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ON THE MORAL DILEMMA OF THE SOCIOLINGUIST
Author(s) -
Paulston Christina Bratt
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1971.tb00056.x
Subject(s) - dilemma , morality , status quo , ideal (ethics) , psychology , epistemology , sociology , social dilemma , linguistics , cultural diversity , diversity (politics) , social psychology , law , political science , philosophy , anthropology
With a diversity of alternatives now open to sociolinguists and educators regarding problems of dialect and culture, we are suddenly faced with an unusual aspect of linguistic description, that of morality. In fact, because of the biases that linguists all share and the contextual realities of socio‐cultural‐economic forces, a moral dilemma has arisen: “ideal” solutions to language and dialect problems have very little if any possibility of ever being implemented. A viable solution for the sociolinguist may be possible somewhere between sweeping social revolution and passive submission to the status quo.