Showing papers in "Journal of Sociolinguistics in 2003"
TL;DR: This article explored ways in which the globalized new economy has resulted in the commodification of language and identity, sometimes separately, sometimes together, and explored the emerging tensions between State-based and corporate identities and language practices, between local, national and supra-national identities, and between hybridity and uniformity.
Abstract: The globalized new economy is bound up with transformations of language and identity in many different ways (cf., e.g. Bauman 1997; Castells 2000; Giddens 1990). These include emerging tensions between State-based and corporate identities and language practices, between local, national and supra-national identities and language practices, and between hybridity and uniformity. Ethnolinguistic minorities provide a particularly revealing window into these processes. In this paper, I explore ways in which the globalized new economy has resulted in the commodification of language and identity, sometimes separately, sometimes together. The paper is based on recent ethnographic, sociolinguistic research in francophone areas of Canada.
750 citations
TL;DR: Sociolinguistic nostalgia and the authentication of identity as discussed by the authors have been identified as an implicit theory of identity in sociolinguistics, and they have been studied as an alternative to the traditional notion of authenticity.
Abstract: Sociolinguistic nostalgia and the authentication of identity 1 Mary Bucholtz University of California, Santa Barbara INTRODUCTION Although sociolinguistics has become a fragmented ®eld since its initial broad conceptualization in the 1960s (e.g. Bright 1966; Gumperz and Hymes 1972), the now-divergent strands of sociolinguistic research continue to share a concern with something that has been called `real language.' Against the idealism of the Chomskyan paradigm, sociolinguistics positioned itself as an empirical discipline in which language was taken to mean the systematic use of language by social actors in social situations. I employ the term sociolinguistics here in its original wide reference to include not only the disparate quantitative and qualitative approaches that claim this name but also linguistic anthropo- logy, conversation analysis, and other socially and culturally oriented forms of discourse analysis. For despite the many dierences that divided these research traditions, `real language' remains central to each. And although methods of data collection and analysis vary widely across these approaches, what is meant by real language (or by some more theoretically elaborated equivalent term) has remained for the most part remarkably consistent: real language ± that is, authentic language ± is language produced in authentic contexts by authentic speakers. For this reason, authenticity underwrites nearly every aspect of sociolinguis- tics, from our identi®cation of socially meaningful linguistic phenomena, to the de®nition of the social groups we study, to the methods we use to collect our data, to the theories we draw on in our analysis. Yet despite its pervasiveness in the ®eld, this pivotal concept is rarely a topic of investigation in its own right. In addition, because researchers frequently assume some notion of authenticity in the sociolinguistic study of identity, the latter concept too remains theoretically underdeveloped within sociolinguistics. In the following discussion, I consider the sociolinguistic investment in authenticity as an implicit theory of identity. I then explore the original reasons for this investment and discuss some of the problems and limitations associated with it in the current context of socio- linguistic research. Finally, I oer an alternative vision for the sociolinguistic study of authenticity ± one that, rather than presupposing the authentic as an # Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2003
499 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue against the widespread assumption that the English language in its role as lingua franca is a serious threat to national languages and to multilingualism, and make a distinction between languages for communication and languages for identification.
Abstract: In this paper I argue against the widespread assumption that the English language in its role as lingua franca is a serious threat to national languages and to multilingualism. I support this argument by making a distinction between ‘languages for communication’ and ‘languages for identification’. Further support for the stance against one-sidedly attacking English as a killer language will be drawn from the findings of three research projects currently being carried out at Hamburg University, one on the impact English has on discourse norms in influential genres in other languages; the second one on the nature of interactions in English as a lingua franca; and the third one on so-called ‘international degree programmes’, in which English is the language of instruction. Finally, I make some tentative suggestions for a new research paradigm for English as a lingua franca.
483 citations
TL;DR: The authors suggest that while recent sociolinguistic work focusing on crossing, styling the Other or language boundaries is raising significant questions concerning how we relate language, identity and popular culture, these insights have largely passed by the Sociolinguistics of world Englishes, which do not allow for sufficiently complex understandings of what is currently happening with global Englishes.
