this is final project from intepreting course taught by Mr. Budianto Hamuddin,M.Isl,

Analayzing Media Discourse Using Critical Discours Analysis

ABSTRACT

a critical period in discourse analysis emerged between the late 1990s and early 2000s in the field of linguistic application in various analytical and approach descriptions. the purpose of this review is to find out how the CDA plays an important role in uncovering an unseen ideology by seeing its presence of power in media discourse learning. This study looks at several journal articles to correct the ways and methods in which CDA has been used to discover social phenomena while revealing the social identity of social actors It is found that the CDA has been used extensively to unmask ideologies that discriminate against oppressed groups while presenting a positive image for the group with the highest authority

INTRODUCTION

CDA appear in the 1990s in the CDA field there are three experts who are very influential in the field of this CDA Norman Fairclough, Teun van Dijk and Ruth Wodak. They have contributed in this field through their work. Influential researchers in this field explain different approaches and theory of work concepts that are different from the methods and theories of artistic analysis. Van Dijk mepablish his first journal entitled Discourse and Society in 1990 which followed by several books that are interconnected in this field in the coming year to come. Critical Discourse The study exists before critical language analysis emerged generally known as Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The CDA itself has an arena as a branch of analytical discourse that goes beyond how and why cumulative discourse contributes to the reproduction of macro structures and highlights significant cultural and ideological traces. The term 'critical' in discourse has been discussed in many ways as the use of language and the reproduction of power in society. Criticism is centered solely on the question of power, hegemony and resistance in the field of language. Mahboob and Paltridge (2013) convey their importance to examine the enforcement of forces and to understand the ways in which power is exercised by a group of dominance over the oppressed.

            CDA is applied in the multidisciplinary field not cleared as text analysis and talk (Van Dijk 2009) but consists of many analyzes and methods (Wodak and Meyer 2009). CDA bias is also called from a very interesting approach to being analyzed 'the existing social phenomena need to be complex and thus require multi-methodical closeness (Wodak and Meyer 2009). Van Dijk (2003) argues unequivocally that the CDA is a proposition aimed at how corruption of power, dominance and inequality is practiced in the discursiveness of social and political contexts. However, Jorgensen and Phillips (2002) assume that CDA as a multi-disciplinary approach analyzes the relationship between cultural 'discourse and social and cultural development' in relation to this approach, Fairclough (1995) suggests that the CDA aims to "systematically convey an opaque relationship sacrifice, incident, and text, and b) broader social and cultural structures, relationships and processes "(p.132). Another researcher from CDA, Janks (1997) looked at CDA as a form of social practice where critical theory was applied to analyze inappropriate relationships. Referring to the pre-elaborated description, the CDA trains critical theory that corrects language in relation to power and power competition that reveal the identity of the oppressor. Meanwhile, Van Dijk (2003) states that CDA focuses on how mental social groups Representations are influenced by social structures. In this event, the theme of the conversation can affect how people highlight important information in text or conversation. CDA is characterized as an interdisciplinary multi-methodological approach rather than an isolated discipline. Van Dijk (2009) asserts that CDA is a critical combination of theory and application rather than critical analysis which therefore leads to the term (critical discourse studies). Van Dijk (2009) and Wodak and Meyer (2009) sketched the objectives and principles of CDA used in reviewing the current CDA study:

- CDA is problem-oriented rather than focusing on theory or a particular discipline as its    implications are explicitly presented in layman’s term to the society.

- CDA is an interdisciplinary as it involves various theory, methods and practical application in unbinding serious issues and problem in society.

- CDA is perceived as a social research as its critical research is concerned with social problems and the understanding of human rights, social inequality, power abuse Idomains such as racism, classism, sexism, and etc.

- CDA is interested in unethical issues which investigates domination group of people whom are subjected to discursive injustice.

- CDA emphasises spontaneous assessment as the need to shed light on the phenomenon under investigation and to provide justification on why certain interpretations are effective than others.

The purpose of this review is to find out how CDA as a critical discourse analysis method plays a vital role in unravelling the hidden ideologies and scrutinise the presence of power in media discourse studies. The specific objective is to investigate the application of CDA approach in the related studies.

