EXPLORING LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OLDER AND YOUNGER PEOPLE

Introduction

A number of socio linguists agree that young people are linguistically malleable. In other words, such people are able to pick up a new word, a new accent or even a new language as easily as taking off one hat and wearing another. Many argue that these changes are usually related to social and cultural issues that are synonymous with that particular age group. On the other hand, other people argue that the older generation represents the opposite end of the scale in that they normally represent language variations synonymous with the past. The essay shall look at the truth behind these assertions and how exactly some of these depictions are prevalent in the lives of other people.

Background to the study
Sociolinguistics is based on the fact that any language cannot exist within a vacuum. In fact, it can be asserted that one of the most important social phenomena is any given society is language. Therefore, social structures determine how languages are spoken. This is why experts so it fit to study these factors in detail thus creating the sociolinguistic field. Any research done in this area is important to members of society because it promotes tolerance between different groups or members of society. (Schiffrin, Tannen & Hamilton, 2001)

There are numerous systematic variations inherent in any language where systematic refers to describable and formal rules understood in a language. For example, UK English and US English have their own formal variations. On the other hand, there are also certain internal variations that may not be that easy to predict or understand. Usually, these variations are brought about by the following differences
Age
Group identification
Region
Socio economic status
Group identification

The latter research will mostly focus on the first aspect enlisted in the above bulleted list as this is an important determinant of the differences between different elements of society.

Language variations may be depicted as phonological, phonetic or morphological. In certain scenarios, language differences may also be seen through different dialects or accents. When there are differences between people’s vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation within a [particular language, then it can be said that the people under consideration are speaking the same dialect. All people have their own way of speaking and these elements may be common among a group of friends or between certain relatives thus constituting a speech community. (Paolillo, 2002)

It should be noted that there may be particular situations in which some people speak with different accents. Usually, accents are defined by phonological; features associated with a particular group. Just like dialects, each and every individual has an accent and there may be instances when two people speak the same dialect but have different accents. For instance, when analysing US English, it is often common to find that people in Boston and Brooklyn speak the same dialect, however, they have very different accents.

AS staed earlier, languages may have different variations depending on the kind of area under consideration. Usually, phonetic differences depict internal structural differences. In the region, Scottish people and a few people form Britain have trilled [r]. On the other hand, in New York City dialects, it is often common to find that [t, s, z, d, n] are dental.

Besides Phonetic language variations, it is often common to find that phonological differences are another way of exhibiting language differences. An example of how this can be illustrated is through the pronunciation of the statement (park the car) V-r-C V-r-# that reflect either Bostonian or British Standard English respectively. Another example of how this can be shown is through the differences that occur between Americans who pronounce “cot” and “caught” rather differently. Lastly, language variations can be shown through morphological expressions. Usually, this may mean that certain grammatical markings are left out during a particular speech. For instance, in certain rural areas of Britain, it is often possible to find that people use minimal genitive markings for nouns i.e. (Tom egg)

There are a number of differences that arise between different people when it comes to speaking the same language. This may largely be because of the setting under consideration i.e. it may either be informal or formal. In other scenarios, these differences may be because of the kind of peers that one is communicating with or the social class and the race that that particular individual belongs to.

All the latter situations bring out an important phenomenon that will underlie most of the research to be covered in the rest of the paper. Register is defined as a subset of a particular language that is normally utilised for a particular setting. In English, certain people may choose to pronounce sentences in the correct manner without unconventional short forms such as ain’t within the business arena

On the other hand, there may be other situations in which that same person may choose to utilise the latter mentioned short forms. Consequently, it can therefore be said that language users have a series of choices form where they can choose from in the event that they are trying to come up with particular kinds of arrangements.

Some of the earlier researchers in the are of register asserted that three essential features determine what kind of language variation on normally resorts to and these include;
• Field
• Tenor
• Mode (Labov, 1994)

Field refers to the subject matter under discussion. For instance, some individuals may be discussing issues such legal matters or scientific research and they kind of language that they may be using will normally reflect this. Additionally, register is highly determined by the type of tenor or the kind of participants under consideration and the type of relationship that they have between one another. In this regard, the latter section is where the research question will lie. When participants belong to a particular age group, then there are certain language components that may be synonymous to their group. Usually, the older generation may have their own arrangement and so may the younger one. Language modes refer to the kind of channels utilised or communication.

