Manuel Almeida (2003). Sociolingüística. (2nd ed.). La Laguna

Manuel Almeida (2003). Sociolingüística. (2nd ed.). La Laguna

ESTUDIOS DE SOCIOLINGÜÍSTICA
Manuel Almeida (2003). Sociolingüística. (2 nd ed.). La Laguna (Santa Cruz
de Tenerife): Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de la Laguna. Pp. 316.
ISBN 84-7756-554-6 (paperback).
JENNIFER LEEMAN
George Mason University
(Department of Modern & Classical Languages)
[email protected]
The potential audience for sociolinguistics texts in Spanish consists of two
primary groups: students and scholars of linguistics, sociolinguistics, or philology in
Spanish-speaking countries; and students and scholars in other countries. The former
presumably desire a broad introduction, one that includes a thorough treatment of
the seminal work in the discipline, much of which is focused on English and/or was
published in English. In other words, this group seeks a book in Spanish about
sociolinguistics. The latter group, having access to such texts in English or another
language, is likely to be particularly interested in research about Spanish. Thus, this
group seeks a book about the sociolinguistics of Spanish. For such a text to be
written in Spanish would likely be considered an advantage by many, particularly
faculty in Spanish departments who strive to avoid the construction of English as the
language of academic endeavors, and to provide students with ample opportunity to
read in Spanish. Although many of the illustrative examples are taken from Spanish,
and research on Spanish is included, Manuel Almeida’s Sociolingüística falls
squarely within the first category. However, it may also be of interest for doctoral
students in Spanish linguistics programs who seek to acquire a foundation in
sociolinguistics while at the same time learning specifically about Spanish.
The primary focus of the volume is on quantitative sociolinguistics: after an
introductory chapter entitled The Social Study of Language, the next four chapters
are dedicated specifically to variation. Chapter 2, Linguistic Aspects of Variation,
covers phonological, syntactic, lexical, and pragmatic variation, all of which are
exemplified with studies of Spanish conducted in a variety of countries. Pidgins and
creoles, as well as code-switching and mixing, explained from a variationist
perspective, are also covered in this chapter. Chapter 3, The Representation of
Variation, covers variable rules, implicational scales, and variety grammars, while
Chapter 4, Social Aspects of Variation, focuses on various social parameters of
variation such as age, social class, gender, and ethnicity, all exemplified with
numerous examples from Spanish. Speech community, social networks, linguistic
market, and social network are also discussed here. Chapter 5, Psychosocial Aspects
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of Variation, covers language attitudes, prestige, and linguistic insecurity. In Chapter
6, The Situational Context, Almeida presents various approaches to context, style, and
register, as well as a discussion of diglossia and language choice. The final chapter,
Language Change, covers both internal and external causes and processes of change.
The emphasis on quantitative sociolinguistics notwithstanding, in the first
chapter Almeida contextualizes this approach within the discipline of linguistics, as
well as within the range of approaches to sociolinguistics. Regarding the former, he
discusses the objectives and underlying assumptions of structuralist and Chomskyan
approaches to the study of language, highlighting the contrasts with sociolinguistics
broadly defined. As for the latter, Almeida does not just mention in passing other
perspectives on the social aspects of language use –the type of treatment many texts
give to fields outside the scope of their main focus– but instead includes a more
extensive ove rv i ew of interactional sociolinguistics. Herein lies another of the
strengths, but also one of the weaknesses, of the volume. On the one hand, this
ove rv i ew offers readers new to the field an invaluable sense of the position of
quantitative sociolinguistics within the disciplinary landscape. In addition, the
inclusion of critiques of quantitative approaches to linguistic variation that Almeida
puts forth from researchers working in other paradigms allows readers to grasp not
only the contributions of variation analysis, but also its limitations. Indeed,
throughout the volume Almeida consistently points out the shortcomings of various
studies and models, as well as details how subsequent research attempted to overcome
them. Together, the historical perspective and disciplinary contextualization permit
readers to garner a meta-awareness of development of quantitative sociolinguistics as
a field, in addition to an understanding of the current state of the art.
On the other hand, however, the treatment of other approaches to sociolinguistics
is in some places misleading or inaccurate. For example, Almeida uses the term
“nteractional sociolinguistics”to refer to a broad range of approaches to discourse
analysis, and then attributes to them all an exaggerated version of some tenets of
conversation analysis, which is generally considered to be one type of discourse
analysis. For example, some researchers working in the field of conversation analysis
do insist on the importance of providing empirical evidence that participants are
orienting to specific constructs (e.g., gender or ethnicity) before claiming that these
constructs are relevant in a particular interaction (e.g., Schegloff, 1999), and
Almeida is certainly correct that interactional sociolinguists argue that “las
identidades sociales no existen como realidades previas y separadas del discurso,
sino que se constituyen durante la interacción”(‘social identities do not exist as prior
realities separate to discourse but are constituted during interaction’). However,
these tenets do not lead most discourse analysts to suggest that “[las identidades]
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ESTUDIOS DE SOCIOLINGÜÍSTICA
desaparecen con [la interacción], como si no dejaran ninguna huella en la memoria
de los individuos” (‘[identities] disappear with [the interaction], as if they didn’t
leave any trace in individuals’ memory’), as Almeida claims (p. 29).
Despite the deficiencies in the treatment of non-variationist approaches to
sociolinguistics, it should be remembered that these are not the primary focus of the
book. Almeida does a far superior job covering quantitative sociolinguistics, and his
careful juxtapositions and critical analyses of various models are likely to prove
thought-provoking to readers.
Bibliographical references
Schegloff, E.A. (1999). “Naivete vs sophistication or discipline vs. self-indulgence:
A rejoinder to Billig”. Discourse & Society 10, 577-82
S
Ángel Huguet y José María Madariaga (2005). Fundamentos de educación
bilingüe. Bilbo: Euskal Herriko Unibertsitateko Argitalpen Zerbitzua. Pp.
313. ISBN: 84-8373-757-4.
XOSÉ ANTÓN GONZÁLEZ RIAÑO
Universidad de Oviedo
[email protected]
Debemos comenzar felicitándonos por la aparición de este volumen, puesto
que, a nuestro juicio, constituye una excelente síntesis de lo que es el bilingüismo, lo
que sin duda nos va a permitir entender en profundidad, desde la perspectiva del
Estado Español –y también internacional–, la complejidad de la interrelación que se
establece entre el bilingüismo social y la educación bilingüe.
El interés y amplitud de esta obra se refleja en las temáticas estructuradas en
torno a 6 densos capítulos que, partiendo de la idea básica del lenguaje, acaban
planteando las implicaciones psicodidácticas de la experiencia bilingüe en el
contexto español. Así, en el primer capítulo, que lleva el sugerente título de “El
lenguaje: fuente permanente de debate”, los autores analizan no sólo los aspectos
sociológicos que relacionan, respectivamente, la lengua con la identidad nacional y
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