FAKULTI PENDIDIKAN DAN BAHASA

HBET1403

SOCIOLINGUISTIC IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

NAMA : NOR HASNI BT MOHAMED

NOMBOR MATRIK : 730622035748001

NO KAD PENGENALAN : 730622-03-5748

NOMBOR TELEFON : 014-370 6689

E-MAIL : norhasni1973@oum.edu.my

PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : OUM CAWANGAN TAWAU

MEI 2015

1

NO CONTENTS PAGES

1.0 INTRODUCTION 3

2.0 DIALECT

The definition of Dialect

Why there are dialects in a language?

4

4

5

3.0 BELL 1976 – 7 CRITERIA THAT DIFFERENTIATE

LANGUAGE AND DIALECT

5

4.0 SOCIAL DIALECT 7

5.0 CONCLUSION 8

6.0 REFERENCES 9

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2

1.0 INTRODUCTION

When two or more people communicate with each other in speech, we can call the system of

communication that they employ a code. In most cases that code will be something we may

also want to call a language. We should also note that two speakers who are bilingual, that is,

who have access to two codes, and who for one reason or another shift back and forth

between the two languages as they converse by code-switching are actually using a third

code, one which draws on those two languages.

In Malaysia, English is a second language and has been receiving recognition from various

domains and sectors. The importance of English and the need to learn and master the

language is always emphasized by the government. Thus, English has become a vital

language used in local speech and writing in many aspects of the daily life of a Malaysian.

Many locals use English widely in their everyday conversation especially in the urban areas.

The usage of English can be found extensively in the business sector, communication

domains and in the urban household domain. This language happens to be the communication

medium amongst its members. There are also various local radio stations and a few local

television programmes which use English as their primary language. In Malaysia, English

had a dominant status throughout the British administration; it was the language of the ruling

class, the Christian religion and the administration (Bhatha 1990). As a result, the varieties of

Malaysian English did not evolve much as they were not used much at all. Until 1965, a

common variety, Singapore/Malayan English, existed as both Malaysia and Singapore were

under British rule (Platt and Weber, 1980).

Malaysia is a multiracial and multicultural country. One of the issues that often arise in a

country like Malaysia where over a hundred languages and dialects are spoken daily by the

people is the choice of language (David, 2006). Decisions about language choice often

manifest itself in the daily interaction and social milieu of Malaysian youth. Thus, it is

inevitable that these adolescents are constantly faced with the option of making meaningful

language choices when they interact with family members and with those from different races

in their neighbourhood and in the school domain.

This assignment will go through a thoroughly discussion on what is dialect, 7 criteria that

differentiate language and dialect based on Bell 1976, and appropriate social dialect.

3

2.0 DIALECT

The definition of Dialect

A distinction must be made between language and dialect. Very often people see both as

similar. However, the difference between a dialect and a language is that a dialect is a

subordinate variety of a language (Holmes, 2008). When a particular language has varying

elements in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, that particular element of language can

be classified as a dialect (Holmes, 2008; Collins, 1989). Adding to the confusion in

terminology, dialect and accent are sometimes understood and used interchangeably

(Chambers & Trudgill, 2002).

This is because accent ‘refers to the way in which a speaker pronounces and therefore refers

to a variety which is phonetically and phonologically different from other varieties’

(Chambers & Trudgill, 2002:5). Dialects are found the world over and the attitudes people

have towards dialects is sometimes not very encouraging (Holmes, 2008; Honey, 1998).

Several factors have contributed to their perception. One of the factors is that mass media and

learning institutions place a heavier emphasis on the standard variety of a language (Honey,

1998). Dialects, which are the non-standard variety of a language, are often associated with

‘substandard, low status, often rustic forms of language, generally associated with peasantry,

the working class, or other groups lacking in prestige’ (Chambers & Trudgill, 2002:3).

Nonetheless, dialects continue to be studied because dialects, especially in the context of

Malaysia, reflect a tension for Malaysians who are caught between modernity and retaining

traditions, i.e. between speaking the more standard form of the Malay language (or even

English) or speaking Malay in their dialects, either northern, southern or east coast.

Investigating dialects also serves to show how Malaysian speakers try to include themselves

with a particular group such as a politician campaigning to people within his or her locale or

even when a religious figure gives lectures or sermons in his or her dialect.

There are instances where some Malaysian speakers completely drop any hint of their dialect

so as to maintain their social status or even to exclude themselves from any so-called

stereotypes associated with a particular dialect. Regardless of the ideas Malaysians have

about dialects be it Malay, Chinese or Tamil or Hindi, dialects will continue to be part of

Malaysia’s linguistic scenery and will continue to reflect the vastness of Malaysia’s linguistic

diversity.

