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    Self Assessment: Overall I Feel Like This Is A Pretty Strong Paper. I Stayed On Topic, Expressed My

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    The document is a student paper discussing sociolinguistics, the study of how language is shaped by social factors. The paper explores how people change their dialect depending on the social setting or person they are interacting with. It discusses theories like accommodation theory, which suggests people adjust their language to facilitate clear communication and avoid offense. The paper notes that dialect changes can occur consciously or subconsciously. Some common adjustments are convergence, where people's speech becomes more similar, and divergence, where differences are accentuated. The paper concludes that adjusting language in social interactions is a natural human instinct.

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    Self Assessment: Overall I Feel Like This Is A Pretty Strong Paper. I Stayed On Topic, Expressed My

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    lsehaye
    41 views4 pages
    The document is a student paper discussing sociolinguistics, the study of how language is shaped by social factors. The paper explores how people change their dialect depending on the social setting or person they are interacting with. It discusses theories like accommodation theory, which suggests people adjust their language to facilitate clear communication and avoid offense. The paper notes that dialect changes can occur consciously or subconsciously. Some common adjustments are convergence, where people's speech becomes more similar, and divergence, where differences are accentuated. The paper concludes that adjusting language in social interactions is a natural human instinct.

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    The document is a student paper discussing sociolinguistics, the study of how language is shaped by social factors. The paper explores how people change their dialect depending on the social setting or person they are interacting with. It discusses theories like accommodation theory, which suggests people adjust their language to facilitate clear communication and avoid offense. The paper notes that dialect changes can occur consciously or subconsciously. Some common adjustments are convergence, where people's speech becomes more similar, and divergence, where differences are accentuated. The paper concludes that adjusting language in social interactions is a natural human instinct.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    41 views4 pages

    Self Assessment: Overall I Feel Like This Is A Pretty Strong Paper. I Stayed On Topic, Expressed My

    Uploaded by

    lsehaye
    The document is a student paper discussing sociolinguistics, the study of how language is shaped by social factors. The paper explores how people change their dialect depending on the social setting or person they are interacting with. It discusses theories like accommodation theory, which suggests people adjust their language to facilitate clear communication and avoid offense. The paper notes that dialect changes can occur consciously or subconsciously. Some common adjustments are convergence, where people's speech becomes more similar, and divergence, where differences are accentuated. The paper concludes that adjusting language in social interactions is a natural human instinct.

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    Sehaye 1

    Luwam Sehaye

    Dr. Rieman

    English 1103

    8 November, 2010

    Self assessment: Overall I feel like this is a pretty strong paper. I stayed on topic, expressed my

    opinion, and got my point across without excess information. I feel like my paper is easy to read

    and will not bore the reader. Areas I could have used some improvement in is probably more

    detail and elaboration on the study of Sociolinguistics and the many subjects that are studied in

    the field.

    Inquiry Paper: How Dialect Can Switch In Different Settings

    Have you ever noticed that you or maybe someone you know will change the way they

    speak in different social settings? I have. I don’t mean a drastic change of accent or someone

    with many different personas, but just a change of the way of words. Some people may use more

    proper or formal language when speaking in front of a class, discussing a grade with your

    teacher, in a business setting, or when in front of someone of higher authority. Having a

    conversation with your professor or a police officer will usually not sound similar to a

    conversation you would have with your friends and family. In another situation an English

    speaking person might come across someone who speaks very little English and may have to use

    words that are more common and basic to communicate. This can also occur vice versa.

    When I noticed that some people tend to change their way of speech throughout the day it

    lead me to wonder why do we change our dialect in different social dialects? Do we do this

    consciously or subconsciously? What are the different dialects we may use? And which dialects

    will be used for certain figures and characters in society? Sociolinguists have answered these
    Sehaye 2

    questions after many years of conducting studies and research. In Connie Eble’s Do You Speak

    American, she writes “Sociolinguistics is the study of how language serves and is shaped by the

    social nature of human beings. In its broadest conception, sociolinguistics analyzes the many and

    diverse ways in which language and society entwine. This vast field of inquiry requires and

    combines insights from a number of disciplines, including linguistics, sociology, psychology and

    anthropology” (Eble 1). In other words, sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between

    language and society. This is an extensive topic that involves a combination of other studies.

    It is pretty much common knowledge that people don’t talk the same way depending on

    several factors such as gender, age, socioeconomic class, region, ethnicity, and education.

    However Dimitrios Thanasoulas discusses in his “Accommodation Theory” how language can

    also change depending on “A wide range of variables such as the setting, the topic of discourse,

    the person we are interacting with, the purpose of the interaction, and so on” (Thanasoulas 1). He

    also explains that the reason we do this is because we want to “Accommodate others by adjusting

    our communicational behavior to the requisite roles that participants are assigned in a given

    context” (1). In other words, we adjust the way we use our words so that communication can be

    clear as possible and no offense will be taken to the other person. For example, a caller on the

    radio show explained that he was a customer service representative, and that when he would be

    on the phone with a customer with a southern accent, he would slightly adjust his speech so for a

    “twang” (2).

    As I noted earlier one thing I was not sure about was if people do this subconsciously or

    consciously. For example, does it occur throughout the day without the person even noticing, or

    is it something we fully realize as we are choosing our words. Thanasoulas says that we are fully

    aware of when we switch dialects although some people may not notice it most people can recall
    Sehaye 3

    or realize when and how they change their style of speech (1). I happen to agree with

    Thanasoulas. When I switch dialects from the classroom to the lunch table I am fully aware of

    my choice of words, and realize that I would not speak the same way in front of my English class

    as I would speak when with friends.

    As I was wondering about the different ways we convert our speech I discovered that

    there are actually several different modifications of speech when it comes to accommodation. A

    very common modification of speech is what has been dubbed as convergence. This term refers

    to the processes whereby two or more individuals alter their speech to resemble that of those they

    are interacting with. Divergence refers to the ways in which speakers accentuate their verbal and

    non-verbal differences in order to distinguish themselves from others. There is a tendency for

    people to become more alike in language including pronunciation, utterance length, pauses,

    speech rates, vocal intensities, as well as facial expression. Convergence is said to bring a feeling

    of increase in social approval (Thanasoulas 3). Overall, there are many different ways a person

    could modify their speech. Whether consciously or subconsciously, it is proven that people

    actually engage in this behavior and it is a common factor.

    In conclusion, I have learned a lot of new information on the topic of Sociolinguistics. I

    now know that it is part of people’s natural instinct and habit to accommodate others in

    conversation. I also learned that the variables that play a big part in the reason and way we adjust

    our speech depends on not only gender, age, education, job status, or class but also the topic of

    the conversation, the purpose of the conversation, and the perception of that person.
    Sehaye 4

    Works Cited

    Eble, Connie. “Sociolinguistics Basics.” Do You Speak American. PBS, 2005. Web. 1 Nov

    2010.

    Thanasoulas, Dimitrios. “Accomodation Theory”. TEFL Articles, 1999. Web. 1 Nov 2010.

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