeholders, i.e. sellers, consumers and copywriters, were taken into consideration. Qualitative research methodology was introduced to interview the 29 participants selected by judgment sampling from those stakeholders through three different semi structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed thematically. The results revealed various purposes of Bangla-English code-switching including communication, drawing consumers’ attention, lack of terminologies and many more.

\u201cI Would Kill the Director and Teachers in the School\u201d Cyberbullying of Hunters in Poland

The aim of the paper is to focus on cyberbullying (Donegan in Elon J Undergrad Res Commun 3(1):33–42, 2012) affecting the community of hunters in Poland. The investigation reveals that linguistic aggression pervades more and more spheres of our lives and the Internet, which gives anonymity and physical distance, is the main forum of cyberbullying. The researchers investigate the material gathered from websites such as “Ludzie przeciw myśliwym” [Humans against hunters], hunting-related blogs and Facebook sites devoted to hunting and related to persons who are known to be hunters (e.g. spokesmen of the Polish Hunting Association). The problem of the stereotypical perception of hunting is also raised (Bartmiński and Chlebda in Etnolingwistyka 25:69–95, 2003. https://doi.org/10.17951/et.2013.25.69). The issues of prejudice, stereotyping and lack of knowledge result in the possibility of inciting people to cyberbully others. People brought up in cities, far away from nature, are easily convinced to attack other groups which they perceive as deviant (Bartmiński and Chlebda 2003). The verbal aggression deeply rooted in stereotypes and prejudice based on limited knowledge of nature, overly idealistic and naïve worldviews becomes more and more widespread. Therefore, the authors intend to provide some insight into the problem of cyberbullying of hunters in Poland in order to find the patterns of that activity from socio-semiotic perspective analyzing verbal signs and symbols used to justify that sort of behaviour as well as socio-linguistic perspective concerning the usage of emotion-loaded language. Additionally psycho-linguistic issues will be touched upon as well as the problem of shaping the image of hunters by media will be discussed.

Una aproximación sociolingüística al préstamo en el español actual: características y variación

According to recent studies, the import of loanwords from other languages is currently one of the main mechanisms for creating new words in Spanish. Therefore, we are facing an important phenomenon which is strongly influenced by factors outside the linguistic system itself, like the speakers' perception of a particular linguistic expression, the prestige accorded to the donor language, or the tendency to make a more creative use of language depending on variables such as age and sex. For these reasons, in this study we propose to conduct a thorough characterization of the loanword from a sociolinguistic perspective that takes into account all its dimensions: origin, part of speech, topic, adaptation, geographic and chronological distribution, etc. To do so, we made use of some corpora to obtain a real set of data so that our analysis could be quantitatively and qualitatively relevant. Furthermore, we address the lexical variation caused by the incorporation of some loanwords, we study what elements can lead to the selection of one or another variant, and we also present different categories that can help us to classify both loanwords and their possible equivalents. Additionally, we provide an overview of the main contributions to the concept of loanword made by various authors throughout history.

Examination questions as a form of communication between the examiner and the examinee: a sociolinguistic perspective on assessment practice

ABSTRACT Written examinations represent one of the most common assessment tools in education. Though typically perceived as measurement instruments, written examinations are primarily texts that perform a communicative function. To complement existing research, this study viewed written examinations as a distinct form of communication (i.e. ‘register’). Its starting point was sociolinguistic theory that suggests that the linguistic features of a text are not arbitrary, but are dictated by the context of communication (e.g. who is writing, for whom, for what purpose). Drawing on this theory, this study sought to identify the most distinctive linguistic features of written examinations, as well as their contextual drivers. The investigation, which involved an analysis of 3036 examination questions, revealed the interrelationship between communication and measurement in assessment. More importantly, it highlighted the need to render explicit the currently implicit ‘social contract’ that governs the linguistic design of examination questions.

Use of Mixed Language Codes in Da'wah Ustaz Hanan Attaki on Social Media (Sociolinguistic Studies)

This study aims to explain the mixed code of language and the effectiveness of da'wah on social media. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative by describing the mix of language codes used by Ustaz Hanan Attaki and the effectiveness of da'wah on social media. The data source in this study is a transcript of Ustaz Hanan Attaki's lecture. Data collection is obtained by listening to video shows, recording data in the form of transcripts, classification by type, and data analysis. The results of the study show that (1) Ustaz Hanan Attaki classifies mixed language codes into two, namely inter-internal and external code mixing, and (2) Ustaz Hanan Attaki's preaching on social media is very effective from a sociolinguistic perspective.

