This document discusses language and why it is important to study language. It notes that language allows humans to communicate in many ways, from telling jokes to persuading others. Studying language helps understand society, power dynamics, and how to build a just society. It also explores what language is, how it varies between groups, and the multiple functions it serves. Key topics covered include sociolinguistics, descriptive vs prescriptive approaches, and the relationship between language and power in society.

2. WHY STUDY LANGUAGE?
WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

3. LANGUAGE IS A SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO TELL JOKES, WRITE POETRY, MAKE AN
ARREST, SELL YOU WASHING POWDER, PAY A COMPLIMENT, AND WISH YOU GOOD NIGHT.
- IT ALLOWS US TO BE PRECISE AND PERSUASIVE, AMBIGUOUS AND EVASIVE, CHARMING
AND CHARISMATIC.

4. WHY STUDY LANGUAGE?
NORMAN FAIRCLOUGH
: CRITICAL AWARENESS OF LANGUAGE …ARISES WITHIN THE NORMAL WAYS OF PEOPLE REFLECT ON
THEIR LIVES AS PART OF THEIR LIVES.
: THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND HOW LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS, TO THINK ABOUT IT IN DIFFERENT WAYS ,
IS CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY AND OTHER PEOPLE.
: TO UNDERSTAND POWER, PERSUASION AND HOW PEOPLE LIVE TOGETHER, A CONSCIOUS
ENGAGEMENT WITH LANGUAGE IS NECESSARY.
: CAN ASSIST IN RESISTING OPPRESSION, PROTECTING THE POWERLESS AND BUILDING A GOOD
SOCIETY.

5. FERDINAND DE SASSAURE
: IN THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETIES, SPEECH IS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

6. LOOKING CLOSELY AT LANGUAGE:
•HOW OUR BRAIN UNDERSTAND AND PROCESS LANGUAGE (PSYCHOLINGUISTICS)
•HOW LEARN LANGUAGES, AND SO HOW BEST TO TEACH THEM (APPLIED LINGUISTICS)
•HOW SOCIAL FACTORS (AGE, GENDER, CLASS, ETHNICITY, ETC.) AFFECT THE WAY PEOPLE USE
LANGUAGE (SOCIOLINGUISTICS)
•HOW IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO HAVE A REALISTIC CONVERSATION WITH A COMPUTER ( ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE)

7. •WHAT IT IS DISTINCTIVE ABOUT LITERATURE AND POETRY (STYLISTICS)
•HOW PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT CULTURES USE LANGUAGE TO DO THINGS (ANTHROPOLOGY)
•THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORDS AND MEANING AND THE ‘REAL’ WORLD (PHILOSOPHY)
•WHETHER SOMEONE IS GUILTY OF A CRIMINAL OFFENCE (FORENSIC LINGUISTICS)

8. THE RULES OF LANGUAGE: PRESCRIPTION VS. DESCRIPTION
EX: YOU SEE THINGS BEHIND THE BEARD THAT NOBODY ELSE WILL EVER SEE OR HEAR. I’VE HAD
CHILDREN JUST LITERALLY TEAR MY HEART OUT.
PRESCRIPTION: SETTING DOWN RULES FOR LANGUAGE USE
DESCRIPTION: DESCRIBING WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING WITH LANGUAGE.

9. BAD LANGUAGE : JARGON
“WE’RE GOING TO OPERATE TO GET THAT NASTY BIT OUT OF HER TUMMY WHEN WHAT YOU NEED IS TO
HAVE YOUR APPENDIX REMOVED. “
- THE USE OF SPECIALIZED WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND FOR
PEOPLE NOT PART OF THE SPECIALIZED GROUP.