4

Why there are dialects in a language?

Malaysia, made up of Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and Sabah and Sarawak (East

Malaysia), is a nation of diverse ethnicity. This plural society of 23.27 million in 2000 consist

of the Malays and other indigenous people who form about 65.1% of the population of the

country; the Chinese, who constitute about 26.0%, form the second largest group; the Indians

who form about 7.7% is the third largest group in the composite population of Malaysia while

the minority groups like the Thais, Eurasians, Arabs and peoples of other descent are so small

in number that they are all designated under the term ‘other’ (Census 2002, found at the

Department of Statistics, Malaysia website, David 2006; 3-4).

According to Asmah (1982), cited in Jariah Mohd Jan (2003), “the social environment in

Malaysia is a situation where various languages are used in daily communication”. It can be

said that communication between Malaysians, where inter and intra group encounters are a

common occurrence, is seldom a straightforward use of one language, be it Malay, Chinese,

Tamil or any vernacular languages (Asmah, 1982; Jamaliah Mohd. Ali, 1995; Le Vasan,

1996; David, 1999; Jariah Mohd. Jan, 2003).

It is common for Malaysians of the same linguistic background or Malaysians of different

ethnicities, educational background or social strata to pepper their conversation with

linguistic interference, interlingual code-mixing and code-switching. This scenario has often

surprised visitors to the country and prompted Tim Rome, a UK facilitator for the

International Placement of Headteachers (IPH) programme in Sabah and headteacher of

Lovelace Primary School in Surrey to say, “It is also fascinating that teachers and students

can switch between languages so easily. Most UK teachers would find that a

challenge”(Sunday Star, Education, 16 July 2006;9).

3.0 BELL 1976 – 7 CRITERIA THAT DIFFERENTIATE LANGUAGE AND

DIALECT

Most speakers can give a name to whatever it is they speak. On occasion, some of these

names may appear to be strange to those who take a scientific interest in languages, but we

should remember that human naming practices often have a large ‘unscientific’ component to

them. Census-takers in India find themselves confronted with a wide array of language names

when they ask people what language or languages they speak. Names are not only ascribed

by region, which is what we might expect, but sometimes also by caste, religion, village, and

5

so on. Moreover, they can change from census to census as the political and social climate of

the country changes.

While people do usually know what language they speak, they may not always lay claim to

be fully qualified speakers of that language. They may experience difficulty in deciding

whether what they speak should be called a language proper or merely a dialect of some

language. Such indecision is not surprising: exactly how do you decide what is a language

and what is a dialect of a language? What 28 Languages, Dialects, and Varieties criteria can

you possibly use to determine that, whereas variety X is a language, variety Y is only a

dialect of a language? What are the essential differences between a language and a dialect?

One such attempt (see Bell, 1976, pp. 147–57) has listed seven criteria that may be useful in

discussing different kinds of languages. According to Bell, these criteria (standardization,

vitality, historicity, autonomy, reduction, mixture, and de facto norms) may be used to

distinguish certain languages from others. They also make it possible to speak of some

languages as being more ‘developed’ in certain ways than others, thus addressing a key issue

in the language–dialect distinction, since speakers usually feel that languages are generally

‘better’ than dialects in some sense.

1. Standardization refers to the process by which a language has been codified in

some way.

2. Vitality refers to the existence of a living community of speakers.

3. Historicity refers to the fact that a particular group of people finds a sense of

identity through using a particular language: it belongs to them.

4. Autonomy is an interesting concept because it is really one of feeling. A language

must be felt by its speakers to be different from other languages.

5. Reduction refers to the fact that a particular variety may be regarded as a sub-

variety rather than as an independent entity.

6. Mixture refers to feelings speakers have about the ‘purity’ of the variety they

speak.

7. De facto norms refers to the feeling that many speakers have that there are both

‘good’ speakers and ‘poor’ speakers and that the good speakers represent the

norms of proper usage.

As a social norm, then, a dialect is a language that is excluded from polite society’ (pp. 924–

5). It is often equivalent to nonstandard or even substandard, when such terms are applied to

6

language, and can connote various degrees of inferiority, with that connotation of inferiority

carried over to those who speak a dialect.

4.0 SOCIAL DIALECT

A sociolect or social dialect is a variety of language (a register) associated with a social group

such as a socioeconomic class, an ethnic group (precisely termed ethnolect), an age group,

and so on. Sociolects involve both passive acquisition of particular communicative practices

through association with a local community, as well as active learning and choice among

speech or writing forms to demonstrate identification with particular groups.

