INTRODUCTION
As mentioned earlier in the previous unit, language is a social phenomenon because the users of any particular language dwell in a society, and their interactions through the language reflects the worldview of the society. Certain social factors have been identified, which shape the way we construct meaning in language. Such factors determine what language we use, and how we use such language. They include the context of language use, the social status of the language user, the age of the language user and the sex of the language users. In this unit, we shall see how these factors shape the ways we use language in the society.
3.1 Context as a Factor in Language Use
It is impossible to determine what most utterances mean without having some knowledge of the situations in which they occur. Such situations are referred to as context. By context here, we mean the:
(i) physical environment of the language use, i.e., where the language is used, the objects there and the actions taking place; this is often referred to as the physical context
(ii) utterances made before and after the one under consideration; this is called the linguistic context
(iii) general rules of behaviour that the language users obey, the background knowledge shared by the users. This is also known as the epistemic context
(iv) social relationship between the language users, which is also known as the social context.
We cannot possibly study language without considering the context in which it is used, because context creates possibilities for interpretation and helps us to remove ambiguities that utterances would have had if they had occurred in isolation. For instance, if someone utters the statement:
I need a mouse urgently.
The meaning will depend on the context in which the utterance is made. If this statement was made by a scientist who is running an experiment, the mouse he/she is referring to will then be a rodent with a long tail. However, if the same statement was made by a person who has a computer that he uses to word process his documents, the mouse will then refer to the device we use to do things on a computer screen. We would see that in interpreting the meaning of the statement above, we need to look into the physical context, the people involved and where the discourse is taking place, our understanding of the word mouse, which is not limited to one meaning, and so forth.
Halliday (1973) described the knowledge speakers have of the context of the language they use by identifying three meta-functions namely: the ideational knowledge, the interpersonal knowledge, and the textual knowledge. The ideational knowledge refers to the knowledge of the culture prevalent within the society gained by means of direct experience by the speakers. The interpersonal knowledge is the knowledge of how people behave in particular situations, i.e. the degree of formality that a culture assigns to different situations and the roles people assume as a consequence. The textual knowledge refers to the knowledge gained from the other texts including the knowledge of intra- and inter-textual contexts, conventions for the organisation of texts, how texts are made to stick together as a meaningful whole (cohesion and coherence).
3.1.1 Social Status
Every society has a social structure, which usually is based on certain socio-economic indices, such as occupation, the level of education, the income, the dwelling place, and so forth. Status in this sense is therefore anything a set of language speakers have that distinguishes them from other language users. The status of language users influences the way they use language. It is easy to identify the different layers of any society in terms of the status of the people. For instance there is the likelihood that people who live in the same area of a particular society have the same linguistic behaviour.
Likewise, those who belong to the same profession tend to speak the same way because the profession that binds them together reflects in the language they speak. People who live in the exclusive areas of the society like the Government Reservation Areas (GRAs) are those who are regarded as the upper class people in the society. In Nigeria, for instance, people in the upper class socialise mostly in English, while the people in the lower class socialise in the local languages.
It is important to state here that one’s status also refers to the roles we take up in different speech situations. People are generally aware of their own status in relation to one another, and will choose the appropriate linguistic forms consciously to reflect this status in different speech situations. For instance, when we are talking to people of higher social authority, our language becomes more formal than when we are interacting with people of the same social status or lower status.
Status also reflects in the medium of language we use, For instance, most writings are formal, probably because most of the relationships that are expressed through writing are formal in character.
3.1.2 Age
Age is a very important factor in language use. As you would recognise people of different age brackets have different linguistic behaviour. Children have their own way of speaking especially when they are just learning the language. Scholars in language acquisition have recognised different stages children go through to acquire language. Each of these stages has its different characteristics. Even adults recognise that we have what we call “baby talk”, which is the expression for the sounds and words babies used when learning to speak and the words used by adults when talking to babies. We recognise words like “weewee” (to urinate), “poupou” (to defecate) as part of children’s vocabulary.
We also recognise that the young ones, mainly the youths have a linguistic culture different from that of the adults. This culture is further strengthened by the new technologies for communication. The youth culture is evident in every human culture and since we have established it that language is used to express or transmit culture; then, it is clear that the youth culture is projected through their language use. For instance, expressions, as “dad”, “pop”, “popsie” (daddy), “mum”, “momsie” (mummy), “chill” (to relax) are common among Nigerian youths.
The way young people use their mobile phones for creative means is increasing. In fact, this generation of young people is often referred to as the “next generation”. Through the new technologies, the youths are reinventing conventional linguistic and communicative practices (Thurlow, 2003). The language of the youth is characterised by non- conventional forms, sometimes deliberately used as a rebellion against the well-known linguistic convention.
