Micro societal issues in language
1 like195 views
The document discusses the intersections of language, gender, ethnicity, and power, highlighting how these factors influence social interactions and roles in society. It explains concepts like genderlect, gender role expectations, and the significance of language in ethnic identity and power dynamics. The text also provides insights on politeness in communication and suggests practical activities to understand these concepts further.
Micro societal issues in language
- 1. lANGUAGE & 1
- 3. GENDER STATUS AND SOCIETY × Gender Boundaries - Boundaries require markers to indicate gender such as: voice, physique, dress, behavior, hair style, kinetics, and language use × Gender stereotypes: oversimplified but strongly held ideas of the characteristics of men and women × Gender roles: tasks and activities a culture assigns to the sexes × Gender stratification: a division in society where all members are hierarchically ranked according to gender 3
- 4. What is genderlect? × describe the way that the conversation of men and women are not right and wrong, superior and inferior - they are just different × predicts that men and women in conversation will use different conversational rituals based on the way their gender is socialized to converse 4
- 5. WHY IS THERE A DIFFERENCE? • languages can be sexist; English makes certain distinctions of a gender- based kind, • e.g., actor–actress, waiter–waitress, and master–mistress. • men and women are biologically different and that this difference has serious consequences for gender • social organization is best perceived as some kind of hierarchical set of power relationships • Language behavior is largely learned behavior. Men learn to be men and women learn to be women, linguistically speaking. • vernacular forms express machismo - men who act like women are strongly criticized, men consciously or unconsciously strive toward speech norms that reject styles associated with women ` 5
- 6. 6 LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL CLASS OR ETHNICITY
- 7. Ethnic Group × a socially defined category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural or national experience 7
- 8. Obviously then.. × There is no racial or physiological basis of any kind for this particular type of linguistic variation. × In the past, there was a belief that there was an inherent connection between ‘language’ and ‘race’. × Any human being can learn any human language. 8
- 9. It remains true, however, that Language may be an important or even essential concomitant of ethnic-group membership. × Linguistic characteristics may be the most defining criteria for ethnic-group membership. × Ethnic-group differentiation in a mixed community, then, is a particular type of social differentiation, and as such, will often have linguistic differentiation associated with it. × The different ethnic groups therefore maintain their separateness and identity as much through language as anything else. 9
- 11. Categories of Power: × Practical - physical actions, violence, skill, money, goods or services × Knowledge/ideas - using knowledge to influence others × Position - power gained from position in a hierarchy × Personal - personality, nurturing or caring 11
- 12. • conversation is ideological conversations are human interactions where power is encoded • all conversations are potentially “unequal encounters” language encodes world views and status which develops a power relationship × Power is being exerted … When one speaker is able to infer or decode inferences that lead to an inequality of relationship with the listener When our mind is moved from what we want it to dwell on to being engaged by a text (written or spoken) 12
- 13. POLITENESS IN POWER × Politeness - it is the consideration of social factors (social distance in terms of solidarity or formality), social status, type of situation or context, intonation, etc. when communicating with others. × - Positive politeness: a type of politeness based on solidarity between speakers and hearers who share values and attitudes, and in which formal expressions in addressing are avoided. × - Negative politeness: a type of politeness based on formality between speakers and hearers in which formal expressions in addressing are used in order to protect hearers' face and avoid intruding on them. 13
- 15. HOW GENDER AND LANGUAGE EXISTS? Show and explain a situation 15
- 16. 16 HOW language AND ethnicity EXISTS? Show and explain a situation
- 17. 17 HOW language AND power EXISTS? Show and explain a situation
- 19. 19
- 20. Want big impact? You have to take bigger risks. THE WORLD DOES NOT ONLY REVOLVES AROUND YOU. 20
- 21. Nurture it, develop it, and let it evolve and grow just like you. 21
- 22. 22
- 23. 23 Did you like my powerpoint? I offer some educational services like: -powerpoint presentation maker -grammarian -content creator -layout designer If you are interested, you may email me at flippedchannel27@gmail.com