LANGUAGE CHOICE AND SOCIAL CLASS IN THE TRANSACTION DOMAIN IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Sociolinguistics as a field of study of language in relation to society has expanded greatly in the last few decades, especially since the 1960s and early 1970s. In the particular area of relating linguistics to social class, many studies have been made. It is noted that most of these works were studies on the linkage between social class and linguistic variables of a particular language within a speech community. Therefore, there appears to be a need to look into the specific area of correlation between social class and language choice in the context of a multilingual society. In view of the above, this study was designed to examine the linkage (if any) between the choice of language by the interlocutor (the shop assistant) anf the perceived socio-economic class of the addressee (the customer) in the transaction domain. In addition, the sample's for observations were intentionally chosen in such a way as to determine the impact (if any) of the locales of transactions on the correlation. For this study, two distinct and different forms of business, namely, sale of basic furniture (in furniture shops) and sale of women's clothes (in boutiques) were chosen as the sub-domains of transactions. The sample size for each trade was 30 shops. 15 shops located at upmarket establishments and the remaining 15 shops situated in Housing Development Board (HDB) residential estates. Based on the data collected from observing the linguistic behaviour of the shop assistants, the study revealed that a) There was a valid correlation between the choice of language code by the shop assistants and the perceived social status of the customer. The shop assistants tended to choose a language code that corresponded with the perceived social status of the customer. A high status language such as English was adopted when the customer was perceived to be from the higher social class. Similarly, the shop assistants would use the relatively lower status language codes such as Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese when they approached customers from the seemingly lower social class. When the same group of shop assistants detected a change in the social status of the customer, they (consciously or subconsciously) switched their language code accordingly. b) The impact of locales of transactions on the correlation between language choice and social class was not significant. In both the upmarket establishments and HDB estates, there were clear shifts in language codes adopted by the shop assistants in response to the change in perceived social status of their customers. One possible explanation for this language code-switching phenomenon is that it is a manifestation of the social psychological processes expounded in Giles’ Theory of Accommodation. By adopting a language code of a status (high or low prestige) which is suitable to the social status of the customer, the shop assistant hopes to gain "approval" of the customer and be rewarded by a successful sale.