CDA THEORY AND APPROACHES

the review presents several different theories and approaches to CDA articulated by Van Dijk, Fairclough, and Wodak. The section below presents the various social theories and models used in CDA that outline ideological ideas.

SOCIAL THEORY OF DISCOURSE

 Social discourse theory is linguistic because it aims to analyze social and political events in society. In this theory, discourse is seen as a social practice build strength across entities. In the social theory of discourse, Fairclough (1992) put forward 3 principles namely considered a social practice. First, discourse is constitutive and fundamental, discourse says it contributes to the formation and reflection of social structures. Second, social practice building social identity and social relationships between various entities and class in society Third, social practices contribute to the system of knowledge and trust as This causes other language functions such as identity, relational and ideational functions. goals and types of social events. In line with this theory, Fairclough (1992) has formulated a three dimensional model in CDA contains texts, discursive practices and social practices. Generally, three- in introducing challenging principles because these principles are best understood today. Textual analysis is analysis of linguistic features and discursive practices (Fairclough, 1992). Like the language With a package of various linguistic features, it becomes complicated and technical to be analyzed each feature.

THEORY OF IDEOLOGY

Theory of ideology is perceived as a multidisciplinary approach which is the fundamental framework for organizing multiple ideological concepts and consumptions. Ideologies usually control the thoughts of a social group which then represent the basic social characteristics of a group based on their identities, goals, norms, values, positions and resources (Van Dijk, 1995). culture. Therefore, these principles leads to the emergence of feminist ideology. It is perceived that ideologies are acquired by members of a social group through long-term process and through other forms of social information processing (Van Dijk, 1995). Cognitive functions are the basic form of ideological properties which organise, monitor and control attitudes of a social group. Every ideological representation is accompanied by experiences of a person which is referred as models. Van Dijk (1987) proclaimed that models represent personal experiences such as particular information about each event or action which is processed in short-term memory. In other words, models are parallel to cognitive functions as they observe the thinking of a person and personal knowledge that one possesses. Models are uniquely formed as they hold the ability to control experiences of a social actor (Van Dijk, 1995) as well as being influenced by the cognitive process of other member groups in society. In relation to this, it is perceived that models are the primary unit which control the various acts of human life as multiple ideologies are discovered.

VAN DIJK’S IDEOLOGICAL SQUARE

Van Dijk's ideological theory (2000) formulates four principles that allow fine ideological analysis to be expressed various ideological attitudes. The four principles are as follows:

• Emphasize the positive about us

• Emphasize the negative things about them

• De-emphasize the negative things about Us

• De-emphasize the positive things about them

These four movements play an important role in the broader contextual strategy of self-positive representation and other negative presentations. The self-presentation discusses the individual acting as group members while expressly expressing ideological ideas. Positive Self-representation emphasizes the positive behavior of the individual as in saying positive things about Us and say negative things about them. This positive attitude is abstract characteristics of group conflict and because of interaction patterns against other groups (Van Dijk, 2000).

VAN DIJK’S SOCIOCOGNITIVE APPROACH

CDA integrates the various linguistic theories and approaches in producing a social and discursive process to highlight the assumptions made by the more powerful on the less powerful. However, Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach attempts to link cognitive theories and approaches with linguistics. Van Dijk proclaimed that critical discourse studies is a critical perspective, position or attitude within the multidisciplinary approach as it intends to shed light on covert ideologies in the social practice. He therefore proposed a triangulation of the interrelationship among discourse, cognitive and society (Van Dijk, 2009). This triangulation emphasises the cognitive phenomena which are connected to the discourse structure and ways in which social inequality, domination, and ideologies occur. In order to discover social representations, attitudes and ideologies of social actors, the connection between the structure of discourse and the structure of society should be viewed. Van Dijk (2009) pointed out that the white group domination leads to social inequality, racism and domination in certain countries. Moreover, the top-down model in CDA is focused as discourse reveals the typical form of injustice in society.

