Language in the Social Context - Essay Example

Student: Bader ALshammari Lecturer: Dr. Horesh-Uri Submission Date: 5/2016 Word count: 3075 2-We know that age and gender are important in the study of language variation and change. We also know that they interact with one another. However, each of these two factors has its complexities and limitations. Please discuss how these two factors relate to each other, what component(s) of each of them complicates(s) the picture, and how linguistics have gone about untangling some of these issues.   Language is an essential tool for human communication. People use language to exchange ideas, state facts, express thoughts, or give suggestions. According to Labov (2002), language in the social context provides a medium for humans to express feelings and emotions and communicate their needs to one another. Humans participate successfully in their activities thanks to language. Regardless of the many benefits it offers the human race, language is dynamic and never static; it changes day in and day out. Some Reasons behind that are the complexities of such concepts like age and gender (Labov, 2011). Certainly, no one speaks precisely in the same fashion at all times. The way one would talk to his or her boss is quite different from the way the same person would speak to an individual whom he or she meets in the street. Thus, language changes. Variationscommonlywitnessed in language use includevocabularies (slang terms in particular), grammatical constructions, and sounds (Gordon, 1997). Age and gender play a vital role in the generation these changes. Gender and Language The term gender simply a social and cultural connotation used represent how individual identify themselves and how others identify them; going beyond the simple label of sex .it refers to the division of social roles and the expression of behaviors arising from the fact that one is a male or female. Gender is a wide umbrella in the biological classification of sexes in terms of what individualsare supposed to do in a social construction (Gordon, 1997). In sociolinguistics, the main question usually asked is the extent to which gender or social roles determine how a language would change or vary. Language variation closely looks at the social constraints that determine the dialects used in one setting and not the other.the fact that gender is no longer introduced as universal concept, but rather as a critical issue in itself. In particular, with the recent movements of feminisms, transgender and heterosexuality for example, which tend to break the old borders of a mere man and women opposition. Similarly, the scale of language choice, its application, and where and when it is applied can determine the external outlook of an individual. People, especially women, often prefer being felt valuable in the society. Their clever choice of language causesthem to stand out,regardless of being marginalized in most social activities (Bleorţu&Tagliamonte, 2012). As the heads of most families, men are charged with more responsibilities relative to their masculinity. The result is that they do not need to associate with a given line of dialect, for example,prestige language, for their presence to be felt. The activities in which menparticipate already give them an upper or superior hand in society. Undeniably, it is for this reason that men rarely associate with linguistics aspects, whichare largely concerned with opening society’s eyestotheir capabilities. Women, however, because of their low social status, like to associate with prestige language (Labov, 1990). According to Labov (2011), women tend to use standard type language to push their social positions up the ladder. Women’s increased demands and their social status do not match. Consequently, paying attention to what they say is paramount. Female gender is generally criticized or ridiculed, and their participation rarely countsin some societies. In relation, sociolinguists have long tried to understand the impactof gender differences and the part itplays in language variations and change. As mentioned earlier, the gender continuum influences people’s choice and usage of language. The overallimplication is that gender, as a social variable, comes with its own complexities and limitations that need to be untangled before one understands how it shapes a language. Complexities and Limitations of Gender Understanding the true meaning of the term gender is quite complicated. The usage of the term “gender” interchangeably with the word “sex” further complicates thepicture. Nightingale (2006) defines gender as mental, behavioral, and physical characteristics that separate masculinity from femininity. However, the application of gender always depends on the context of reference. For the state of being male or female in society, gender suggests a biological reference of sex determination. In most societies, however, people often identify themselves differently based on the roles they play. Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (2003) agreewith this statement,observing that people’s biological sex often relates to the expectations and social roles they play in the society. Women are often defined with such gentle roles as home caring, cooking, and caring for children. for instance in the middle east and gulf; women do not still enjoy the same rights as men and yet still subject to labels of household, mothering and taking care of children. Men, on the other hand, are affiliated with duties that make them appear superior.As a result, the female gender often remains subjective to the society (Fine, 2010). Classifying males and females based on social roles thus creates binaries in which people develop feelings that they have to remain within specific boundaries of certain domains. Therefore, they have to recognize themselves as either men, women, lesbians or gays. At the global level, the interpretation of gender as male or female is largely associated with the establishment of social expectations of each gender (Gal, 1978). The biological differences are often referred to when there is a need to determine how power, rights, and resources in the society will be appropriated. In this regard, men are often favored by social alignments, making women feel inferior (Fine, 2010). Gender inequalities and imbalances of power occur in nearly all the world countries. Another common issue with the aspect of gender in linguistics is whether language is sexist. The differences between men and women manifest in their language.For sociolinguists, certain languages or vocabularies are specifically meant for a specific gender. For example, the words, handsome and beautiful. According to linguists, handsome is supposed to beused when complimenting men. Beautiful, on the other hands, denotes the female gender. If a personuses linguistic terms that are specifically associated with men when speaking about women, he or she is considered to have crossed the accepted gender boundaries and, thus, to have participated in irrelevant communication. The communityof practice is also an important construct within gender and language research.Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (2003) define the community of practice as situations in which individuals who share common goals come together to participate in activities. The practice might encompass such elements as discourse, interaction patterns, and structures. Therefore, it spreads into the aspect of speech communities. Each community practice often relates to a specific identity group that assistsmembers inlearning different linguistic styles in a way that befit self-perceptions and desires. Sociolinguists always use this framework to examine the dimensions of jointly negotiated enterprises, mutual engagements, and a common repertoire of negotiated resources gained over time. Different scholars have also criticized the aspect of prestige in relation to gender on various grounds. Milroy, for instance, holds that the aspect of prestige is not well defined and possibly circular (Milroy, 2001). This implies that gender, as an independent social variable, is less significant in studying language variation than is social status.Further, there is no adequate explanation as to why male behaviors are treated as social norms while female behaviors are treated as deviant characteristics (Linehan, 1993).With regard to gender and prestige linguistic frameworks, social behaviors are seen as sex-linked, and thus, gender is not viewed as a variable that is socially constructed based on social roles and behaviors. Age Aging is a critical experience in humans’ life. Basically, aging involves the achievement of the social and physical capacities and skills necessary to fit best in a social construct. Through aging, people construct their personal histories (Eckert&McConnell-Ginet, 2003). Similarly, aging is a significant factor in the unfolding of a person’s continuous participation in the world systems. Evidently, therefore, aging denotes a movement through time. Age, on the other hand, is an individual’s place or position based on the available social order (Labov, 2002). Age is a condition; it is a stage or place in an individual’s life history. Itis experienced at both the individual and group levels. Those who are of the same age often have a common understanding because they share the numerical aspect of life. Whatever one person does is likely to influence what other people in the same age bracket would do. Thus, age is a relevant social variable in the study of language variation and change. The position of age in language variation and change lies at the point of the node between life stage and history. The way people speak at a given time may point to a place in their life history and stage. Age differences in sociolinguistics can, therefore, indicate changes in the speech of a community over time (historical change) and variation in the way an individual speaks(Labov, 2002) as he or she continues to grow in life (age grading). The studyof how age influences language variationoften concentrates on the unfolding of age-stratified data, recognizing the time when change can be easily determined. That is the real time to experience a historical change and age-grading. Age-grading takes into account the speech characteristics associated with particular age groups as social or growth stages. According to Grégoire (2006), people speak based on the age brackets under which they fall. The language of children isalways different from the language used by adolescents, junior adults, or senior adults. Children often use elementary forms of their first languages. However, this trend changes as they grow through the adolescent period towards adulthood. When a linguistic change is not a component of a community’s standard language, its application often grows rapidly and peaks during the adolescence stage (that is, 15–17 years old). At this stage, people because of the influence of their social network; they tend to deviate from the regular social norms. In thepre- and post-adolescence periods, the usage of non-standard forms of language is very rare. Before adolescence, children often copy what their parents and other adults in the society do. After adolescence, however, there is a gradual decline in the use of non-standard language due to the pressure to conform to society by embracing what is rightfully accepted in adult life. The usage of the standard form of language grows rapid until 55 years of age (Bleorţu&Tagliamonte, 2012), after which time the non-standard language sets in again and peaks as an individualgets older With regard to the historical age aspects, linguistsgenerallyagree that the present conditions of a language can be used to judge its past usage in the speech community. However, wheninterpreting the features of a language in a given speech community, researchers (sociolinguists) used to believe that the usage of language is normally fixed inthe early adulthood period. The proxy forhistorical times often relied on this assumption. The way older people use a language provides a typical representation of the features of the language in their younger days. Interaction of Gender and Age Age and gender are two different social variables, although they share a great deal in sociolinguistics. They interact freely to determine the direction of language change. People often assume different roles and undergo behavior changes as they grow from the early childhood periods through adolescence to adulthood (Gärtner&Gyuris, 2014).Children are often presented with gender roles at tender ages as a way to bring them up within the existing social morals and lead them onthe right path. Amongst many communities and social setups, the sense of gender identity often begins withthe act of giving infants names that categorize them as either males or females. Usually, this marks the first point of interaction between gender and age factors in sociolinguistics (Bleorţu&Tagliamonte, 2012). In most cases, the first name always points to a child’s gender. However, in the global linguistic understanding, infants are always regarded to be of one gender. The assumption is that their gender roles have notyet been clearly determined. Nevertheless, based on parental approval (as good girl, good boy), the children’s gender unfolds clearly with time. Further, it is undeniable that attributes of being a male or female are often conveyed to children at very young stages of life. As such, critical differences between boys and girls exist, especially in their mental makeups and physiological expressions. Boys are always associated with reasoning. Girls, on the other hand, are linked to emotions. As a result, females are allowed to cry and express emotions (Eckert, 1998). For