<p>Studies carried out by different scholars have shown that the social roles society assigns to women and men create differences in how the genders use language. However, there is little previous research in the domain of gender and topic shift or initiation. This essay aims to investigate possible gender differences in topic shift and initiation in multiparty conversation among second language learners of English in upper secondary school. The three group discussions were recorded in a classroom setting and the data collected was transcribed. The topical shifts in the transcripts were coded using the Topical Episode Analysis (TEA) and the episode shifts in each conversation were analyzed on the basis of gender distribution and type of shift. In addition, the findings of the three groups were compared and discussed. The main result of this study was that the boys initiated 100 percent more shifts than the girls. The boys took up more linguistic space and dominated the topical shifts in the conversation which indicates that gender differences in topic shift and initiation exists, a finding that is consistent with previous research within the field of gender and language. In conclusion, gender differences were found between how the girls and the boys participating in this study shifted and initiated topics. The boys initiated more shifts than the girls in the multiparty conversations.</p>

This thesis investigates the use of word order variation, in particular the variable use of subject-verb inversion and non-inversion in main declarative clauses, among adolescents in contemporary multilingual settings in Sweden. The use of non-inversion in contexts that in standard Swedish require inversion is sometimes claimed to be characteristic of varieties of Swedish spoken among adolescents in multilingual urban areas. The present study includes a wide range of data, both spontaneous and elicited, and explores how common the use of non-inversion is among a relatively large group of participants in different contexts, and how the use of non-inversion is influenced by different demographic, linguistic and socio-pragmatic factors. The results show that non-inversions are used to a limited extent in all types of data in the studied population. Only certain individuals frequently employ non-inversions in some contexts. Further, no direct link is found between second language acquisition and the use of non-inversion in this study. Factors related to the issue of nativeness, for example participants’ reported age of onset of Swedish acquisition, only marginally explain the results. In general, examples of non-inversion are employed more extensively, and by more participants, in peer-peer interaction than with adults. The use of non-inversion appears to be part of some adolescents’ spontaneous language use in certain contexts. More importantly, however, the results suggest that some adolescents employ non-inversions as an active linguistic resource to express their identification with the multilingual environment and the different varieties of Swedish spoken there, to show solidarity with peers, to contest official school discourses, and to play around with linguistic stereotypes.

No description available.

The aim of this paper is to analyze data that was collected in 2003 and 2004 in order to ascertain the claim made by Kiswahili stakeholders that the status of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Tanzania has dropped. The finding reveal that the number of periods allocated to Kiswahili is fewer than English. Secondly, whenever there is a shortage of Kiswahili teachers, any member of the teaching staff or even non-specialists are called upon to fill the gap. Thirdly, we note that Kiswahili teachers have never had the opportunity to attend any Kiswahili seminar since they graduated from colleges. Fourthly, the Ministry of Education and Culture has issued a circular to schools barring the students from speaking Kiswahili at the school compound to enable them to become proficient in English language. Considering the above findings, this study confirms that the status of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Tanzania has diminished.

Bakalauro darbe iš gautų anketinių duomenų ištirtos Skuodo apylinkių – Vižančių, Kervių, Šarkės, Luknių – šnektos sociolingvistiniu aspektu. Svarbiausios analizuotos sritys yra kalbos vartojimas, požiūris į kalbos vartojimą, tautinė ir tarminė savimonė. Iš įrašų, transkribuotų rišlių šnektų tekstų aprašytos fonetinės ypatybės, būdingos šnektoms. Apklausti ir įrašyti 28 skirtingų kartų pateikėjai: jaunesniosios, vidurinės, vyresniosios. Tyrimas parodė, kad tarminė kalba vyrauja bendraujant šeimoje, su pažįstamais, kaimynais, gyvūnais, galvojant, skaičiuojant. Kalbėjimas žiniasklaidoje, rašto kalba kaip tinkamesnė suvokiama lietuvių bendrinė kalba. Dainuoti derami abu kalbėjimo variantai. / The Bachelor's paper examines the sub-dialects of Skuodas District - Vižančiai, Kerviai, Šarkė, Luknės - in sociolinguistic perspective based on the obtained questionnaire data. The main analysed areas are the use of language, approach to the language use, and ethnic and dialectal self-consciousness. We have described the phonetic features characteristic of the sub-dialects from the records and transcribed cohesive texts of the sub-dialects. 28 informants of different generations: younger, middle, senior were interviewed and recorded. The research showed that the dialectal language prevailed in communication with family, friends, neighbours, animals, as well as when thinking, counting. The Lithuanian standard language is perceived as more appropriate for speaking in the media and for the written language. Both speech versions are proper for singing.

