Cht. 2 language and society Flashcards
mentalist approach
how language is made in the mind
what approach do linguists have
mentalist approach
empiricist approach
only trusting evidence from the real world
what approach do sociolinguists use
empiricist approach
standard language perception
taught in school, in media/news, formal writing. Seen as pretty or nice
Non-standard language perception
often branded as a dialect. Seen as chaotic or broken
descriptive approach
how people actually talk
prescriptive approach
how people “should” talk
what is the criteria in order for people to speak the same language
mutual intelligibility
interlocutor
person you’re speaking with
what is wrong when you can’t understand someone speaking the same language
social distance (sex, country, background etc.)
slang
associated with young people, usually fleeting. Different from a dialect!
what is the difference between an accent and a dialect
an accent can be a region within the dialect (Glasgow Scottish, Cockney English)
what is another term for dialect
variety
speech community
what variation of the language your community speaks
community of practice (CofP)
people who do the same thing as you (work, school)
what is the social network theory
new linguistic traits are more difficult to take root if network has little interaction and multiple ways of doing so (stick to what you know)
what does the social network theory allow
interaction and speaker agency
speaker agency
ability of the speaker to control what you do & make concious choices
what do people in the CofP do with their language
want to conciously work on and keep language identity (changing it)
broker
someone who shares multiple language traits from different groups because they’ve internalized it.
