 Not all first parts are immediately followed by second parts. It often occurs that the answer is delayed by another pair of question and answer. Look at the following example:

    - May I have a bottle of Mich? (Q1)

    - Are you over 21? (Q2)

    - No. (A2)

    - No. (A1)

     The second part of adjacency pair is violated here.

     A conversation sometimes is organized in a preferential way.

     Pre-sequence

     Pre-invitation

     Pre-request

     Pre-announcement

     Post-sequence

     Explanation

    Chapter 8 Language in Social Contexts

     What is sociolinguistics?

     The sociolinguistic study of language

     Language in relation to society

     Diversity of language, variation between societies or within a society

     The distinction between “language” and “a language”

     Try to answer the following three questions:

     Can language be defined in terms of geography?

     Can language be defined in terms of nationality?

     Should language be defined by mutual intelligibility?

     The answer to these questions should all be no. All languages are equal. If you define language in terms of these factors, you are speaking of “a language”.

     Varieties of language

     A language varies according to the following factors:

     Situation

     Geographical areas

     Social factors

     Purposes and subject matters

     Time (through which the language develops)

     Geographical varieties and regional dialects

     What’s the relationship between a regional dialect and the national standard speech?

     A regional dialect is a variety of the national standard speech.

     Accent

     Pronunciation:

     Spelling: -our/-or

     Vocabulary:

     Grammar: have you/do you have…

     Social varieties

     Sociolects are forms of a language that characterize the speech of different social classes.

     A social variety is a variety of language brought about by the social factors.

     Language plays the role of a social indicator.

     Social classes and variation

     Grammar: third person singular

     Pronunciation: popular contracted forms

     Sex and variation

     Women tend to speak more standard, decent variation.

     Women tend to make overstatements, especially when making comment.

     Women prefer to use certain adjectives which are not used normally.

     Women tend to avoid the use of vulgar words.

     Women tend to use certain expressions to show happiness or surprise.

     Age and variation

     Race and variation

     Racial difference

     Black English

    - Pronunciation

    - Grammar

     Temporal dialects

     Standard dialect and idiolect

     Standard dialect is the highest prestige in a society or a nation. It is usually based on the well-educated speech.

     It is used in news media and literature.

     It is described in dictionaries and grammar books.