社会语言学 Chapter 6

.,Chapter6,LinguisticandSocialInequality,.,6.1Introduction,Question:Aresomelanguagesordialectsinherentlybetterthanothers?Laypeople:Somevarietiesoflanguageareconsideredtobebetterthanothers.Linguistsopinion?,.,6.1LinguisticInequality,6.1.1IntroductionEqualityamonglanguagesAlllanguagesareequal:nolanguageisinherently“better”thanothers.Eachvarietydisplayscharacteristicscommontoallhumanlanguage:complexandrule-governed.EqualityamongspeakersAllnormalpeopleareequalwithregardtotheirgrammars.Eveniftherearedifferencesbetweenthegrammarsoftwopeople,thereisnowayofknowingwhichhashigherprestigeinsocietysimplybystudyingthegrammars.,.,6.1LinguisticInequality,Therefore,linguisticsshouldbedescriptive,notprescriptive.ProblemoneItisharderthanmanylinguistsrealizetoavoidprescriptivism,sincethehistoricaldevelopmentoflinguistictheoryhasbeensocloselylinkedtothedescriptionofprestigiousvarietiessuchasstandardlanguages.Linguistshavestudiedstandardvarietiesfarmorethannon-standardvarieties.,.,6.1LinguisticInequality,ProblemtwoThedoctrineoflinguisticequalitydeflectsattentionfromlanguageasapossiblesourceofsocialinequality.Thereareidentifiabledifferencesbetweenpeopleofthesameageinaspectsoflanguagesuchasvocabulary,certainareasofsyntax,skillatusingspeechforcertaintasksandtheartsofreadingandwriting,whichcanonlybedescribedasexamplesofinequality.,.,6.1LinguisticInequality,Linguistsandlaypeoplediffer.Whenlinguistsmakeclaimsaboutlinguisticequality,theyarereferringtothebasiccoreoflanguagestructure,whichisthearealinguistictheoryhasbeenmostconcerned.Laypeopletakethebasiccorecompletelyforgranted,andaremoreconcernedwithmoreperipheralaspectssuchasvocabularyandregister-specificconstructions.,.,6.1LinguisticInequality,6.1.2ThreetypesoflinguisticinequalitySubjectiveinequalityItconcernswhatpeoplethinkabouteachothersspeech:somepeoplearecreditedwithmoreintelligence,friendlinessandothersuchvirtuesaccordingtothewaytheyspeak.Language,intheformofvarietydifferences,contributestosocialinequalitybybeingusedasayard-stickforevaluatingpeople,andbybeingahighlyunreliableyard-stick.,.,6.1LinguisticInequality,StrictlylinguisticinequalityItrelatestothelinguisticitemsthatapersonknows.Peopleofdifferentexperiencesknowdifferentrangesofitems.Somepeoplearemoreconfidentinusinganitemthanotherpeople,andthosewhodoknowitfarebetterinthosesocialsituationswhereitisneeded.Socialinequalityarisesoneachsuchoccasion.Someoccasionsaremoreimportantthanothersintheireffectsonoveralllife-chances.(educationvs.fishing),.,6.1LinguisticInequality,CommunicativeinequalityItisconcernedwithknowledgeofhowtouselinguisticitemstocommunicatesuccessfully,ratherthansimplywithknowledgeofthelinguisticitemsthemselves.Itreferstothekindofknowledgeorskillthatisneededwhenusingspeechtointeractwithotherpeople.Italsoincludesinequalitiesinthewaysinwhichspeakersselectvariantsoflinguisticvariablesinordertopresentafavorableimage,whichmeansthatcommunicativeinequalitysubsumessubjectiveinequality.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,6.2.1Language-basedprejudiceItinvolvesprejudicesaboutparticularwaysofspeaking.Thisissociallyproblematicinthattheconclusionsmaybewrong.Wedoitbecauseweneedtheinformation,andwehavenobettersource.Alanguageprejudiceisacharacteristicwhichweexpectpeopletohavebecauseofthewaytheyspeak.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,6.2.2EvaluationoflanguageWhenweevaluatespeechasrough,posh,effeminate,affectedandsoon,thisevaluationisbasedontheevaluationofthespeakers,andnotonthespeechformsthemselves.Themostimportantquestionsishowpeopleevaluatethedialectorlanguagethattheyspeakthemselves,becausethisiscloselyrelatedtotheirself-evaluation.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,Linguisticinsecurity:afeelingofinsecurityexperiencedbyspeakersorwritersaboutsomeaspectoftheirlanguageuseoraboutthevarietyoflanguagetheyspeak.Thismayresult,forinstance,inMODIFIEDSPEECH,whenspeakersattempttoaltertheirwayofspeaking.Modifiedspeech:atermusedbylinguiststodescribespeechwhichisdeliberatelychangedinanattempttomakeitsoundmoreeducatedorrefined.Thechangeisusuallytemporaryandthespeakerlapsesbacktohisorhernormalspeechpattern.