What do sociolinguists study ?

This chapter discusses the aspects of sociolinguistics study. Sociolinguists are interested in describing sociolinguistic variation and in explaining why it happens. According Holmes, the linguistic forms chosen by a speaker is influenced by social context in which he is talking. It matters who he is talking to (participants), where he is talking (setting), what he is talking about (topic), and why he is talking (function of interaction). As a result, the same message may be expressed differently to different people (p. 9). In addition to these factors, there are four social dimensions which determine the linguistic choice. The social distance scale is concerned with how close or distant the relationship between participants is. The status scale is concerned with the status of participants in the society. The formality scale is related to the setting. Where the interaction occurs determines the level of formality. The functional scale is related to the purposes or the topic of interaction. When the speaker intends to convey the information, the interaction is referentially oriented. In contrast, when the speaker communicates to maintain goodwill, he emphasizes on affective function (p. 10-11).

This overview show that no individual is free to do exactly what he or she pleases so far a language is concerned. The choice of one linguistic form rather than another is useful clue to non-linguistics information. Linguistic variation provides social information.

This chapter is valuable. Now, I understand that language variation is the result of social interaction. The way people talk is influenced not only by their personal need but also by the social factors. As an English teacher, I can make use of this knowledge to motivate students use English in appropriate context.

CODE SWITCHING

Have you ever heard the following sentences ? Kata mama aku, perfume itu wanginya gak longlasting…jadi mendingan kasi bracelet from platina” (Indonesian/English). "Aku free hari ini" (Indonesian/English). "Suami saya dulu slim and trim tapi sekarang plump like drum" (Malaysian/English). The proceedings went smoothly, ba? (Tagalog/English). In linguistics, this phenomena is called code switching. Code switching is a widely observed phenomenon especially seen in multilingual and multicultural communities. Crystal suggests that “code, or language, switching occurs when an individual who is bilingual alternates between two languages during his/her speech with another bilingual person” (1987). Code-switching can take on several forms including alteration of sentences, phrases from both languages, and switching in a long narrative This paper discusses the underlying reasons of code switching.

Code switching is done deliberately due to different situations. This switching allows one to predict language choice; there is a "simple almost one-to-one relationship" (Gumperz , 1982) between extra-linguistic parameters and the appropriate language for this situation. The above sentence “The proceedings went smoothly, ba? (Tagalog/English) is used to express solidarity to the new comer who is a Philipino. This is categorized as emblematic or tag switching. The Tagalog tag ba can also depict an ethnic identity marker.

People use different code to elaborate the purpose of the interaction. When I teach, I use English and Bahasa Indonesia interchangeably. English is used to provide as much English exposure as possible. While Bahasa Indonesia is used as the last resort when explaining concepts using other techniques fails. Once I found that many students did not understand my explaining the concept of cohesive devices in the Composition Class in English. They were unable to identify the cohesive devices in the paragraphs in the handouts. To end the students’ confusion, I switched into Bahasa Indonesia. What I did is classified as intra-sentential switching. This switching is commonly used only when speaking to bilinguals. Holmes asserts that “only proficient bilinguals switch within sentences” (46).

On the other hand, my students code switch because they are not proficient bilinguals yet. In many occasions, they struggle to find the English phrases or dictions when talking. The sentence like “ The tiger menerkam the deer quickly” appeared when they wrote a narrative paragraph. Because they switch at sentence boundaries, it is called as inter-sentential switching (Holmes, 46).
People do code switching to respect the addressee. Each of the codes represents or symbolizes a set of social meanings. This type of switching has been called metaphorical switching. The speaker convey affective meaning as well as information (Holmes, 42-43). The sentence Apa “panjenengan” sudah dengar tentang perubahan peraturan perusahaan ? clearly shows how a fluent Javanese speaker who is currently using Bahasa Indonesia with another older Javanese switch to “Panjenengan” (kamu) to show respect.

People are often unaware of the fact that they code –switch. The change in feature of the social setting, the topic of discussion, the aspect of purpose of interaction may be the reasons for code switching. Even though reactions to code switching style are negative in many communities, this linguistic phenomenon can be a good control of both codes.


