TEST ON SOCIOLINGUISTICS
SGU

1. Sociolinguistics is ……
a. a discipline that yokes society with linguistics.
b. a discipline that yokes sociology with linguistics.
c. a discipline that yokes socio with linguistics.
2. Every society has linguistic codes …….
a. acceptable for communication and interaction.
b. acceptable for communication and sociology.
c. acceptable for linguistics and interaction.
3. Language by its nature is ……
a. totally a grammatical phenomenon.
b. totally a lexical phenomenon.
c. totally a social phenomenon.
4. Sociolinguistics has to do with ….
a. language use and a society's phenomenon to it.
b. language use and a society's response to it.
c. language and a society's response to it.

5. Every language speaker utters words with some kind of accent which
can tell the listeners …..
a. where the speaker is from.
b. the social status of the speaker.
c. the ability of using language varieties.
6. Accent is ……
a. the spoken varieties.
b. the vernacular
c. the way of pronouncing words showing which country the speaker is
from.
7. Accent is frequently confused with ….
a. pidgin.
b. dialect.
c. creole.
8. Dialect denotes …..
a. aspects of pronunciation slightly different from the standard.
b.aspects of pronunciation together with words and syntax quite
different from the standard.
c.aspects of pronunciation together with words and syntax slightly
different from the standard.

9. Diglossia refers to a situation in which ……
a. two dialects are used by a single language community.
b. two languages are used by a single linguistic
community.
c. two dialects are used by some language communities.
10. Factors influencing language change are …..
a. pidgin and creole.
b. grammatical features.
c. a & b are correct.
11. A pidgin is ……
a. a way of pronouncing word.
b. the next stage of development for creole.
c. a mixture of two other languages.
12. Pidgins have …
a. limited vocabulary and poorly developed semantics.
b. limited vocabulary and poorly developed grammar.
c. limited pronunciation and poorly developed grammar.

13. Pidgins are used only when ….
a. vocabulary and grammar expand.
b. other types of communication are impossible.
c. a & b are correct.
14. If a pidgin is used on a wide scale, children of people
using it …..
a. might acquire it as their dialects.
b. might acquire it as a foreign language.
c. might acquire it as their mother tongue.
15. The next stage of development for pidgin with different
grammatical features is……
a. creole.
b. vernacular.
c. None is correct.
16. The process of the development of a pidgin into a creole
is called …
a. dialect
b. Decreolisation c. None is correct.

17. Speech acts and speech events relate to ….
a. language application in every society.
b. speech communities.
c. linguistic communication.
18. Speech acts are utterances that involve ……
a. language.
b. social information.
c. both language and social information.
19. Every speech or language use has ...
a. an effect
b. function to perform in the place and time of usage.
c. None is correct.
20. The four important categories of speech acts are
a. locutionary acts and illocutionary acts.
b. perlocutionary act and propositional act.
c. both a and b.

21. Unlike perlocutionary acts, illocutionary acts are central
to ……
a. communication.
b. negotiation.
c. argument.
22. Speech events relates to ...
a. social interactional events
b. community events.
c. None is correct.
23. Setting is …
a. the code of communication.
b. the situation where interaction takes place.
c. None is correct.
24. Norms has to do with ……
a. genre.
b. setting.
c. the reactions given to the thing being communicated.

25. Genre has to do with ...
a. speech situation.
b. the process of communication.
c. None is correct.
26. Speech acts and speech events account for ...
a. language use.
b. the ways that language is put to use by individual in the society.
c. None is correct.
27. The utterance “Please find the black cat” is …
a. a perlocutionary act
b. an illocutionary act
c. a propositional act
28. It is necessary to have varieties within the total range of one
language because ……
a. varieties are accurate, so they are useful.
b. the concept of language as a whole unit is theoretically lacking in
accuracy, pragmatically rather useless.
c. a & b are correct.

29. One way of classifying language varieties is according to …
a. the user and the use of language.
b. grammar.
c. None is correct
30. The language varieties have certain ….
a. different linguistic features.
b. linguistic features in common.
c. None is correct.
31. The common features of all the varieties of one language constitute
……
a. the common form of that language.
b. the common use of that language.
c. the common core of that language.
32. The individual language variety has ...
a. individual language features.
b. lexical, grammatical, and stylistic features.
c. None is correct.

33.Speech acts theory was proposed by ...
a. Austin
b. Searle
c. a &b are correct
34.Speech event theory was propounded by ....
a. Searle
b. Hymes
c. None is correct.
35. The written language is able to live forever with ….
a. the idea it expresses.
b. the communication
c. none is correct
36. The spoken language has a considerable advantage over the
written because of such factors as ……
a. careful organization and explanation
b. human voice and gestures
c. a&b are correct

37. The spoken language widely uses ….
a. dialect
b. pidgin
c. intensifying (= strong) word
38. The spoken language differs from the written language ……
a. phonetically, morphologically
b. lexically and syntactically
c. a&b are correct
39. The most striking difference between the spoken and written
language is in ...
a. the vocabulary used
b. the grammar
c. None is correct
40. Three varieties of language at the primordial classification are ...
a. the written and the spoken
b. the dialects
c. the sociolects

1. What are sociolinguistics factors?
2. Give examples to make clear that different ages use different
vocabulary and grammar.
3. Why do all the varieties of one language constitute the common
core of that language?
4. Is spoken language organized more carefully than written language?
Why or why not?
5. What are the four important categories of speech acts?
6. What is the difference between locutionary acts and illocutionary
acts?
7. What are the components of a speech event?
8. What is the focus of sociolinguistics ?
9. What is one of the most noticeable features characterizing some
regional feature of a language?
10. What is a variety of a language ?
 

1. What are sociolinguistics factors?
They are social class, social context, geographical origins,
ethnicity, nationality, gender and age.
 

(A wrong factor: - 0.1m)

2. Give examples to make clear that different ages
use different vocabulary and grammar.
(Various answers: different vocabulary (0.2m) +
different grammar (0.2m)
 

3. Why do all the varieties of one language
constitute the common core of that language?
Because the language varieties have certain linguistic
features in common.
 

4. Is spoken language organized more carefully than
written language? Why or why not?
No, it isn't. (0.2m) Because spoken language is
momentary. (0.2m)
 

5. What are the four important categories of speech
acts?
They are locutionary acts, illocutionary acts,
perlocutionary acts, propositional acts. (0.1m/each
category)
 

6. What is the difference between locutionary
acts and illocutionary acts?
- Locutionary acts are simply acts of uttering
sounds, syllables, words, phrases, and
sentences from a language.
- Illocutionary acts are performed in doing
something with an utterance.
 

7. What are the components of a speech event?
They are setting, participants, ends, act sequences,
key, instrumentalities, norms and genre.
 

8. What is the focus of sociolinguistics ?
The focus of sociolinguistics is the effect of society
on the language.
 

9. What is one of the most noticeable features
characterizing some regional feature of a language?

It is accent.
 

10. What is a variety of a language?
It is a form that differs from other forms of the
language.
 

GOOD LUCK!