WODAK’S DISCOURSE-HISTORICAL APPROACH

Wodak presented three types of critique in DHA (Reisigl and Wodak, 2009) which disclose justification on why certain interpretation once it has been critiqued, seems valid and abstract. Her three types of critique are as follows:

1.Text or discourse-immanent critique aims at discovering inconsistencies, selfcontradictions, paradoxes, and dilemmas in the text-internal or discourse-internal structures.

2. Sociodiagnostic critique aims at demystifying the manifest or latent persuasive or

potentially manipulative character or discursive practices. Here, the analysts draw on

their contextual knowledge and social theories as well as other rhetorical models

from various disciplines to interpret the discursive events.

3. Future-related prospective critique seeks to contribute to the improvement of

communication (for instance, by elaborating guidelines against sexist language useor

by reducing ‘language barriers’ in hospitals, schools and so on).

Further research on this approach by Wodak and her team investigated discourse, text, and genre in which these three components are believed to be interconnected (Reisigl and Wodak, 2009) Texts are considered to be a part of discourse as it bridges the gap between discourse and ideological structures.Text in discourse can be referred to as a genre and it is identified through the manipulation of discourse for a specific purpose (Reisigl and Wodak, 2009) The discourse used in a social phenomenon is realised through various genres, for instance, via political debates, news reports, speeches presented in a conference and so on. The key strength of Wodak’s work is the relationship between interdiscursivity and intertextual and discourse.  Ideally, text analysis in DHA follows the three-step analytical procedure in which a) the topic of specific discourse is identified, b) discursive strategies are investigated, and the linguistic means (Reisigl and Wodak, 2009) and the specific context-dependent linguisticrealizations are examined. The following heuristic questions are used in DHA analysis:

• How are persons, objects, phenomena/events, processes and actions named and referred to linguistically?

• What characteristics, qualities and features are attributed to social actors, objects, phenomena/events and processes?

• What arguments are employed in the discourse in question?

• From what perspective are these nominations, attributions and arguments expressed?

• Are the respective utterances articulated overtly; are they intensified or mitigated?

As a result, Wodak’s methodology in CDA is abstract as it comprises complex analytical procedures. The strength in DHA is that its analytical concepts are straightforward and comprehensible to a person who is well-versed in the field of linguistics but it may be strenuous for others with non-linguistic knowledge. The deficiency of this approach lies solely on its framework as it is enormously designed and it can be crucial to interpret the analysis or concept (Reisigl and Wodak, 2009).

METHODOLOGY OF REVIEW

In conducting the review, first, the, electronic database search was executed in the ProQuest Scholarly Journal database and Google Scholar. The ProQuest database was selected in searching for related studies for this review because it is a reputable database and it provides varied information which encompasses multiple authoritative sources. Most importantly, ProQuest was subscribed by the university to provide adequate resources for the students. Keywords such as critical discourse analysis and media were used to conduct the search. Another criterion in selecting related studies for this review is based on the authenticity of the data. Initially, 30 related studies were downloaded from the ProQuest database and Google Scholar. Of these 30 studies, 14 studies were eliminated due to the absence of concrete theoretical framework. Only studies applying CDA approaches were included and reviewed. The 16 research studies were read thoroughly and the content was analysed according to major theoretical frameworks. After analysing the content of the selected studies, the major frameworks employed in the studies were organised under three major themes. The first theme is concerned with the application of CDA using Fairclough’s analytical framework, and the second and third themes are associated with the application of CDA using Van Dijk’s framework. It has been noted that within the time frame of ten years, Wodak’s theoretical framework in CDA was rarely utilised in related studies because of its complex analytical procedures. The appendix shows a summary of research studies according to authors, year of publication, research objectives, methodology, sources of data and findings.