10. -SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE LEARNT, NOT JUST IN TERMS OF THE WORDS THEMSELVES, BUT ALSO
HOW THEY ARE USED.
- THIS ACQUISITION IS NOT EASY, BUT IT IS IMPRESSIVE.
- IT IS PART OF ESTABLISHING AND PROTECTING POWER.
“TYPICAL FOR PROFESSIONS”

11. WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

12. LANGUAGE:
A SYSTEM – NOT GOVERNED BY RULES IN THE SAME WAY THAT SOCIETY IS GOVERNED.
- THE RULES THAT MAKE IT WORK. THE THINGS THAT MAKE COMMUNICATION POSSIBLE.
- TELL SPEAKERS HOW TO COMBINE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THAT LANGUAGE.
NG- RULES OF ENGLISH: CAN’T BE THE START OF A WORD
I RECENTLY BOUGHT A “MERT”- NOUN

13. OTHER SYSTEMS OF COMMUNICATIONS
TRAFFIC LIGHTS: THERE ARE VARIED SIGNS FOR GO, STOP

14. RULES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
COMPETENCE – KNOWLEDGE OF GRAMMAR
COMPETENT SPEAKER- KNOWS THE WORD ORDER TO USE (SYNTAX), WORD FORMATION
(MORPHOLOGY), WHAT THOSE WORDS MEAN (SEMANTICS), AND HOW TO PRODUCE THOSE WORDS
VERBALLY (PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY)

15. PERFORMANCE
- REFERS TO THE WAY INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS ACTUALLY USE LANGUAGE.
- IT DOES NOT FAITHFULLY REFLECT THE RULES DESCRIBED BY THE COMPETENCE.
DELL HYMES : “ FACTORS OF PERFORMANCE ‘ARE GENERALLY SEEN AS THINGS THAT LIMIT THE
REALIZATION OF GRAMMATICAL POSSIBILITIES’ AND THUS ACTUALLY ARE AN IMPEDIMENT TO THE
LINGUIST INTERESTED IN THE GRAMMAR. (1997)

16. “WELL-FORMED UTTERANCE CAN BE INAPPROPRIATE”
ONE MAY BE GRAMMATICALLY COMPETENT YET WITHOUT COMMUNICATIVE
COMPETENCE/SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCE/PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE.
EX. GREETINGS

17. SOCIOLINGUISTICS IN CONTRAST TO THEORETICAL LINGUISTICS:
1. WE NEED TO BE MORE DESCRIPTIVE ABOUT WHAT SOCIOLINGUISTICS.
2. THESE DISCIPLINES TRY TO ANSWER DIFFERENTLY.

18. WILLIAM LABOV : ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS(1972)
HE FIRST RESISTED THE TERM SOCIOLINGUISTICS.
“ THERE IS A GROWING REALIZATION THAT THE BASIS OF INTERSUBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE IN
LINGUISTICS MUST BE FOUND IN SPEECH – LANGUAGE AS IT IS USED IN EVERYDAY LIFE BY MEMBERS
OF THE SOCIAL ORDER, THAT VEHICLE OF COMMUNICATION IN WHICH THEY ARGUE WITH THEIR WIVES,
JOKE WITH THEIR FRIENDS, AND DECEIVE THEIR ENEMIES.” (1997)

19. THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE NEW MEANINGS.

20. LANGUAGE : MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS
ROMAN JAKOBSON : “ LANGUAGE MUST BE INVESTIGATED IN ALL THE VARIETY OF ITS
FUNCTIONS.(2000)
CONTEXT(SETTING/ENVIRONMENT)
ADDRESSER MESSAGE ADDRESSEE
CONTACT(VERBAL, WRITTEN, VISUAL)
CODE (WORD/HAND SIGNALS)

21. EMOTIVE/ADDRESSER REFERENTIAL/INFORMATION,IDEAS,OBJECTS CONATIVE
POETIC/ADVERTISING, POLITICAL,PERSUASION
PHATIC/(IT’S COLD IN HERE-SMALL TALK,REQUEST)
METALINGUAL/ABLE TO TALK ABOUT TALKING,REPITITION