References
Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University
Press: Cambridge.
Holmes, Janet. (2008). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. London: Longman
Gumperz, John J. (ed.) (1982.) Language and Social Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO LANGUAGE SHIFT

Language shift occurs when a community who share similar mother tongue abandon it, and collectively shift to speaking another language. It is always preceded by multilingualism. Someone cannot shift to a new language unless he
or she learns to speak it. According to Hoffman, “when a community does not maintain its language, but gradually adopts another one, we talk about language shift” (186). As an example, there is a language shift among the second born Telugu immigrants in New Zealand. Their ability to use English enables them to integrate and settle in an English speaking country. However, the loss of the Telugu language is more in the written and writing skills than the listening and speaking skills (Kuncha and Bathula, 2004). This paper discusses language shift which are triggered by demographic, attitude, economic, social, and political factors.
Firstly, demographic factor plays the role in the process of language shift. When there is a community of speakers moving to a region or a country whose language is different from theirs, there is a tendency to shift to the new language. Every time an immigrant learns the native language of the new country and passes it down to children in place of the old country language. For example, I was born in Solo so my mother tongue is Javanese which was used as the language in my former neighborhood and the medium of instruction in my elementary school. I moved to Jakarta in 1979. Since then, I only use Javanese at home with my family and my Javanese neighbors. Because there is a high frequency of contact with people coming from different ethnic groups who use Bahasa Indonesia, I gradually shift from Javanese to Bahasa Indonesia. This is a clear evidence that demography is an influencing factor in language shift.
Secondly, the negative attitudes towards the language can also accelerate language shift. It occurs where the ethnic language is not highly valued and is not seen as a symbol of identity. As stated by Holmes, young people are the fastest to shift languages (60). Teenagers in some big cities of Central Java Province gradually abandon Javanese in daily communication. Having various levels of formality, Javanese is seen as a difficult medium of instruction. They are required to choose different variety when talking to different people. In addition, they feel more prestigious when using Bahasa Indonesia or English than when using Javanese. (Samadi SP, Suara Karya). Teenagers nowadays want to be a part of a global community. Therefore, they do not have the need to show their identity by using Javanese. If this continues, they will eventually lose their ability to speak Javanese.
Thirdly, language shift is caused by economic reason. Holmes says that job seekers see the importance of learning a new language which is widely used in business (60). The high demand from industries for employees with fluent English has successfully encouraged job seekers to equip themselves with English. In fact, being competent in English leads to well-paid jobs.
Finally, political factor imposes on language shift. In a multilingual country, the authority usually chooses one language as the lingua franca to unify various kinds of ethnic groups. Consequently, the number of ethnic language speakers decreases. As an example, the political situation in 1947 led to the partition of India. Sindhi Hindus fled from the Sind. They spoke Sindhi at home but had to adopt the local languages. This process has led to language displacement leading to language loss among the Sindhis (Bayer, 2005). Another example, the official languages of many African countries were determined by their former colonialists. Those languages replace African tribal languages. Both examples show how they experience language shift.
To sum up, language shift is an interesting and inevitable linguistic phenomenon.The factors which trigger the shift vary from one language community to another. Some of them are demographic, attitude, economic, social, and political factors.

References
Bayer, Jennifer Marie. (2005). Sociolinguistic Perspectives of Cultures in Transition Indian Tribal Situation. Language in India. 5(March)
http://www.languageinindia.com

Hoffman, C. (1991). An Introduction to Bilingualism. London: Longman

Holmes, Janet. (2008). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. London: Longman

Kuncha, Rekha. M and Hanoku Bathula. (2006). The Role of Attitude in Language Shift
and Language Maintenance in a New Immigrant Community: A Case Study.
Working Paper 1(April): 6.

Samadi. SP. Pelestarian Bahasa Jawa Melalui Sekolah. Suara Karya. 20 March 2007.

ETHNIC LANGUAGES IN INDONESIA: QUO VADIS ?

Being a country with various ethnic groups, Indonesia declared Indonesian Language as the national language functioning as a lingua franca. Since then it is very essential to ease the communication among those diverse ethnic groups throughout Indonesia as well as to unify the whole nation. This is in line with Holmes’ opinion that a lingua franca is ‘a language serving a regular means of communication between different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community’ (81). This language policy has been successful. More and more people prefer to use Indonesian Language even among their own ethnic groups. This phenomenon is both gratifying and saddening.

The increasing number of people using Indonesian Language is gratifying.
It shows that the national language has unified the nation. People can use Indonesian Language to communicate with other ethnic groups for any purposes. As a result, any information can be accessed and transferred easily. In the long run, it contributes to the speed of national development.

On the other hand, it is saddening to see that the number of ethnic language speakers gradually decreases. It may due to practicality or the limited vocabulary of ethnic languages to express ideas. Therefore, ethnic language is considered as a hindrance in communication. In fact, ethnic languages are national heritage. They are very important vehicles of cultural expressions, knowledge, and values. In addition, they can help us discover indigenous values, which can also strengthen the national identity.

Maintaining ethnic languages in Indonesia is as crucial as developing Indonesian Language because both form linguistic diversity. Through formal instructions, both ethnic languages and Indonesian Language will be acquired by larger group of people.


Reference
Holmes, Janet. Introduction to Sociolinguistics. England: Pearson Education Limited,
2008.