It should be noted that the kind of register that one chooses to adopt may be expressed in a series of ways. First of all, some may be expressed though verbal modes such as phonology, syntax, pragmatic rules, vocabulary, morphology and certain prosodic features that may range form intonation, pitch, volume or even one’s speed. Usually, registers are baked by other non verbal expressions that may range form body language, dress codes or the proximity of the speakers to one another.

Language variations may occur in numerous ways. Usually, these range between nay of the following scenarios as put forward by Quirk et al (1985)

Very formal, Frozen, Rigid ← FORMAL Neutral INFORMAL → Very informal, Casual, Familiar

Source: Quirk et al (1985)

Research objectives
The major research objective is to find out whether there are significant language variations between young and old people. This will be investigated under the following specific objectives;

1) Show how language variations are depicted in a particular culture in this case French speaking Canadians
2) Identify whether age is a significant factor in explain language variations

Method
The method chosen for this particular study will be secondary research. In other words, the latter study will use data that was previously not intended for the latter research questions but for other purposes. There are a number of reason why this particular research method was chosen. First of all, there have been enough researches done in sociolinguistic studies to enable one to answer this research question entirely. In this regard, primary research is not a very important issue here. Also it was appropriate to resort to the latter method because of the expenses that would be associated with an expansive and elaborate primary research. It would involve a lot of logistics for one to carry out a research that would yield useful information based on the latter mentioned research objectives. (Schiffrin, Tannen & Hamilton, 2001)

On top of the latter reasons, secondary research allows for adequate time savings that would otherwise have been taken up during the data collection phase. Besides this, there are also certain scenarios in which focusing on particular area would come in the way of looking at the bigger picture because most of the time, large scale surveys tend to have greater accuracy than small scale ones.

It should also be noted that this particular method of research also has its own disadvantages. Some of the ways in which the approach can be problematic is through the definitions that were applied in that research. For instance a research conducted among a rural community to find out language variations may differ with the way that particular researcher defined the rural community’s size. Geographical boundaries may change from time to time and these may severely affect research outcomes. Also measurement errors that may have been encountered during particular researches may not be highlighted within a particular piece of work. In order to ascertain that a particular study was accurately done, it is often best to contact the primary researcher. However, this may be very difficult to do and most of the time, one may simply have to accept situations the way they are. (Schiffrin, Tannen & Hamilton, 2001)

It should be noted that any sort of research methodology has its won weaknesses, the best way to go about these faults is to look for ways in which one can minimise those changes through the use of a series of researches.

The study chosen for this particular analysis is one conducted in the City of Quebec Canada. The latter study was interested in establishing which the most important variable in negation of the verb ne during their conversations within the French community is. This study largely focused upon online users whose demographics were variable. (Carr & Whitty, 2006) It had been asserted prior to the research that the use of the term ne was gradually disappearing among the French community and there was a need to look into some of the determinants of these particular scenarios.

It should also be noted that the utilisation of verbal negation is an option that a large number of French speakers had began embracing. These two expressions can be seen below

1. Paul ne veut pas venir.
'Paul does not want to come.'

2. Paul Ø veut pas venir.
'Paul doesn't want to come.' (Fonseca-Greber, 2007)


Many French textbooks for learners usually exhibit both alternatives as methods of negating a verb. Most of the time, people living in France have chosen to delete the term ne and the same thing has occurred in a wide array of areas located throughout different parts of the world. For instance, Swiss French speakers, Ottawa speakers and even Montreal Speakers. It should however be noted that within formal settings, the term ne is usually retained in many conversations.

