Language, Society and Power An introduction Edited by Linda Thomas and Shan Wareing LONDON AND NEW YORK
Contents List of illustrations Newspapers Notes on contributors Preface Acknowledgements xii xiii xiv xv xix 1 What is language and what does it do? 1 Shan Wareing 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Why study language? 2 1.3 What is language? 5 1.3.1 Language: a system 6 1.3.2 Language: the potential to create new meanings 7 1.3.3 Language: multiple functions 8 1.3.4 Language diversity 9 1.4 Power and society 10 1.5 Summary 14 2 Language,thought and representation \i Ishtla Singh 2.1 Introduction 18 2.2 Saussure's theories of the Sign 18 2.2.1 Langue and parole 19 2.2.2 The linguistic sign 21 2.2.3 The arbitrary division of reality 23 2.3 The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis 24 2.4 One language: many worlds 28 2.5 Summary 30 VII
3 Language and politics 31 Jason Jones and Shan Wareing 3.1 Introduction 32 3.2 What is meant by politics? 32 3.3 Politics and ideology 33 3.3.1 Implicature 35 3.3.2 Language as thought control: Newspeak and political correctness 36 3.4 The language of deception 38 3.5 The language of persuasion (rhetoric) 41 3.5.1 Figures of speech 42 3.5.2 The three-part statement 44 3.5.3 The rhetorical use of pronouns 45 3.6 Summary 46 4 Language and the media 49 Joanna Thornborrow 4.1 Introduction 50 4.2 The function of the media 50 4.3 Media, language and power 52 4.4 Commonsense discourses 56 4.4.1 The power to change? 57 4.5 Media voices: accent and register 58 4.5.1 Variation in register 59 4.6 Public participation in the media 61 4.7 Summary 63 5 Language and gender 65 Shan Wareing 5.1 Introduction 66 5.2 How is English sexist? 67 5.2.1 Symmetry and asymmetry 67 5.2.2 Unmarked and marked terms 69 5.2.3 Semantic derogation 70 5.2.4 Sexism in discourse 71 5.2.5 Insults and obscenities 73 5.2.6 Sexism against men? 74 5.3 Do men and women talk differently? 75 5.3.1 How much talk? 76 5.3.2 Turn construction and interruption 76 5.3.3 Back channel support 77 5.3.4 Mitigated and aggravated forms 77 5.3.5 Topic development 78 VIM
5.4 Possible explanations 79 5.4.1 Dominance 79 5.4.2 Difference 79 5.4.3 Analysis of gender 80 5.5 Summary 81 6 Language and ethnicity 83 Ishtla Singh 6.1 Introduction 84 6.2 Defining ethnicity 84 6.3 The language of prejudice 86 6.3.1 Markedness and 'us' and 'them' 87 6.3.2 Negative labelling 88 6.4 Language use as a marker of ethnic identity 91 6.4.1 Ebonics. 92 6.4.2 Languages other than English 94 6.5 Summary 96 7 Language and age 99 Jean Stilwell Peccei 7.1 Introduction: what has age got to do with language? 100 7.2 How can a language reflect the status of children and older people? 103 7.2.1 Age as an important cultural category 103 7.2.2 Labelling age groups 104 7.2.3 Talking about age groups: underlying evaluations of early childhood and old age 105 7.3 Talking to young children and the elderly 108 7.3.1 Language characteristics of the under-5s and over-65s 108 7.3.2 Child Directed Language 110 7.3.3 Similarities between Child Directed Language and 'Elder Directed' Language 111 7.3.4 Why might these similarities occur? Ill 7.4 Conclusion 113 7.5 Summary 114 8 Language and class in Jason Jones 8.1 Introduction 118 8.2 Linguistic variation and social class 118 8.2.1 Accent and dialect: regional and social variation 118 8.2.2 Accent and dialect: a clue to social information 120 IX
8.3 Does social class really affect language? 122 8.4 The problem of defining social class 124 8.5 Research into the relationship between language and social class 128 8.5.1 William Labov: the social stratification of V in New York City department stores 128 8.5.2 Peter Trudgill: the social differentiation of English in Norwich 130 8.6 Summary 132 9 Language and identity 135 Joanna Thornborrow 9.1 Introduction 136 9.2 What do we mean by linguistic identity? 136 9.3 Language and the construction of personal identities 138 9.3.1 Names and naming practices 138 9.3.2 Systems of address 140 9.4 Language and the construction of group identities 142 9.4.1 Identity and representation 142 9.4.2 Ingroups and outgroups 143 9.5 Linguistic variation and the construction of identity 146 9.5.1 Stylistic variation and language choice 146 9.5.2 Power and linguistic imperialism 147 9.6 Summary 149 10 The standard English debate 151 Linda Thomas 10.1 Introduction 152 10.2 What is standard English? 152 10.2.1 Beginning a definition 152 10.2.2 Standard English, history and society 155 10.3 The linguistic definition of standard English 157 10.3.1 Linguistic variation 157 10.3.2 Logic and correctness 160 10.3.3 So what is standard English? 163 10.4 Standard English and education 164 10.4.1 Standard English in the school 164 10.4.2 Standard English and social equality 166 10.5 Summary 170
11 Attitudes to language 173 Linda Thomas 11.1 Introduction 174 11.2 The evidence 174 11.2.1 Whole languages 174 11.2.2 Varieties of a language 177 11.2.3 Words and interaction 179 11.2.4 Pronunciation and accent 182 11.3 The effects 185 11.4 Summary 187 Glossary 189 References 199 Index 205 XI