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Formulaic Language in Language Socialization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2012

Abstract

This article reviews recent research on the roles of formulaic language in language socialization theory and research from the point of view that formulaic language is a chunk of language (e.g., one word, string of several words) repeatedly used in verbal routines and other contexts. Although the notion of formulaic language is not always explicitly discussed in the literature of language socialization, previous research suggests that formulaic language is indeed an important notion within the theory of language socialization, for it often plays a crucial role in socializing novices to social dimensions such as politeness, hierarchy, and social identities including social roles and statuses, and relationships. This article first provides a brief introduction of language socialization theory, its research methods, and recent developments. It then reviews recent language socialization research on formulaic language in first and second language (L1, L2) and heritage language environments, including how novices are socialized to use formulaic language, how they are socialized through its use, and how they actually use it in normative and novel ways in participating in social interaction with experts and/or peers. Finally, the major findings of recent studies are summarized, and the article concludes by suggesting several directions for further research on formulaic language in language socialization.

Type
SECTION C: SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES ON FORMULAIC LANGUAGE
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Burdelski, M. (2012). Language socialization and politeness routines. In Duranti, A., Ochs, E., & Schieffelin, B. B. (Eds.), The handbook of language socialization (pp. 275295). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

This article provides an overview of research on socialization to politeness routines in various communities and examines Japanese L1 and L2 socialization of children (two to five years old) in households and a preschool. The analysis shows the various types of formulaic expressions that children are socialized to say to others and presents three key verbal strategies caregivers deploy in this socialization, namely, speaking for a child, prompting, and reporting speech. The findings reveal that formulaic language is an important part of learning to become a speaker in Japanese society and a key resource for socializing children to affective stance and identity.

Park, E. (2006). Grandparents, grandchildren, and heritage language use in Korean. In Kondo-Brown, K. (Ed.), Heritage language development: Focus on East Asian immigrants (pp. 5786). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.

This study examines the socialization to politeness of Korean heritage language children (two to four years old) in the United States. In particular it shows ways that parents and grandparents instruct children to use honorific greetings and farewells when addressing elder members of the household especially grandparents as an index of respect and deference. The findings reveal ways that formulaic language socializes Korean heritage children to conceptions of self as residing within a relational hierarchy.

Sirota, K. G. (2004). Positive politeness as discourse process: Politeness practices of high-functioning children with autism and Asperger syndrome. Discourse Studies, 6, 229241.

This research analyzes the politeness practices of L1 English-speaking children (eight to 12 years old) diagnosed with autistic disorder or with Asperger's disorder, a related condition on the autism spectrum. The analysis sheds light on children's sociocommunicative competencies in using a wide range of idiomatic and contingent politeness strategies in naturalistic everyday discourse. The findings suggest that children were most successful at producing the more formulaic politeness strategies, but less successful at producing the more novel strategies such as joking. The article carries forth Brown's (1995) call to examine the contextualized use of politeness forms as an interactional discourse process.

Song, J. (2009). Bilingual creativity and self-negotiation: Korean American children's language socialization into Korean address terms. In Reyes, A. & Lo, A. (Eds.), Beyond yellow English: Toward a linguistic anthropology of Asian Pacific America (pp. 213232). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

This study examines the socialization of Korean heritage children in the United States. In particular, it shows the strategies that Korean caregivers deploy in encouraging children to use formulaic, honorific terms of address and reference when speaking to or about older peers. For example, caregivers prompt children and model what to say, and then recast their utterances to include another child's name followed by an honorific term meaning “older brother/sister.” While one of the children examined used the honorific in instructional contexts, the child avoided the term in interaction with peers. Instead, he invented a hybrid form to refer to and address a close friend that was a combination of English and Korean pronunciation. This study suggests children's agency in using formulaic language to create their own meanings within the process of language socialization.

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