FINDINGS FROM THE REVIEW

Studies on political ideologies, power, and discursivity in discourse have been investigated as there is an implicit connotation in every word and power behind each word in unmasking the identity of a noble or horrendous character of a social leader. It is discovered that power is often associated with the act of controlling and constraining the contributions of the non powerful participants in the society as this encounter usually takes place between the power holder and the powerless. Literally, the powerless people are refrained from commenting or debating on political issues and the rationality of an event. It is perceived that ideology has the power to blind-fold non critical discourse analysts in various ways in imposing a belief. Moreover, it is perceived that the positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation strategies were frequently employed. The discriminatory group is portrayed as the negative other-presentation as these groups are oppressed by the dominating group which possesses positive self-presentation. The studies below are organised under three major themes which are related to Fairclough’s analytical framework, Van Dijk’s ideological square and sociocognitive approach. The analytical frameworks for each studies are determined by the researchers of the particular study.

APPLICATION OF FAIRCLOUGH’S ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

In the field of applied linguistics, CDA has been used enormously in various genres analyzing the critical phenomena which leads to the emergence of a certain ideology, power relation and domination within a domain, inequality among races, genders, and social classes. It is perceived that the most crucial aspect where power and domination are exercised is in the life of the public through media. Media is an explicit domain and public is exposed to various ideologies which influence and blind-fold their mind as a certain ideology is enforced on them in their daily life. Tahmasbi and Kalkhajeh (2013) analysed TV bank advertisements using the perspective of ideology manipulation and power relation. Similar to magazine advertisements, bank advertisements are formulated to promote service and to attract audience to obtain service implemented in the banking sector. Bank commercials target a specific group of audience through discourse such as ‘Besides 201 offers to buy Peugeots 407’. Through this phrase, presupposition takes place as bank advertisers assume that viewers own a less exclusive car thus, this advertisement might be considered by the viewers in purchasing or upgrading the car. Therefore, it is patent that ad. Similar to the studies above, Bolte and Keong (2014)scrutinized the ideological representation of illegal immigrants in the Malaysia news discourse. It is perceived that discourse shapes the way a text is produced (Jorgenson and Phillips 2002, Fairclough 1992) and vice-versa. The article focuses on the Refugee Swap Deal between Malaysia and Australia that eventually did not take place. A significant ideology that is found in the media discourse is the protection of agreement that denotes a positive representation of Malaysia and Australia. Although refugees have not been commonly accepted in most countries, yet Malaysia and Australia have joined forces to provide shelter to these immigrants. Thus, the portrayal of positivity and mutuality is seen between both countries. Vertisers have created an unstable and biased discourse which has manipulated the viewers implicitly. 

APPLICATION OF VAN DIJK’S IDEOLOGICAL SQUARE

 Poorembrahim and Zarei(2013) investigated the relationship between language and ideology in the headlines of four main newspapers in America and Britain to scrutinise the image of Islam. The analysis of newspaper headlines discloses the misinterpretation, on how an issue is perceived by the social world. An example which can be depicted through this phenomena is through the headline ‘“How Islam has been corrupted”’. This headline presupposed that Islam is corrupted and in order to perceive corruption in Islam one has to accept the belief that corruption does exist in Islam. Hence, the negative ideological representation forms stereotypes which cast an unfavourable light upon the Muslim community. Another, study on news reports by Ahmadian and Farahani (2014) was carried out to investigate the ideological differences in the discourse between the The Los Angeles Times and Tehran Times utilizing Van Dijk’s ideological framework: macro-strategies which are positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation. The findings manifested various contradicting ideologies in both the newspapers as derogatory terms were used in injecting countless negative ideologies against each other. One such example which was posted against Iran is the phrase “a country which tries to develop a nuclear weapon”. This phrase gives a horrifying ideology to the society as it is seen as a threat. Thus, it is revealed that prejudice appeared to be one of the main ideology between the America-Iran relationships as the mostpowerful possesses a positive ideology meanwhile the less powerful is specified to a negative ideology.

CONCLUSION

This literature has shown that mass media play a significant role in the production of beliefs, prejudice and domination over the social context as mass media tend to marginalize Others and misconstrue an event. It was found that ever since CDA has gained popularity in the field of discourse studies, an increasing number of studies has applied CDA to investigate the discursivity of text, interaction and social context, to explore the relationship between language and ideology, and to examine how dominating ideologies oppress the less powerful. Bearing this notion, it is evident that CDA is a powerful tool in deconstructing texts as it scrutinises the intended ideological representations. To summarise, the present review has examined the various behaviours of CDA which are aimed to reveal stereotypes, presuppositions, hegemony, power and ideological stances. In conclusion, the representation social context determines the production of discourse while discourse contributes to the construction of social power. This review hopes to contribute to the existing knowledge of CDA research to increase awareness among novel researchers who aspire to carry out CDA studies.

