Chapter 2

Language Choice in Multilingual Communities

Choosing your variety or code
What is your linguistic repertoire?
In multilingual city which has different people with different language. Sometimes it
will be different when talking with family and people with different social status or event
with people from a different tribal language. For example is when talking with friend in a
multilingual city, we uses the lingua franca of the area or special variety or code.
Domain of language use
In term with who you are talking to, the social context of the talk, the function, and
topic of the discussion. It has proved very useful, particularly when describing code choice in
large speech communities, to look at typical interactions which involve these factors. It
would be located in the setting of a place, the type of participants. A number of such typical
interactions have been identified as a relevant in describing patterns of code choice in many
speech communities. They are known as domain of language use.
Modelling variety or code choice
A people whose come from a different place and live in a place with different
language. Using information about the domains of use in community it is possible to draw a
very simple model of summarizing the norms of language use for the community. This is
often particularly useful for bilingual and multilingual speech communities. It force us to be
very clear about which domain and varieties are relevant to language choice. It provides a
clear bass for comparing patterns of code choice in different speech communities. It describes
which code or codes are usually selected for use in different situation.
Other social factors affecting code choice
The component of a domain do not always fit with each other. They are not always
congruent. People may selected a particular variety or code because it makes it easier to
discuss particular topic, regardless of where they are speaking. Some describe this as leakage,
suggesting it is in some way irregular, the code associated with one domain is leaking into
another. Features of the setting and the dimension of formality may also be important in
selecting an appropriate variety or coe. Another relevant factor is the function or goal of the
interaction.
Diglossia
The pattern of code or variety choice in Eggenwil is one which has been described
with the term diglossia . This term has been used both in a narrow sense and in a much
broader sense and I will describe both. In the narrow and original sense of the term, diglossia
has three crucial features:
1. Two distinct varieties of the same language are used in the community, with one regarded
as a high (or H) variety and the other a low (or L) variety.
2. Each variety is used for quite distinct functions; H and L complement each other.
3. No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation.
Most of the vocabulary of H and L is the same. But, not surprisingly since it is used in more
formal domains, the H vocabulary includes many more formal and technical terms such as
conservation and psychometric , while the L variety has words for everyday objects such as
saucepan and shoe . There are also some interesting paired items for frequently referred to
concepts.

Attitudes to H vs L in a diglossia situation

Attitudes towards the two codes in a diglossia situation are complicated. People
generally admire the H variety even when they can’t understand it. Attitudes to it are usually
very respectful. It has prestige in the sense of high status. These attitudes are reinforced by
the fact that the H variety is the one which is described and ‘fi xed’, or standardized, in
grammar books and dictionaries. People generally do not think of the L variety as worth
describing. However, attitudes to the L variety are varied and often ambivalent.

Extending the scope of ‘diglossia’

The way H and L function in places is very similar to the way that distinct language
operate in places. ‘Diglossia’ is here being used in a broader sense which gives most weight
to feature or criterion (ii) – the complementary functions of two varieties or codes in a
community. The term diglossia is generalized to cover any situation where two languages are
used for different functions in a speech community, especially where one language is used for
H functions and the other for L functions. There is a division of labor between the languages.

Polyglossia
The term polyglossia has been used for situations like this where a community
regularly uses more than two languages

Changes in a diglossia situation

Diglossia has been described as a stable situation. It is possible for two varieties to
continue to exist side by side for centuries. Alternatively, one variety may gradually displace
the other. The term diglossia or perhaps polyglossia should be used to describe
complementary code use in all communities. In all speech communities, people use different
varieties or codes in formal contexts, such as religious and legal ceremonies, as opposed to
relaxed casual situations.

Code switching or code mixing

People sometimes switch code within a domain or social situation. When there is
some obvious change in the situation, such as the arrival of a new person, it is easy to explain
the switch. So a code-switch may be related to a particular participant or addressee. A
speaker may similarly switch to another language as a signal of group membership and
shared ethnicity with an addressee. Even speakers who are not very proficient in a second
language may use brief phrases and words for this purpose. Switches motivated by the
identity and relationship between participants often express a move along the solidarity/social
distance dimension. Different kinds of relationships are often expressed or actively
constructed through the use of different varieties or codes. More formal relationships, which
sometimes involve status differences too.

Topic
Bilinguals often find it easier to discuss particular topics in one code rather than
another. For many bilinguals, certain kinds of referential content are more appropriately or
more easily expressed in one language than the other. The switch involves just the words that
the speaker is claiming the quoted person said. So the switch acts like a set of quotation
marks. The speaker gives the impression – which may or may not be accurate – that these are
the exact words the speaker used. A related reason for switching is to quote a proverb or a
well-known saying in another language, as illustrated in the following example.

Metaphorical switching
By switching between codes with such rapidity the village big man effectively draws
on the different associations of the two codes. Buang is the local tribal language. By using it
Mr Rupa is emphasizing his membership of the Buang community – he belongs here and
everyone knows him. He is using Buang to construct his local identity. But he is also a skilled
businessman with contacts in the outside world of money and marketing. Mr Rupa’s use of
Tok Pisin (‘talk pidgin’), a creole which is a valuable lingua franca and an official language
in PNG, emphasizes this role of entrepreneur, as well as his superior knowledge and
experience as a man of the wider world. His use of Tok Pisin constructs his professional
identity as a businessman. Buang symbolizes high solidarity, equal status and friendly
feelings. Tok Pisin represents social distance, status and the referential information of the
business world. Mr Rupa is getting the best of both worlds. He is code-switching for
rhetorical reasons, drawing on the associations of both codes. This type of switching has
sometimes been called metaphorical switching.

