In order to make the discussion focused, there are two limitations. First, the paper will focus on standard and non-standard variation used by the Prime Minister and Natalie, the new junior member of the household staff in the
ministerial house in Love Actually. Thus, the scenes that are analyzed are only the scenes of Prime Minister and Natalie. Second, the variation meant in this paper is the dialect used by those two characters.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Definition of Standard & Non-Standard Variation
According to Wardaugh (1992), standard language or variation is a language that has been standardized and promoted as the ‘standard’ form. It means that the variation has been codified in some ways or has been developed in grammar spelling books, dictionary, or any other standardized systems. However, every word found in a dictionary is not always considered as standard form (e.g. slang). Standard language is a variety used in education and government as the official language (Ferguson, 1966). This variety is generally one which is written, recognised as a prestigious variety or code by a community, and used for H functions alongside a diversity of L varieties (Holmes, 2008: 77). In addition standard variety is also the centre of political, social, and intellectual life in England. In contrast, non- standard variation which is known as vernacular language is variation that has no official status like standard variation. Non-standard variation does not have codification because non-standard variation does not through any standardization process (Wardaugh, 1992: 30-33). Furthermore, a vernacular is usually the first language learned by people in multilingual community, and they are often used for a relatively narrow range of informal functions (Holmes, 2008: 75). Sometimes it is used only for communication in the home and with close friends. It is to show the solidarity between people from the same ethnic group. Thus, it cannot be separated from the stigmatization by the society. Here, dialect is associated with the speech of less prestigious social group, therefore the label acquires negative connotations. Yet, it should be clear that there is nothing linguistically inferior about non-standard form (Holmes, 2008: 138).
Dialect
According to Wardaugh (1992: 22), language variation can be found in the way people speak or dialect.
Dialect refers to particular patterns of diction and the order of the words used by people in a particular region.
Dialect occurs when a group of speakers of a particular language differs noticeably in its speech from another group.
In English, the term dialect sometimes carries negative connotations associated with nonstandard varieties as what has been mentioned previously. In this sense, the speaker speaks a dialect of his or her native language.
Unfortunately, the term dialect is also misused by laypeople to refer strictly to differences in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation or sometimes to refer to slang usage (Bergmann, Hall, Ross, 2007: 407). For additional information, English standard is also a social dialect which is used by the well-educated English speakers throughout the world (Holmes, 2008: 137).
Social Factors That Correlate with Language Variation
There are some factors influencing the use of language variation. They are socioeconomic class, gender, and social network (O’grady, W., Acrhibald, J., and Miller, JR, 2005: 513-515).
Socioeconomic Class
Using a particular variation according to socioeconomic class can give valuable clues to how language behavior reflects social mobility. There are two basic standings for the theory is simplified of variation; the upper classes tend to use linguistic variants with higher prestige; and the lower middle class show the most linguistic insecurity. It is because lower-middle class speaker may not have internalized norm of “correctness”, they tend to adopt variant that they believe to be “correct”, even though these variants are not standard.
Gender
Cross-linguistically and cross-culturally, it is admitted that the speech of men and women tends to differ.
There are two tendencies which have been frequently observed. First, when variation is stable, men use more nonstandard forms than women. Second, when variation is leading to a change in the language, women use more of the incoming forms than do men. In general, women are most often associated with greater use of variants.
Social Network
It is important to know the strength of relations between individuals and their social network such as family, neighborhood, employment, religion, and friendship since the relation between individuals and their social network can influence the variation used.
METHODOLOGY Research Method
The research is going to explore the standard and non-standard language variation used by the Prime Minister and Natalie in the Love Actually. The researchers used film analysis method in this study. According to Jacobs, film analysis method is the method to determine how the film actually uses various cinematic techniques and elements of film or narrative form to make a viewer react in a certain way and why it makes viewers come away with certain opinions about it (Jacobs, 2013). Moreover, the researchers also conducted the review of related literature to find the related theories to support the research. These theories are dealing with the standard and non-standard varia- tion found in the book of sociolinguistics.
Research Intruments
To collect the data, the researchers use three instruments. They are Love Actually matroska vidoe file, media player classic, and dialogue transcript of the movie.
Love Actually matroska video file
It presents the intended scenes to be analyzed and helps the researchers to obtain the data about the standard and non-standard language variation in the movie.
Media player classic
It functions to cut and choose the intended scenes to be analyzed in the Love Actually matroska video file.
Love Actually script
It helps the researchers to look for the particular dialogue and analyze it in details and authentically.
Research Procedure
There are several steps in conducting the research. First, the researchers choose the topic that will be discussed, then select the problem of language variation which is found in Love Actually and formulates it into research problems. Second, the researchers review the related literature of the language variation from several sources. Third, the researchers decide the method and instruments that can be used to support the research. Fourth, with the instruments, the researchers will collect the intended data related to the topic. Fifth, after collecting the data, the researchers analyze it to obtain the intended information. Sixth, the researchers interpret the conclusion of the data. Finally, the researchers report the results into a paper.
Research Findings and Discussion
In the movie, the Prime Minister tends to use standard variation while Natalie mostly uses non-standard variation. Based on the theories reviewed, it is believed that socioeconomic class, gender, and social network take part on the use of the variations in this movie. It is clearly found that the Prime Minister is the upper class while Natalie is the lower middle class. It is proven by the fact that Prime Minister is the highest position in UK government. It makes the one who is in that position considered as one of the honorable people. As an honorable person, the Prime Minister is certainly expected to speak in the correct and good manner. It means that he is supposed to use language variation which is considered as the standard one. On the other hands, Natalie lives in Harris Street, Wandsworth, London which is an area of the lower middle class. Thus, it shows that Natalie is the low middle class. She is not too concerned with the grammatical correctness. Instead, she tends to use language variation that she considers to be correct even though it is the non-standard one.
