On the Enlightenment of Sociolinguistics to English Teaching

Abstract： Sociolinguistics is the linguistic branch which surveys the relationship between language and society， which definitely plays an important role in English teaching. This paper aims at discussing the influence and enlightenment of sociolinguistics to English teaching.

1.Introduction

Sociolinguistics could be taken to refer to use of linguistic data and analysis in other disciplines， concerned with social life， and conversely， to use of social data and analysis in linguistics .The word could also be taken to refer to correlations between languages and societies. In simple words， it may contribute to an understanding of who speaks what language to whom， where， when and why in a certain community.

Generally speaking， the research scope of sociolinguistics includes the following several aspects： （1） the language strata of one country or district， such as diglossia， bilingualism， multilingualism or multidialects； （2） language variation which consists of regional dialect and social dialect， and vernacular， formal style and informal style； （3） the relationship between the conversation and the choice of code， and the interaction between the code choice and personal relationships； （4） the society and different groups’ estimate of and attitude towards all languages or language variation and the resulting social effects； （5） the ways and rules of language change which results from social， cultural or political factors and language contact.

2. The Relations between sociolinguistics and English teaching

Ever since sociolinguistics came into being， it has thrown light in language teaching. Sociolinguistics and English teaching have a long-time and close relation. For example， Yang Yonglin（2007） points out that： first， from the angle of theoretical reference， Hymes’ Communicative Language Teaching， Labov’s sociolinguistic theory of variant etc， they all provide references for English teaching； second， from the angle of research on extension， the observing scopes of sociolinguistics have extended from the concrete use of language in the social context to the influence of cultural and social factors on the environment of foreign language acquisition， obviously， this overlaps with the research scope of English teaching； last， from the angle of academic publishing， the publication of many monographs and proceedings such as Preston’s “Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition” and Wolfson’s “The Multi -Dimension： Sociolinguistics and English Teaching” fully indicate that the cooperation between sociolinguistics and English teaching is increasingly close. Thus， the connection of sociolinguistics and English teaching not only provides a new theoretical perspective for the research of English teaching， but also provides concrete guidance for English teaching practice.

3.The Enlightenment of sociolinguistics to English teaching

The importance of social and cultural factors in English teaching reflects on which the influence of sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics emphasizes the language utilization， highlights the communicative skills and opposes language research from society and culture， because every language is the reflection of a certain culture and has profound cultural connotation. Supposing that we only pay attention to the language itself without understanding the culture which language depends upon for survival， it is equivalent of wood for the trees. Therefore， it will be very difficult for us to completely understand and use the language accurately and appropriately （Xie Bangxiu， 2003）.If we want to master a language really， we must have rich social and cultural knowledge in which the language exist； rich social and cultural knowledge also benefits the comprehension and use of language， and the two complement each other. So the introduction of social and cultural knowledge in English teaching is necessary. As an emerging discipline， though sociolinguistics does not exist for a long time， it has had great enlightenments to the content and methods of English teaching （Gao Zhengheng， 2006）.

3.1 Combining language teaching with cultural teaching

As a social phenomenon， language is a tool for communication， and it is also an important part of culture as well as a mirror which reflects a nation’s culture and reveals its cultural content .Therefore， in language teaching， teachers should not only teach the students language knowledge such as the vocabulary and grammar， but also introduce the cultural background and teach the communication principles which combining with various social and cultural factors， thus the students know what to say in what situations. For an instance， when we teach vocabulary we often meet abundant socio-cultural words. Take “drugstore” for an example， students will put the meaning of drug and the meaning of store together； therefore they think that drugstore means pharmacy. But they are always confused why Americans often go to drugstore to buy fruit and vegetable and even some life necessities. In fact， in America， drugstore means grocery （Yao Jinmei， 1997）. Learning a foreign language well means more than merely mastering the pronunciation， grammar， words and idioms， it means to see the word as the native speakers of that language see it， learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas， customs， and behavior of their society， learning to understand their “language of the mind”. Learning a language， in fact， is inseparable from learning its culture.

3.2 Paying attention to the context factors

As we have seen in Rufino’s account， we need to consider characteristics of the learning situation. Most of these are outside the teacher’s control but they will bear heavily on decisions about choice of resources and classroom procedures. For ease of discussion they can be divided into social factors and educational factors. Social attitudes towards English language learning will partly determine how much effort teachers have to put into motivating students， but so will social exposure to the language. The presence of English in the community will immediately facilitate practice opportunities such as writing reviews of English films and TV programmes， keeping a diary of extra-curricular activities， outside visits， or encounter projects. Its absence creates greater but not insuperable challenges for teachers， who will need to think about sources of authentic input， about manageable out-of-class practice， and about creating a balance of skills work to make the most productive use of class and out-of class time. （Hedge， 2002）

3.3 Emphasizing the students’ subjective emotional factors

The harmonious teacher-student relationship can provide a friendly atmosphere and harmonious interpersonal relationship for the teaching， contribute to improve teaching quality and foster the students’ integrated thinking ability and proactive spirit， and lay the foundation for the effective implement of various teaching means（Deng Yanping，2002）.In addition， when teachers organize the students to carry on the classroom learning， they should pay attention to the understandability of language input and the tolerance of language output. The understandability of language input refers that the language which the teacher inputs can he easily understood by the students， otherwise， if the students can not understand what the teacher says， they will feel antipathic and have defiant mood. The tolerance of language output refers that the teacher should hold a tolerant attitude towards the mistakes the students make in their language output， and by doing so， they avoid the negative influence which produces because of worrying about making mistakes.

3.4 Creating a communicative classroom

A communicative classroom involves the teacher in a wider range of roles beyond that of providing and presenting new language. A good deal of time will be spent on managing learning setting up activities， organizing material resources， guiding students in pair or group work ，encouraging contributions， monitoring activities and diagnosing the further needs of the students （Hedge， 2002）.

Communicative competence may be defined as the ability to function in a truly communicative setting； that is， in a spontaneous transition involving one or more other persons. As most experienced teachers will acknowledge， it is one thing to know about a language， such as verb forms， vocabulary items， basic grammatical patterns， and so on and quite another to know how to use it effectively in a conversational exchange with a native speaker.

The key element in communicative competence is just these sorts of considerations of appropriateness in all facets of language， including rate of speech and level or register of lexis. It is easily understood that what is appropriate for a situation in one culture may not be so in another， indeed， it is important to recognize the different sorts of situations that exist across cultures， which， although they may be similar in terms of kind and function to situations in other cultures， are yet unique （Kachru，2001）.

4.Conclusion

In a word， sociolinguistics has great influence on English teaching. Language is a kind of social phenomenon， and it always appears and develops accompanied by certain social background. Hence， the teachers should not merely pay attention to the teaching of language rules， and ignore the social context. In order to achieve the real goal of English teaching， we should integrate language with the social context.

Studying English teaching from the angle of sociolinguistics， both the English teachers and the English instructional designers should not only pay attention to the language itself which is taught， but also should concern the social factors which arc related to it. In addition， we should associate the language with these social factors to set the teaching aims， for example， how to improve the students’ English communicative competence， design teaching program， determine teaching method and finish teaching task.

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（作者单位：陕西理工大学外语学院，陕西 汉中 723001）