UTS sociolinguistics

Name : salawatul rahma diah

Semestr: 5.2

Tugas : sociolinguistics

• 1.     What is sociolinguistics ?

• 2.     Why do we learn sociolinguistics ?

• 3.     What is the relation between language and society ?

• 4.     Please mention and explain the branches of linguistics !

• 5.     What is standard language ? Giving an example !

• 6.     Elaborating the language, dialect and accent, please !

• 7.     Giving an example of formal language and informal language !

• 8.     What aspects of language are sociolinguistics interested in ?

• 9.     When two or more people from different language met and tried to communicate, what should they do ?

a.     Pidgin

b.     Creole

c.      Lingua franca

• 10. Why do people switch and mix a language ?

• 11. Giving an example of code switching and code mixing !

ANSWER

1.     Sociolinguistics is a field of study that studies language with reference to speakers and seeks to answer the following questions:

What meaning do speakers attribute to certain language features? How do people talk, when they want to look... cool? Wise? Modern? How does their speech depend on the specific language situation, interlocutors and the topic of the conversation? Why and how is language changing?

Sociolinguistics is a field of study which deals mostly with language use, particularly spoken language, but not the grammatical or phonetic structure of a language. Sociolinguists do not study a language or a linguistic variety as a closed system with no reference to speaker and social life. Sociolinguists emphasize that language use – the sociolinguistic language system – is always variable and heterogeneous.
Sociolinguists do not divide languages and speakers into "good" and "bad". They follow the so-called differentiation theory which says that all linguistic varieties (not only standard languages, but also dialects, urban languages, youth language, language of various social groups) are valuable. Their value depends on the social context and situation. Every linguistic variety performs necessary functions to its speakers, but their value differs, because their value depends on distribution of power, welfare and prestige in a certain society during a certain historical period of time under certain social, political, cultural and economic circumstances.

It is namely the social attitudes that determine which linguistic variety, language feature or style speakers choose in a certain situation. Even though people cannot command every possible linguistic resource, it is easier to achieve desirable aim if your linguistic repertoire is rich and wide. Here we talk about the communicative competence: we not only convey information, but also express our individual or group identity... and make use of it.

Studies, which investigate linguistic variants, are called micro-sociolinguistic. Studies, which investigate social aspects and language attitudes, are called macro-sociolinguistic. The range of sociolinguistic research is very wide, but all sociolinguistic studies are related to the superior aim – to identify which social factors determine the choice of linguistic variants and language change.

2.     Because First, they discover language is part of a broad social context and understanding this social context is complicated. Secondly, language learning involves the learning of a new phonetic language. Understanding one‟s mother tongue phonetic language assist in understanding some of the pronunciation issues related to learning English. Thirdly, students learn that learning English is a complicated processes; it is affected by the ability of the teacher to understand the students‟ language hurdles, and individual‟s motivation to learn the new language

 

3.     Relationship between language and society

The connection between language and society is tightly anchored. The relationship of the two is deeply rooted. Language performs various functions in the society and the society does the same way. If one will not exist, the other one will be affected.

Language is the primary tool for communication purposes, for establishing peace and order in our society, for showing authority and power, and for attaining goals and objectives. But, it can also destruct the society if it will use inappropriately. It must follow the conformity governing the society to avoid conflict s and to meet the boundary of individual differences.

Society however controls our language by giving us preferences as what are acceptable and not, because each one of us has our own perception or point of view. A group of people may accept our language, but for others, it could be kind of offence or insult. We must know how, when and where to say it and for what purpose.

Social changes produce changes in language. This affects values in ways that have not been accurately understood. Language incorporates social values. However, social values are only the same as linguistic values when the society is a stable and unchanging one. Once society starts changing, then language change produces special effects.

