Language ideology categorizes people based on their language, including dialect, accent, grammar, and vocabulary. It leads to social discrimination and assumptions about a person’s background and education. Linguistic ideology also applies to written communication, such as texting and social media. Dialects can lead to feelings of hatred and suspicion between different groups.
Language ideology is a theory whereby people are defined or judged by the language they speak. This involves different aspects of the language including intonation, dialect, accent, grammar and vocabulary. The interaction of people from different backgrounds in a social environment invariably leads to the assignment of people to different categories. One of the methods of classifying people is by the language they speak. Linguistic ideology also applies to written forms of communication. An example of this can be seen in the distinct language used for texting and writing on social networking sites.
The application of linguistic ideology served as the basis for the profiling of people. This is a basis for social discrimination based on a person’s way of speaking. For example, certain sections of a society’s inhabitants may have been associated with a certain way of speaking. Language ideology theory states that when a member of that sector speaks in that way, all assumptions and prejudices held against the group as a whole will automatically transfer to that person. Such a person need not be physically seen for the hypothesis to apply. He or she could simply talk to another member of the general society on the phone and the manner of speaking will lead to fellowship.
Another example of the application of linguistic ideology is in the assumption of class through manner of speaking. Hearing someone speak in an upper-class British accent can lead to favorable conclusions about the person even without actually seeing them. This assumption is not based on the person; rather, it is based on the attributes that have been associated with that way of speaking. The same goes for grammar. Someone who cannot speak English well can be considered ignorant.
Dialects also play a role in applying linguistic ideologies. If two tribes within a country who speak different dialects are fighting each other, both sides may harbor feelings of hatred for the other. When a member of either side of the conflict hears someone speaking in the other side’s language, the feelings of hatred and suspicion will automatically be transferred to that person. It doesn’t matter if the person was born in another country and is only visiting for the first time. The mere fact that the person spoke the other dialect would mean that such a person was the enemy for the transfer of ideas about the tribe as a whole.
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