lecture 14

• Introduction to Language, Communication & Society LCS 111 Linguistics Department First floor, Old Arts Block.
• Revision: Diversity and Difference (1) Lecture 13 Key topics: Analysing data Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistic variables Language and variety Languages and dialects Textbook 294-311, Chapter 11 [First Edition] & 302-319 [Second Edition]
• Diversity and Difference (2) Lecture 1 4 Key topics: H ow people use language to signal (index) their identities Style and styling Linguistic repertoire Domain Textbook 294-311, chapter 11 [First Edition] & 302-319 [Second Edition]
• Obama Skit – Key and Peele https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nopWOC4SRm4 What is funny about this skit? How does "Obama" present himself differently to each person he speaks to? How does his language change? Think about pronunciation, accent, word choice, gesture, facial expression Think of this as "Obama" styling himself differently for different audiences
• Style


  Traditionally regarded as either formal or informal, but more recently seen as a construction of a particular identity (social personae)
• Style can be described as "… an expression of a speaker's identity , an active and conscious symbolic process rather than a knee-jerk (involuntary/unpremeditated) reaction to situational constraints that might require more-or less-formal styles of speech" (Stroud, 2014: 306).
• Is style always conscious?
• Styling identities


  We draw on stereotypes and different linguistic features to project things about where we come from, groups of people we identify with, our position in society to adjust/affect how people see us, sometimes without realising it, but often very consciously as well
• Baker, P. (2008): 'At different times, people are likely to use language in different ways, depending on who else is present, the mood they are in, the sort of persona they wish to project, the setting, and dozens of other variables.'
• Example 1: Women (X, Y), Social Media, 2013

  • X: Elo skat. Hoe gaanit?
  • Y: Hey there. Its going well thanks and with you?
  • X: Eks oryt, jus vri busi wit werk…dit maak n mens moeg jng…hws ur clsses?
  • Y: Shame man. I hope you fit in some time to rest hey. My classes are okay, they are manageable but I'm also just as tired and busy too (thumbs down emoticon)
  • X: Ja maar anyway, spk agn ne skat? (smiley face) c u.
• TAKTIK1 - white South African Hip Hop artist

  • 35. check it (black American?)
  • 36. he's already one of my bitches (whiteness?)
  • 37. Yoh (Cape Town?)
  • 38. this guy thinks I'm a strippa (?)
  • 39. get the fuck off the stage (?)
  • 40 this guy's gooing lippe (Kaaps?)
• African American English (AAE)


  Associated with 'urban ghetto', black tough masculinity
• Kaaps


  Associated with Cape Town hip hop scene
• English


  Global language (whiteness?)
• Styling


  Himself as 'tough white local rapper'
• Linguistic repertoire


  The collection of forms, practices and linguistic features that a speaker can access and deploy in a conversation
• Linguistic repertoires may consist of: 'whole' languages, 'whole' language(s) plus varieties or fragments of other languages
• Domains


  Institutional contexts and their congruent behavioural occurrences
• Examples of domains


  • Work, home, neighbourhood, school/education, marketplace
• New media can cut across traditional domains (e.g. Learning on Youtube, and not in the classroom)
• Domains refer to: Type of interactions, Settings, Interlocutors, Forms of language or genre
• Exercise – Think about: Which linguistic varieties do you use with/in: With family (older and younger members), Religious leaders, Neighbours, Academic personnel at UWC, Fellow students in class, Friends on campus, At work, At the mall
• Reading for lecture 15 Textbook pp 313-329 (1st Edition) Textbook pp 321-339(2nd Edition) (Chapter 12)