LANGUAGE LEARNING 2
Communicative competence is the
knowledge of cultural rules for appropriate
use of language in social interactions. It
includes the ability to utilize these rules in
situated speech events, recognizing the
intentions of speakers and the needs and
rights of listeners (Bonvillain, 2003: 295).
Last Class
• How is this communicative competence
acquired?
• 2. How are children socialised into
appropriate linguistic behaviour?
• 3. How linguistic practices are made to
seem natural?
Three examples
• White-middle-class, Samoan, Kaluli
• Socialization and enactment of roles
• Learning social rules differ from culture to
culture
• Family important factor in socialization of
rules
Communicative Styles
• the overall basic normative principles
which guide the form and use of
languages in different speech
communities (linguistic habitus)
Models of language: based on social
functions ((M.A. K Halliday (1973)
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Instrumental:
Regulatory:
Interactional:
Personal:
Heuristic:
Imaginative:
Representational
Social functions are universal,
methods to achieve them are not.
Acquisition of communicative
norms
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Differs from culture to culture
Japanese: emphasizes empathy
Language to reinforce social harmony
Protection of other people’s feelings
Monitoring one’s speech
Different ways to teach norms
(Japan)
• Patricia Clancy, (1986)
• Attention to other’s speech
--Adult: “Are you eating something? What is in
there?”
Child: (no response)
Mother: “I wonder what could be in there. Older
sister is asking ‘what is in there?
Child: Pudding’”
Children are taught to respond
positively
• Mother: “Do you say ‘No’? You must lend
one to Hirochan, saying ‘Help yourself’.
The baby is cute, isn’t he?”
Through language socialisation
people learn to enact in language
the range of social roles available
to them
• 1. A Kaluli person
• 2. A canadian politician
Family and social and linguistic
norms
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Provides models for
Appropriate behaviour
Social norms
Gender relations
Linguistic rules
Linguistic socialisation of Gender
roles
• Family instrumental is socialization of gender
roles
• Example: Socialization of directive speech acts:
----Direct command: get out of here
----Negative politeness: would you mind leaving,
I’ve got a lot of work to finish
Gleason (1987): direct speech
acts
Fathers:
--bald imperatives
--directed to boys
• Ex: Don’t go in there or I’ll break your head
Mothers:
--used redressive techniques
--spoke more, longer utterances
Anderson (1986): role playing
• Similar results to Gleason’s study
• Father puppets; used more bald imperatives,
took longer shorter turns
• Mother puppets: used endearment, baby
talk: redressive action, took longer turns
Child: Tell me a story.
Father: Mommy will.
Child: No, I want you to…
Father: All right. Sit down. “Once upon a time. The end”
Child: Mommy, I’m all done.
Mother: OK, sweetie. Now it’s time for your naptime.
Mother: Gotta get the baby tucked into beddy bye. She’s not
a sleepy.
(to baby) Go to Sleep, sleep, sleep, darling. Go to
sleep.
(Turn to father) Don’t you think it’s time to go to bed? It is
midnight…we should go to bed.
Children Awareness of social
meanings
• Use of linguistic directives appropriately
--Example: Expressing desire or need
• I need a match
• Give me a match: directed to subordinates
or equals
• Could you give me a match? directed to
those of higher status than the speaker
Similar results cross culturally
• Platt (1986) in Samoan society
• Properly sue of verb sau “come”
• Awareness of of social meaning embedded
in language
• Contrary to imperative aumai “give”
Summary
• Social norms  linguistic styles 
communicative competence
• Language fulfills diverse functions for
children
• Acquire communicative norms
• Such as linguistic gender styles
Discussion Question
• Why is it anthropologically important to
understand the different ways in which
people in various cultures acquire
communicative norms?