Adults also have their own form of language, and it is usually the case that one can recognise the speech of an adult through the lexical items chosen and sometimes the structure. Adults tend to conform more to the conventions of language use. Their language especially those of elderly people is characterised by the use of proverbs and aphorisms.
3.1.3 Sex/Gender
Sex and gender are also very important social variables in language use. Generally speaking research findings have shown that men and women use language differently. Men and women use language in particular ways because of their gender. Apart from the difference in voice pitch of men and women, other findings reveal that women speak in a considerably different way from men.
Coates (1986) studied men-only and women-only discussions and found that when women talk to each other, they reveal a lot about their private lives. They also stick to one topic for a long time, let all the speakers finish their sentences and try to have everyone participate. Men on the other hand, rarely talked about their personal relationships and feelings, but compete to prove themselves better informed about current affairs, travel, sports, etc. The topic change in men’s conversation and they try to establish a reasonably stable hierarchy, with some men dominating the conversation and others talking very little (Coates, 11986). Women are also known to vary the pitch and intonation of their voice more than men.
3.1.4 Education
Education is a very crucial factor in language use. The level of a person’s education determines the kind of language he/she speaks, particularly the variety of language he/she uses. This factor is closely tied with social status, which we discussed earlier. The more educated a person is, the higher he moves up on the social ladder. For instance in Nigeria, where English is the language of prestige, the standard form of the language is used by the well-educated people, while the base form of the language, generally referred to as Pidgin is used mostly by the people with very low education.]
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Watch a soap opera on the television and identify in what ways social factors affect the language used by the actors.
3.1.5 Addresser-Addressee Interactions
From the discussion so far, you can see that addresser-addressee’s relationships vary according to their social roles in the particular communicative context. Below are some examples of speech extracts of some addresser-addressee’s interaction.
Boss/Subordinate Conversation
Boss: Mr. Isaac, get these letters posted for me and buy me two newspapers on your way back
Subordinate: Yes sir. Which ones sir?
Boss: Punch and Guardian
Subordinate: Yes sir.
Teacher/Students Classroom Interaction
Teacher:
Today, we want to examine the functions of language. Before I say anything, who can tell what a language is?
Student:
Sir (raised up the right hand)
Teacher:
Okay, Sam
Student:
Language is communication
Teacher:
Samuel, you tried but that definition is too general. Does somebody else want to try?
Student:
I, sir.
Teachers:
Yes, Chinedu
Student: Language is what human beings use to communicate. It
can either be through speech or writing.
Teacher: Very good, Chinedu. Let us clap for him.
Friend/Friend Conversation
Bisi: You know, I nearly fainted yesterday when I learnt Bimbo was
pregnant.
Uju: Come off it, don’t you know the way the girl has been going, she would end up that way.
Bisi: But it is still a shock to me. So what will happen to her education?
Uju: That is straight forward; she will have to stop until after having the baby.
Bisi: Poor Bimbo, I really pity her.
Uju: Please let’s talk about something else. What are your plans for this holiday? Are you going to spend it in Lagos as usual?
Bisi: I don’t know yet. That will depend on what my mum feels about it. Anyway, I am praying she would let me go.
We can see from the two interactions above that the relationship between the addresser and addressee determines the way they speak. For instance, the first conversation is characterised by a command issued by the boss and a response to obey the command by the subordinate. The boss is able to command because of his social role. In the second interaction, we find a question and answer sequence, where the teacher because of his social role as the educator has the right not only to give knowledge, but also to demand for knowledge, approve students who give accurate response, encourage other students to appreciate such student and so forth. In the last conversation, we see a tone of familiarity between the interlocutors because they are friends. An expression such as “come off it” can only be used by someone who is familiar to the addressee.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Social factors are essential determiners of the way we use language. In this unit, we have been able to see how contextual factors aid meaning in language use. Apart from this, we also look at another related issue - the ways three social factors – social status, age and sex/gender affect the way we use our language.
5.0 SUMMARY
The importance of context in language use and interpretations cannot be over-emphasised. Language is a social phenomenon and its use is situated in a context. Users of a language are aware of the different contexts of language use and they use language to reflect these contexts. They are also aware of their social roles in these contexts and how their social status, age and gender/sex determine the kind of language they use.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. What is context?
2. How does context aid meaning in language use?
3. Discuss how social status and age affect language use.
4. Explain Halliday’s ‘meta-functions” .
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Fasold, R. W. (1990). The Sociolinguistics of Language. London: Blackwell Publishers.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). Introduction to Functional Grammar.
London: Edward Arnold.
Wardaugh, R. (2002.) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Blackwell Publishers Coates.
Yule, G. (1995). The Study of Language. Cambridge: CUP.
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