C Linguistics Socio1 test

12/10/2009
Copyright Mats Deutschmann PhD

12/10/2009
Copyright Mats Deutschmann PhD
English C: Linguistics
Part 2: Sociolinguistics
Lecture 1/4: Overall Framework
Reading reference: Peter Stockwell 2002: Sociolinguistics: A Resource Book for Students, Part A. pp 1-25. Routledge: London.

3
Overview
Scope: What is Sociolinguistics?
Methodological Issues
Key Concepts
Accent and Dialect
Register and Style
Ethnicity and Multilingualism
Social Class
Gender
Age
Pidgins and Creoles
Politeness

What is Sociolinguistics
Description of language taking the social context into consideration
Assumptions
All language events have a social context
The social context determines the form of the language
The language used determines the nature of a social event

Methodological Issues
The object of investigation
Credible object,
regular feature,
that it is possible to investigate,
that it can be described systematically
Data- methodological issues
Qualitative vs. quantitative data
Covert vs. overt collection (observer’s paradox)
Sampling methods – representative samples
Social variable – linguistic variable