<p>From Labov's (1963) finding that the centralization of the /ay/ and /aw/ diphthongs in Martha's Vineyard was emblematic of resistance to local economic and social change, to Mendoza-Denton's (2008) finding that variation in the realization of the /I/ vowel corresponds to gang affiliation among Latina girls in a Northern California high school, identity has been at the center of sociolinguistic analysis and theory for nearly a half century. Despite the centrality of this construct, sociolinguists have rarely stopped to ask about the epistemological, theoretical, and even political implications of identity. This dissertation offers a sustained, interdisciplinary critique of identity, both in linguistics and more generally in contemporary social theory. Through engagements with cultural anthropology, feminist theory, cultural studies, and linguistics, this critique calls attention to identity's epistemological baggage (e.g. collusion with neo-liberalism and Englightenment-era humanism) and theoretical tendencies (e.g. overestimation of agency) and suggests a turn to poststructuralist theory of subject formation. The dissertation is organized around three sections: historiography, theory, and empiricism, as follows.</p><p> The study begins with historiography, tracing the relationship between language and social analysis in a limited archive that includes the work of 19th and 20th Century language scholars, including William Dwight Whitney, Leonard Bloomfield, and Noam Chomsky. Focusing specifically on the relationship between Labov's variationist sociolinguistics and Chomsky's generative program, the historiography analyzes the conditions that led sociolinguistics to a form of social theory scaffolded around identity. </p><p>Poststructuralist theory of subject formation is introduced, with an emphasis on the work of Judith Butler (1990, 1997, 2004) and Michel Foucault (1975, 1976, 1981). A set of terms that animate this framework are introduced, including interpellation, subjectivization, discourse, subjectivity, subject position, subject type, power, and identity.</p><p>Two empirical studies of adolescent language are introduced and the findings are considered in light of the constellation of terms introduced in the prior section. The first is a case study focusing on the speech of one adolescent Mexican American female, "María," whose language use underwent reorganization over a three-year period coinciding with a change in community and school. Segmental and suprasegmental variables were analyzed from data collected from two time periods, T1 and T2. In order to account for modifications in "María's" vocalic production, two vowel variables were selected for acoustic analysis: pre-nasal and non-pre-nasal allophones of /æ/. These variables were selected because of their saliency in both Latino varieties of English (Thomas, Carter, & Coggshall 2006; Fought 2003; Thomas 2001). Midpoint measurements were taken for F1, F2, and F3 for a minimum of 25 tokens of each variable from T1 and T2 using PRAAT phonetics software (Boersma & Weenink 2009). Maria's production of prosodic rhythm was also analyzed using the Pairwise Variability Index (Lowe & Grabe 1995). Changes in F1 and F2 for both vocalic variables were statistically significant--both allophones of /æ/ were lowered and backed from T1 to T2. Conversely, no statistically significant difference was found in prosodic rhythm. These findings are analyzed in the context of the poststructuralist framework already set forth.</p><p>The second study is an intensive ethnographic investigation of a `majority minority' middle school in North Carolina that took place over a five-month period. Detailed ethnographic fieldnotes and unscripted interviews with 50 African American, white, and Latino speakers in social groups identified during observation constitute the data for this study. The analysis focuses on the subjectivizing effects of the institution, particularly the institutional discourses of `choice' and `value,' on the cultural and linguistic practices of its students. Using discourse analytic methods, the analysis shows that talk by students across all major social divisions (grade level, popularity status, gender, and ethnicity) is inflected by institutional discourses. </p><p>A complementary analysis considers the subjectivizing function of language ideology in the middle school context. Analysis of interview and ethnographic field data show three distinct discursive formations about language: `proper talk,' `ghetto talk,' and Spanish.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to identify factors that affect the language choices and patterns of language use of multilingual speakers in the Western Cape, focusing particularly on emotional language. It is an exploratory study, taking a purely quantitative methodological approach. Data was collected by means of a web-based Multilingualism and Emotions Questionnaire available online for six months. The questionnaire was based on Dewaele and Pavlenko‟s Bilingualism and Emotions Questionnaire (see Pavlenko, 2005) and included multiple choice and Likert scale questions regarding participants‟ language use preferences, as well as their perceptions of each of their languages. Data analysis was split into two stages: firstly the response data was illustrated by means of frequency tables, and secondly the statistical method of Correspondence Analysis was used to show the patterns of variation among the factors investigated. Two hypotheses were proposed, based on previous research: firstly, that the sociolinguistic factors would play a bigger role than the socio-demographic factors in determining language choices and patterns of use, and secondly that there may be differences in patterns of use for speakers of African languages versus speakers of Western languages. The analysis confirmed both hypotheses, while also showing some deviation from the results of previous research, which is attributed to the context in which this study was conducted. The main findings of this study were that English was generally the preferred language even when not the L1, and also that Xhosa tended to follow an entirely different pattern of use in comparison with most other languages in the sample. These findings are attributed to the unique language contact situation in the Western Cape, showing that the widely accepted L1-primacy ideology does not quite hold true across all contexts. An English-bias in the implementation of the language and education policy is also identified as a possible contributing factor to the patterns of language use and language attitudes revealed in this study, hence it is suggested that methodological and practical changes to the language and education policy could lead to a realization of the true multilingual and multicultural potential of South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie handel oor die identifisering van faktore wat die taalgebruikspatrone en keuses van veeltaliges in die Wes-Kaap affekteer. Die fokus is hoofsaaklik op emosionele taalgebruik. Die studie is verkennend, en volg „n suiwer kwantitatiewe benadering. Data is ingesamel deur die gebruik van „n web-gebaseerde Veeltaligheid en Emosies Vraelys wat ongeveer ses maande op die internet beskikbaar was. Die vraelys is gebaseer op dié van Dewaele en Pavlenko (verwys na Pavlenko, 2005) en sluit in veelvoudigekeuse- en Likertskaal-vrae oor die deelnemers se taalgebruik keuses asook hul taal-persepsies. Data-analise is in twee verskillende fases voltooi: eerstens is die data deur die gebruik van frekwensie tabelle geïllustreer, en tweedens is die patrone van variasie onder die faktore getoon deur die gebruik van die statistiese metode van Korrespondensie Ontleding. Twee hipoteses is voorgestel, gebaseer op vorige navorsing; eerstens, dat sosiolinguistiese faktore „n groter rol as sosio-demografiese faktore sou speel in die bepaling van taal-keuses en gebruikpatrone; en tweedens dat daar dalk verskille sou wees tussen Afrika-taal sprekers en Westerse-taal sprekers in verband met patrone van taalgebruik. Beide van die hipoteses is deur die analise bevestig, terwyl daar ook afwyking was van die bevindings van vorige navorsing, waarvoor die konteks waarin hierdie studie plaasvind as rede voorgestel is. Die studie se hoofbevindings dui daarop dat Engels oor die algemeen die voorgekeurde taal is, selfs wanneer dit nie die eerstetaal is nie, en ook dat Xhosa „n gebruikspatroon volg wat van die ander tale in die studie verskil. Hierdie bevindings word toegeskryf aan die uniekheid van die taal-kontak situasie in die Wes-Kaap, en dui daarop dat die algemeen aanvaarde ideologie van die eerste-taal-voorrang nie noodwendig van toepassing is op alle kontekste nie. „n Vooroordeel ten gunste van Engels in die implementering van die taal- en onderwysbeleid word ook uitgewys as „n moontlike bydraende faktor tot die patrone van taalgebruik en taalhoudings wat in hierdie studie ontdek is. Daar word gevolglik voorgestel dat metodologiese- en praktiese- veranderinge aan die taal- en onderwysbeleid groot bydrae sal kan lewer tot die vervulling van Suid-Afrika se volle veeltalige en multikulturele potensiaal.

