Why Sociolinguistics is Important to Education.
The study of language is essential, especially to authors, teachers, and editors, because "[l]anguage is a [center] to social interaction in every society, regardless of location and time period" (Ahmad.66). To know the right words to use is crucial in communication; whether it be for business, education, politics, or even communicating with one's family, it is essential to pick out the right words. However, an area helps to make the language more understandable, which is the art of understanding sociolinguistics.
What is sociolinguistics, and why is it important?
Languages develop to fulfill the needs of the societies that use them. Because societies contain a diverse range of social needs, and because these needs can differ across cultures and geographies, English language varieties exist. These include American English, British English, Australian English, Canadian English, Indian English, etc.
While there is no single way for a new variety of English to emerge, its development can generally be described as a process of adaptation. A specific group of speakers take a familiar variety of English and adapt the features of that variety to suit their social context needs. (Perdue)
Sociolinguistics goes beyond just looking at people's social needs; it takes into account how and what is affecting society at the time. For example, when we look at famous authors like Virginia Woolf or even William Faulkner, these authors were producing work after WW-I. They focused on how the Great Depression, the War affected people of that generation.
As scholars, we can form arguments around learning the language as a process that can be difficult to learn as we "[go] through the teaching-learning process, indoor, outdoor, formal, [and] non-formal education" (Ahmad.66). Linguistics can be hard to learn; however, it is a useful tool because it can help people understand why an Author, Professor, Politician, or Lawmaker has written around what is happening in society. Sociolinguistics is not just taught in English but all languages; however, I want to focus on why it is essential in English and how the sign will have an impact on my professional career path. Teaching, scholarship language, and combining social and cultural factors in contexts and differences of dialectal needs to be considered because it is affected by the accomplishment of learning a language (66).
To argue that sociolinguistics is more than just communication and creates individuality, it goes beyond just that as educators; it is essential to understand that educators understand how language is dealt with in the real world. As an educator, we have to help students learn the language and how they came to be. Sociolinguistics focuses on history and what is transpiring in society during the time the Literature was written. Scholars can also argue that to teach Literature or any form of the English language, it is essential for the educator to understand the language effectively to instruct the students effectively. However, this is not always the case, as provided in the example below:
Teacher' [s] often [disregard] the sociolinguistics aspects of teaching language. They are more [focused] to teach the language…[like] words, grammar, and pronunciation (speaking). Learning a language with sociolinguistics can help the speakers distinguish where, whom, and when they speak. Therefore, the teacher should associate the materials to social contexts. (67)
When educators combine the study of sociolinguistics to their lectures, it helps the student put things into context. However, it also makes it easier to apply literary theory. Thus, this allows the student to understand the overall text better and provide them with a more well-rounded view of the text itself.
As I look into my career path and having applied sociolinguistics to Literature and my arguments surrounding text, I can see how instructing students in this discipline would significantly impact the outcome of their learning text. Through my research surrounding Virginia Woolf, I have found that sociolinguistic was very important in her work as a writer; she also influenced other writers like Radcliff Hall and Patricia Highsmith. These women influenced a movement across America with their writing, and sociolinguistics was a considerable part of that movement. When you first read Woolf, I have found that having some historical background essential, as it helps put the characters into the time and space in which the novel was written. Therefore, it allows the reader to understand better what is happening within the Literature.
Nonetheless, because sociolinguistics is so universal, I feel that it should be applied in the classroom. As I continue to pursue my master's degree, I will find that sociolinguistics will be useful as I apply it in my other classes. However, even when I tutored students in American Sign Language ASL, I liked them to be well rounded and well informed, and they all passed their courses. So as a Professor, I must use the tools given to me so that I can pass them on to my students. Thus, helping the students be more vers in language and have more success in interpreting Literature.
Work Cited
HS, Ahmad. (2019). SOCIOLINGUISTICS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. MABASAN. 9. 66-77. 10.26499/mab.v9i2.159.
Purdue Writing Lab. “Introduction // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab, Perdue Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/english_as_a_second_language/world_englishes/index.html.
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