4.     Please mention and explain  the branches of linguistics ?

Linguistics is study of language. It is concerned with human language as a universal and recognizable part of human behavior and of the human abilities. Raja T. Nasr (1984).

THE BRANCHES OF LINGUISTICS

1. General linguistic generally describes the concepts and categories of a particular language or among all language. It also provides analyzed theory of the language. Descriptive linguistic describes or gives the data to confirm or refute the theory of particular language explained generally.

2. Micro linguistic is narrower view. It is concerned internal view of language itself (structure of language systems) without related to other sciences and without related how to apply it in daily life. Some fields of micro linguistic:

a.       Phonetics, the study of the physical properties of sounds of human language

b.       Phonology, the study of sounds as discrete, abstract elements in the speaker's mind that distinguish meaning

c.       Morphology, the study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified

d.       Syntax, the study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences

e.       Semantics, the study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics) and fixed word combinations (phraseology), and how these combine to form the meanings of sentences

f.       Pragmatics, the study of how utterances are used (literally, figuratively, or otherwise) in communicative acts

g.       Discourse analysis, the analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed)

h.       Applied linguistic is the branch of linguistic that is most concerned with application of the concepts in everyday life, including language-teaching

3. Macro linguistic is broadest view of language. It is concerned external view of language itself with related to other sciences and how to apply it in daily life. Some fields of micro linguistic:

a.       Stylistics, the study of linguistic factors that place a discourse in context.

b.       Developmental linguistics, the study of the development of linguistic ability in an individual, particularly the acquisition of language in childhood.

c.       Historical linguistics or Diachronic linguistics, the study of language change.

d.       Language geography, the study of the spatial patterns of languages.

e.       Evolutionary linguistics, the study of the origin and subsequent development of language.

f.       Psycholinguistics, the study of the cognitive processes and representations underlying language use.

g.       Sociolinguistics, the study of social patterns and norms of linguistic variability.

h.       Clinical linguistics, the application of linguistic theory to the area of Speech-Language Pathology.

i.        Neurolinguistics, the study of the brain networks that underlie grammar and communication.

j.        Biolinguistics, the study of natural as well as human-taught communication systems in animals compared to human language.

k.       Computational linguistics, the study of computational implementations of linguistic structures.

         5. What is standard language? Giving an example!

         A standard language or standard variety may be defined either as a language or the variety that has undergone standardization. In British English the standard, known as Standard English (SE), is historically based on the language of the medieval English court of Chancery. The establishment of this standard as the norm of "polite" society, that is to say of the upper classes. The spoken standard has come to be seen as a mark of good education and social prestige.Although often associated with the Received Pronunciation accent, Standard English can be spoken with any accent.

         For examples :. In American and Australian English, for example, "sunk" and "shrunk" as past tense forms of "sink" and "shrink" are beginning to become acceptable as standard forms, whereas standard British English still insists on "sank" and "shrank".

         Elaborating the language, dialect, accent, please!

         Giving an example of formal language and informal language!

         1.       Informal      : I donʼt believe that the results are accurate.

                             Formal         : The results are not believed to be accurate.

                   2.       Informal      : The results of the study were mixed up.

                             Formal         : The results of the study were confused.

                   3.       Informal      : Lecturers still count on students to use correct grammar and  punctuation in essays.

                                       Formal         : Lecturers expect students to use correct grammar and punctuation in essays.

6.     What is the difference between Accent, Dialect and Language?

This article looks at the differences between the three terms. People often confuse them and there is a certain degree of overlap (even linguists don’t always agree on what the difference is between them) but generally speaking we can talk about:

Accents

Accent is all about pronunciation. Two people may use the same grammar, the same syntax and the same vocabulary but pronounce the words in a different way. Effectively they have two accents.

For example, people in the north of England tend to say the word path as:

·       with a short vowel whilst people in the south of England tend to say:

·       with a long vowel. There are two different accents at work here

Dialects

Dialects, on the other hand, have differences not only in pronunciation but also in grammar and syntax. Two people may both speak English but one might say:

He did well!

