LINGUIST List 22.1842: Socioling: Philip: 'The Role of Social Networks on Language ...'

LINGUIST List 22.1842

Mon Apr 25 2011

Diss: Socioling: Philip: 'The Role of Social Networks on Language ...'

Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang <mfonlinguistlist.org>

1. Lisbeth Philip , The Role of Social Networks on Language Maintenance and on Language Shift: Focusing on the Afro-Costa Rican women in two bilingual communities in the Province of Limon, Costa Rica

Message 1: The Role of Social Networks on Language Maintenance and on Language Shift: Focusing on the Afro-Costa Rican women in two bilingual communities in the Province of Limon, Costa Rica
Date: 24-Apr-2011
From: Lisbeth Philip <lphiliployno.edu>
Subject: The Role of Social Networks on Language Maintenance and on Language Shift: Focusing on the Afro-Costa Rican women in two bilingual communities in the Province of Limon, Costa Rica
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Institution: Tulane University Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2011

Author: Lisbeth Andrea Philip

Dissertation Title: The Role of Social Networks on Language Maintenance and on Language Shift: Focusing on the Afro-Costa Rican women in two bilingual communities in the Province of Limon, Costa Rica

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics
Dissertation Director:
Harry Howard Judie M Maxwell Patricia Kissinger Thomas Klingler Olanike O Orie
Dissertation Abstract:

This study compares traditional methods of sociolinguistic analysis toMilroy's (1987) theory of social network analysis to analyze languagemaintenance and shift (LMLS) in a group of 127 Afro-Costa Rican women intwo bilingual (Spanish-English) communities, Puerto Limón and Siquirres, inthe province of Limón, Costa Rica. Since the publication of Milroy's work,a more recent trend has been to determine whether relationships amongindividuals exert normative pressures that affect their choice to maintainor alter the standard linguistic practices of their community. This studysituates itself within this trend and so attempts to determine whethersocial network organization explains LMLS better than traditional methodsof sociolinguistic analysis. This objective is accomplished by applyingeach approach to analyze LMLS of the English spoken by the sample ofAfro-Costa Rican women and their maintenance of four Creole phonologicalvariables. The traditional sociolinguistic method of analysis isimplemented by the examination of data collected through a questionnaire,complemented by interviews. Milroy's theory is implemented by delineatingthe network structure of the participants through the types of relationsthat bind them in order to define a measure of multiplexity and thuscentrality. Both approaches were also applied to the examination ofphonological variables based on the narration of 104 (of the 127) women ofa picture story-task. The data suggest that traditional sociolinguisticanalysis is more reliable in explaining factors associated with LMLS thanthe social network approach. The latter did not prove useful in explainingpatterns of language behavior as norm enforcement mechanisms in themaintenance of the linguistic practices of the members in the network.Neither traditional methods of sociolinguistic analysis nor the socialnetwork model were associated with the maintenance of the phonologicalfeatures of the Creole variety.

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