Abstract: In this article I suggest that while recent sociolinguistic work focusing on crossing, styling the Other or language boundaries is raising significant questions concerning how we relate language, identity and popular culture, these insights have largely passed by the sociolinguistics of world Englishes. This latter work is still caught between arguments about homogeneity and heterogeneity, between arguments based on liberal accommodationism, linguistic imperialism or linguistic hybridity that do not allow for sufficiently complex understandings of what is currently happening with global Englishes. Focusing particularly on rap music, I suggest that we need, at the very least, a critical understanding of globalization, a focus on popular cultural flows, and a way of taking up performance and performativity in relationship to identity and culture.
401 citations
297 citations
TL;DR: The authors analyse les reactions d'etudiants universitaires americain a l'egard de l'anglais parle par des locuteurs non-natifs (coreens).
Abstract: L'A. analyse les reactions d'etudiants universitaires americains a l'egard de l'anglais parle par des locuteurs non-natifs (coreens). Ces etudiants etaient charges d'associer a des voix des caracteristiques liees au statut et au degre de solidarite du locuteur. Ces caracteristiques etaient divisees en traits positifs (intelligent, reussi, ambitieux, amical, sympathique, serviable) et negatifs (paresseux, inculte, incompetent, mechant, hypocrite, distant). Cette analyse rend compte des representations mentales qu'ont les etudiants du statut social de la communaute coreenne aux Etats-Unis. Ce statut est evalue de maniere plutot negative
203 citations
129 citations
TL;DR: The authors considered some general principles found, in the social sciences, to be associated with globalisation and considered what the theoretical and methodological implications are for the study of language variation if we talk about changes like those taking place in New Zealand English as being the effects of globalisation (or specifically, Americanisation).
Abstract: Work on variation and change in New Zealand English has identified a shift from older, more British-like norms to newer, more American-like ones in the last half century. The shift seems to affect lexical items, and phonological variables. This paper considers some general principles found, in the social sciences, to be associated with globalisation and considers what the theoretical and methodological implications are for the study of language variation if we talk about changes like those taking place in New Zealand English as being the effects of globalisation (or, more specifically, Americanisation). A study showing that New Zealanders have very different attitudes to variants that sociolinguists have lumped together in the past, suggests that globalisation with localisation is an important principle for variationists to take into account. It is suggested that variables hitherto analysed as being the consequence of globalisation might be better thought of as reflecting a ‘broadening of the vernacular base’.
115 citations
TL;DR: The authors propose ici une introduction au dialogue entre l'article de Mary Bucholtz and celui de Nikolas Coupland reunis dans ce numero autour du theme of l'authenticite en soiolinguistique.
Abstract: L'A. propose ici une introduction au dialogue entre l'article de Mary Bucholtz et celui de Nikolas Coupland reunis dans ce numero autour du theme de l'authenticite en soiolinguistique. La question de l'authenticite du locuteur est, selon l'A., cruciale en sociolinguistique, notamment dans les recherches sur la variabilite des langues. Le locuteur authentique fournit un discours spontane en langue vernaculaire qui est ensuite apprehende par le sociolinguiste. Cette authenticite est un concept ideologique qui tient une place centrale dans la pratique de l'analyse du discours, faisant de la langue un objet naturel a explorer
113 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The authors summarize un ensemble de cinq qualites attachees a l'authenticite dans son acception traditionnelle en sociolinguistique, ce qui lui fournit un cadre theorique pour decrire differentes orientations linguistiques.
Abstract: 'A. veut montrer que la sociolinguistique s'est engagee fortement sur le concept d'authenticite applique a certaines langues et certains locuteurs. Il recapitule un ensemble de cinq qualites attachees a l'authenticite dans son acception traditionnelle en sociolinguistique, ce qui lui fournit un cadre theorique pour decrire differentes orientations linguistiques
92 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the representation of female identity and practice in the U.K., Dutch, German, Spanish, Greek, Finnish, Indian and Taiwanese versions of Cosmopolitan magazine.
