UNIVERSITY OF MOSTAR Department of English SOCIOLIN UISTICS St!"ent# Anita Ma"!

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The S&ope of So&ioling!isti&s

So&ioling!isti&s is "efine" as a st!"' of lang!age in relation to so&iet'( The interest in this )ran&h of ling!isti&s has in&rease" sin&e the *+,-.s )e&a!se of the "ifferent "is&o$eries ma"e in the fiel" of s'stemati& resear&h pro/e&ts( At this point0 it is important to mention t1o Ameri&an ling!ists2 3illiam La)o$ an" Noam Choms4'0 1ho sho1e" their interest in the nat!re of the lang!age0 )!t from t1o "ifferent positions( La)o$ fo&!ses on the &hange of the lang!age0 1hile Choms4' is intereste" in the nat!re of a lang!age s'stem0 an" those parts of a lang!age that are !ni$ersal an" "o not &hange( La)o$5s approa&h is not &ompletel' "ifferent from Choms4'5s0 an" the e$en agree at some point( The most o)$io!s "ifferen&e )et1een these t1o ling!ists &an )e seen &onsi"ering the metho" of gathering the e$i"en&e( There is a )ig "ifferen&e )et1een La)o$5s 1or4 an" the earlier st!"ies2 he manage" to re&or" the spee&h "!ring his resear&h( This ma' seem as something tri$ial0 )!t it 1as a )ig &hange6 ma4ing a permanent re&or" of an or"inar' spee&h( Important fa&tors in La)o$5s resear&h are#

6sele&ting spea4ers 6&olle&ting the te7ts 6 i"entif'ing the $aria)les 6pro&essing the fig!res 6interpreting the res!lts In the first stage0 the ling!ists m!st pa' attention to age0 gen"er0 so&ial stat!s an" the e"!&ation of the spea4ers( After the spea4ers ha$e )een sele&te"0 it is important to re&or" their nat!ral 4in" of spee&h( La)o$ has "e$elope" some metho"s in fa$or of re&or"ing the most nat!ral spee&h of the spea4ers( The pro)lem 1ith the thir" stage is to "e&i"e 1hi&h 1or"s sho!l" )e e7amples of some $aria)les( This ma' lea" to pro)lems 1ith interpreting the res!lts of the resear&h( The stage of pro&essing the fig!res in&l!"es &omparing the n!m)ers of the i"entifie" $ariants 1ith "ifferent te7ts( In the follo1ing stage0 it is important to fin" signifi&ant "ifferen&es )et1een the te7ts( 8o1e$er0 it is signifi&ant to point o!t that the in"i$i"!al spea4er is /!st as important for the resear&h as the &omm!nit'6first 1e m!st )e familiar 1ith the 1a' in 1hi&h an in"i$i"!al )eha$es0 so that 1e 1o!l" )e a)le to !n"erstan" the )eha$ior of gro!ps of in"i$i"!als( It is &ertain that t1o in"i$i"!als "o not spea4 a lang!age in the same 1a' )e&a!se the' "o not ha$e the same e7perien&e 1ith the lang!age( Ea&h in"i$i"!al possesses a !ni9!e e7perien&e 1ith the lang!age( This is the reason 1h' e$er'one sho!l" ha$e an e9!al &han&e to )e inter$ie1e" 1ithin a spee&h resear&h( So&ioling!isti&s &on&erns 1ith so&ial pro)lems in$ol$ing the lang!age an" the !se of the lang!age0 the anal'sis of meaning an" spee&h a&ts 1ithin a so&ial &onte7t0 it &on&erns 1ith so&ial0 as 1ell as referential meaning an" 1ith lang!age as means of &omm!ni&ation 1ithin a so&iet'( The aim of so&ioling!isti&s as a st!"' is to !n"erstan" lang!age as a part of life 1ithin a so&iet'0 to "e$elop &on&epts an" metho"s 1hi&h &an ena)le !s to approa&h lang!age from the ling!isti& si"e6this "oes not in$ol$e grammar onl'0 it in$ol$es so&ial str!&t!re0 lang!age in !se &!lt!ral patterns an" $al!es0 et&( Other aims of So&ioling!isti&s are to reinfor&e the ling!isti& st!"ies an" to a"/!st these 4in"s of lang!age "is&!ssions to st!"ent resear&h(

The &onne&tion )et1een the lang!age an" the so&iet' &an )e seen in "ifferent sit!ations2 for e7ample0 the &hoi&e of 1or"s 1e !se "epen"s on to 1hom 1e are tal4ing to6frien"s0 famil'0 et&0 lang!age !se" gi$es information a)o!t the so&ial relationship )et1een people0 lang!age is !se" to re&ei$e an" gi$e information0 to e7press feelings0 an" to sho1 ho1 1ell 1e 4no1 someone( It is a tool that sho1s the intera&tion 1ith the so&iet'( Ling!isti&s st!"ies the 1a' in 1hi&h lang!age ma4es it possi)le to sho1 o!r i"eas an" feelings to others( It is &on&erne" 1ith the "e$elopment of "ifferent st'les an" "iale&ts an" their !sage in e$er'"a' life0 1ith the le$el of s4ill that spea4ers ha$e0 1ith the pro&ess of learning the lang!age0 an" 1ith the so&ial nat!re of lang!age( So&ioling!isti&s o)ser$es the 1a's in 1hi&h lang!age is !se" in real life0 an" it is not &on&erne" 1ith the grammati&al point of $ie1 of a lang!age(