Showing papers in "Language in Society in 1986"

Functions of you know in women's and men's speech

Abstract: You know, like the tag question and the parenthetical I think, has been regarded as a linguistic hedging device, and consequently as a “women's language” form. This paper describes a range of forms and functions expressed by you know, as well as its use by women and men in a corpus of spontaneous speech. While there is no difference in this corpus in the total number of occurrences of you know produced by women and men, there are interesting contrasts in the most frequent functions expressed by you know in female and male usage. Finally, the possibility that negative stereotypes may distort perceptions of women's usage is briefly discussed. (Sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, contextual styles, women's and men's speech)

Linguistic constraints on intrasentential code-switching: A study of Spanish/Hebrew bilingualism*

Abstract: In recent years, research has increasingly pointed toward the universality of three linguistic constraints on code-switching: (1) an equivalence of structure constraint, (2) a size-of-constituent constraint, and (3) a free morpheme constraint. The evidence derived from this study challenges the universality of the first two of these constraints, and argues instead that their claim to universality is largely a function of the coincidental relative similarity in the syntactic structure of Spanish and English, the two languages upon which most code-switching studies have been based. The present study breaks out of the Spanish-English mold and draws upon data from a language contact situation in which the two languages are syntactically very different from each other, namely, Spanish and Hebrew. The evidence presented also challenges the frequently made assertion that type of code-switching, namely, intra- versus intersentential code-switching, is correlated with degree of bilingualism of the speaker. Finally, the evidence suggests that intrasentential code-switching ability cannot, as some have argued, universally be considered a measure of bilingualism nor a mark of the balanced bilingual. (Code-switching, Spanish, Hebrew, bilingualism, syntactic constraints)

An Intonational Change in Progress in Australian English.

Abstract: Many speakers of current Australian English often use a high-rising intonation in statements. This usage, which has been termed Australian Questioning Intonation (AQI), has a nonpropositional, interactive meaning (checking for listener comprehension) and interacts with the turn-taking mechanism of conversation. A quantitative study of the use of AQI in Sydney reveals that it has the social distribution characteristic of a language change in progress: higher rates of usage among working-class speakers, teenagers, and women. Real time data confirm this, showing that the form was almost nonexistent in this speech community two decades earlier. The social motivations of this innovation are examined in terms of local identity and the entry of new ethnic groups into the community, and possible linguistic sources are discussed. The utility of quantitative methods in studying meaningful linguistic variables is demonstrated. (Australian English, language change in progress, intonation, sociolinguistic variation, social class, social motivation)

Does language reflect culture? Evidence from Australian English

Abstract: This paper attempts to demonstrate direct links between Australian language and other aspects of Australian culture. The existence of such links – intuitively obvious and yet notoriously hard to prove – is often rejected in the name of scientific rigor (“if they can't be proved then it is better either to assume that they don't exist or at least not to talk about them”). Nonetheless, the problem continues to exercise fascination over scholars, as it does over the general public. The author proposes ways in which the linguist's methodological tools can be sharpened so that the apparently untractable and yet fundamental issues of “language as a guide to social reality” can be studied in ways which are both linguistically precise and culturally revealing. Linguistic phenomena such as expressive derivation, illocutionary devices, and speech act verbs are related to the literature on the Australian society, “national character,” history, and culture. (Ethnolinguistics, Whorfian hypothesis, Australian English, speech acts, expressive derivation, names)

Five visions of America

Abstract: The study of dialect distribution has generally focused on the performance of speakers rather than on their perception of speech variation. The exceptions in so-called attitude studies do not further our understanding of where ordinary speakers believe dialect boundaries exist. Hand-drawn maps from five areas (Hawaii, southeastern Michigan, southern Indiana, western New York, and New York City) are converted into generalized maps of local perceptions of dialect areas of the United States. The maps are compared with one another, with traditional maps of U.S.dialect areas, and with maps of cultural and regional zones of the United States. The maps are shown to be of value in calculating attitudinal factors and may be of considerable importance in determining the existence and scope of such notions as "speech community." (Dialect geography, language standards, American speech, language attitudes)

The social identity of Welsh learners

Abstract: The process of the attempted acquisition of spoken Welsh by English speakers in Wales is examined ethnographically in relation to the native association of Welsh-language speech with a Welsh cultural identity. Perceptions of Welsh learners by members of other linguistic groups reveal the symbolic significance of the learning of a minority language. The status of learners as verbal performers is investigated, together with the psychological impact of that status and of the ambiguity of the learners' identity on the learning process. (Bilingualism, language learning, Wales/Welsh)

The Spontaneous Use of "Thank You" by Preschoolers As A Function of Sex, Socioeconomic Status, and Listener Status.

