Language, Media and Society
1. Auflage Mai 2023
240 Seiten, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Weitere Versionen
An ideal introduction to the analysis of language as a central element of everyday interactions and media, helping students reflect critically on the ways individuals and the creators of media use language to reflect and construct social identities
Why do we encounter different types of language in different places, from different people, and in different types of media? What assumptions do we make about each other when we interact, and what assumptions do media creators make about us when they design the media we see and hear? When does the language used in society and by media lead to social change and when does it serve to reinforce existing power structures and class divisions? In Language, Media and Society, students learn how to notice the features of the language used in the interactions they have and the media they encounter everyday and to understand the relationships between language, media, and the wider world around them. Assuming no prior knowledge of sociolinguistic analysis, this student-friendly textbook is a perfect introduction to the intersections between language and its social contexts.
Written in a student-friendly, conversational tone, Language, Media and Society first answers some fundamental questions about what we mean when we talk about language, about media, and about society in the contexts of applied linguistics. The book then addresses the many different ways that language and media construct and reflect aspects of identity such as age, gender, sexuality, class, and disability. Students will find useful examples throughout from the types of interactions they have every day and from the media they encounter every day and will be invited to begin their own investigations into the functions of language in everyday life and in media of all types. This valuable textbook:
* Is suitable for use in courses on language and media, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, communications, media studies, and sociology
* Encourages students to reflect upon the language that is used in everyday life and in the media they see and hear and to consider how this language influences and is influenced by society
* Features in-chapter tasks, end-of-chapter review questions, guided reflections, and resources for students and instructors
* Employs an engaging, conversational tone and makes underlying theory accessible
Language, Media and Society is an ideal introductory textbook for undergraduate courses on sociolinguistics, language and media, sociology and communication, and media studies.
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
About the Companion Website xii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 What the Book Is About 1
1.2 Three Tips for How to Use This Book 2
1.3 Three Tips for How to Approach This Book 3
1.4 The Three Main Areas of the Study of Language That Are Important to This Book 5
1.5 The Three Main Areas of the Study of Media That Are Important to This Book 7
1.6 The Three Main Concepts in the Study of Sociology That Are Important to This Book 9
1.7 An Overall Approach: Textual Analysis 11
1.8 The Structure of the Book 12
2 The Relationship between Language, Media, and Society 13
2.1 Illustrating the Relationship between Language, Media, and Society 13
2.2 Accents, Dialects, and Society 14
2.3 Theorising Attitudes 18
2.4 Why Do We Stereotype? 23
2.5 'Taking It to the Next Level': Theorising Ideology 25
3 Producing and Consuming Media 28
3.1 Defining Media Producers and Media Consumers 28
3.2 Producers and Consumers in Mass and Social Media 28
3.3 The Mainstream and the Alternative in Mass and Social Media 30
3.4 Construction in Mass and Social Media 31
3.5 Different Categories of Media Producers 32
3.6 Activity and Passivity in Mass Media Consumption 35
3.7 Theoretical Models of Media Audiences 38
4 Reading Media Messages 42
4.1 The Media's Relationship to Reality 42
4.2 Exploring Methods of Language and Media Analysis 44
5 Language, Media, and Age 62
5.1 Constructing Age and Life Stage 62
5.2 Theorising Age and Designing Research to Explore Language, Media and Age 63
5.3 Life Stage and Media Consumption 66
5.4 Representations of Age in TV Comedy 67
5.5 Age-related Language Use 69
5.6 Interaction between People of Different Ages 74
5.7 Analysing Spoken Language 76
5.8 Analysing Child-directed Language 80
5.9 Elder-directed Language 81
6 Language, Media, and Gender 83
6.1 Defining Gender 83
6.2 Gendering Each Other through Language and Media 84
6.3 Performing Gender 90
6.4 Gender and Media 92
6.5 Women, Men, and Language 95
6.6 Gendered Representation in the Press 99
6.7 How Women and Men Use Language 101
6.8 Exploring the Construction of Gender Activism 108
7 Language, Media, and Sexuality 109
7.1 Putting Sexuality into Words 109
7.2 LGBTQ+ (In)visibility 110
7.3 LGBTQ+ Representation in the Media 120
8 Language, Media, and Ethnicity 133
8.1 A Reflexive Note 133
8.2 Defining Ethnicity 133
8.3 Theorising Ethnicity 138
8.4 Attitudes to Language and Ethnicity 142
8.5 Linguistic Creativity Related to Ethnicity 146
8.6 Representations of Race and Ethnicity in the Media 150
9 Language, Media, and Social Class 157
9.1 Defining Social Class 157
9.2 Forms of Capital in the Construction of Social Class Identity 159
9.3 Accent, Dialect, and Social Class 162
9.4 Perceptions of Linguistic Varieties 165
9.5 The Relationship between Region and Social Class in Language Use 172
9.6 Linguistic Identities 174
9.7 Researching Language and Social Class 176
9.8 Constructing Workers 180
10 Language, Media, and Disability 181
10.1 Definitions and Constructions of Disability 181
10.2 Representing Disability 183
10.3 Disability and Identity: Who Does the Defining? 186
10.4 Disability and Language 187
10.5 Media Representations of Disability 191
10.6 Social Media and Disability 205
10.7 Final Thoughts 207
A Concluding Word 208
References 210
Index 218
