Function and role of language in society

Lecture 2. Language and Society

Everyone knows what is supposed to happen when two English men who have never met before come face to face in a train. They start talking about the weather! In some instances this may be simply because they find the subject interesting. Most people, though, are not particularly interested in any climatic conditions, so there must be other reasons for conversations of this kind. One explanation is that it can often be quite embarrassing to be alone in the company of someone you are not acquainted with and not speak to him. If no conversation takes place the atmosphere can become rather strained. However, by talking to the other person about some neutral topic, like the weather, or football it is possible to strike up a relationship without actually having to say very much. The train conversations of this kind are a good explanation of an important social function often fulfilled by the language. Language is not simply a means of communicating ideas, concepts, judgments (for example, about the weather or any other subject), it is also a very important means of establishing and maintaining relationships with other people. Probably the most important thing about the conversation between our two English men is not the words they are using, but the fact that they are having a talk.

There is also another explanation. It is quite possible that the first English person, probably subconsciously, would like to get to know certain things about the second (for instance what sort of job they do and what social status they have). Without this kind of information, they will never be sure how to behave towards other people. The first person can, of course, make intelligent guesses about the second from his clothes, and other visual clues, but can hardly ask direct questions about his social background, at least at this early stage of their relationship. What they can do is to engage the partner into conversation. The first person is then likely to find out certain things about the other person quite easily. These things will be learnt not so much from what the other person says as from how it is said, for whenever we speak we cannot avoid giving our listeners clues about our origin and the sort of person we are. Our accent and our speech generally show where we come from, and what sort of background we have. We can’t avoid giving some indication of our ideas and attitudes, and all of this information can be used by the person we are speaking with to help him formulate an opinion about us.

So, these two aspects of language behaviour are very important from the social point of view: first, the function of establishing social relationships; and, second, the role played by language in conveying information about the speaker. It is clear that both these aspects of linguistic behaviour are reflections of the fact that there is a close interrelationship between language and society.

The first English person, in seeking clues about the second, is making use of the way in which people from different social and geographical backgrounds use different kinds of language. If the second English person comes from Norfolk, for example, he or she will probably use the kind of language spoken by the people from that part of the country. If the second person is a middle-class businessman, he will use the kind of language associated with men of this profession. 'Kinds of language' of this sort are often referred to as dialects: the first type being a regional dialect and the second a social one. The term dialect is a familiar one and most people will think that they have a good idea of what it means. In fact, though, it is not a particularly easy term to define because it is often mixed with two other commonly used terms, language and accent.

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