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1、Chapter 6,Linguistic and Social Inequality,6.1 Introduction,Question:Are some languages or dialects inherently better than others?Lay people:Some varieties of language are considered to be better than others.Linguists opinion?,6.1 Linguistic Inequality,6.1.1 IntroductionEquality among languagesAll l
2、anguages are equal:no language is inherently“better”than others.Each variety displays characteristics common to all human language:complex and rule-governed.Equality among speakersAll normal people are equal with regard to their grammars.Even if there are differences between the grammars of two peop
3、le,there is no way of knowing which has higher prestige in society simply by studying the grammars.,6.1 Linguistic Inequality,Therefore,linguistics should be descriptive,not prescriptive.Problem oneIt is harder than many linguists realize to avoid prescriptivism,since the historical development of l
4、inguistic theory has been so closely linked to the description of prestigious varieties such as standard languages.Linguists have studied standard varieties far more than non-standard varieties.,6.1 Linguistic Inequality,Problem twoThe doctrine of linguistic equality deflects attention from language
5、 as a possible source of social inequality.There are identifiable differences between people of the same age in aspects of language such as vocabulary,certain areas of syntax,skill at using speech for certain tasks and the arts of reading and writing,which can only be described as examples of inequa
6、lity.,6.1 Linguistic Inequality,Linguists and lay people differ.When linguists make claims about linguistic equality,they are referring to the basic core of language structure,which is the area linguistic theory has been most concerned.Lay people take the basic core completely for granted,and are mo
7、re concerned with more peripheral aspects such as vocabulary and register-specific constructions.,6.1 Linguistic Inequality,6.1.2 Three types of linguistic inequalitySubjective inequalityIt concerns what people think about each others speech:some people are credited with more intelligence,friendline
8、ss and other such virtues according to the way they speak.Language,in the form of variety differences,contributes to social inequality by being used as a yard-stick for evaluating people,and by being a highly unreliable yard-stick.,6.1 Linguistic Inequality,Strictly linguistic inequalityIt relates t
9、o the linguistic items that a person knows.People of different experiences know different ranges of items.Some people are more confident in using an item than other people,and those who do know it fare better in those social situations where it is needed.Social inequality arises on each such occasio
10、n.Some occasions are more important than others in their effects on overall life-chances.(education vs.fishing),6.1 Linguistic Inequality,Communicative inequalityIt is concerned with knowledge of how to use linguistic items to communicate successfully,rather than simply with knowledge of the linguis
11、tic items themselves.It refers to the kind of knowledge or skill that is needed when using speech to interact with other people.It also includes inequalities in the ways in which speakers select variants of linguistic variables in order to present a favorable image,which means that communicative ine
12、quality subsumes subjective inequality.,6.2 Subjective inequality,6.2.1 Language-based prejudiceIt involves prejudices about particular ways of speaking.This is socially problematic in that the conclusions may be wrong.We do it because we need the information,and we have no better source.A language
13、prejudice is a characteristic which we expect people to have because of the way they speak.,6.2 Subjective inequality,6.2.2 Evaluation of languageWhen we evaluate speech as rough,posh,effeminate,affected and so on,this evaluation is based on the evaluation of the speakers,and not on the speech forms
14、 themselves.The most important questions is how people evaluate the dialect or language that they speak themselves,because this is closely related to their self-evaluation.,6.2 Subjective inequality,Linguistic insecurity:a feeling of insecurity experienced by speakers or writers about some aspect of
15、 their language use or about the variety of language they speak.This may result,for instance,in MODIFIED SPEECH,when speakers attempt to alter their way of speaking.Modified speech:a term used by linguists to describe speech which is deliberately changed in an attempt to make it sound more educated
16、or refined.The change is usually temporary and the speaker lapses back to his or her normal speech pattern.,6.2 Subjective inequality,Overt prestige:the prestige of the high-status group representing,symbolically,the whole community.Covert prestige:that of the local,non-prestige group.,6.2 Subjectiv
17、e inequality,6.2.3 Stereotypes and how to study themPeople use the speech of others as a clue to non-linguistic information about them,such as their social background and even personality traits.,6.2 Subjective inequality,Subjective reaction test The method of recording people talking with tape-reco
