Journal Review: Sociolinguistics

Bibliographic Citation

Pakenham, K. J. (2004). Sociolinguistic rules of speaking. Australia: Pearson.

Introduction

Sociolinguistic rule of speaking written by Kenneth J. Pakenham (2009) is the title of the article that I chose to review. In this article, Pakenham describes that sociolinguistic is a particular thing in speaking beside grammar, pronunciation and vocabularies. I chose this article because I do agree with what author explains that sociolinguistic is very important knowledge to make appropriate speech between two people with different culture.

In this article, Pakenham describe three thing about sociolinguistic. He explains about the definition, the functions, and some evidences about the importance of sociolinguistic. This article is written for people who want to be an effective communicator in the second language.

Summary

This article explains that sociolinguistic is important in speaking. Sociolinguistic is a knowledge needed in order to produce socially appropriate speech in the second language. Pankeham describes that appropriate speech is not only good in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation but also good in sociolinguistic (Pakenham, 2009).

The next, Pakenham also writes that the function of sociolinguistic is to produce effective communication among different culture people. This study decreases misunderstanding in conversation. Sociolinguistic helps us to understand and produce socially and culturally appropriate speech (Pakenham, 2009).

By quoting some experts’ opinions, Pakenham gives some evidence about the importance of sociolinguistic. He writes about the difference of some cultures in this world and without understanding of sociolinguistic, it will cause negative interpretation and miscommunication among people conversing (Pakenham, 2009).

To sum up, sociolinguistic is a knowledge needed in producing effective communication. Just as grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation which help in produce linguistic correct speech, the sociolinguistic helps us in understanding and producing socially and culturally appropriate speech. It is very important for students who learn about second language to avoid miscommunication in conserving.

Critique

In term of the content, this article is very good. The author explains clearly about sociolinguistic and it is easy to be understood. The evidences based on daily activity make the reader easily to understand about what exactly the rules of sociolinguistic in speaking. The best point of this article is the evidences supported with some experts’ opinions.

However, there is still unclear definition of sociolinguistic itself. The author just tries to explain the meaning of sociolinguistic without clear scientific definition. The author has to define it well. Besides that, there are some problems in sociolinguistic (Wartiningsih, 2008) but this article didn’t explain about it.

Recommendation

In the end, I am going to say that this is a recommended article to be read especially for people learn about the second language. This article is easy to be understood and we can know the rules of sociolinguistic in speaking. Moreover, the evidence of the importance of sociolinguistic is supported by the experts’ statements.

For further needing, it will be better to read another article such us Sosiolinguistik Sebagai Ilmu Antardisipliner by Agus Wartiningsih (2008). This article clearly explains about the definition of sociolinguistic, problem in sociolinguistic, and language variation. By combining these articles, I believe that we can improve our knowledge about sociolinguistic and we can improve our ability in speaking, especially in socially and culturally speech.

References

Pakenham, K. J. (2004). Sociolonguistic rules of speaking. Australia: Pearson.

Wartiningsih, A. (2008). Sosiolinguistik sebagai ilmu antardisipliner. Jurnal Universitas Tanjungpura, 49-60. Retrieved from http://jurnal.untan.ac.id/index.php/jckrw/article/viewFile/273/278.