Class Meeting 1:Module: Sociolinguistics and Sociocultural Theory

Introduction to Sociolinguistics and Sociocultural Theory

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Composed by Aziza Restu Febrianto

Backgrounds:

Sociolinguistic Toolkit

1.       All language events consist of a piece of language in a social language.

2.       Every different social context determines that particular form of language.

3.       The language used in particular situations determines the nature of that social event.

Variables in Sociolinguistics

There are two types of variable in social investigation. The social variable is the factor that determines a variation in language. Possible social factors include gender, geography, age and occupation, and so on, as discussed throughout section A below.

What is Linguistic Competence?

• This refers to ‘knowledge of the grammar of a language as a formal abstraction and distinct from the behaviour of actual use, i.e. performance’ (Widdowson, 1996: 126)

Widdowson, H. G. (1996)  Linguistics. Oxford: OUP

What is Communicative Competence?

•          Adding ‘communicative’ element (knowing how to use language in everyday life) to Chomsky’s notion of linguistic ‘competence’ (knowledge of language system in the mind) ¨
•          Adding ‘culture’ = language in use in a particular context ¨
•         When to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner’ (Hymes, 1972, 277) ¨ Hymes, D. (1972) ‘On communicative competence’ in Pride, J. B. and J. Holmes (eds) Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

What is Grammatical competence?

·         Linguistic competence (Chomsky) or what is “formally possible” (Hymes)

Sociolinguistic [pragmatic] competence = shared understanding of context of communication, role relationships, shared information, communicative purposes

Discourse competence = language above the sentence (text) and language in use (context): what makes a text cohesive and coherent internally and in its context of use

Strategic competence = coping strategies for starting, stopping, maintaining, repairing and redirecting spoken interaction.

Canale, M & Swain, M. (1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1: 1-47.

What is Sociolinguistics?

·       The branch of linguistics which studies the relation between language and society [...] Sociolinguistics may be usefully defined as the study of variation in language, or more precisely of variation within speech communities ...’ (p. 282-3). ¨ Trask, R. L. (1999). Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. London: Routledge.

·       Sociolinguistics is in many ways a blend of sociology and linguistics. It is sometimes referred to as the‘sociology of language’, although that label suggests a greater concern with sociology rather than linguistic explanations, whereas sociolinguists are principally concerned with language; or to be more precise, with what Dell Hymes crucially calls ‘socially constituted’ language (Coupland and Jaworski, 1997, p. 14): with the way language is constructed by, and in turn helps to construct, society’ (p. 193). ¨ Finch, G. (2000) Linguistic Terms and Concepts. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

What do Linguists study?

1. Variation (syntactic, lexical and phonological)
2. Standard and non-standard language ¨
3. Status of different dialects 
4. Power and status 
5. Language ideology 
6. Language and identity 
7. Endangered languages 
8. Language rights

References to consider:

• ·         For how to put communicative competence into practice e.g. Hedge, T. (2000) Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 46-56. 
•      For a critique Leung, C. (2005) Convivial communication: recontextualizing communicative competence. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 15 (2): 119-144

Sociolinguistics and Sociocultural Theory (SCT) Hypothesis

‘In SCT, all human-made objects (material and symbolic) are artifacts … But not all artifacts are mediating means; that is, they do not by virtue of their existence act as shapers of our interaction with the world. They have the potential to become mediating means, but until used as such, they offer only affordances and constraints to an individual … When used as a mediational means (tool), we need to consider the artifact itself and the where, why, when and how of its use’ (Swain et al., 2010: 2). 

SCT hypothesis: learning happens “outside in”

‘Learning is seen as first social, then individual. Consciousness and conceptual development are seen firstly as inter-mental phenomena, shared between individuals; later, individuals develop their own consciousness, which becomes an intra-mental phenomenon. For the human race, and also for the individual infant, language is the prime symbolic mediating tool for the development of consciousness’ (Mitchell & Myles 2004: 198)

The influence of the “social” (SCT) on view of the language classroom

·         The classroom as: ¨ A community of practice

·         Socially located in a particular cultural context

What is sociocultural theory?

·         A theory of mind based on Vygotksy’s seminal work

·         Put simply sociocultural theory examines the role of the social in learning & development.

What do sociocultural theorists study?

The task of sociocultural analysis is to understand how mental functioning is related to cultural, institutional, and historical context (Wertsch, 1998: 3).

Wertsch, J. 1998. Mind as Action, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• ·         Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) 
• ·         Scaffolding 
• ·         Collaborative dialogue 
• ·         Private speech 
• ·         Affect/ Cognition 
• ·         Mediational means 
• ·         Communities of practice 
• ·         Personal narratives [history of the individual – ‘genesis’] ... And so on …

From SCT perspective, language learning

·         starts in the social world of the learner before it is internalised by the learner

·         is mediated in self-directed, individual and social activities that the learner participates in

·         is co-constructed in interactions with others ¨

·         Is attractive to educators as it purports that teachers can make successful interventions in learning

·        BIG Assumption: social relationships in the learning environment are collaborative and cooperative & facilitate learning:

·         How cooperative and collaborative are social relations where you work?

·         Who can facilitate whose learning in the language classroom?

·         What is the role of the teacher and students?

·         What interventions can teachers make to foster the ideal conditions for learning in the classroom?

Watch Vygotsky – Sociocultural Theory (part 1 Vygotsky’s Basic Theory) presented by Dr Andrew Johnson from Minnesota State University on the URL link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvX90sWmV_g