SOCIOLINGUISTIC

What is Applied Linguistics?

Applied Linguistics is concerned with the systematic study of language structure, the acquisition of first and subsequent languages, the role of language in communication, and the status of language as the product of particular cultures and other social groups.

A background in linguistics is essential for language teachers, translators, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and many other language professionals.

Sociolinguistics

Definition

Sociolinguistics is the study of the relation between language and society--a branch of both linguistics and sociology. 

American linguist William Labov has called sociolinguistics secular linguistics, "in reaction to the contention among many linguists working in a broadly Chomskyan framework that language can be dissociated from its social functions" (Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language, 2005).

"The difference between sociolinguistics and the sociology of language is very much one of emphasis," says R.A. Hudson. "There is a very large area of overlap between the two"  (Sociolinguistics, 2001). In An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (2013), Rubén Chacón-Beltrán observes that in sociolinguistics "the stress is placed on language and its role within communication. Sociology of language, however, centers on the study of society and how we can understand it through the study of language."

Examples and Observations

"There are several possible relationships between language and society. One is that social structure may either influence or determine linguistic structure and/or behavior. . . .

"A second possible relationship is directly opposed to the first: linguistic structure and/or behavior may either influence or determine social structure. . . . A third possible relationship is that the influence is bi-directional: language and society may influence each other. . . .

"Whatever sociolinguistics is, . . . any conclusions we come to must be solidly based on evidence."
(Ronald Wardhaugh, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 6th ed. Wiley, 2010)

Sociolinguistic Methods
"The standard way in which sociolinguists investigate [language] use is by random sampling of the population. In classic cases, like those undertaken in New York by [William] Labov, or in Norwich by [Peter] Trudgill, a number of linguistic variables are selected, such as 'r' (variably pronounced according to where it occurs in a word) or 'ng' (variably pronounced /n/ or /ŋ/). Sections of the population, known as informants, are then tested to see the frequency with which they produce particular variants. The results are then set against social indices which group informants into classes, based on factors such as education, money, occupation, and so forth. On the basis of such data it is possible to chart the spread of innovations in accent and dialect regionally."
(Geoffrey Finch, Linguistic Terms and Concepts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000)

Subfields and Branches of Sociolinguistics
"Sociolinguistics includes anthropological linguistics, dialectology, discourse analysis, ethnography of speaking, geolinguistics, language contact studies, secular linguistics, the social psychology of language and the sociology of language."
(Peter Trudgill, A Glossary of Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press, 2003)

Sociolinguistic Competence
"Sociolinguistic competence enables speakers to distinguish among possibilities such as the following. To get someone's attention in English, each of the utterances

'Hey!',

'Excuse me!', and

'Sir!' or 'Ma'am!'

is grammatical and a fully meaningful contribution to the discourse of the moment, but only one of them may satisfy societal expectations and the speaker's preferred presentation of self. 'Hey!' addressed to one's mother or father, for example, often expresses either a bad attitude or surprising misunderstanding of the usually recognized social proprieties, and saying 'Sir!' to a 12-year-old probably expresses inappropriate deference.

"Every language accommodates such differences as a non-discrete scale or continuum of recognizably different linguistic 'levels' or styles, termed registers, and every socially mature speaker, as part of learning the language, has learned to distinguish and choose among places on the scale of register."
(G. Hudson, Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell, 2000)

Dalam buku An Introduction to Sociolinguistics karya Ronald Wardhaugh. Wardhaugh (1986: 12) dikenalkan istilah sosiolingustik dengan mikro-sosiolinguistik dan sosiologi bahasa dengan makro-sosiolinguistik. Perbedaan di antara keduanya, yaitu sosiolinguistik menyelidiki hubungan anatara bahasa dengan masyarakat dengan tujuan adanya pemahaman yang lebih baik mengenai struktur bahasa dan bagaimana fungsi bahasa dalam komunikasi sedangkan sosiologi bahasa mencoba menunjukkan bagaimana struktur sosial dapat memberikan pengertian yang lebih baik melalui studi bahasa. 

Pada November 1966, istilah sosiolinguistik telah menjadi istilah yang lazim di kalangan linguis dan sosiolog. Pertemuan tahunan Linguistic Society of America (LSA) telah memiliki sesi tersendiri yang diberi nama Sosiolinguistics yang telah berlangsung lebih dari 15 tahun. LSA telah mendeskripsikan sosiolinguistik sebagai sebuah komponen utama dalam disiplin ilmu linguistik. Dewasa ini sosiolinguistik mengandung beberapa topik di dalamnya, di antaranya perencanaan bahasa, studi mengenai bahasa dan jenis kelamin, variasi bahasa (dialek), register, pidgin, creol, dan lain-lain.

Indonesia menjadi sebuah ladang subur bagi kajian Sosiolinguistik. Menurut peta bahasa yang diterbitkan Lembaga Bahasa Nasional pada tahun 1992 (Nababan, 1986: 12) terdapat 418 bahasa daerah di Indonesia dengan jumlah penutur berkisar antara 100 orang (Irian Jaya) sampai dengan kurang lebih 50 juta orang (bahasa Jawa). Kebanyakan orang Indonesia akan mempelajari dan memakai bahasa daerah sebagai bahasa pertama, sedangkan bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa kedua. Orang tersebut dinamakan berdwibahasa. Selain itu, masyarakat Indonesia sangat multikultur, sehingga akan terdapat banyak klasifikasi sosial yang membuat kajian sosiolinguistik menjadi menarik.

REFERENCE

http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/sociolinguisticsterm.htm

http://www.rumpunsastra.com/2015/05/sejarah-sosiolinguistik.html