Whilst the other could say:

He done well!

Here this isn’t just a difference in pronunciation but also grammar; these are two different dialects. On another tack, one person might say:

He’s talking.

Whilst another says:

He’s a-mardlin’.

Here there are differences in vocabulary which separate standard British English from the Norfolk dialect. 

 

Languages

There is a saying that a language is a dialect with an army. Linguists often talk about language in terms of political influence and power. By this they mean that a dialect with political power becomes a language.

Take, for example, Chinese and Spanish. They are two very different languages and most people would regard them as completely separate.

However, what about Spanish and Italian? They share a great deal and are obviously related however, most people would see them as separate languages.

What about Mandarin and Cantonese which are very different (far more different than Spanish and Italian for example) and yet some people regard them as dialects of Chinese.

Finally think about Hindi and Urdu which are regarded as separate languages since they “belong” to two different nations, India and Pakistan, and yet they’re linguistically extremely similar.

So linguistically speaking there is no real difference between a language and a dialect; however politically speaking the differences become of major importance!

7.     Formal and Informal language

We use formal language in situations that are serious or that involve people we don’t know well. Informal language is more commonly used in situations that are more relaxed and involve people we know well.

Formal language is more common when we write; informal language is more common when we speak. However, there are times where writing can be very informal, for example, when writing postcards or letters to friends, emails or text messages. There are also examples where spoken English can be very formal, for example, in a speech or a lecture. Most uses of English are neutral; that is, they are neither formal nor informal.

Formal language and informal language are associated with particular choices of grammar and vocabulary.

Contractions, relative clauses without a relative pronoun and ellipsis are more common in informal language.

Compare

She has decided to accept the job.	formal
She’s decided to accept the job.	informal: She’s = contraction

Compare

The girl whom I met in Singapore was interested in working in Australia.	formal
The girl I met in Singapore was interested in working in Australia.	informal: relative clause without the relative pronoun whom

Compare

We went to Barcelona for the weekend. We have a lot of things to tell you.	Formal
Went to Barcelona for the weekend. Lots to tell you.	Informal: ellipsis (more likely to be written or texted than spoken)

More formal vocabulary commonly involves longer words or words with origins in Latin and Greek. More informal vocabulary commonly involves shorter words, or words with origins in Anglo-Saxon. Most dictionaries indicate very informal and/or formal words.

formal	informal
commence	start
terminate	end
endeavour	try

We often choose to use certain modal verbs to be more formal and polite:

Can I suggest you try this new model? (neutral)

May I suggest you try this new model? (more formal)

Might I suggest you try this new model? (very formal)

8.     What aspects of language are Sociolinguists interested in?Sociolinguists are interested in explaining why people speak differently in

different social contexts. They are concerned with the way people signal aspects of their social identity through language. Sociolinguists study the effect of social factors -- such as social distance, social status, age, gender and class -- on language varieties a(dialects, registers, genres, etc). Sociolinguists are also concerned with identifying the social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social meaning.

9.     Lingua Franca

Lingua Franca might be the most commonly recognised of these three terms. In essence, a lingua franca is one that is used for communication between people who have no native language in common. This helps to facilitate trade and cultural exchange which helps to explain why lingua francas were also called “trade” or “bridge” languages.

While these days, the lingua franca of the world is undoubtedly English, it wasn’t always like that. Throughout history and in various places around the globe, various other languages have been used to the same effect: Greek was used in the heyday of the Hellenistic influence, Latin during the Roman Empire, Aramaic in Western Asia, and today, French, Urdu, and Swahili are used as the lingua franca in certain parts of the world. Actually, the term lingua franca originates from a particular language that was used for communication around the Mediterranean area for around eight centuries. It was based on a simplified version of Italian, with many additions from Spanish, Portuguese, Berber, Turkish, French, Greek, and Arabic. The words “lingua franca” themselves mean “language of the Franks” in Latin, although the term “Franks” covered the whole population of Western Europe.

Although quite often many pidgin and creole languages can function as lingua francas, lingua francas themselves most often are neither pidgin nor creole.

