1. Definition of sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is field of study which has been developed in the 1960s to investigate the relationship between language and society. It is interested in the study of the way "we speak differently in different social contexts, and … identifying the social functions of language and the way it is used to convey a social meaning." Since language is used in society, the way we use language provides a wealth of information about the speaker's regional and social background as well as. Many definitions have been proposed for the field of sociolinguistics. We cite some of them.
· Sociolinguistics is a developing branch of linguistics and sociology which examines the individual and the social variation of language (Spolsky, 2010).
· The study of the link between language and society, of language variation, and attitudes about language (Spolsky, 2010).
· A study of the relationship between language and social factors such as class, age, gender and ethnicity (Hudson, 1996).
Sociolinguistics is the field that studies language use in its social context in order to demonstrate how linguistic patterns are structured in relation to social factors such as age, gender, ethnicity and social class.
2. The Possible Relationship between Language and Society
Sociolinguists study the relationships between linguistic items and social concepts such as age, gender, identity. Wardhaugh (2006, pp.9-12) summarized four possible relationships between the social structure and the linguistic behavior (structure) advocated by different researchers:
· Social structure may either influence or determine linguistic structure and/or behavior: according to this view, social attributes such as age, gender, ethnicity and social class affect the use of language. For instance, sociolinguistic research proved that children speak differently from adults vice versa. In addition, many studies have shown that they way people use language reflects the region they come from and many social information such as their status, education, gender and ethnicity.
· Linguistic structure and/ or behavior may either influence or determine social structure: this view is present in Sapir- Whorf hypothesis that the language we speak shapes our worldviews and our though and in Basil Bernstein work on the study of the relationship between the code employed by children (elaborated or restricted) on their academic achievement, in addition to the study of language sexism in society;
· The influence is bi-directional: this perspective advocates the view that language and society may influence each other. Wardhaugh (2006) is one of the researchers who claim that as language and society mutually influence each other, sociolinguists must explore this mutual relationship to explain how linguistic and social structures overlap and interact in a systematic way;
· There is no relationship between linguistic structure and social structure: this view is present in Chomsky's theory in which he excluded the social aspect from the study of language in his description of the structure of language, and focused on the mental analysis of abstract universal features while the use of language in concrete situation was neglected.
3. Macrosociolinguistics and Micro-sociolinguistics
Theoretical linguists such as Chomsky are interested in the study of the arrangement of linguistic items and the structure of language. On the other hand, sociologists investigate how societies are organized and structured through the study of social concepts such as social class, education, gender … etc. Sociolinguists study the correlation between the distributions of linguistic items and social attributes and concepts in order to understand language structure or to explain how societies are structure. Hence, a distinction is made between two branches of sociolinguistics depending on the objective of the study: Macro-sociolinguistics and Micro-sociolinguistics.
3.1.Macro-sociolinguistics or sociology of language
This branch has a more sociological orientation since its main goal is of a sociological focus. Hudson (2001, p. 4) defines it as "the study of society in relation to language." In this subfield, sociologists study the linguistic structure as it is used in society in order to achieve a better understanding of the social structure and its functioning. Language as a social phenomenon contributes the understanding of many social aspects of society. In this regard, Wardhaugh (2006, p. 13) clarifies that this subfield tries to discover "how certain linguistic features serve to characterize particular social arrangement." Topics such as language planning, standardization, bilingualism, code-switching, language maintenance, shift and death in speech communities and their effects on educational, social, economic and political systems are relevant to sociology of language or macro-sociolinguistics.
3.2.Micro-sociolinguistics or Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics, also known as micro-sociolinguistics, is defined by Hudson (2001, p. 4) as "the study of language in relation to society." This subfield studies language in its social context in order to undestand the structure of language. Language is the main concern in the study of the relationship between linguistic items and social factors. In this regard, Coulmas (1997, p. 2) explains that "microsociolinguistics investigates how social structure influences the way people talk and how language varieties and patterns of use correlate with social attributes such as class, sex, and age." Correlational studies of language variation according to use and users such as ethnolects, socioliects, register and style in small speech communities are the main areas of micro-sociolinguistics.
Romaine (2000, p. x) demonstrates the difference between micro and macro sociolinguistic studies by stating that "macro-sociolinguistics takes society as its starting point and deals with language as a pivotal factor in the organization of communities. Micro-sociolinguistics begins with language and treats social forces as essential factors influencing the structure of language." Although these areas may overlap as they may investigate similar topics from both perspectives such as diglossia and gender, sociolinguistics and sociology of language have different objectives of the study: whether understanding the linguistic structure or the social structure.