22. DAVID CRYSTAL :
- EXPRESSING EMOTION
- EXPRESSING RAPPORT
- EXPRESSING SOUND
- PLAYING
- CONTROLLING REALITY
- RECORDING FACTS
- EXPRESSING THOUGH PROCESSES
- EXPRESSING IDENTITY
- MEETING TECHNOLOGICAL DEMANDS

23. LANGUAGE DIVERSITY
ACCENT: DIFFERENCES ON THE BASIS OF GEOGRAPHY
DIALECT: DIFFERENCES ON THE BASIS OF VOCABULARY AND SYNTAX
BRITISH ENGLISH, AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH, SINGLISH
LANGUAGE , SOCIETY, AND POWER-ANNABELLE MOONEY

24. CLEARING THE GROUND : BASIC ISSUES, CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES

25. 1.1 LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS
SAPIR: LANGUAGE IS A PURELY HUMAN AND NON-INSTINCTIVE METHOD OF COMMUNICATING IDEAS,
EMOTIONS, AND DESIRES BY MEANS OF A SYSTEM OF VOLUNTARILY PRODUCED SYMBOLS. THESE
SYMBOLS ARE, IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, AUDITORY AND THEY ARE PRODUCED BY THE SO-CALLED
“ORGANS OF SPEECH”.
- THE LINK BETWEEN THE SOUND AND THE MEANING SYSTEM VARIES FROM LANGUAGE TO LANGUAGE.
- NO NECESSARY CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FORM OF A WORD AND ITS MEANING.

26. LINGUISTIC SIGNS
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE :
SIGNIFIER – THE WORD FOR A CONCEPT
SIGNIFIED – THE CONCEPT DENOTED BY THE WORD

27. CHARLES PEIRCE : GENERAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
- SYMBOL INVOLVES AN ARBITRARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SIGN AND OBJECT, BUT UNDERSTOOD AS
CONVENTION.
- INDEX INVOLVES A LOGICAL RELATION BETWEEN SIGN AND OBJECT ( SUCH AS CAUSE AND EFFECT).
- ICON INVOLVES A RELATIONSHIP WHEREBY THE SIGN REPLICATES SOME CHARACTERISTIC OF THE
SUBJECT.

28. DOES HUMAN LANGUAGE HAVE THE SAME COMMUNICATIVE SYSTEMS WITH ANIMALS?
HOCKETT (1966) – NOT FOUND IN THE ANIMAL WORLD.
CHOMSKY (1965) – LANGUAGE AS AN INSTINCT, AN ABILITY THAT IS SPECIFIC TO HUMANS.

29. SOCIOLINGUISTICS’ ANTECEDENTS (KEY PHASES IN LINGUISTICS STUDY)
- 500 B.C. : PANINI AND FOLLOWERS IN INDIA; PRODUCE ORAL TREATISES ON PHONETICS AND
LANGUAGE STRUCTURE. LATER, THE LANGUAGE STUDY WAS FURTHER DEVELOPED.
- 1786: FOUNDING OF MODERN LINGUISTICS; WILLIAM JONES: RELATIONS BETWEEN SANSKRIT, LATIN,
GREEK AND OTHER ANCIENT LANGUAGES.

30. - EARLY 20TH CENTURY: DE SAUSSURE AND LEONARD BLOOMFIELD ( STRUCTURALISM); CONCERNED
WITH INTERNAL SYSTEM OF LANGUAGES RATHER THAN HISTORICAL COMPARISONS.
- 1957: GENERATIVE LINGUISTICS ; ABSTRACT ‘UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR’ COMMON TO ALL LANGUAGES.

31. RELATIONS BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

32. LANGUAGE IS NOT DENOTATIONAL.
SUSAN GAL ( 1989) - LANGUAGE NOT ONLY REFLECTS SOCIETAL PATTERNS AND DIVISIONS BUT ALSO
SUSTAINS AND REPRODUCES THEM.
EX. ACCENT= IDENTITY AND DEFINITION OF A GROUP
EDWARD SAPIR & BENJAMIN WHORF – SPEAKERS OF CERTAIN LANGUAGES MAY BE LED TO DIFFERENT
TYPES OF OBSERVATIONS AND DIFFERENT EVALUATIONS OF EXTERNALLY SIMILAR PHENOMENA.

