Significance of the Research

subject, rather he takes it as a part of linguistic, a sub-discipline within linguistics. Based on Trudgill’s theory, sociolinguistics is a part of linguistics which is concerned with language as a social and cultural phenomenon. Chaika 1994:3 also gives another definition about sociolinguistics. She states that sociolinguistics is a study of language use in social interaction. It means that this study focuses on the way people talk naturaly in everyday communication in their social environment. In addition, Wardaugh 2006:13 explains that sociolinguistics is concerned in observing the relationship between language and society. The focus of the study is to obtain the understanding of the structure of language and the function of language in the social environment. Moreover, by studying sociolinguistics, people can learn more and understand deeper about the social structure through the use of language. Identically, the notion of sociolinguistics is also emphasized by Holmes 1997:1. He points out that sociolinguistics is the study between language and society. Society plays as an important role because in society, there are many different people who are lived there. Sociolinguistics are interested in explaining why people speak differently in a society, and it concerns to identify the social functions and the ways it is used to convey social meaning. Sociolinguistics affects and is affected by social relations and culture. It studies how language varieties differ between groups separated by certain social variables, such as ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level of education, and age. People will select and choose different language for different condition and situation. They will choose appropriate language to the situation in which they are speaking. People from two different communities may speak differently although they use the same language. From the explanation above, it can be concluded that sociolinguistics is the sub-dicipline of linguistics which studies about language and society. It concerns with the phenomenon of language use in all kind of social interactions, why people use language differently in different social context and how they can establish and maintain social relationship by language that they choose. This phenomenon occurs because they have different culture and background. 2. Ethnography of Communication and Social Factors According to Hymes in Wardaugh, 2006:242, ethnography of communication comes from the term ethnography of speaking, which means the study to learn how people speak. Trudgill explains further that as the branch of sociolinguistics, ethnography of communication studies the rules and the norms of communication in different culture 1992:53. It means that people need to understand how to use a certain language properly. According to Finch 2000:222, ethnography is the study of the relationship between language, social and cultural variables which