Language & Society: more kinds of variation

It is the study of language in social contexts.

• Pragmatics

• Semantics

• Sociolinguistics

• Psycholinguistics

It is the ability to form utterances using elements of multiple languages in real-time discourse, and the practice of doing so.

• Diglossia

• Register

• Accent

• Code-switching

It is a term that indicates a view of English which embraces diversity and questions the assumption that contemporary native speakers have inherent stewardship of, or competence in, the language.

• English as a Second Language

• TESOL

• World Englishes

• English as a Foreign Language

In sociolinguistics, it refers to the systematic ways in which an identified group of speakers uses a language’s sounds, structures and senses.

• Social variation or social dialect

• Phonology

• Syntax

• Morphology

It is a variety of a language determined normally by geographical and/or social factors.

• Register

• Regional variety or regional dialect

• Belief

• Ideology

It is a way of using the language in certain contexts and situations, often varying according to formality of expression, choice of vocabulary and degree of explicitness.

• Dialect

• Accent

• Code-switching

• Register

It is the (perhaps universal) use of (normally two) different languages, varieties or registers of differing levels of prestige for different situations and/or purposes.

• Diglossia

• Sociolect

• Idiolect

• Accent

It is the unique form of a language represented in an individual user’s mind and attested in their discourse.

• Sociolect

• Inner speech

• Idiolect

• Mentalese

When a language is used as a medium of communication between speakers of different languages, it is known as a...

• Foreign language

• Lingua franca

• Second language

• Target language

They are very basic linguistic systems which sometimes emerge in situations in which speakers of different languages find themselves in frequent contact and

need to communicate.

• Pidgins

• Creoles