The link between language and age is studied by sociolinguistics.
Sociolinguistics is the discipline dedicated to the analysis of language in its social context . Therefore, it links linguistic phenomena with factors in society, both individual and collective.
Although the independence and methodology of sociolinguistics is usually recognized, there are scholars who consider that its separation from linguistics makes no sense since language is a system of social communication and the linguistic fact always occurs within the framework of society. In any case, sociolinguistics is specifically oriented to the influence that variables derived from use have on language.
History of sociolinguistics
The history of sociolinguistics began formally in 1952 , when the concept was coined by Haver Cecil Currie in a text he authored. By then, different authors had already expressed their rejection of thinking about language as a system independent of society and speakers.
Only in 1964 , from various congresses and conferences that included the participation of experts in linguistics, semiotics , anthropology and sociology , did sociolinguistics emerge as an autonomous discipline. This initial development occurred mainly in North America (based on the work of American and Canadian experts) and in Great Britain .
One of the pioneers of sociolinguistics was William Labov , who opposed Noam Chomsky 's position of focusing linguistics on an ideal speaker who integrates a homogeneous community. For Labov , sociolinguistic competences arise from the relationship between competence (the internal aspect of the language), performance (its externalization) and social factors. As a result of this link, linguistic variation occurs.
Sociolinguistics is related to the sociology of language, ethnolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, historical linguistics and other disciplines.
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Sociolinguistics can be classified in different ways according to its orientation and its object of study. We speak of empirical sociolinguistics to refer to the collection of data, while theoretical sociolinguistics is oriented towards the analysis of the collected data.
Another classification distinguishes between microsociolinguistics (which examines how utterances are sequenced and the execution of speech acts) and macrosociolinguistics (oriented towards language planning, linguistic attitude and the choice of a language or dialect in the context). of a group where bilingualism or multilingualism exists).
In the field of macrosociolinguistics it can be clearly seen how language is influenced by social factors. Language and social class maintain a close link, as do language and ethnicity. When several languages coexist in the same territory, it is common for there to be linguistic discrimination since a certain language prestige is established. This process is known as diglossia .
In Spain , for example, depending on the region there may be competition between Spanish and languages such as Basque, Galician and Catalan. In other nations, there are linguistic stereotypes that weigh on speakers of indigenous languages. In all these contexts, there may be language planning at a collective level and a selection of the language to be used by individuals that is given by social conditioning.
Written language is influenced by sociolinguistics factors.
Sociolinguistics and language teaching
Language teaching is a matter of interest for sociolinguistics. Experts have investigated how second language acquisition is carried out, taking into account the impact of the social context on this type of process.
Sociolinguistics is associated with didactics since sociolinguistic elements intervene in the generation and reception of statements. In fact, it is argued that those who learn a second language have to acquire the essential knowledge to develop their sociolinguistic competence and thus be able to use the language in its social aspect. In other words: teaching must consider sociolinguistic issues so that the instruction allows the student to communicate through the learned language.
Of course, the very relevance given to language teaching today has to do with social factors. It is considered that, in today's world, it is not enough to master the mother tongue but rather it is valuable to be bilingual or multilingual .
The cultural and economic preponderance means that languages such as English, Chinese, German, Italian, Portuguese and French are the most studied. It is understood that being able to communicate through these languages helps to get better jobs, for example.
The variation
As we already indicated, linguistic variation is one of the transcendental concepts in sociolinguistics. The expression refers to the different ways of expressing the same notion within the framework of a language.
This means that different people can choose different ways to communicate the same concept. Even a person can vary their speaking style or language register according to the occasion.
Suppose a young man wants to narrate a certain event that he experienced on the street. When he tells his friends, he uses colloquial language with elements of the slang that he shares with them; When transmitting the facts to their parents, however, their oral language changes. In turn, when he talks about the experience with his boss, he uses other terms and linguistic constructions, but always referring to the same situation.
The change in language can be caused by semantics , syntax , phonetics or other variables. This linguistic variation studied by sociolinguistics represents a challenge when it comes to translation, since interpretation must be associated with the context.