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,Overtprestige:theprestigeofthehigh-statusgrouprepresenting,symbolically,thewholecommunity.Covertprestige:thatofthelocal,non-prestigegroup.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,6.2.3StereotypesandhowtostudythemPeopleusethespeechofothersasacluetonon-linguisticinformationaboutthem,suchastheirsocialbackgroundandevenpersonalitytraits.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,SubjectivereactiontestThemethodofrecordingpeopletalkingwithtape-recorders.Thetapemighttypicallycontainadozenvoices,eachspeakingforaminuteorso.Thesubjects(thepeoplewhosestereotypesarebeinginvestigated)areaskedtolistentothesevoices,oneatatime,andansweraquestionnaireabouteach.Theresultstypicallyshowcleardifferencesbothbetweenvoicesandbetweensubjects-differentvoicesevokedifferentstereotypesinthemindofthesameperson,whilstthesamevoicemaysuggestdifferentstereotypestodifferentpeople.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,Matchedguisetechnique(instudiesoflanguageattitudes)theuseofrecordedvoicesofpeoplespeakingfirstinonedialectorlanguageandtheninanother;thatis,intwoguises.Therecordingsareplayedtolistenerswhodonotknowthatthetwosamplesofspeecharefromthesameperson.Thereactionsofthelistenerstothespeakersinoneguisearecomparedtoreactionstotheotherguisetorevealattitudestowardsdifferentlanguageordialectgroups,whosemembersmaybeconsideredmoreorlessintelligent,friendly,co-operative,reliable,etc.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,6.2.4PrejudiceofteachersThereissomeevidencethatteachersbasetheirfirstimpressionofpupilsonspeech-formsinpreferencetoothersourcesofinformationwhichmightappeartobemorerelevant.Teachersareofatleasttwokinds:thosewhoevaluateonthebasisofstandardness,andthosewhopaymoreattentiontofluency.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,Ifateacherexpectschildrentoperformpoorly,herbehaviortowardsthemmaybesuchastoencouragethemtodojustthat.Negativeexpectationsbytheteacherwillsimilarlyleadtonegativeperformancebythepupils.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,6.2.5PrejudiceofpupilsSomechildrenalreadyhavequitewell-developedlinguisticprejudicesbythetimetheygotoprimaryschool.Theteachersaccentmayaffectthechildrenswillingnesstobeinfluencedbywhatshesays,andeventheirabilitytorememberit.Childrenwillpaymoreattentiontothingssaidinanaccentwhicharousestheirgrouployaltythaninonewhichdoesnot,andwillconsequentlyremembermoreoftheformer.,.,6.2Subjectiveinequality,Itthusseemsthatthelinguisticprejudicesofbothteachersandpupilsarepotentialsourcesofseriousproblemsintheeducationprocess.,.,6.3Linguisticincompetence:strictlylinguisticinequality,deficittheory(deficithypothesis)thetheorythatthelanguageofsomechildrenmaybelackinginvocabulary,grammar,orthemeansofexpressingcomplexideas,andmaythereforebeinadequateasabasisforsuccessinschool.Linguistshavecriticizedthishypothesisandcontrasteditwiththedifferencehypothesis,whichstatesthatalthoughthelanguageofsomechildren(e.g.childrenfromcertainsocialandethnicgroups)maybedifferentfromthatofmiddle-classchildren,alldialectsareequallycomplexandchildrencanusethemtoexpresscomplexideasandtoformabasisforschoollearning.,.,6.3Linguisticincompetence:strictlylinguisticinequality,Thedeficithypothesisisdangerousnonsense:nonsensebecauseitissimplynottruethatanynormalchildrenaresoshortoflanguage,anddangerousbecauseitcandistractattentionfromtherealshortcomingsofmanyschoolsystemsbyputtingtheblameforeducationalfailureoninadequaciesofthechild.,.,6.3Linguisticincompetence:strictlylinguisticinequality,Itshouldberememberedthatnotwospeakersknowpreciselythesamerangeofvocabularyandsyntacticconstructions,sowecannotruleoutthepossibilitythatsomesuchdifferencesarerelevanttosuccessatschool.Wells(1981)confirmedthatchildrenareunequalfromastrictlylinguisticpointofview,andthatatleastsomeoftheinequalityisduetotheirexperiences.,.,6.3Linguisticincompetence:strictlylinguisticinequality,Itseemslikelythat,althoughsomechildrenlearnacademicwords(thevocabularythatteacherusewhenteaching)athome,othersmaynot,whichleavesthematadisadvantagewhentheyfirstmeetthewordsatschool,andthefactthatsomechildrendounderstandthewordsmayblindtheteachertotheneedtoexplainthem.,.,6.3Linguisticincompetence:strictlylinguisticinequality,Atoneextremearechildrenwhoarefullycompetentina