Abstract: This study investigated whether preschoolers would spontaneously say thank you in a familiar context without their parents' presence. Two hundred and fifty 3 1/2- to 4 1/2-year-olds played a game with their teachers and received a reward from either an unfamiliar peer or adult. Across conditions, 37 percent of the children said thank you spontaneously, more than in previous studies. The frequency of the spontaneous use of thank you was assessed as a function of sex, socioeconomic status, and listener status. Preschool-aged girls said thank you spontaneously more than boys, χ2(1) = 7.95, p < .01. Also, children from families of low economic status said thank you spontaneously more than children from middle income families, χ2(1) = 7.17, p < .01. This finding does not appear to be due to racial differences. Finally, the preschoolers said thank you spontaneously more to the adult than to the peer, χ2(1) = 4.27, p < .05. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for pragmatic socialization and the acquisition of politeness formulas such as thank you. (Routines, politeness formulas, pragmatic socialization, sex differences, socioeconomic differences, language and status)

Language contact, language loyalty, and language prejudice on the Mexican border*

Abstract: This paper documents attitudes toward English, Spanish, and SpanishEnglish Code-switching in Juarez, Mexico, the oldest and largest city along the Mexican-U.S. border. It refutes the finding of related work which has shown two distinct orientations - integrative and instrumental - toward English as a foreign and as a second language, but supports various assumptions regarding the relationship between attitudes and use and the impact of the local milieu on language attitudes. It also explores attitudes toward correctness and sentiments of language loyalty, and highlights the influence of language loyalty on perceptions of Spanish-English Code-switching. Eighty-five Juarez residents were interviewed. (Language attitudes, sociolinguistics, Hispanic linguistics, border studies, ethnic studies, Latin American studies)

A bibliography of fieldwork in the ethnography of communication

Abstract: In 1962, Dell Hymes proposed the project he subsequently named the ethnography of communication (Hymes 1961, 1962, 1964b). Its central motive was to create a theory of linguistic communication which is grounded in the comparative analysis of many communities and their distinctive ways of speaking. Just as there is a comparative politics, law, religion, and so forth, he said, so should there be a comparative analysis of “studies ethnographic in basis and communicative in scope” (Hymes 1964b:9). Such studies would be “whole ethnographies focused on communicative behavior” (1964b:9) and would be guided by, and subsequently used to guide the revision of, a descriptive framework which itself is a model of sociolinguistic description.

Medical professionals and parents: A linguistic analysis of communication across contexts

Abstract: The study is based on analysis of videotaped conversation that occurred in five different settings involving various family members and medical professionals in a single pediatric case. We examine (1) the elaboration and condensation of information through spoken and written channels; (2) the negotiation of information exchanged in interactions characterized by different participant structures; and (3) the methodological benefit of examining interaction across contexts. We find that (a) information is negotiated, as well as discovered, during the medical interviews; and (b) information exchanged is often less resilient than participants' cognitive schemas which precede and apparently outlive the exchange of information in the interaction. These findings contribute to an understanding of the negotiation of meaning as well as the creation of context in interaction. (Discourse, interactional sociolinguistics, context, doctor–patient communication, spoken and written language, schema theory)

The Use of the Simple Present in the Speech of Two Three-Year-Olds: Normativity Not Subjectivity.

Abstract: In our research, we wish to illuminate different types of discursive intentions which are structured into discourse via the verb inflections and auxiliaries, together with their entailed social effects. In the present report, we examine the use of the simple present by two three-year-olds, and argue that analyses in terms of tense or aspect are not adequate to account for its use. One needs to recognize the way in which the form implicitly refers to norms and thereby entails a type of impersonal motivation - especially as it is just this feature of the use of this form that structures the ongoing activity into a nondialogic, normative activity. (Simple present, normativity, subjectivity, activity-types, nondialogic discourse, the constitutive role of language, American English)

Linguistic variation, context, and meaning: A case of -ing/in' variation in North American workers' speech

