Young People's Social Networks and Language Use: the Case of Wales

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Delyth Morris
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Language Use

scholarly journals The Influence of Family Language Policy and Social Networks on Language Attitudes and Language Use of Russian-Language Youth

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-124
Author(s):  
Skirmantė Kubiliūtė
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Main Language ◽  
Linguistic Attitudes

Summary An individual’s linguistic attitudes and language repertoire are influenced by a variety of environmental factors. Linguistic research has shown that language use is highly influenced by language policies and social networks. This article seeks to analyze how certain language policies and social relationships affect one’s linguistic behavior. The aim of this study is to investigate the linguistic attitudes and language-use tendencies of Russian youth in Lithuanian cities. The participants of this study were Russians and Russian-speakers based in the three largest cities of Lithuania. Their ages ranged from 15 to 29 y.o. A total of 128 respondents participated in the survey. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to obtain the necessary data. The study revealed the main tendencies of language use of Russian youth, as well as the most distinct language attitudes in different cities. The results showed that the Russian community in Vilnius and Klaipeda is quite strong. The young generation tend to have stronger ties with other members of the group comparing to the Russian community in Kaunas. Russian remains the main language of communication in Russian families in Klaipėda and Vilnius. Meanwhile, in Kaunas, the Lithuanian language became the main language in both the public and private sectors. According to the collected data, school is one of the biggest influences in the formation of linguistic repertoire. A social network created in an educational institution might have even greater impact on a young person’s linguistic attitudes than family and its language policies. Other studies also showed that young individuals want to fit in, so they usually choose the language their peers use (Vilkienė, 2011; Geben, 2013 and others). Further linguistic research could examine larger groups, different ethnic minorities, observe the development of language use tendencies. Also, the information has to be updated periodically.

Primary and secondary factors in language maintenance in a medium-sized community language: Catalan in Spain

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 525-552
Author(s):  
Raquel Casesnoves ◽  
Josep-Àngel Mas ◽  
Anna Tudela
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
University Students ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Inclusive Language ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Very High

Aims and objectives: The main aim of this study is to find out which social and ideological factors determine the maintenance of Catalan language in public contexts, and particularly the relative weight each factor contributes to the choice. The question is which of the socio-demographic and ideological factors determines to a greater extent the use of Catalan. Methodology: Participants completed a survey, which consisted of a sociolinguistic questionnaire and an attitudinal test based on the matched-guise technique. Sociolinguistic inferences concerning the relationship between different factors and language use were made using statistical methods. Data: Six hundred university students from the cities of Valencia, Palma and Barcelona answered the same survey. University students are a very interesting research group, since they are going to become part of the most influential social groups. Findings: Results from the analysis support the importance of social networks in understanding language maintenance, apart from making some differences between the territories clearer: this relative importance of social networks is very high in Valencia and Palma, but not in Barcelona. Originality: This study shows the first comparison between the influence of different kinds of factors in the use of the Catalan language, as well as the comparison between the behaviour of the three major Catalan-speaking cities. Furthermore, the focus on the factors related to university students’ language use is not a much-visited field. Significance and implications: The use of Catalan seems to be naturalized in Barcelona, whereas in Palma and Valencia the use of this language is more ideologized – and minor. The coincidence in the same territory, Catalonia, of the major language use in all situations and the more incisive and inclusive language policy should point out the direction that campaigns to promote Catalan in the other two regions should take.

scholarly journals Exploring Two Cases of Amazigh Maintenance and Shift in a Moroccan Higher Education Institution

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-155
Author(s):  
Abdelaziz Ait Taleb ◽  
Mohamed El Ghazi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Language Maintenance And Shift ◽  
The City

The study of Language Maintenance and Shift (LMS) is mainly concerned with exploring the effects of contact between two varieties or more on the speakers' "habitual use" of these varieties. This paper focuses on investigating two cases of LMS among native Amazigh-speaking youngsters who were enrolled at a higher education institution in the city of Agadir, Morocco. With regard to their linguistic background, the two cases are bilingual in an Amazigh variety (Tashlhit) as their mother tongue and Moroccan Arabic (Darija) as their L2. The purpose of the study is to explore the possible determinants of LMS among these two cases by exploring both their language choice patterns and social networks in particular language use domains (family and school). The instruments utilized to collect data included 'natural speech' recordings, self-report questionnaires, and interviews. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted in the light of Domain analysis and Social Network theories. The results revealed inconsistency in the case studies' patterns and determinants of LMS. Accordingly, the study concluded by recommending adopting more comprehensive models to better comprehend the dynamics of LMS in indigenous settings.

What’s new, Scooby Doo? Observații asupra dinamicii lexicului și a structurii gramaticale românești în subtitrarea desenelor animate

Transilvania ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 128-131
Author(s):  
Monica Borș
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Grammatical Form

An examination of the vocabulary and the current Romanian grammatical structure in the subtitling of recent cartoons identifies specific issues regarding grammatical, semantic, lexical creations, especially some extremely productive prefixes which circulate from one register of the language to another, according to the principle of communicating vessels. By analyzing the language on social networks and television channels, one can see how the same word, prefix or structure migrates from its specific area in that of everyday speech. One could transfer Pascal’s principle from physics into language sciences and re-define it as the pressure of language use transmitted from one area of the language to another, manifested in the whole mass of speakers and in all directions. A wrong word or an aberrant grammatical form approaches the verge of imposing itself when the pressure of language use pushes it into areas other than those of its specific use.

The role of social networks and intense friendships in study abroad students’ L2 use and speaking development

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristof Baten
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Network Development ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Uk

Abstract This article examines the connections among self-reported social network development, L2 use, and self-perceived speaking proficiency development in a group of Belgian ERASMUS students (n = 59) who studied abroad in different European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the UK). The results suggest a number of differences between the participants in this study and the US cohorts who have been traditionally the focus of previous SA research. For example, the Belgian students report high levels of proficiency in the target language before going abroad and high levels of target language use while abroad. Furthermore, a number of social network variables point to differences between the ERASMUS students in the present study and the US students featuring in previous research. Nevertheless, the results also reveal some similarities, especially with regard to the social network variables ‘size’ and ‘intensity of friendship’ which were predictors of language gains for the group of students under analysis in this study and, consequently, corroborated findings of previous studies conducted with US cohorts.

Linguistic Competence in Aphasia

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-92
Author(s):  
Leonard L. LaPointe
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Feral Children ◽  
Performance Factors ◽  
Performance Loss ◽  
Linguistic Rules ◽  
Communication Goals ◽  
Aphasia Treatment ◽  
And Performance

Abstract Loss of implicit linguistic competence assumes a loss of linguistic rules, necessary linguistic computations, or representations. In aphasia, the inherent neurological damage is frequently assumed by some to be a loss of implicit linguistic competence that has damaged or wiped out neural centers or pathways that are necessary for maintenance of the language rules and representations needed to communicate. Not everyone agrees with this view of language use in aphasia. The measurement of implicit language competence, although apparently necessary and satisfying for theoretic linguistics, is complexly interwoven with performance factors. Transience, stimulability, and variability in aphasia language use provide evidence for an access deficit model that supports performance loss. Advances in understanding linguistic competence and performance may be informed by careful study of bilingual language acquisition and loss, the language of savants, the language of feral children, and advances in neuroimaging. Social models of aphasia treatment, coupled with an access deficit view of aphasia, can salve our restless minds and allow pursuit of maximum interactive communication goals even without a comfortable explanation of implicit linguistic competence in aphasia.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document