Language Choice Domain Sociolinguistics

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a. Language Choice

Language choice is part of Sociolinguistics that deals with the code choice in certain society. Wardaugh 2002: 87 mentions the term code to indicate language and a variety of language. Code is considered as neutral because it refers to “any kind of system that two or more people employ for communication.” As a matter of fact, there are a lot of codes that exist in social life. Some people even use various codes in various circumstances. Holmes 2001:7 says that people may select different languages according to the situation in which they are speaking. The selection of language itself also cannot be separated from the influence of social factors. Holmes 2001:8 mentions four social factors that deal with language choice. They are the participants, the setting or social context of interaction, the topic, and the function. The participants consist of the speaker and the addressee. The setting includes where they are speaking. The topic contains what is being talked about. Finally, the function includes why they are speaking.

b. Domain

Related to those social factors, Holmes 2001:21 mentions the term domain in language use. A domain involves typical interactions between typical participants in typical settings. This is like a useful way in describing language choice in a society by putting the social factors into the points-to be-considered. For example, when imagining a typical family the typical participants are family members, the typical topics are family activities, and the setting is at home. Another example is a religion domain has priest as the addressee, church as the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 16 setting, and choosing the Sunday liturgy as the topic Holmes, 2001: 22. The next step of those two examples, then, is deciding what variety or code is going to be chosen. The examples above illustrate that domain exemplifies three social factors in code choice: participants, setting, and topic. Holmes 2001: 23 states that domain is useful for capturing broad generalizations about any speech community because the information about the domains of use in a community enables people to draw the model of the norms of language use. This is useful for bilingual and multilingual speech communities. Yet, Holmes adds, sometimes, the components of a domain are not congruent. For example, people discuss a particular work or school at home using the language in those domains rather than the language of the family domain. The situation cannot put domain as an effective way on language choice. Hence, Holmes 2001: 25 mentions other social factors influencing code choice. First is the social distance, whether the speakers are friends, strangers, brothers, or relatives. It is relevant when both participants share more than one variety. Speaker then will use different codes to different addressees. Second is the status relationship among people. A high-status person and a low-status person may use different language in many contexts. Social role can be an important factor contributing to status. Somebody will speak different code when becoming a father, another code when acting as a teacher, and different code when acting as a customer in a market. Third is formality. The formality of an event will affect certain code choice. For example, in church, at a formal ceremony, the appropriate PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 17 variety will be different from the code used in the church porch. Another example is the codes used for radio lecture will be different from those used for adverts. Fourth is function or goal of the interaction. For certain function, people use different language, whether it is standard or vernacular. For example, when applying for a job, a person will use the best standard written language on the application form and formal standard spoken language on the interview. However, when talking to his friends, he will use less formal spoken language. Furthermore, Shumin 1997 states that: Learning to speak a foreign language requires more than knowing its grammatical and semantic rules, learners must also acquire the knowledge of how native speakers use the language in the context of structured interpersonal exchange. Besides, it involves understanding not just the language, but also the social and cultural values of the community. Accordingly, people should pay attention to the sociolinguistic aspects when they want to express or understand utterances in conversation. In other words, using language appropriately in communication involves knowing when to speak or when to be silent, knowing how to choose appropriate linguistic code language choice, learning to take account of who you are talking to, etc. It is one of the ways to being polite in order to make someone else more comfortable and respected Politeness.