Self-expression and linguistic variation

1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Johnstone ◽  
Judith Mattson Bean
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Public Speech ◽  
Linguistic Ideology ◽  
Social Facts ◽  
Place Of Origin ◽  
Texas Women

ABSTRACTThis article argues that self-expression is a crucial though heretofore largely overlooked part of the explanation for linguistic variation. Self-expression mediates between linguistic choices and social facts such as gender, occupation, linguistic ideology, and place of origin, as speakers use language not only to express their identification with or rejection of social groupings, but also to express their individuality. All language use is thus essentially idiosyncratic and syncretic. The point is illustrated with reference to case studies of the speech and writing of two Texas women who use language in public contexts. The article further argues for the sociolinguistic study of public modes of discourse in addition to “vernacular” modes, and for the need in sociolinguistic research for rhetorical as well as linguistic analysis. (Variation, self-expression, individuality, case studies, Texas, public speech)

On thetical grammar

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 852-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunther Kaltenböck ◽  
Bernd Heine ◽  
Tania Kuteva
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Word Structure ◽  
Language Knowledge

Most frameworks of linguistic analysis tend to highlight phenomena of language use and/or language knowledge such as sentence and word structure, while backgrounding or ignoring other phenomena that are interpreted as being of more marginal interest for the linguist. The main goal of this paper is to argue that some phenomena that have previously been treated as being more peripheral play an important role in the organization of linguistic discourse, and that the latter operates in at least two different domains, namely that of sentence grammar and of thetical grammar. Each of the two domains has its own internal structure, and the two tend to be separated from one another syntactically, prosodically, and semantically. Building on recent research, the paper aims at defining the main characteristics of thetical grammar.

Summary and conclusion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Gafaranga
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Concurrent Use ◽  
Interactional Functions ◽  
New Research

Research in code-switching, undertaken against the backdrop of very negative attitudes towards the concurrent use of two or more languages within the same conversation, has traditionally been geared towards rehabilitating this form of language use. From being seen as a random phenomenon reflecting the user’s lack of competence, code-switching is currently seen as sign of an advanced level of competence in the languages involved and as serving different interactional functions. However, as a result of its success, the research tradition now faces an entirely new challenge: Where to from here? How can research in code-switching continue to be relevant and interesting now it has largely achieved its original purpose? This book has argued that, in order to overcome this challenge, the notion of bilingualism itself must be redefined. Bilingualism must be seen as consisting of diverse interactional practices and be investigated as such. This book has made the case for this new approach, outlined a methodology for investigating bilingualism as interactional practices and illustrated it by means of three case studies. This concluding chapter wraps up the argument and invites other researchers to contribute to this new research direction.

Looking for Thistles in Stone Gardens: The Cemeteries of Nova Scotia’s Scottish Immigrants1

2020 ◽  
pp. 81-107
Author(s):  
Laurie Stanley-Blackwell ◽  
Michael Linkletter
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
Visual Dimension ◽  
Place Of Origin ◽  
Christian Iconography ◽  
Religious Differences

By focusing on the burial sites of northeastern Nova Scotia’s Scottish immigrants, this article demonstrates that their cemeteries were varied and complex places, which defy a uniform reading.  An analysis of such metrics as Gaelic language use, stated place of origin (i.e., parish, county, Scotland or North Britain), prevalence of thistle images and Christian iconography gives a verbal and visual dimension to the discussion of whether death was a catalyst for conformist expression among Scottish immigrants and whether they opted for pictorial or linguistic signifiers of identity. In their cemeteries, Scottishness was negotiated, new meanings of belonging forged, status aspirations articulated, and religious differences spatially enforced. It is in their last resting places that one sees vividly displayed the forces of change and continuity, tradition and innovation, and retention and adjustment, which reshaped their lives and deaths as immigrants.

Susan Garzon, R. McKenna Brown, Julia Becker Richards, & Wuqu' Ajpub' (Arnulfo Simón), The life of our language: Kaqchikel Maya maintenance, shift, and revitalization. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998. Pp. xvi, 239. Hb $35.00, pb $17.95.