This essay examines the communication in English and use of English at a Swedish company with employees from all over the world. The aim is to investigate how the employees experience speaking English with their colleagues and if they believe that misunderstandings can occur owing to their language differences.  The linguistic focus of this study is towards sociolinguistics, including lingua franca, language use and communication as well as a small portion of language acquisition, considering that the majority of employees do not speak English as their native language.   The results of the study have shown that all employees at the company speak English daily, but the experiences and opinions of it vary, mostly depending on which department they work in and what kind of education they have had previous to them working at the company.

This is a limited linguistic study that focuses on contemporary language use of two British nationals who are well-known professionals within cooking, and who perform linguistically in the writing of cookery books and in television shows. There are two linguistic foci for the study: a gender perspective and a social class perspective. The aim is to evaluate the linguistic features that are characteristic of the two subjects in relation to the research approaches and in relation to previous research from these perspectives, and to compare their respective language use from the selected material. The study also aims to explore how the language use and linguistic style of each subject may contribute to his or her identity and to the professional image marketing processes the employ. A quantitative method is used for the study of specific linguistic features and to detect the presence or absence of these features. A qualitative approach is used when discussing and commenting on how the qualitative result may have impact on, or may contribute to, individual style, identity and professional branding. The texts for the study is randomly chosen and comprises written texts in two cookery books of each individual and spoken language in one television episode, of each person, from broadcasted cookery shows. Due to the randomly selected and limited data, the study does not claim to be statistically relevant. Rather, it presents possible tendencies. The results of the study show that the subjects act linguistically in accordance with traditional findings and previous research from the perspective of social class, but opposite to traditional findings regarding gender. This result raises the question as to whether or not class may have priority over gender as a linguistic feature, with higher relevance as a social variable, and further research is suggested within this area.

English today has reached global dimensions no other language has reached before. While there are other lingua francas in certain geographical regions in the world, English is the most dominant lingua franca in many important international domains, including international affairs and its use as the lingua franca of official organisations, such as the European Union (EU).   In the wake of the result of the British referendum, voices were raised for the discontinuation of the use of the English language within the EU after Brexit. While this topic has received attention from journalists throughout Europe, to date there are very few studies on attitudes towards English in a post-Brexit referendum Europe. The present study aims to contribute to the filling of this gap by investigating attitudes towards English experienced by British expats living in Germany, employing semi-structured interviews with six British expats. Also included in the study is information about the expats’ use of different languages for different purposes. The findings indicate that i) they do not see the emergence of a Euro-English likely; ii) that their language choices are determined by inclusiveness; iii) that there may be different attitudes towards English in different parts of Germany; iv) that English is experienced as a door opener; and finally, v) multilingualism is a desired notion for them all. Combined, they suggest there is a discrepancy between the EU political line and the grass root reality.