5th Year Degree: Discourse Analysis.

2016/2017

Social Functions of language / Discourse and society

Language has several social functions. Through language we express who
we are ,a man or a woman, what kind of people we are ,what we do ,the social
class we come from , and a lot more .Furthermore, the language we use could
tell about our ideologies and beliefs .Discourse analysis , attempts to reveal how
identities, social identities, and gender are demonstrated through language , how
the choice of language is made in various social situations, how we integrate a
certain group through language, and how our social class determines our
language.
1-Discourse Communities:
The ways in which people communicate with each other and exchange
information will vary according to the group .This group is labeled a discourse
community ,so what does this key notion mean ?
Swales (1990) claims that a discourse community is , a group that has
some set of shared common goals, some mechanisms of communication , and
some way of providing and exchanging information amongst its members. The
community

has its own particular genres, its own set of terminology and

vocabulary . Paltridge (2006) defines Discourse Community as , a group of

people who share some kind of activity such as members of a club or association
who have regular meetings, or a group of students who go to classes of the same
university ...Members of a discourse community have particular way of
communicating with each other. They generally have shared goals and may have
shared values and beliefs... a person is often a member of more than one
discourse community .Someone may be a university student, a volunteers in a
social organization and a member of a church group.(p.24)

2-Discourse and Language Choice

The choice of the language or language variety may be determined by the
domain the language is being used in , such as with family, among friends and in
religious educational and employment settings .Social factors such as who we
are speaking to , the social context (situation) of the interaction , the topic ,
function and goal of the interaction ...etc.
3-Discourse and Social Class
First, lets define the concept Social class. Many factors contribute in
determining ones social such as occupation , education ,income, housing and its
location (Labov 1966).
Discourse and social class
The social class has an effect on how speakers represent themselves to
each other in their use of spoken and written discourse . Cameron and kulick
(2003) argue that , the use of language is and act of identity . ..A means
whereby people convey to one another what kinds of people we are .
Discourse and Gender :
In this domain, discourse analysis looked at the relationship between the
use of language and the biological category of humans. However, gender is
regarded now as more than the sex of speaker or writer but a social category .
A man displays through linguistic performance being a man in a particular
social setting and of a particular social class. People perform particular identities
their use of language and other ways of expressing themselves in their
interactions with each other .Mostly this is done unconsciously as we repeat

acts such as gestures, movement, and way of using language that signify of
index a particular identity .In her book language and Womens Place Lakoff
(1975) proposed what she called womens language that is different from what
she labeled mens language. This language , she argued , included features such
as the use of overly polite forms , the avoidance of expletives , a greater use of
diminutives and euphemisms ...and the use of of particular items such as
adorable charming and sweet versus great , terrific and cool .
Similarly, Tannen (1990) in his book You Just Dont understand , argued
that boys and girls grow up learning different ways of using language and
communicating with people .Researchers emphasized the notions of dominance
as they studied the relationship between language and gender . Spenders Man
Made Language (1980) is an example of the dominance approach which sees the
differences in the use of language as a result of mens domination over women.
This view focuses on the distribution of power in society and argues that
womens language reflects womens subordinate position in society .Womens
language is imposed by men to maintain male dominance and female oppression
in society .The males display of power through language and gestures is
thought to be ( Zimmerman 1983) a reminder to women of their social
subordinate position in society .Language choices made by men and women are
an enactment of who is in charge and whose values will prevail and dominate .
4-Language and Identity
A person may have a number of identities , each of which is important at
different points in time .They may have an identity as a woman , and identity as
a mother, and identity as a teacher .The ways people display their identities
include the way they use the language and the way the interact with people
.Identities are not natural , they are constructed , in large part, through the use of
discourse.

The information people give off about themselves , to show their identity ,
depends much on the context , occasion, and purpose of discourse.
Thomas (2004) worked on how people show their identities in online
chats ,she examines how girls used words and images to establish online
identities that are quite different from offline identities to achieve their goals.
To illustrate this , Thomas , presents the talk of one of the participants ,Violetta
who argued,
Id have whole typing styles for people .Like, if I were trying to
trick someone else I knew into thinking I was someone else .Id type a
lot differently than I do normally , a person s typing style can give
them way like their voices do .
(Thomas, 2004 , p367).

5-Discourse and Identity

The values and ideologies that underlie texts , often tend to be hidden
rather than overtly stated .Threagold (1989) asserts that , texts are never
ideology-free nor they can be separated from the social realities they contribute in
maintaining. In this area of discourse analysis , specialists try to identify the
relationship between language and social norms , values and interpret and explain
this relationship. In doing so , it aims to provide a way of exploring and , perhaps
challenging , some of the hidden and out of sight social, cultural , and political
values that underlie the use of spoken and written discourse .
Teacher :Ali Nouar
Bibliography :
Paltridge , B. (2006). Discourse Analysis.