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-145
Author(s):  
Judith M. Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Language Use ◽  
State Level ◽  
Municipal Politics ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Spanish Colonial ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Kaqchikel Maya ◽  
Positive Perspective ◽  
Open Question

This volume presents four case studies of language use in communities that speak Kaqchikel (also spelled Cakchiquel), a Mayan language of Guatemala; the authors provide a rich picture of the varying patterns of language shift within a single language group. They situate the current practices in both time and space, reviewing linguistic policy from Spanish colonial times to the present, and they demonstrate how state-level programs have played out differently within different communities. Universalistic considerations of hegemony, nationalism, economic pressure, and availability of educational resources are balanced against local realities of micro-economics, municipal politics, and the job market. A Kaqchikel author, Wuqu' Ajpub', contributes a personal history which grounds the generalizations and historical particularities of the community-based case studies in human terms. The time depth of the case studies emphasizes the constantly changing nature of language interactions within the Kaqchikel region. Each of them brings one to the conclusion that the community is currently on a cusp where Kaqchikel language maintenance within the next generation is an open question. The authors strive for a positive perspective and champion linguistic revitalization; however, their data do not predict a resurgence, though they do not preclude one.

scholarly journals Ars⪚ne Didn't See It: Coaching, Research and the Promise of a Discursive Psychology

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul K. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Discursive Psychology ◽  
Medical Communication ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Relationship

For twenty five years the discursive psychological perspective has been at the vanguard of innovative research in social psychology, producing highdetail systematic analyses of dynamic, constructive language use in a wide range of practical settings. To date, it has found applications in the study of medical communication, racism, political discourse, emotion and accounts of success and failure in sport, to highlight but a few. Its lack of headway in the specific study of coaching is perhaps, therefore, somewhat surprising given the transparently task-focused character of many naturally-occurring verbal activities in the domain. This article draws on salient literature and two brief case studies in illustrating some of the ways that the perspective can inform an approach to coaching interaction that does not draw on ontologically-problematic cognitivist assumptions regarding the relationship between thought and action. A foundational argument is then made for greater engagement with discursive psychology within the broader realm of coaching science.

Typology and the future of Cognitive Linguistics

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Croft
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Individual Speaker

AbstractThe relationship between typology and Cognitive Linguistics was first posed in the 1980s, in terms of the relationship between Greenbergian universals and the knowledge of the individual speaker. An answer to this question emerges from understanding the role of linguistic variation in language, from occasions of language use to typological diversity. This in turn requires the contribution of discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, and evolutionary historical linguistics as well as typology and Cognitive Linguistics. While Cognitive Linguistics is part of this enterprise, a theory of language that integrates all of these approaches is necessary.

Linguistic Decolonization in Jamaican Radio

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Westphal
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Framework Conditions ◽  
Jamaican Creole

AbstractThis article illustrates the value redistributions of Jamaican Creole (JC) and Standard English (StE) in the public sphere of radio by investigating changes in the discursive practices of language use, norms and other framework conditions of radio production, as well as listeners’ perception of linguistic variation on air. JC was marginalized and stigmatized in pre- and early post-independence Jamaican radio but has subsequently acquired an important role, mainly in dialogic and informal contexts. Despite its increased value, JC has not substantially challenged the prestige position of StE, which has remained the unmarked choice for formal broadcasting. However, there has been a localization of StE on the air away from exonormative standards and towards Jamaican English (JE) while British and American influences remain in place. In this linguistic decolonization process both JC and JE have acquired new values, but remnants of an unequal power distribution linger on.

scholarly journals Studiare l’apprendimento linguistico interculturale come pratica discorsiva e interazionale

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Borghetti
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Student Interaction ◽  
Discursive Practice ◽  
Intercultural Learning ◽  
Theoretical Part ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Class Interaction ◽  
Interactional Features

This paper focuses on intercultural language learning and on the methods to study it. The discussion is divided into two parts. In the first theoretical part, intercultural language learning is defined as a linguistic and discursive practice, according to a non-essentialist approach. In the second methodological part, the paper overviews the limited number of studies which, coherently with a language-use-based definition of intercultural learning, have employed forms of linguistic analysis to detect traces of such learning in class interaction. Finally the analysis of one extract from a class-based student-student interaction is presented, in order to showcase how different forms of linguistic analysis can be adopted to investigate the discursive and interactional features of intercultural learning.

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