It can be seen in the dialogue between the Prime Minister and his secretary in the Scene 42. He says, “I’m sure she is a lovely girl but I wonder if you could redistribute her?” The sentence is considered to be the standard one for several reasons. First, it is formed based on the compound-complex sentence rule. Second, the variety is not mixture of other forms, but it is pure English. Third, the sense is considered to be good; it shows diplomatic manner, politeness, gentleness, and respect. These elements are important for the upper class to communicate since once they speak in this manner, they will show the high prestige. While, the example of the way Natalie speaks can be seen in the Scene 8 when she is telling about her day to the Prime Minister: “I was gonna fuck up on my first day”. It is considered as the non-standard because ‘gonna’ is the abbreviation of ‘is going to’ which is also not a standard variation. Besides, word “fuck” is considered as non-standard because this word is kind of slang which is usually stigmatized as impolite word used in less formal situation in the society (usage (Bergmann, Hall, Ross, 2007: 407)).
Moreover, the way she is speaking to the Prime Minister is considered as bad for most of the people in that room – that is why most of them widen their eyes shocked. In conclusion, the Prime Minister tends to use standard variation and Natalie mostly uses the other one because their social class is different.
Moreover, the theory also says that the use of standard and non-standard variation also take gender into
account. It states that a woman has greater use of variants rather than a man, and a man is more consistent in using one variation which is usually the non-standard one. In the movie, Natalie indeed uses two variations. She does not only use the non-standard variation, but she also uses standard variation. For example, it is seen in scene 26 in which she is answering the Prime Minister’s question about her life: “I've just split up with my boyfriend actually, so I'm back with my mum and dad for a while”. At this time, Natalie uses the proper rule of English even though she uses
‘mum’ and ‘dad’ which are indeed informal; these words are considered as usual and proper in British English.
Anyway, the Prime Minister also uses both variations. Though he is the Prime Minister of UK who is expected to speak in the high-prestigious manner, the Prime Minister also jokes by using the non-standard variation. The example is found in the scene 67 in which he jokes, “Yes and I'm sorry about all the cock-ups”. This is a variation that people do not expect to be used by a Prime Minister. Cocks-up is slang which means something is done badly.
Slang is expected not to be said by a Prime Minister since it does not represent his high prestige. This is what makes the way he speaks in the example to be non-standard. Thus, gender factor seems not to affect the use of the variations by the Prime Minister and Natalie in this movie.
Indeed, though the Prime Minister and Natalie are in different social class, both of them use either standard or non-standard variation because of their social network. It is found in the movie that both of them tend to use standard variation when they have to communicate to their colleagues or superior in work. They tend to use non-standard variation to communicate to their inferior in work and their family.
For instance, the Prime Minister uses standard variation in scene 34 to communicate to U.S President: “Right, Thanks, Alex. I don't think we're making progress here”. In scene 70, the Prime Minister says to his sister by using non-standard variation: “I'm gonna hide somewhere”. From those sayings, it can be compared which is standard and non-standard. The first one is standard since the sentence is formed in the grammar rules of English, while the other one is non-standard because – as discussed before – ‘gonna’ is not a standard form of English word. On the other hand, Natalie asks her colleague whether she sees Natalie’s swearing to the Prime Minister by saying: “Did you see what I did?” (Scene 8). Also, Natalie grumbles to her family while looking for her coat by saying “Oh, where the fuck is my fucking coat?” (Scene 68).Though Natalie seems to be impolite because of unintentional swearing to the Prime Minister, she could manage to use standard variation to communicate to her colleague. She speaks semantically and syntactically correct, and with manner that is accepted by most of the people. Referring to her swearing while searching for her coat, it seems that the family is accustomed to the swearing since they are not disturbed with her swearing. They do not get mad of her. Therefore, it might conclude that the strong relationship between the Prime Minister and his sister, and Natalie and her family take a part on the use of non-standard.
Conversely, the colleague relationship tends to affect the use of the standard one.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
In short, there are two factors that influence the use of standard and non-standard variation found in Love Actually: socioeconomic class and social network. The use of language form that is grammatically correct by the Prime Minister shows that he comes from well-educated class or upper class. Nevertheless, he also uses non-standard variation when he communicates with his family and staffs. On the other hand, the use of non-standard variation, particularly in the use of the diction, shows that Natalie comes from lower middle class. However, Natalie uses standard diction in her office. In brief, it is proven that socioeconomic class and social network take a part in the use of language variations in this movie.
Furthermore, since this movie is a kind of omnibus movie which consists of nine couples with their own characteristics, there will be many interesting sociolinguistics topics that can be studied. Thus, the authors suggest to do others research related to sociolinguistics field such as politeness, code switching and code mixing found in this movie.
REFERENCES
Bergmann, A., Hall, K. C. & Ross, S. M. (2007). Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press.
Ferguson, C, A. (1966). On sociolinguistically oriented language surveys. The Linguistic Reporter 8(4): 1-3.
(Reprinted in Language structure and language use, ed. by A. Dil, Standford University Press, 1971). Retrived from http://books.google.co.id/books on April 6, 2013.
Holmes, J. (2008). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (3rd ed.). London: Longman.
O’Grady, W., Acrhibald, J., & Miller, JR. (2005). Contemporary Linguistics. New York: St. Martin’s.
Wardaugh, R. (1992). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Cambrigde: Blackwell.
Script Source: http://withmusics.blogspot.com/search/label/Love%20Actually retrieved on April 6, 2013.
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