Sociolinguistics Goals of PBL

22

3. Sociolinguistics

As Trudgill 1983 says, Sociolinguistics is a part of linguistics dealing with language as a social and cultural phenomenon p.32. This theory is supported by Radford, et al. 1999, defining that Sociolinguistics is “The study of the relationship between language use and the structure of the society” p.1. Those previous two theories seem to have the same focus of defining sociolinguistics. They mention that Sociolinguistics have something to do with language and society. Let us start the discussion of Sociolinguistics from the meaning of language and society first. Language, based on Wardhaugh 2010, is “what the members of a particular society speak”. Meanwhile society is “any group of people who are drawn together for a certain purpose or purposes” ibid, p.1. Language as a social phenomenon is engaged with the social structure and value systems of society Trudgill, 1983, p.19. It can be an essential tool for identifying the group of society, measuring the group solidarity, and influencing the “world-view” of the speakers. That is the reason why language can affect society ibid, p.24. Trudgill 1983 states that in some cases, when language is used differently, it may lead into the difference perception of the world p.26. If language can affect the structure of society, so do society can influence this linguistics items called language. “A social change can produce a corresponding linguistic change” Trudgill, 1983, p.28 which means that the language people use is reflecting several things, such as people’s origin, social life, and gender. They way people 23 speak is also determined by certain social requirements Wardhaugh, 2010, p.10. That is why, people with different background could possibly speak differently ibid. After discussing the effect of language on society and the influence of society toward language, we could see that there is an inter-related relationship between language and society. They can influence each other. Trudgill 1983 points out that “this relationship has led to the growth of a relatively new sub- discipline within linguistics: Sociolinguistics” p.32. Gumperz 1971 defines Sociolinguistics as an effort to find the relationship between social structure and linguistic structure and to observe the occurrence of any changes as cited in Wardhaugh, 2010, p.10. Chambers 2002 emphasizes that “Sociolinguistics is the study of the social uses of language” ibid. The theories stated by Gumperz 1971 and Chambers 2002 about the correlation between language and society convince us that they are two things which can complement each other. Hence, as Trudgill 1983 says: One of the main factors that have led to the growth of Sociolinguistics research has been the recognition of the importance of the fact that language is a very variable phenomenon, and that this variability may have as much to do with society as with language p.32. Trudgill 1983 through his theories above tries to convey that language can be more effectively used if people are involving in a society or in a group. Through communicating in a group or in a society, people can see the variability of the language. Wardhaugh 2010 points out that sociolinguistics deals with 24 investigating the correlation between language and society and has the objectives to get the better understanding of the language structure and the language function in communication p.12.

B. Theoretical Framework

This research is aimed to find out the students’ perception on project-based learning in sociolinguistic class. There are two problems formulated in this research. The first is how PBL is implemented in sociolinguistic class and the second is the students of sociolinguistic class’ perceptions of PBL which is implemented in their class. Therefore, before the research was conducted, the researcher searched for related theories to be the base of this research in order to make this research scientific and to help the researcher solve the problem formulations. In solving the first problem, how PBL is implemented in sociolinguistic class, the researcher conducted class observation. On the class observation, the researcher observed how project-based learning PBL was implemented in the class by synchronizing the characteristics of PBL the researcher got from the theories to the real situation. The researcher observed whether the PBL implemented in the class is having a process and product orientation, conducted over extended periods of time, encouraging natural integration of skills, requiring the students to work in groups or individually, demanding the students’ responsibility of the projects through gathering, processing, and reporting the information gathered from the projects, resulting in concrete final products, and