Abstract: The variable rule method of accounting for linguistic variability suffers on two counts: (i) it is insensitive to social context; (2) it regards meaning as irrelevant (variability being treated as different ways of "saying the same thing"). Given these shortcomings, an alternative approach sensitive to social context and the relevance of meaning is recommended. The proposed alternative approach, scaffolded on an ethnography of communication base, is then used to support an analysis of -inglin' variability in some North American industrial workers' speech. The analysis indicates that instances of morphophonemic variation, contrary to what proponents of the variable rule method have suggested, may express a number of various meanings that express, reflect, and reproduce speakers' life experiences. The analysis also enables us to develop a set of theoretical statements that explain the motivations of workers' selections of a low prestige variant and why workers' reliance on a low prestige variant persists. (Ethnography of communication, variable rule methodology, social class dialect, morphophonemic variation)

Representations of questioning and answering in children's first school books

Abstract: Children's first school books contain a considerable amount of reported talk among characters in the stories. This is a central aspect of the characterization of these books as transitional from the conventions of oral language to the conventions of written prose, that is, as introductions to literacy. The nature of the written representation of conversation in such books has not previously been examined. This paper presents a partial analysis of this feature of beginning school readers, focussing on "question-answer sequences." We show how these representations of talk compare with naturalistic research on child-adult interaction at home and in classrooms, and we propose that the model of child-adult talk portrayed in "home" and "school" scenes in the books appears to endorse some of the conventions for participation in instructional talk, and in this respect is implicitly a source of socialization into classroom culture. At the same time, we find that the texts give child speakers far more initiative in conversation than typically obtains in classroom talk, and this is seen also to be a feature of the social constitution of the child in these texts. Thus an image of childhood which combines conversational initiative and conversational competence as a member of the classroom community is conveyed. The paper also points out possible difficulties for child readers in interpreting the talk-on-paper, arising both from textual formats and from the particular version of the child as conversationalist which the books describe (Child-adult conversation, question-answer sequences, first school books, literacy acquisition).

Argument as status assertion: Contextual variations in children's disputes *

Abstract: Previous analyses of children's disputes have concentrated on the use of various strategies within discrete activity contexts. Using data from an ethnographic study of an integrated kindergarten, it is suggested that children's disputes are strongly influenced by the activity and role structure of a given event, and that variations in how an event is contextualized are linked to the social structure of the classroom. Analytical problems in studying disputes from this perspective are also discussed. They include determining the speaker's focus, coping with multiple contexts, and selecting the level of analysis. (Developmental sociolinguistics, children's social behavior, peer interaction, analytic problems, American English)

Black Sign Language and School Integration in Texas.

Abstract: Black deaf adults have been said to have "poor communication skills" at least partly because of difficulties interviewers have had in obtaining information from them. Apparently, however, at least in some regions, blacks' sign language has been different from whites' sign language. This paper will present some differences between the sign language of black deaf persons educated before and since racial integration of the schools and relate these differences to educational policies. Evidence is also provided as to the awareness of these differences and of educational policies on the part of teachers before and after integration. (Sociolinguistic variation, sign languages, minority group language, language death, racial integration) To be born deaf almost always means exclusion from those aspects of social experience based on fluent, easy, oral communication. The odds against developing language normally are enormous. To be born deaf in a literate society, where success in schooling and access to economic activities are dependent to a large extent on certain functions of language associated with print, almost always means severely limited achievement in school and underemployment. Nevertheless, deaf people on the whole lead socially active lives through networks of other deaf people. To be born black and deaf has been a double whammy, for apparently deaf blacks have widely been excluded from both social and educational participation with deaf whites. Fleeting references to "poor communication skills" of black deaf adults appear here and there in the literature, but no studies comparing their communication skills to whites' have been carried out. This paper is an attempt to describe some aspects of sociolinguistic variation in the sign language of black deaf persons in one community, Austin, Texas, and to discuss those variations in terms of the educational and social background of the individuals. It is not an assessment of communication skills but may point the way to some factors to consider in such an assessment.

The reporter's test as a sociolinguistic tool

Abstract: The problem confronted by many sociolinguists of assuring sufficient examples of a particular variable in their data is discussed, and a pilot study using various different data elicitation techniques is described. The most useful of these appears to be the reporter's test, which is described in detail. A further study is described, which, like the first, is on features of Welsh, and this supports the previous findings. From these studies we have evidence that the reporter's test not only has great predictive capacity, but also appears to produce casual styles of speech. The value of this for sociolinguists is clear. (Data collection, Welsh) The aim of many sociolinguistic studies is to investigate the relationship between linguistic usage and nonlinguistic factors. To do this, an adequate supply of data is required, that is, sufficient instances of the usage of the linguistic variable(s) in question to allow for adequate examination of any correlations with nonlinguistic variables. The problem confronting the investigator is how to ensure sufficient instances of the variables. Researchers have provided us with various data collection techniques: Labov's