Sociolect, defined by Peter Trudgill, a leading sociolinguist and philosopher, is “a variety

which is thought of as being related to its speakers’ social background rather than

geographical background”. This idea of sociolect began with the commencement of

Dialectology, the study of different dialects in relation to social society, which has been

established in countries such as England for many years, but only recently has the field

garnered more attention.

However, as opposed to dialect, the basic concept of a sociolect is that a person speaks in

accordance with their social group whether it is with regard to one’s ethnicity, age, gender,

etc. As William Labov once said, “the sociolinguistic view…is that we are programmed to

learn to speak in ways that fit the general pattern of our communities”. Therefore, what we

are surrounded with in unison with our environment determines how we speak; hence, our

actions and associations.

Most purists and native speakers’ fear were based on their definition of a ‘standard’ dialect.

What is a specific criterion for a dialect to achieve its ‘Standard’? The present situation in

Malaysia is marked by increasing efforts to elevate the status and standard of English

instruction at the school level but this is not felt necessary for societal needs in the home or in

work place.

A dialect becomes ‘standard’ if the spoken and written language is clearly understood by its

users. The dialect becomes incomprehensible and later leads to major problems if the

acquisition of new varieties of English occurs in isolation from their cultural context (Foley:

1998). Therefore, it is important to use the dialect or Malaysian English in its own

sociolinguistic settings.

7

As gathered by Syed Hussein Al-Attas (1990), opposition to standardization in the use of

English will only promote backwardness especially among Malay Malaysian speakers.

However, a point to be considered here is ‘what are we standardizing’ and ‘to whose standard

are we prescribing to’. As stated in the preface of Rebaczonok-Padulu (2001), ‘Standard

English’ deals with official language of the entire English-speaking world, and which is also

the language of the educated English-speaking people.

Indeed, such a universality binding term like the ‘entire English-speaking world’ carries

connotations of colonial superiority that is unlikely of present emergence of New English

varieties such as the Malaysian (ME) and Singapore English (SE). It is also important to note

that the status of English in that particular country varies, whether it is the second language

(as in Malaysia) or the official language in Singapore.

As the Malays, Chinese, Indians have their own mother tongue language, the need for

acquiring English vary from the second language for the Malays and the third language for

the Chinese and Indians – as Bahasa Malaysia is the official language. Hence, Malaysian

English arises to be the lingua-franca (used in an informal setting) to this multiracial society.

For example, a Malay speaker would speak Malaysian English with certain words, phrases,

particles understood by the Chinese and Indians. For instance, instead of speaking a proper

English for ‘It should be done like that!’ the Malaysian English version would be ‘Like that

one’.

Thus, we have to differentiate the situation where we can have a conversation in our dialect

or when not to use it. For example, when having conversation in an interview, we might want

to use standard dialect or appropriate dialect so that the interviewer able to understand what

we want to convey to them. In addition, it is one of formality that should be followed.

05. CONCLUSION

Variety is a language that has same sounds, words, grammatical features. A general term for

any distinctive form of a language or linguistic expression is Language varieties. Linguists

commonly use language variety, as a cover term for any of the overlapping subcategories of a

language, including dialect, idiolect, register, and social dialect.

Dialect refers to a variety of a language that can signal the speaker’s regional or social

background, dialects are subdivisions of language, the term of dialect refers to grammar and

8

vocabulary (or lexis). Dialect is divided into two, social dialect and regional dialect. Regional

dialect refers to a place, and social dialect refers to social groups and classes.

Language is many things; it can be a system of communication, a medium for thought,

vehicle for literary expression, a matter for political controversy, a catalyst for nation

building (O’Grady & Dobrovolsky, 1989: 1 in Imansyah, 2008: 1). The existence of language

can’t be separated from human life. It can be seen from the fact that all activities related to

interaction among people necessitate a language.

Language is an important means of communication. Language reflects thinking; obviously

we can’t say a sentence until we have first thought of it. Often our thinking gets mixed with

emotions and our reasons become loaded with desires, wishes, prejudices, and opinions. The

kind of thinking we do is our business until we try to persuade someone else to agree to our

point of view; then that thinking becomes another’s business (Meade, et.al, 1961: 94).

(2584 words)

06. REFERENCES

Baugh, A.(2002). A History of the English Language. London: Routledge.

Clyne, M. G. (1992). Pluricentric Languages: Differing norms in Different Nations. Berlin:

Mouton de Gruyter.

Dudley-Evans, T. & M. St. John. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Foley, J.A, et al. (1998). English in New Cultural Contexts. Singapore: Oxford University

Press. Gill, Saran Kaur. (1994). Bangi: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Bell, R. T. (1976). Sociolinguistics: Goals, Approaches and Problems. London: Batsford.

9