18、rders.The tape might typically contain a dozen voices,each speaking for a minute or so.The subjects(the people whose stereotypes are being investigated)are asked to listen to these voices,one at a time,and answer a questionnaire about each.The results typically show clear differences both between vo
19、ices and between subjects-different voices evoke different stereotypes in the mind of the same person,whilst the same voice may suggest different stereotypes to different people.,6.2 Subjective inequality,Matched guise technique(in studies of language attitudes)the use of recorded voices of people s
20、peaking first in one dialect or language and then in another;that is,in two guises.The recordings are played to listeners who do not know that the two samples of speech are from the same person.The reactions of the listeners to the speakers in one guise are compared to reactions to the other guise t
21、o reveal attitudes towards different language or dialect groups,whose members may be considered more or less intelligent,friendly,co-operative,reliable,etc.,6.2 Subjective inequality,6.2.4 Prejudice of teachersThere is some evidence that teachers base their first impression of pupils on speech-forms
22、 in preference to other sources of information which might appear to be more relevant.Teachers are of at least two kinds:those who evaluate on the basis of standardness,and those who pay more attention to fluency.,6.2 Subjective inequality,If a teacher expects children to perform poorly,her behavior
23、 towards them may be such as to encourage them to do just that.Negative expectations by the teacher will similarly lead to negative performance by the pupils.,6.2 Subjective inequality,6.2.5 Prejudice of pupilsSome children already have quite well-developed linguistic prejudices by the time they go
24、to primary school.The teachers accent may affect the childrens willingness to be influenced by what she says,and even their ability to remember it.Children will pay more attention to things said in an accent which arouses their group loyalty than in one which does not,and will consequently remember
25、more of the former.,6.2 Subjective inequality,It thus seems that the linguistic prejudices of both teachers and pupils are potential sources of serious problems in the education process.,6.3 Linguistic incompetence:strictly linguistic inequality,deficit theory(deficit hypothesis)the theory that the
26、language of some children may be lacking in vocabulary,grammar,or the means of expressing complex ideas,and may therefore be inadequate as a basis for success in school.Linguists have criticized this hypothesis and contrasted it with the difference hypothesis,which states that although the language
27、of some children(e.g.children from certain social and ethnic groups)may be different from that of middle-class children,all dialects are equally complex and children can use them to express complex ideas and to form a basis for school learning.,6.3 Linguistic incompetence:strictly linguistic inequal
28、ity,The deficit hypothesis is dangerous nonsense:nonsense because it is simply not true that any normal children are so short of language,and dangerous because it can distract attention from the real shortcomings of many school systems by putting the blame for educational failure on inadequacies of
29、the child.,6.3 Linguistic incompetence:strictly linguistic inequality,It should be remembered that no two speakers know precisely the same range of vocabulary and syntactic constructions,so we can not rule out the possibility that some such differences are relevant to success at school.Wells(1981)co
30、nfirmed that children are unequal from a strictly linguistic point of view,and that at least some of the inequality is due to their experiences.,6.3 Linguistic incompetence:strictly linguistic inequality,It seems likely that,although some children learn academic words(the vocabulary that teacher use
31、 when teaching)at home,others may not,which leaves them at a disadvantage when they first meet the words at school,and the fact that some children do understand the words may blind the teacher to the need to explain them.,6.3 Linguistic incompetence:strictly linguistic inequality,At one extreme are
32、children who are fully competent in a language,but not in the language of instruction.At the other extreme are children who speak a non-standard dialect of the schools language of instruction,but who are expected to learn the standard dialect for purposes of reading and writing,and possibly also for
33、 speaking.,6.4 Communicative incompetence:inequality in communication,It is easy to see how inequality can arise in communicative competence to the extent that this is learned through experience.A particular obvious kind of inequality in communicative competence distinguishes native speakers of a la
34、nguage from non-native learners.,Term paper,Topic:Sociolinguistics and Language TeachingTypedA4 paperFont:Times New Roman Font size:Main body(12)Title,abstract,key words,main body,referencesCover:Students name,Student number,Course name,teachers name,Suggested Topics,Introducing culture into language teachingWhat is communicative competenceInequality in the language classroomEnglish teaching policy in ChinaWhat to teach our students in the classroom,