PIDGIN LANGUAGES

Pidgin languages share the main characteristic of a lingua franca in that they are used as a means of communication between different communities. Where they differ from the previous is that pidgin languages have no native speakers. Often, pidgin languages are based on a simplified version of one main language, while borrowing vocabulary and grammar from several additional languages. So, the original lingua franca used around the Mediterranean was a pidgin language, for example – based on simplified Italian, with additions from Greek, French, Arabic, and others. Alternatively, they can originate from mixing together several simplified languages.

At their core, pidgin languages are a very simplified means of communication. Much of the “language” can come down to mixing voice and hand signals, in an effort to make oneself understood to someone from a different community. There are very few grammatical rules and the language can develop impromptu – during the course of a single encounter. Over the course of several encounters, a more conventional form of pidgin can develop; and creole languages take that step even further.

CREOLE LANGUAGES

All creole languages are derived from forms of pidgins – they are simply pidgin languages that have been spoken across generations and which have developed a community of native speakers. While pidgins are characterised by an extremely simplified structure and are simply used to “get by” when communicating with someone whose native language you don’t speak, creoles start to re-introduce more complex grammar. They have their own vocabulary which is distinct from their origin languages’ and a fully developed system of grammar.

There is even a theory that English itself might be a creole language. When the language developed from Old English into Middle English, it underwent such drastic changes that some scholars believe it took on characteristics of a pidgin during the Norman Conquest. Since there are now native English speakers across the planet, it would mean that English is the most common creole tongue. Otherwise, the title is held by Haitian Creole – a language based on French with influences from Portuguese, Spanish, English, and West African languages – the native language of around 10-12 million people.

10. 1) Our lizard brains take over: The most common examples of code-switching were completely inadvertent; folks would slip into a different language or accent without even realizing it or intending to do it. One such story came from Lisa Okamoto, who told us she was born and raised in Los Angeles by two parents from Japan, a place she's visited all her life. 2) We want to fit in: Very often, people code-switch — both consciously and unconsciously — to act or talk more like those around them. While this can be effective, it can also be perilous, as John Davis told us:3) We want to get something: A lot of folks code-switch not just to fit in, but to actively ingratiate themselves to others. We can not tell you how many dozens of stories we got from people who work in service industries who said that a Southern accent is a surefire way to get better tips and more sympathetic customers. Apparently everyone who works in a restaurant picks up "y'all" immediately upon arriving at their job. If you can pull off the right accent in the right context4) We want to say something in secret: We collected many sweet stories of people code-switching in order to hide in plain sight, a habit most common among people in love5) It helps us convey a thought: Certain concepts need that perfectbon mot to come across effectively. Many people switch languages or employ colloquialisms to express particular ideas

11. Example code switching and code mixing

EXAMPLE CODE SWITCHING :

Joselyn: Babs, Babs, Oh there you are!

Babs: Calm down. What’s the rush?

Joselyn: Sana söylemek için can atıyorum. (I’ve been bursting to tell you)

Babs: Tell me what? It’s obviously got you excited.

Jocelyn: Well, Heather just told me that Mandy has dumped Gordon and got a new boyfriend.

Babs: Oohh, fancy that. Who is he?

EXAMPLE CODE MIXING :

X: S’cuse me. Are you waiting for someone? (1)

R: Yes, I’m picking up my wife. She’s studying here.(2)

X: Oh, why don’t you come in? It’s raining.(3)

R : No, No, terima kasih. Saya cuma tunggu sebentar istri saya.(4)

X : I don’t think so. It’s Friday. The classes won’t finish until 5 o’clock.

Come on in. By  the way, my name’s Joko. I am one of the instructors here. (5)

R: Nice to meet you. I’m Jim. Boleh saya duduk disini? May I sit here?(6)

X: Of course, make yourself comfortable. By the way, which class is your wife in?(7)

R : She’s in the Elementary class. Etty. She just started 3 days ago. (8)

X: Ooh, Etty. The one with long straight dark hair and glasses? Your wife’s very pretty.(9)

R: Yeah, that’s my wife.(10)