34. A LANGUAGE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT
VARIETY – PARTICULARLY USEFUL ONE TO AVOID PREJUDGING THE ISSUE OF WHETHER A GIVEN ENTITY
IS A LANGUAGE OR A DIALECT.
SOCIOPOLITICAL CRITERIA – NORWAY AND DENMARK BEFORE, FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

35. PRESCRIPTIVISM
- AN APPROACH TO LANGUAGE IS CONCERNED WITH WHAT MIGHT BE TERMED “LINGUISTIC ETIQUETTE’.
- TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR IN ENGLISH SCHOOLS.

36. MKMJN
DEFENSE OF PRESCRIPTIVISM
1. ONE FORM IS MORE LOGICAL THAN ANOTHER. EX. DOUBLE NEGATIVES
2. APPEAL TO CLASSICAL FORMS. (MODELLED ON LATIN)
3. A PREFERENCE FOR OLDER FORMS OF THE LANGUAGE. – TYPICALLY INTOLERANT OF LANGUAGE
INNOVATION. EX. USE OF HOPEFULLY

37. 4. INJUNCTION AGAINST THE USE OF FOREIGN WORDS. – NATIONALISTIC REASONS
THE ROOTS OF ENGLISH PRESCRIPTIVISM
JAMES MILROY AND LESLEY MILROY (1985) – THE COMPLAINT TRADITION
11TH -14TH CENTURY – FRENCH: THE LANGUAGE OF ADMINISTRATION AND EDUCATION, AFTER THE
NORMAN CONQUEST
14TH CENTURY – 18TH CENTURY - ENGLISH TOOK OVER FRENCH - MISGIVINGS

38. OBJECTIONS TO PRESCRIPTIVISM
1. A VIEW OF THE LOGIC OF LANGUAGE IN STRICT MATHEMATICAL TERMS IS HIGHLY PROBLEMATIC.
EX: THREE NEGATIVES IN NUMBER ≠ DOUBLE OR TRIPLE NEGATIVES IN SENTENCES
2. NO STRONG REASON TO EXPECT ONE LANGUAGE TO MATCH THE MOULD OF ANOTHER.
3. LANGUAGES ARE CONTINUALLY CHANGING IN SUBTLE WAYS.

39. IS PRESCRIPTIVISM UNAVOIDABLE?
1. VERBAL HYGIENE – DEBORAH CAMERON (1995)
EX: ROLE OF JOURNALISTS, WRITERS, EDITORS, BROADCASTERS – FOR PROMOTING AWARENESS IN
PUBLIC FORMS OF LANGUAGE
2. CONFORMING IN THEIR WRITING AND FORMAL SPEECH TO THE CONVENTIONS LAID DOWN BY
AUTHORITIES OF LANGUAGE.
“CLOSET PRESCRIPTIVISTS”

40. IS DESCRIPTIVISM ADEQUATE?
* THERE IS A VERBAL HYGIENE

41. STANDARDISATION

42. - OCCURS WHEN A LANGUAGE IS PUT TO A WIDER RANGE OF FUNCTIONS
- TYPICALLY FOR THE SPREAD OF LITERACY, EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT, AND ADMINISTRATION, AND IN
THE EXPANSION OF MEDIA
- INVOLVES THE CREATION OF A VARIETY AS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS , ON ACCOUNT OF ITS USE WITH
STATUS AND POWER
STANDARD DIALECT – EX. RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION, US ENGLISH

43. SPEECH VS WRITING
THREE LINGUISTS ON THE ROLE OF WRITING
BLOOMFIELD – ..WRITING IS A WAY OF RECORDING LANGUAGE BY MEANS OF VISIBLE WORDS.
SAUSSURE - …THE LINGUISTIC OBJECT IS NOT BOTH THE WRITTEN AND THE SPOKEN FORM OF WORDS..
COULMAS - …WRITING MAKES A SOCIETY LANGUAGE-CONSCIOUS…GENERALLY WRITING ENLARGES THE
FUNCTIONAL POTENTIAL OF LANGUAGES.
- FOCUSED ON SOUNDS AND SIGNIFICANT PAUSES.