Abstract: This paper investigates the representation of female identity and practice in the U.K., Dutch, German, Spanish, Greek, Finnish, Indian and Taiwanese versions of Cosmopolitan magazine. It shows how a ‘problem–solution’ discourse schema underlies a range of articles that do not all use a problem–solution genre. While this schema is clearly global and occurs in all the versions of the magazine, it allows for local variation in terms of the kinds of problems and solutions it can accommodate. The schema is described as an interpretive framework which constructs social life as an individual struggle for survival in a world of risky and unstable relationships. The community of readers of the magazine is described as a globally dispersed and linguistically heterogeneous speech community which nevertheless shares an involvement with the same modalities and genres of language and the same linguistic constructions of reality and which can signify its allegiance to the values of the magazine through dress, grooming and other behaviours.
TL;DR: This article explored the extent to which coming out is a performative act, and what sort of speech act coming out may be, drawing on the perspective of both the speaker and the hearer to consider how the acts involved in coming out are open to interpretation.
Abstract: The process of coming out linguistically as a lesbian or as a gay man is occasionally referred to as a speech act (e.g. Harvey 1997: 72; Liang 1997: 293). This analogy is taken as a starting point to explore the extent to which coming out is a performative act, and what sort of speech act coming out may be. The discussion draws on the perspective of both the speaker and the hearer to consider how the acts involved in coming out are open to interpretation. Parallels are drawn between the act of coming out as a lesbian or a gay man and other instances of self–disclosure or of individuals’ constructions of new facets of their identities.
TL;DR: Inflight magazines are both global medium (or genre) in themselves and carriers of global messages as mentioned in this paper, and they epitomize a post-modern tendency towards the 'globalization of nationality' as well as espousing a global lifestyle.
Abstract: Like most multinational or international corporations, marketing for airlines hinges on careful strategies of differentiation and promotion; an increasingly important part of the way this is achieved is for airlines to position themselves as ‘global’ and to promise their passengers the kudos of being global citizens and travellers. It is in this way that globalization can be seen to be not about just economic reordering, but also strategic, commercial rebranding; globalization is thus both cultural discourse and identity resource. This is exemplified by the 72 inflight magazines we examine here, and achieved by a series of discursive strategies such as: their cashing in on the global cachet (or ‘worldliness’) of English; their drawing on metonymic repertoires of global cities/destinations and celebrities; and their striking displays of global route-maps regardless of actual network. Inflight magazines are both global medium (or genre) in themselves and carriers of global messages. Drawing on the discourses of nationality and globality, they epitomize a post-modern tendency towards the ‘globalization of nationality’ as well as espousing a global lifestyle.
TL;DR: The authors examine les fonctions discursives du marqueur discursif like en analysant sa frequence d'utilisation par le locuteur et l'interlocuteur dans des echanges conversationnels.
Abstract: L'A. examine les fonctions discursives du marqueur discursif like en analysant sa frequence d'utilisation par le locuteur et l'interlocuteur dans des echanges conversationnels. L'analyse veut determiner les facteurs qui entrent en jeu dans la variation de la frequence d'utilisation de like. On constate que cette frequence varie en fonction des besoins interactionnels des locuteurs. Bien que like soit indeniablement porteur de connotations sociales, il apparait etre plus une particule fonctionnelle qu'un marqueur stylistique
TL;DR: This paper explored the historical time-depth of indefinite tu/vous in Montreal and Tours and found that indefinite tu is a modern feature, found especially in Canada, and explored the extent to which this use of the 2nd person pronouns helps to avoid ambiguity.
