Understanding Sociolinguistics in Everyday Teaching

 Sociolinguistics is more than just the study of language—it’s the study of how people use language in real life, in actual conversations, with real emotions, relationships, and intentions. It explores the link between language and society, asking questions like: Why do we speak differently at home than at school? Why do we change our tone or word choice when talking to a friend versus a supervisor? The truth is that language is never neutral—it always says something about who we are, how we relate to others, and what we want to express socially.

In this field, researchers try to understand the social functions of language—that is, how language carries social meaning. For example, the way someone says “Good morning” at a formal meeting versus a family breakfast tells us a lot about the relationship between the speaker and the listener.

Social Context Matters

One of the central ideas in sociolinguistics is that the way people speak depends on the situation—and this gives us a wealth of information. By examining how language varies across social contexts, we can better understand:

• How language actually works,
• How people build and reflect relationships, and
• How speakers express and shape their social identities (who they are, where they come from, what groups they belong to).

In other words, language is not just about communication—it's about connection and identity.

What Are Sociolinguistic Variables?

Think of sociolinguistic variables as the hidden rules behind why we say things differently depending on the situation. These variables explain why the same idea can be expressed in various ways. For example:

• Vocabulary: Saying “kids” instead of “children”.
• Pronunciation: Dropping the final “g” in “working” when speaking casually (“workin’”).
• Grammar: Choosing “I ain’t going” over “I’m not going” in certain communities.

These variations aren't random—they are influenced by social factors.

The Role of Social Factors

According to sociolinguists, people make different language choices based on four main social factors (Holmes, 2013):

1. Who is speaking, and to whom? (participants)
2. Where is the conversation happening? (setting)
3. What are they talking about? (topic)
4. Why are they speaking? (function)

For example, a student might say “What’s up?” to a friend in the cafeteria but say “Good afternoon, professor” in class. It’s the same person speaking—but the social setting changes everything.

Linguistic Variables: More Than Just Words

In addition to social factors, linguistic variables shape how we speak. These include:

• Language: English, Spanish, German...
• Dialect: e.g., African American English.
• Style: formal, casual, or something in between.
• Register: like scientific or romantic language.
• Grammar structures: such as using passive voice.
• Sounds and phrases: like “you-all” or the pronunciation of /t/ or /h/.

Each of these is called a "linguistic item" or "lect." Together, social and linguistic variables need to be considered carefully when analysing real-life communication.

The Social Dimensions of Language Use

Wardhaugh (2011) proposes four dimensions to help analyse how social interactions shape language:

• Social distance: Are the speakers family, friends, or strangers?
• Status: Who holds more power or authority in the conversation?
• Formality: Is the situation formal (like a job interview) or informal (like a chat at a café)?
• Function: What is the goal of the speech—informing, persuading, joking?

For instance, in Singapore, English is often chosen for official communication, even between people from different ethnic groups, because of its perceived status and practicality.

Speech Communities: More Than Just Geography

A speech community is a group of people who share a way of speaking—this could be as local as a neighbourhood or as broad as a whole city. But don’t be fooled: even within one speech community, you’ll find variation. People bring different identities, backgrounds, and experiences to their language use.

And here’s something important: one person can belong to more than one speech community. For example, a teacher may use different varieties of language at home, at school, and in online forums.

Prestige and Why It Matters

Language isn’t only about communication—it’s also about perception and value. Some ways of speaking carry more prestige than others:

• Overt prestige refers to forms considered “correct” or “proper,” often used in formal settings (e.g., standard academic English).
• Covert prestige is about the social value of using non-standard varieties within a group (e.g., slang used among teenagers or elders in a community).

Recognizing this helps us better support students from diverse linguistic backgrounds, without devaluing their home language.

Language Attitudes: What We Believe Shapes How We Speak

Language attitudes are the feelings or beliefs we hold about languages and their speakers. These attitudes aren’t always visible until they show up in our behaviour—for example, choosing not to speak a dialect in class, or correcting someone else's grammar.

But here's the key: attitudes are shaped by experience, culture, and often stereotypes. Teachers who are aware of their own language attitudes are better prepared to create inclusive classrooms.

Speech Repertoires: Your Linguistic Toolbox

Each speaker has a speech repertoire—a set of different language styles or varieties they can use. It's like having a box of tools, and choosing the right tool for the job. In practice, this might mean switching from a casual tone with students to a more formal tone in meetings with parents.

Understanding this can help teachers support code-switching and translanguaging in the classroom, rather than punishing or ignoring these natural linguistic strategies.

How Do Sociolinguists Study Language?

Sociolinguistic research follows a logical and human-centred method (Balasubramanian, 2009):

1. Identify which linguistic features vary in a community.
2. Choose a representative sample of speakers.
3. Collect real-life speech data—both casual and formal.
4. Analyse how often certain linguistic features appear.
5. Compare these findings with social factors (like age or gender).
6. Explore how the linguistic and social factors interact.

This kind of research helps teachers and policymakers understand how language reflects social realities, and it can inform more inclusive educational practices.

As future bilingual educators, knowing how language works in society isn’t just academic—it’s essential. The way your students speak, the language they bring into your classroom, and the attitudes they carry are all influenced by social, cultural, and personal factors. When we understand those, we can teach not just better grammar—but greater empathy, confidence, and belonging.

References

Balasubramanian, C. (2009). A textbook of English phonetics for Indian students. Macmillan.

Holmes, J. (2013). An introduction to sociolinguistics (4th ed.). Routledge.

Wardhaugh, R. (2011). An introduction to sociolinguistics (6th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.