Predicação verbal e impersonalização discursiva: gradiência e alternância na Gramática de Construções do Português (Verbal predication and discursive impersonalization: gradience and alternation in the Portuguese Construction Grammar)

Este artigo lida com o fenômeno da impersonalização discursiva de participante que codifica a força indutora de um evento, centrando-se na delimitação de construções de predicação verbal que o promovem e que estão em alternância. Em linhas gerais, a intenção é descrever as construções de predicação verbal que propiciam a conceptualização de eventos em que o participante supracitado é desfocalizado ou suspenso e relacioná-las a observações resultantes de pesquisas quanto a atributos constitutivos de algumas delas e a fatores contextuais. Essa descrição baseia-se num referencial teórico que articula orientações da perspectiva funcional-cognitiva baseada no uso a orientações da perspectiva sociolinguística variacionista e no exame de amostras de dados obtidos em textos jornalísticos e acadêmicos. O mapeamento das construções de predicação verbal acionadas em prol de impersonalização discursiva leva-nos a uma diversidade de estruturações que envolvem: os verbos suportes ter e haver ou o semissuporte sofrer, pronomes de referência indeterminada, arbitrária ou vaga, pronome apassivador ou verbo auxiliar de voz passiva. Também propicia a identificação de casos de desfocalização (mais saliente ou menos) ou encobrimento (total ou parcial) desse participante, bem como casos de supressão dele. E, ainda, promove generalizações relativas à alternância entre algumas dessas construções.

Functions of Speech Acts in “Critical Eleven”

This study aims to examine the speech act functions found in the “Critical Eleven” film and reveal the conversational implicatures used by the film actors. To actualise this aims, this study was conducted using qualitative research designs and by making the speech act theory of (Levinson, 1983) and the speech act function theory of Searle (1979) as the basis for examining the speech act functions in the said film according to its type. The data were collected using the simak method, a method similar to observation one accompanied by an act of scrutinizing speeches of the actors in the film “Critical Eleven”. The oral data were collected from the conversations then transcribed into written data. The data analysis result are presented informally or descriptively. The results of data analysis showed there are five speech act functions in the film, namely representative, directive, commissive, expressive, and declarative. The representative function is manifested in the act of giving witness, acknowledging, and stating. The directive one includes the act of asking, and urging. Commissive function includes expressing abilities and promising. Expressive function includes blaming, praising, and congratulating. Declarative function is manifested in the act of prohibiting. Examining the function and meaning of speech acts in the film “Critical Eleven” from the perspective of sociolinguistics is an important topic to raise in further research.

Attitude Towards Language in Sociolinguistics Settings: A Brief Overview

The use of language is a form of social interaction that occurs in various situations. Social interaction will live from the activity of talking to members of the language users. Language is also a means to show self-identity. Through language, we can show our viewpoint, our origins and nations, our education level, even our nature. From the sociolinguistic perspective, language attitude in multilingual society is an interesting phenomenon to study. Language behaviour and attitude towards language are the two things that are closely related, which can determine the choice of languages as well as the survival of a language. The study of sociolinguistics is addressing the phenomena of language selection as a discourse in the event of communication and demonstrating the social and cultural identity of the speech participants. Community members are constantly changing variations in the use of language.

A Sociolinguistic Investigation of Compliments and Compliment Responses among Young Saudis

There is a lack of awareness of the use of compliments and compliment responses in the Saudi Arabian context. This research investigates, from a sociolinguistic perspective, the speech acts of compliments and compliment responses as realized by eighty Saudi students who study English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It aims to identify the semantic and structural formulas used by the participants to express compliments and to respond to compliments. The study also examines the roles of the topic of conversation and the participants’ first language in the realisation of compliments. Furthermore, the study investigates gender differences with regard to the use of compliments and compliment responses. A discourse completion test (DCT) consisting of twelve situations was used to collect data from the participants. The analysis of the responses found that the dominant form of compliments used was unbound semantic formulas that were not influenced by the social relationship between the participants. Topics that are socially delicate result in the use of more implicit compliments than explicit compliments. The religious norms require politeness in the interactions between people, and this is reflected in the prevalence of implicit compliments. There is a wide range of compliments used with no fixed pattern of usage. Compliments tend to be given using adjectives rather than verbs. Gender did not appear to affect the nature of usage of compliments and responses. The research suggests that the cultural influences of the English language and western culture may be influencing how young Saudis use compliments.

Get up! Be Opened!: Code-switching and Loanwords in the Gospel of Mark

This article explores the social and literary functions of the loanwords and cases of code-switching in the Gospel of Mark from a sociolinguistic perspective, as a means of understanding better the author and the discursive community for which he writes. Sociolinguistic concepts and definitions that affect the understanding of the different varieties of language will be discussed. These tools will then be applied to the Gospel of Mark to analyze significant aspects of its idiolect, especially those related to Mark’s use of multilingualism. From this analysis conclusions are drawn that illuminate its idiolect from another angle, as well as the social actions that could be carried out by its author through the linguistic strategies that can be recognized from the study of its idiolect.

The forms and functions of “Breaking into song” during in-group conversations

AbstractThis article adopts an interactional sociolinguistic perspective to investigate the forms and functions of breaking into song in in-group interaction. The data are approximately two hours of interaction among three sisters in their home, during which the sisters occasionally sing together or make references to songs they know. I examine how singing in interaction promotes affiliation and solidarity between participants. In terms of form, the turn-by turn format of instances of singing is investigated, and evidence is presented to argue that joint singing constitutes a speech activity. In terms of function, it is argued that joint singing is a site of shared affect. Singing also makes participants’ relationship with one another relevant in the interaction at hand by indexing the familiarity dimension of that relationship. These affordances of singing allow it to become a resource at moments of trouble to restore affiliation.