Abstract: Research on Montreal French (Laberge and Sankoff 1979; Thibault 1991) has shown a spectacular rise in the use of indefinite tu (or vous) in recent decades, at the expense of the standard form on. Although grammars of French have traditionally passed over indefinite tu/vous in silence, Ashby's study of Tours French (1992) confirmed that the phenomenon exists in metropolitan French also. The historical time-depth of indefinite tu/vous has apparently not been explored previously, though Posner (1997) has suggested that indefinite tu is a modern feature, found especially in Canada. A survey of indefinite tu/vous in earlier periods and in a range of varieties forms the first part of this paper. Secondly, drawing on a corpus of French spoken in Picardy, northern France, the paper investigates the extent to which this use of the 2nd person pronouns: (i) helps to avoid ambiguity; (ii) co-occurs with another grammatical variable. Unlike the surveys of Montreal and Tours, the Picardy corpus includes a large majority of informants who used tu to address the interviewer, and this too is explored as a potential influence on speakers’ use of 2nd person pronouns with indefinite reference.
TL;DR: In this paper, a close discourse analysis of these interactions reveals that the dominant ideology of tourism, as propagated in the programmes, gives evidence of only limited contact between tourists and local people, although the former often create the illusion of closeness, familiarity and friendship.
Abstract: Although folk discourses frequently emphasise such raison d’etre benefits of tourism as broadening one's horizons through knowing foreign people(s) and cultures, most critical studies of tourism stress tourists’ relative illiteracy with regard to the ‘reading’ of the local. This paper is based on extracts from two British holiday programme series, BBC's Holiday 2000/1 and ITV's Wish You Were Here?, in which the presenters engage in some form of verbal (and non-verbal) interaction with local people. A close discourse analysis of these interactions reveals that the dominant ideology of tourism, as propagated in the programmes, gives evidence of only limited contact between tourists and local people, although the former often create the illusion of closeness, familiarity and ‘friendship’. Most contact with local people occurs in their principal roles as either ‘helpers’/‘servants’, ‘experts’, or as part of ‘local scenery’. At times, however, local people are seen to resist these super-imposed roles, casting themselves as worldly and cosmopolitan. Meanwhile, it is often the presenter-tourists who construct for themselves parochial identities by adhering to stereotyped interpretations of local people and seeking ‘safe’ interpretations of the host culture. These encounters are therefore often sites of power struggle, in which presenter-tourists assert themselves as dominant and powerful, while local people may subvert these attempts, for example, by claiming high status for themselves through expert knowledge.
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed analysis of this process by combining ethnographic fieldwork with some of the methodology of cognitive psychology, including think-aloud protocols and on-line registration of the writing process is presented.
Abstract: This paper reports on empirical research into how press releases are being constructed. It starts from previous discourse-analytic work which has pointed to the ‘preformulated’ nature of press releases: in particular, it has been shown that through a number of metapragmatic features press releases can easily be copied by journalists in their own news reporting. In this paper we set out to subject one of these features, viz. pseudo-quotations (or so-called constructed direct speech), to a further empirical study, in which we scrutinize the process of constructing the press releases. We propose a detailed analysis of this process by combining ethnographic fieldwork with some of the methodology of cognitive psychology, including think-aloud protocols and on-line registration of the writing process. On the basis of this case study it is concluded that the design and functions of quotations in press releases are more complex than has been assumed so far. In addition, our preliminary results indicate that the combination of methods that we propose in this paper provides a sound starting point for both quantitative and qualitative analysis, allowing for a detailed analysis and interpretation of how press releases are being constructed.
TL;DR: The authors explored the distribution of /ai/ monophthongization in African-American and European-American speakers in Memphis, Tennessee and found evidence of extensive glide-weakening in the African American community in Memphis.
Abstract: This paper explores the distribution of /ai/ monophthongization in African-American and European-American speakers in Memphis, Tennessee. While often considered a feature characteristic of White Southern speech, /ai/ monophthongization has also been recorded in Black speech, both within and outside the South. However, expansion of glide-weakening to the less common pre-voiceless contexts has been considered unique to European-American dialects. Evidence of extensive glide-weakening in the African-American community in Memphis will be presented and compared to the degree and contexts of glide-weakening in the European-American community. The results will show that not only is /ai/ monophthongization a feature of Memphis speech generally, regardless of ethnicity, but that African-Americans in fact lead in glide-weakening in all contexts. The role of Southern identity in the expansion of /ai/ monophthongization is discussed as a critical component in the selection of features in both Black and White speech in the Memphis area.