44. SOCIETIES AND SPEECH COMMUNITIES
FUNCTIONALISM (1940S- MID-1960S) – A SOCIETY MAY BE UNDERSTOOD AS A SYSTEM MADE UP OF
FUNCTIONING PARTS.
- CULTURE – WAY OF LIFE OF ITS MEMBERS
- SOCIALIZATION – A PROCESS WHICH PEOPLE LEARN THE CULTURE OF THEIR SOCIETY.
- NORMS – ACCEPTABLE AND APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR
- VALUES – GOOD, DESIRABLE, AND OF LASTING WORTH

45. MARXISM (1883)
- EMPHASIS ON SOCIAL CLASS, EXPLOITATION AND OPPRESSION, CONTRADICTION, CONFLICT AND
CHANGE, IDEOLOGY, AND FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS.

46. INTERACTIONISM
HARALAMBOS & HOLBORN (1991) – IT BEGINS FROM THE ASSUMPTION THAT ACTION IS MEANINGFUL
TO THOSE INVOLVED, AND THAT THOSE MEANINGS ARE ACCORDINGLY NOT FIXED BUT CREATED,
DEVELOPED, MODIFIED, AND CHANGED WITHIN THE ACTUAL PROCESS OF INGERACTION.
MICHAEL HALLIDAY (1978)
1. INSTRUMENTAL – I WANT – SATISFYING MATERIAL NEED
2. REGULATORY – DO AS I TELL YOU – CONTROLLING THE BEHAVIOR

47. 3. INTERACTIONAL – ME AND YOU – GETTING ALONG WITH THE OTHER PEOPLE
4. PERSONAL –HERE I COME – IDENTIFYING AND EXPRESSING THE SELF
5. HEURISTIC – TELL ME WHY – EXPLORING THE WORLD OUTSIDE AND INSIDE ONESELF
6. IMAGINATIVE – LET’S PRETEND – CREATING A WORLD OF ONE’S OWN
7. INFORMATIVE – I’VE GOT SOMETHING TO TELL YOU – COMMUNICATING NEW INFORMATION

48. SPEECH COMMUNITY
1. SHARED LANGUAGE USE (LYONS, 1970).
2. FREQUENCY OF INTERACTION BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE (BLOOMFIELD 1933, HOCKETT 1958, GUMPERZ
1962).
3. SHARED RULES OF SPEAKING AND INTERPRETATIONS OF SPEECH PERFORMANCE (HYMES 1972)
4. SHARED ATTITUDES AND VALUES REGARDING LANGUAGE FORMS AND LANGUAGE USE ( LABOV
1972).
5. SHARED SOCIOCULTURAL UNDERSTANDINGS AND PRESUPPOSITION REGARDING SPEECH EVENTS
(SHERZER 1977).

49. MONOLINGUALISM AND MULTILINGUALISM
DISGLOSSIA – A SITUATION WHERE TWO VARIETIES OF A LANGUAGE EXIST SIDE BY SIDE THROUGHOUT
A SPEECH COMMUNITY, WITH EACH BEING ASSIGNED A DEFINITE BUT NON-OVERLAPPING ROLE.
EX. CLASSICAL ARABIC & COLLOQUIAL ARABIC, CLASSICAL GREEK & MODERN GREEK

50. SERMON IN THE CHURCH H
INSTRUCTION TO SERVANTS, WAITERS, WORKMEN, CLERKS L
PERSONAL LETTER
SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT, POLITICAL SPEECH
UNIVERSITY LECTURE
CONVERSATION WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES

51. MESTHRIE, R. ET AL. (2009)