Linguistic constraints
Sociolinguists who study the kind of rapid code-switching described in the previous
section have been interested in identifying not only the functions or meaning of switches, and
the stylistic motivations for switches, but also the points at which switches occur in
utterances. Some believe there are very general rules for switching which apply to all
switching behavior regardless of the codes or varieties involved.

Attitudes to code-switching
People are often unaware of the fact that they code-switch. When their attention is
drawn to this behavior, however, many tend to apologies for it, condemn it and generally
indicate disapproval of mixing languages. Among Mexican Americans the derogatory term
Tex Mex is used to describe rapid code-switching between Spanish and English.
 Chapter 3
Language maintenance and shift

Language shift in different communities

Migrant minorities

The order of domains in which language shift occurs may differ for different
individuals and different groups, but gradually over time the language of the wider society
displaces the minority language mother tongue. There are many different social factors which
can lead a community to shift from using one language for most purposes to using a different
language, or from using two distinct codes in different domains, to using different varieties of
just one language for their communicative needs. Migrant families provide an obvious
example of this process of language shift.

Migrant majorities
The examples discussed so far in this chapter have illustrated that language shift often
indicates the influence of political factors and economic factors, such as the need for work.
People may shift both location and language for this reason. Over the last couple of centuries,
many speakers of Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh, for instance, have shifted to England, and
consequently to English, primarily in order to get work. They need English both for their job
success and for their social well-being – to make friends. But we fi nd the outcome is the
same when it is the majority group who do the physical moving. When language shift occurs,
it is almost always shift towards the language of the dominant powerful group. A dominant
group has little incentive to adopt the language of a minority. The dominant language is
associated with status, prestige and social success. It is used in the ‘glamour’ contexts in the
wider society – for formal speeches on ceremonial occasions, by news readers on television
and radio, and by those whom young people admire – pop stars, fashion models, and DJs
(disc jockeys). It is scarcely surprising that many young minority group speakers should see
its advantages and abandon their own language.

Language death and language loss

When a language dies gradually, as opposed to all its speakers being wiped out by a
massacre or epidemic, the process is similar to that of language shift. The functions of the
language are taken over in one domain after another by another language. As the domains in
which speakers use the language shrink, the speakers of the dying language become gradually
less proficient in it. In the wider community, the language may survive for ritual or
ceremonial occasions, but those who use it in these contexts will be few in number and their
fluency is often restricted to prayers and set speeches or incantations.

Factors contributing to language shift

Economic, social, and political factors

The most obvious factor is that the community sees an important reason for learning
the second language. The reasons are often economic, but they may also be political – as in
the case of
Israel. Obtaining work is the most obvious economic reason for learning another language. In
English-dominated countries, for instance, people learn English in order to get good jobs.
This results in bilingualism. Bilingualism is always a necessary precursor of language shift,
although, as stable diglossic communities demonstrate, it does not always result in shift. The
second important factor, then, seems to be that the community sees no reason to take active
steps to maintain their ethnic language. They may not see it as offering any advantages to
their children, for example, or they may not realize that it is in any danger of disappearing.
Without active language maintenance, shift is almost inevitable in many contexts.

Demographic factors
Demographic factors are also relevant in accounting for the speed of language shift.
Resistance to language shift tends to last longer in rural than in urban areas. This is partly
because rural groups tend to be isolated from the centers of political power for longer, and
they can meet most of their social needs in the ethnic or minority language.

Attitude and values

Language shift tends to be slower among communities where the minority language is
highly valued. When the language is seen as an important symbol of ethnic identity, it is
generally maintained longer. Positive attitudes support efforts to use the minority language in
a variety of domains, and this helps people resist the pressure from the majority group to
switch to their language. The status of a language internationally can contribute to these
positive attitudes.

How can a minority language be maintained

There are certain social factors which seem to retard wholesale language shift for a
minority language group, at least for a time. Where language is considered an important
symbol of a minority group’s identity, for example, the language is likely to be maintained
longer. Polish people have regarded language as very important for preserving their identity
in the many countries they have migrated to, and they have consequently maintained Polish
for three to four generations. The same is true for Greek migrants in places like Australia,
New Zealand and the USA. Another factor which may contribute to language maintenance
for those who emigrate is the degree and frequency of contact with the homeland. A regular
stream of new migrants or even visitors will keep the need for using the language alive.
Although the pressures to shift are strong, members of a minority community can take active
steps to protect its language. If we consider the influence of social factors such as participants
and setting, for instance, on language choice, it is clear that social factors may help resist the
influence of economic pressures. Institutional support generally makes the difference
between success and failure in maintaining a minority group language. Education, law and
administration, religion and the media are crucial domains from this point of view. The
minority group which can mobilize these institutions to support language maintenance has
some chance of succeeding. When the government of a country is committed to maintaining
or reviving a language, it is possible to legislate for its use in all these domains, as happened
in Israel with Hebrew.

Language revival
There is clearly no magic formula for guaranteeing language maintenance or for
predicting language shift or death. Different factors combine in different ways in each social
context, and the results are rarely predictable. Similar factors apparently result in a stable
bilingual situation in some communities but language shift in others. This account has
stressed the importance of economic, social, demographic and attitudinal factors. Economic
factors are very influential and rarely work in favor of maintaining small minority group
languages. Though economic and political imperatives tend to eliminate minority languages,
it is important to remember examples like Welsh and Hebrew which demonstrate that
languages can be maintained, and even revived, when a group values their distinct identity
highly and regards language as an important symbol of that identity. Finally, it is also
important to realize that pressures towards language shift occur mainly in countries where
monolinguals is regarded as normal, and bilingualism is considered unusual. For most of the
world it is bilingualism and multilingualism which is normal. In countries like Singapore or
India, the idea that you should stop speaking one language when you start learning another is
inconceivable.