Language Variance and Social Stereotypes

As speakers of a particular language, we have different ways of interacting with people

despite using the same one. Our way of communicating varies from one context to another, from
one audience to another. It is imperative then to consider what approach is befitting to use and is
deemed appropriate contextually.

One of these variations is style. A person’s style can be classified as formal, casual,
consultative, and intimate. First, a formal style is described as more relaxed and more careful in
speech and in writing. The language choice is more defined and well-thought. It occurs in one-
way formal settings. In context, this style is effectively used when delivering speeches,
addressing to higher authorities, writing academic essays, and the likes. Second is the casual
style. This is used when obtaining a more informal speech on a daily basis. The style is common
among peers, and friends, where jargons, slang or the vernacular language are used. Specialized
jargons establish bonds between members of in-group, making it difficult for outsiders to
understand conversations. Third, the consultative style. This is considered as the standard one.
Professional or mutually acceptable language is maximized in this style. Examples of situations
are communication between teachers and students, employers and employees, and doctor and
patient. The fourth style is called intimate. This is used in private, which occurs between or
among close family member or individuals. The language used in this style may not be shared in
public.

Specifically, social situations can be classified into three defining characteristics: place,
role-relationship, and topic. These three make up a set of typical domains. A speaker uses a
particular language variety appropriate to one domain. However, in bilingual or multilingual
communities, different languages may well be considered suitable for varied domains.

In bilingual communities, stylistics levels may be marked by switching from one variety
to another. For instance, in Switzerland, the Swiss German is used in intimate and casual speech,
while the High German is used in informal and formal speech. In Palestine, speakers used the
Palestinian Arabic during normal conversation, and the Modern Standard Arabic when giving
public speeches.

The most deciding factor of our speech levels is the audience or the interlocutor. We make
necessary adjustments from one variety to another depending on the people we address to. It is of
substantial consideration that we take note of our interlocutors’ speech level in order to maintain
mutual understanding and appropriateness accordingly in a social situation.

Slang and Solidarity

Most people have a common misconception of slang. They believe that this pertains to a
person’s pronunciation style of a word, when the notion is actually far from the truth.
Technically, a slang refers to a special kind of intimate or in-group speech. It is a kind of jargon
marked by its rejection of formal rules, comparative freshness, common ephemerality, and
marked use to claim solidarity.

The intimacy that we built with others is a relevant factor in our linguistic choice. Our
association with peer groups urges us to use slang intentionally to claim our belongingness as
group members. For some, they use this speech to obtain some degree of secrecy among peers.
This purpose led some tribes to concoct their own secret language such as the Australian
aboriginal language and the Pig Latin. Moreover, slang transgresses other social norms, allowing
people to use freely taboo expressions. These words signify a mark of liberation or a sign of
revolt in public media.

Nowadays, the creativity of people gave birth to more slang words. These words are not
only for secrecy, but also to establish a close bond with others such as endearments or call signs,
as what youngsters term them. Although outsiders do not understand any of their slangs, one can
still deduce that a group of people who communicate through these have established a close bond
with one another. Indeed, language is not only a tool for communication; it is also the bearer of
the content and information.

Language and Gender

Attention has been drawn to language and gender as it is observed that males and females
acquire different tendencies in their ways of speaking. Not only in terms of grammatical features,
where masculine and feminine morphology exist, but also in vocabulary choices that these
differences become notable. These variations then reveal issues on social stereotypes and
prejudices between men and women.

One distinction between the genders’ speeches is their talk. Based on empirical studies,
women tend to talk more than men. The former commonly talks about home/domestic activities,
while the latter tackles more on the economic activities of the outside world. They also use
language to build rapport among others on varied intents. Females use language to build
relationship, to show agreement with each other, and to discuss weakness and fear. As for the
males, they use language to show knowledge, to avoid personal topics, and to discuss sports and
politics.

It seems that one of the social causes of this gender differentiation is the level of
education received. History has attested how education became a right to men and only a
privilege to women in the past years. Men were offered opportunities to expand their intellectual
capacity, while women are being deprived of the same right despite being equally capable to
men.
 This dilemma on differences paved the way to power stereotyping. For instance, in
literature, women’s status is lowered with reference to the girls. That’s why some of the chosen
pen names of female authors appear masculine in order to attract the audience to read their
written works, without throwing a prejudice on their writings just because they are women. Add
to that the use of generic masculine “his”, where the pronoun is used to refer to both genders
instead of using “her” for females. The cases of social stereotyping do not end; however, there
have been attempts to overcome prejudicial use of language.

A study generated by Valentina Bošković discusses the gender stereotypes and gender
differences in language use. The research aims to shot potential solution to the problems for
gender inequality and to give examples on how the issued can be resolved. The participants
involved 30 male and female undergraduate students at a private university in Belgrade, Serbia
and their foreign language teachers. Through the given questionnaires, the researcher in
investigated whether persons with explicit linguistic knowledge and everyday speakers exercise
any differences in their approach to gender stereotypes.

Results revealed confirmations on common gender stereotypes, with males being

dominant and not showing any emotion or weakness, and with females being labeled as
emotional, attractive, and complicated. Most participants claimed that there are differences
between genders in language usage. However, only few of them could specify what those
differences are. Moreover, some of them were more convinced that existing differences between
genders are irrelevant, and that there are other factors that affect such variations, not gender
alone.

The language variance between men and women has led to issues of social stereotypes
and prejudice. In the modern times, with the advent of social media, the overwhelming
discrimination has been detrimental to individuals. It should be known that it is not through
gender alone that people can based these differences. There are other determining factors that
affect one’s speech such as audience and social context. The scope should not only be limited to
one when there are other contributing aspects to be looked into. It is then the responsibility of a
person to consider these factors in order to maintain appropriateness and communication
competence.