Social Semiotic Theory Of Language

The assumption of what people say or write have nothing to do with where they form, was broken few decades ago. The theory of social semiotics, which focuses on the relationship between the linguistics system and the social structure, was first proposed by Michael Halliday, a linguistic theorist, in 1978. In his book Language as a Social Semiotic, he stated his objection of the traditional separation between language and society; they are closing related. Then, he put forward that language function varies according to different social context. At the same time, unique forms of language usage can be developed in different situations. Language and society, hence, are correlated (Halliday 1978). Many may wonder in what ways they tie in with each

And the term is divided into four levels: upper, middle, working, and lower class (Sorokin 1962). While people are categorized in four levels, the languages they speak can also be analyzed according to the theory of codes. Codes ,the term languages is frequently used, are defined as a set of organizing principles behind the language employed by member of the social group (Littlejohn 2002). As people use in everyday lives, codes reveal personal identities and characteristics of their speakers. And others take them as a mechanism to deduce others’ social identity and stereotype features of certain social class. Bernstein’s theory of codes provides an accessible method, which divides into elaborated, and restricted codes, in order to view the language usage of different people. The theory focuses on how language usage varies among different socioeconomic status, and speculates preschoolers from such backgrounds would perform variously in subsequent learning

Education from functionalist view performs as a tool to help children move from the particularistic standards of the family to the universal standard needed in a modern society. In the contrast, conflict theory points out the function of education is to shape whole personality. In fact, the purpose of Grouping people in different Social class is for differentiates them by the ability and occupation, in order to make the society runs more efficiently. Fortunately, people can study under the same education system and gain more opportunity for upward mobility, but not doomed by social