the male gender, however, crying is not an acceptable behaviorexcept in extremely irrational situations. The result is that children often grow up knowing what is expected of them based on the nature of the social construction. The interaction between gender and age, inthis respect, espouses the linguistic manifestation that girls are socially disfavored. They are considered weak, and for this reason they are allocated duties that do not require much of thinking, reasoning, or strength (Fine, 2010). Undeniably, this is one of the social causesof the imbalance of power, rights, and favors in different speech communities around the world. Consider the formations used for children at an early age. Girls are usually associated with diminutive formations, suggesting that they lack power and thus require protection. The implication is that a certain gender is particularly adapted to a future role. The adolescence period is about conformity in society. Young boys and girls tend to behave like their age mates, especially in the way they speak, behave, and think. Collective actions are evident at this stage because of peer pressure and the desire to fit into a particular group (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 2003). To adults, this kind of behavior may seem strange. However, adolescents persistently differ with their parents or guardians for crossing their lanes. The main reason for this is that their personalities are not yet fully developed and they have a feeling that they must fit intoa certain group. The individuals who control such groups often develop social roles in different areas. Therefore, duringadolescence the aspects of gender and age interact to produce active individuals who are ready to deviate from social norms because of increased peer pressure. This stageis characterized by an increased usage of non-standard forms of language. One of the most amazing is that both male and females portray the same speech characteristics in adolescence (Eckert, 1989). Slang, for example, becomes prominent among both males and females. Social behaviors also conform to each gender because of inability to bear peer rejections. Therefore, adolescence isa critical stage in the linguistic cycle of both men and women. The relationship between age and gender is alsoexhibited inthe adult stage of life. Women behave differently from men. However, women or men of the same age often have a feeling of commonality, which is based on the desire to conform to particular societal norms. For women, prestige language becomes very common because of the feeling that they have to relate to the society and earn respect and honor (Cameron, 2007). For adult men, age leads to a feeling of maturity, where they need to have more power and control in society. Language isan important tool for giving directives and orders. In current social systems, however, it has been realized that gender balance is an important aspect at different stages of life. In attempts to attain equilibrium for both men and women, women are always given more privileges than men, including public representation and advocacy. Some People speak much about consideration forwomen in the junior and senior adulthood stages. The reason is that these stages mark an important time of social realization, human reasoning, and activity with social conformity. Official language isvery common until the very late adulthood stage. Gender and age, therefore, interact to establish a social construction in which both genders feel asense of security and comfort. Linguists’ Approaches Linguists have come up with different techniques that are helpful for studying language variation and change using gender and age. One of the major reasons for this is that these social variables have complexities that need to be untangled to ensure proper evaluation of language variations in a community. Gender, for instance, is complicated when it comes to its definition. The term is often confused with sex identity, social roles, and social behaviors. Understanding their line of engagement as the language and society, linguists have long accepted the definition of gender as the fact of being a male or female based on gender roles and social stratification. As a result, most linguistics studies have focused on the impacts of social behaviors and gender roles on the use of language among the two genders. Women are perceived to be different from men in terms of their social behaviors and engagement in social roles. Their social status is often rated lower than that of men; a reason, according to Eckert (1989), that women resort to prestige language to elevate their social position and avoid criticism and ridicule in the society. In his study, Trudgill (1972) argues that attitude and prestige in linguistics vary from one to another. In words or sounds with “–ing” at the end, men tend to drop the “g” and pronounce the sound as “in,” indicating low linguistic prestige and attitude. Women,on the other hand, tend to utter the full sound as “-ing.”However, because of the complexity his argument, Trudgill borrows Labov’s (2011) “covert and overt prestige” principle to explain how males and females differ when it comes to language pronunciation prestige. According to Labov (2011), this principle denotes the low-prestige linguistics features commonly experienced by thetraditional working class in society. Further, as an individual grows to become old, his age changes. At the same time, different aspects of language in the speech community also vary, resulting in differentage and time impacts (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 2003). Usually, these impacts distort the linguistic data or information, leading to inaccuracy and irrelevancy in linguistic change analysis. Linguists, however, are alert to thischallenge and developed the Apparent Time Construction Model in response. The Apparent Time Construction model operates with definite assumptions. First, the present is a true reflection of the historical past. Second, in the post-adolescent period, people tend to conform to social norms and practices. Thus, the usage of prestige forms of language often remains constant within this period. Linguists, therefore, believe that speech characteristics that are exhibited in the adulthood stages reflect the linguistic styles of those people whenthey were children. The examination of language variation and change based on the social variables of age and gender spans social norms, beliefs, expectations, and mind maps. Changes in speech characteristics depend on whether one is male or female as well as one’sstage in life in terms of age. Based on these constructs, linguists explain the transitions of language use among different speech communities around the world.   References Bleorţu.C.,& Tagliamonte,A.S.(2012). Variationist sociolinguistics. 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