Language ideologies and linguistic representations: Two lenses for a critical analysis of polynomie in Corsica

AbstractIn this article, we question one of the important notions of the Corsican normative conceptual apparatus: the polynomie. This concept is particularly interesting as a language ideological position that calls into question dominant ideological perspectives on standardization and normalization. This article puts the polynomie in an ideological process that calls for a critical sociolinguistic analysis that first accounts for the interaction between sociolinguistic, economic, political and ideological domains. That critical sociolinguistic perspective emphasizes that all language ideological frameworks – even those which recognize diversity – impose particular criteria and give value to some ways of speaking and being over others.

The use of language and religion from a sociolinguistic perspective

Abstract Religion plays a pivotal role in some societies, but the interaction between language and religion as a sociolinguistic field of study has not fully been explored. The overlap between the two has recently been considered by Omoniyi and Fishman (2006). Many studies have been conducted regarding language use within institutional settings, such as schools, universities, workplaces and courtrooms. However, less attention has been paid to language use outside of these settings, such as within religious contexts, although mosques are viewed as institutional in nature. In particular, imams may switch between languages in their sermons in the mosque. To explore this phenomenon, a qualitative study was undertaken by means of simulated recall interviews and non-participant observation with imams (n = 10) and mosque audiences (n = 7) where the participants are of Asian pacific origins (Pakistan, India & Indonesia). The study reveals that employing more than one language in one-way religious speech is a means of increasing historical authenticity, exposing audiences to Arabic, overcoming a lack of easy equivalents in English, emphasizing religious authority, assuming audiences’ knowledge of some Arabic features, or accommodating the diverse backgrounds of the audience, some member of whom have knowledge of Arabic. This has been described as having spiritual, historical and emotional significance, invoking religious links associated between Arabic and Islam. Stakeholders, especially audiences, claim benefits beyond the language used in the sermons themselves. Imams, in addition, tend to see the use of both English and Arabic as socially and culturally salient, a means of uniting people in an otherwise often fractured world, or one frequently presented as such in the media.

A sociolinguistic perspective in the analysis of English textbooks: Development of a checklist

This study aims to suggest a checklist for teachers and researchers to analyze English as a second or foreign language textbooks from a sociolinguistic perspective. In the literature there is not a checklist or framework by which English textbooks can be evaluated considering the sociolinguistics issues raised in this study. After obtaining expert opinion and a piloting on 8 textbooks used in state schools in Turkey, a checklist consisting 6 criteria was suggested. Then, the check list was applied on the 9th grade English book ReLearn (Karamil & Birincioglu Kaldar, 2019) used in state schools in Turkey to demonstrate how the checklist can be utilized. The findings suggest that from a sociolinguistic perspective, the book in focus occasionally conforms to the sociolinguistic concerns while it needs some qualitative improvements. Improvements in providing genuine speakers of non-native and non-standard accents of English rather than using standard accent vocalizations for the speakers that are depicted as non-natives can be a primary suggestion and at the same time, the textbook should focus on different ways of life and perspectives instead of mostly providing intercultural knowledge such as cities or historic places. Finally, the textbook should pay more attention to the linguistic ecology in Turkey and adjust its contents so as to compensate for the foreign language status of English in Turkey. Accordingly, this study contributes to the literature by providing a checklist to evaluate textbooks systematically with regard to essential sociolinguistic issues and it demonstrates the application of the checklist.

从社会语言学角度探究“饭圈”用语

从社会语言学角度探究“饭圈”用语

A Sociolinguistic Investigation of Compliments and Compliment Responses among Young Saudis

There is a lack of awareness of the use of compliments and compliment responses in the Saudi Arabian context. This research investigates, from a sociolinguistic perspective, the speech acts of compliments and compliment responses as realized by eighty Saudi students who study English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It aims to identify the semantic and structural formulas used by the participants to express compliments and to respond to compliments. The study also examines the roles of the topic of conversation and the participants’ first language in the realisation of compliments. Furthermore, the study investigates gender differences with regard to the use of compliments and compliment responses. A discourse completion test (DCT) consisting of twelve situations was used to collect data from the participants. The analysis of the responses found that the dominant form of compliments used was unbound semantic formulas that were not influenced by the social relationship between the participants. Topics that are socially delicate result in the use of more implicit compliments than explicit compliments. The religious norms require politeness in the interactions between people, and this is reflected in the prevalence of implicit compliments. There is a wide range of compliments used with no fixed pattern of usage. Compliments tend to be given using adjectives rather than verbs. Gender did not appear to affect the nature of usage of compliments and responses. The research suggests that the cultural influences of the English language and western culture may be influencing how young Saudis use compliments.