TL;DR: The authors present an approche ecologique de la diversite linguistique and commente les aspects theoriques sur la menace d'extinction qui pese sur les langues minoritaires a travers le monde.
Abstract: En se basant sur la lecture de 3 ouvrages, Language Death de D. Crystal (2000), The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice de L. Hinton & K. Hale (2001), Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages de D. Nettle & S. Romaine (2000), l'A. presente une approche ecologique de la diversite linguistique et commente les aspects theoriques sur la menace d'extinction qui pese sur les langues minoritaires a travers le monde. Il releve dans ces travaux l'utilisation d'un discours scientifique pour aborder les causes de l'extinction des langues minoritaires, ainsi qu'une recherche des remedes et des moyens de prevention de l'extinction de ces langues
TL;DR: In this article, an interactional account of conflict negotiation strategies in Korean American discourse is provided, with specific attention to the sociolinguistic phenomenon of codeswitching among Korean Americans, arguing that speaking Korean at particular moments evokes ideologies of social hierarchy that serve to mitigate potential conflicts.
Abstract: This paper provides an interactional account of conflict negotiation strategies in Korean American discourse. With specific attention to the sociolinguistic phenomenon of codeswitching among Korean Americans, I argue that speaking Korean at particular moments evokes ideologies of social hierarchy that serve to mitigate potential conflicts. The Korean social ideology of relative status has a major influence on how bilingual Korean Americans interact with one another, regardless of whether they are using Korean or English. The use of codeswitching, among other mitigating strategies in discourse, serves to instantiate these hierarchical relationships and introduces particular social norms that guide the observable actions used in navigating meaning and social relations. The data analyzed here show how the evocation of Korean social ideologies may serve as an identifiable characteristic of Korean American discourse.
TL;DR: A partir de donnees socio-demographiques (statut social, origine geographique, identite linguistique), comportementales (choix de la langue en fonction de la situation) and ideologiques (orientation politique), obtenues aupres de 180 lyceens de la region de Valence, Espagne, les As. evaluent ce qui determine le choix de the langue dans cette communaute bilingue (espagnol, valencien)
Abstract: A partir de donnees socio-demographiques (statut social, origine geographique, identite linguistique), comportementales (choix de la langue en fonction de la situation) et ideologiques (orientation politique), obtenues aupres de 180 lyceens de la region de Valence, Espagne, les As. evaluent ce qui determine le choix de la langue dans cette communaute bilingue (espagnol, valencien)
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show the results of a longitudinal study of Murcian speech carried out following a real-time approach with a retrospective trend design in order to detect and measure the apparent increasing diffusion of standard Castilian features from northern Peninsular Spanish over Murcians, a traditionally non-standard region.
Abstract: The samples used from radio programme recordings have been demonstrated to be very useful sources for the study of styles and the analysis of linguistic variation and change. The aim of this paper is to show the results of a longitudinal study of Murcian speech carried out following a real-time approach with a retrospective trend design in order to detect and measure the apparent increasing diffusion of standard Castilian features from northern Peninsular Spanish over Murcian Spanish, a traditionally non-standard region. For this purpose, following the methodology used in similar studies, we focussed on the quantification of the level of standardisation of people interviewed in radio broadcasts in the last twenty-six years. In this way, the correlation of linguistic variables with social variables (groups) and time intervals, allowed us to compare and analyse the sociolinguistic behaviour of the different social groups in terms of standardisation (adoption of Castilian Spanish features) or non-standardisation (maintenance of local Murcian features) and trends.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on determiner les motivations des perceptions dialectales dans cette region afin d'etablir une similitude entre perceptions dialectale and identites sociales, and find that attitudes varient en fonction du statut migratoire et de l'âge des personnes interrogees.