However, the same cannot be said of informal conversations. Also, certain authors have asserted that the term may slowly disappear from the French language while others assert that this will be a consistent part of the language. (Posner, 1997) It is difficult to determine which particular variable is the most important determinant in this retention and hence a need for the research. The latter authors referred to the following traits as possible causes
• Choice
• Gender
• Age

The latter trait will be particularly important within this study owing top the fact that small scale differences can be best analysed through the latter assertions. Most of these gaps included
-18-25 yrs
-26-35yrs
-36-45 yrs

If the research finds that age is a significant factor, then it can be said that there are significant language variations between people of a certain community. However, gender or choice are found to have greater relations, then chances are that these factors are more important in the French speaking are of Quebec. It should be noted that the latter research has its limitations owing to the fact that it was conducted online and would therefore reflect on the behaviour of the subjects within such a context. (Coveney, 1996)

Results


Age related findings
18-25 yrs 26-34 yrs 36-45 yrs
Amount Amount Amount
% Persons favouring the retention of ne 65.1 83.8 84
Number of persons favouring retention of ne 112/172 155/185 136/162


The data found was that gender was not a significant factor on determining the retention of ne within people’s vocabulary. In terms of age, it was found that the latter issue was particularly important in determining the retention or deletion of this verb. It was found that young people favour the deletion of the term while person lying within the middle and the older generation are in favour of the use of this term.

The research also found that young people had a greater tendency to use the term even in instances where the are under consideration was a restrictive one such as in written forums. (Bell, 1984)

In the process of comparing the most important variable among the three that had been chosen, it can be found that age was the most important variable in determining whether the latter form of negation was retained by particular individuals. It should be noted that the latter figures were found to be true
0.27- age
0.20-choice
Nill-gender
There are certain insights that were particularly useful in this research. Most of the time, there were no other kinds of mechanism that reflect upon in this kind of arena.

Discussion
The latter findings reflect the fact that people between the ages of twenty six and thirty five (middle ages) were likely to adopt a more careful style of speech owing to the fact that their careers have just began and that they need to guard their manner of speech. Usually, the younger generation may be regarded as one of the most flexible categories of individuals owing to the fact that they tend to be less formal.

This matter is further compounded by the fact that the situation under consideration is an online dating service. Overly, it found that seventy seven percent of the entire population that was polled still retained ne in their speech. Most of the time, it can be asserted that this is as a result of the kind of training received by the latter children within the school setting.

Secondly, the latter research found that gender was insignificant. This aspect of the research corroborated with what other sociolinguists had found especially in the latter area of Canada ie.e in Quebec. The most important factor was that of age. The latter research corroborated with what had been found in other researches about the tendency of young people to adopt recent methods of speaking. (Armstrong, 2002)

Deletion of the term ne is something that is associated with a new wave in language performance. This is something that can be related to a new trend within a specific language. Most of the time, other researches have shown that the retention of a particular manner of speech is largely synonymous with the younger generation than in others.

While the latter study was centred on a formal and acceptable language variation, the findings in this particular study can be stretched or applied in other areas of language variation. For instance, it is often common to find that certain slang forms are related to the younger generation than the older one. Other people assert that ‘corrupt’ forms of language normally reflect on one’s age as being young. Normally, the older generation tend to speak in a manner that is synonymous with their younger years when they were more impressionable.

Conclusion
All in all, it can be said that there are significant differences between old and young people in their speech. This is largely because most of them tend to pick up on new trends more easily than their counterparts. This was seen in the fact that age was the most significant predictor of ne retention making French speaking Quebecs in Canada.

References

Armstrong, N. (2002): Variable deletion of French ne - A cross-stylistic perspective; Language Sciences, 24,2 , 153-173
Bell, A. (1984): Language style as audience design; Language in Society, 13, 2, 145-204
Coveney, A. (1996): Variability in spoken French: A sociolinguistic study of interrogation and negation; Exeter, UK: Elm Bank
Fonseca-Greber, B. (2007): The emergence of emphatic ne in conversational Swiss French; French Language Studies, 17, 3, 249-275
Schiffrin, D., Tannen, D. & Hamilton, H. (2001): The handbook of discourse analysis; Blackwell
Labov, W. (1972): Sociolinguistic patterns; University of Pennsylvania Press
Labov, W. (1994): Principles of linguistic change; Blackwell.
Paolillo, J. C. (2002): Analyzing linguistic variation; Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information
Posner, R. (1997): Linguistic change in French; Clarendon Press.
Carr, A. & Whitty, M. (2006): Cyberspace romance: The psychology of online relationships; UK: Palgrave MacMillan.
Quirk, R., Greenbaum S., Leech, G., and Svartvik, J. (1985): A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language; Harcourt

The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. ResearchPapers247.Com>