Abstract: La region frontaliere entre le Texas et le Mexique est marquee par d'importants changements sociaux et, de ce fait, la notion de dialecte est fluctuante dans cette region. L'A. veut determiner les motivations des perceptions dialectales dans cette region afin d'etablir une similitude entre perceptions dialectales et identites sociales. Les donnees ont ete recueillies a l'aide d'un questionnaire, dans la ville de Reynosa. Les attitudes varient en fonction du statut migratoire et de l'âge des personnes interrogees
TL;DR: The work of Lev Iakubinskii, Boris Larin and Viktor Zhirmunskii working at the Institute of Discursive Culture in Leningrad in the 1920s and 1930s deserves to be recognised as an early version of sociolinguistics.
Abstract: The work of Lev Iakubinskii, Boris Larin and Viktor Zhirmunskii working at the Institute of Discursive Culture in Leningrad in the 1920s and 1930s deserves to be recognised as an early version of sociolinguistics. These thinkers combined dialect geography with Marxist sociological thought and contemporary work on linguistic conflicts and planning to produce very sophisticated sociological reflections on language. The influence of their teacher, Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, was crucial to their work, as was the tradition of Russian dialect research carried out by Aleksei Shakhmatov and others. However, the socio-political conditions for linguistic research brought about by the 1917 revolution were decisive. The historical significance of the reception and reinterpretation of these ideas is considerable, leading to a reconsideration of the origins of sociolinguistics and of the relationship between Marxism and the language sciences in the early years of the Soviet Union.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed enregistrements of locuteurs maori and pakeha in Nouvelle-Zelande between 1860 and 1870 to determine the effets des contacts de langues sur les premieres formes d'anglais parlees.
Abstract: L'A. analyse des enregistrements de locuteurs maoris et pakehas nes entre 1860 et 1870 afin de determiner les effets des contacts de langues sur les premieres formes d'anglais parlees en Nouvelle-Zelande. L'analyse de la reduction des groupes de consonnes donne un apercu des processus d'assimilation de l'anglais maori et pakeha a la fin du 19 e et au debut du 20 e siecle
TL;DR: This article analyzed bilingual lexemes and morphemes of English-origin loanwords from a Louisiana corpus of twenty-two French/English speakers and found that examining borrowing beyond the word level reveals a highly complex interplay of often competing and overlapping grammars.
Abstract: The nature of lexical and structural borrowing has been at the forefront of sociolinguistic debates for many years. This study analyzes bilingual lexemes and morphemes of English-origin loanwords from a Louisiana corpus of twenty-two French/English speakers. French Louisiana, however, has been undergoing language shift from French to English for three generations and, as a consequence, language dominance is in a parallel state of shift. This competing dominance produces borrowings characterized by a range of phonological integration coupled with bound morphemes from both languages. These data suggest that examining borrowing beyond the word level reveals a highly complex interplay of often competing and overlapping grammars.
TL;DR: Canagarajah et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed a linguistique appliquee, which prendrait en consideration of the dimension politique de ce champ d'application, a mouvement epistemologique amorce par Pennycook en 1990 proposait aux chercheurs une nouvelle attitude dans lenseignement des langues.
Abstract: En se basant sur la lecture de 3 ouvrages, Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching, de A. S. Canagarajah (1999), Rights to languages : Equity, Power, and Education de R. Phillipson (2000) et Critical Applied Linguistics: A critical introduction de A. Pennycook (2001), l'A. souligne l'emergence d'une linguistique appliquee porteuse d'une conscience critique. Ce mouvement epistemologique amorce par Pennycook en 1990 proposait aux chercheurs une maniere differente de travailler en linguistique appliquee en offrant une nouvelle attitude dans l'enseignement des langues qui prendrait en consideration la dimension politique de ce champ d'application
TL;DR: Rajend Mesthrie as mentioned in this paper reviewed a book called "The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics" (CEoS) and found that it was a good read.
Abstract: Book reviewed in this article:
Rajend Mesthrie (ed.), Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics
TL;DR: The Handbook of Language Variation and Change as mentioned in this paper is an excellent reference book for language variation and change, which is also related to our work in this article.http://www.thehandbookoflanguagevariationandchange.org/
Abstract: Book reviewed in this article:
J. K. Chambers, Peter Trudgill and Natalie Schilling–Estes (eds.), The Handbook of Language Variation and Change