Short Paper 3 1 Sociolinguistic Awareness INTRODUCTION We all know that understanding a language involves not only knowledge of grammar,

phonology and lexis but also a certain features and characteristics of the culture and society. Since language teaching has been influenced by society, Sociolinguistic study can provide insights related to other important aspects of the learning experiences of bilingual students, such as how language relates to their identity, affective experiences, and relationships (Gaerlan & Bernardo, n.d.). With regard to these aspects, Llamas and Stockwell (2002) claim, teachers who are aware of the sociolinguistic context had insights at their disposal which can make them better teachers. According to the usefulness of sociolinguistic awareness mentioned above, it is very important for teachers to explore its factors that influence on language teaching. Obviously, one of the examples of parents influence that teachers should be aware of is that all parents are anxious and willing to become involved, and feel comfortable approaching the school
(Cregan, 2008). Consequently, Students learning progress, to a large extent, needs to get involved with communication between the school and the home, and also in relation to those out-of-school experiences.

Acknowledging the importance of the above relation, society awareness has been playing an important role in classroom teaching context. Where the students are from, teachers should know and be sensitive to their weakness so as not to cause them to lose their motivation. Through the existing research studies, this paper will examine and discuss how sociolinguistic awareness helps improve teachers performance. What is Sociolinguistics? According to research studies, the meaning of sociolinguistics is various. One of the definitions is that sociolinguistics is the study of language in society (Lasmas & Stockwell, 2002). It is the study of language related to culture, power, change, and it is a fieldwork-based discipline, which is the method of collecting samples of language uses in naturally occurring

Short Paper 3 2 Sociolinguistic Awareness environments in relation to the findings of sociolinguists research work (Lasmas & Stockwell, 2002). Why is sociolinguistics? Regarding the sociolinguistic context awareness, for example, in term of language learning motivation, teachers regard bad grammar as a systematic non-standard language that can give greater repertoire in students performance, and greater confidence in their own language abilities (Lasmas & Stockwell, 2002). Additionally, the awareness of features such as: gender, power, age, audience, identity, and social network relation is also crucial. These are the social features learners engage which provide them opportunities to expose and practise their knowledge to the target language (Rubin & Wenden, 1987, as cited in Hismanoglu, 2000). Gender and Power Knowing about differences in the ways men and women use language is necessarily important because it would help teachers get a better understanding across the whole range of linguistic varieties that students use in communicating language (Lasmas & Stockwell, 2002). For instance, foreigners who have applied to work as language teachers in Cambodia aware of gender that female students are usually shy and they rarely show off their knowledge and ability. To encourage those students to be illustrated, the teacher will prioritize the ladies to a large extent they can prove themselves in the classroom. Age Lasmas and Stockwell (2002) point out that older people and younger people use language differently. The younger the learners start to learn, the more opportunities they have chance to expose to the language and, therefore, their language use and language competency are far higher than the older ones. Regarding the age, Piri (2002) indicated that adults liked to learn new things in new ways, but tended to prefer old learning and study methods in learning things they have studied previously. For the language teacher, a mature

Short Paper 3 3 Sociolinguistic Awareness student is a challenge because adults usually do not like to waste time on things they do not feel worth the effort and they tend to demand quick results, and their sense of achievement can be boosted with various level tests (Piri, 2002). So teachers will best their instruction as absolutely effective as to the students without wasting time on such things. Audience According to Lasmas and Stockwell (2002), the audience and reception of language use provide insights into the ways speakers behave, that is, speakers plan what they are going to say in mind. Since this can be adjusted, teachers would be able to change the ways students communicate to suit their audiences by telling them that the purpose of speaking is to make listeners understand. As models, in some cases the teachers would adopt a speech style and the forms of language that are similar to those used by the students to demonstrate how it is effect to the listeners (Yule, 2006). Identity This is an important social factor in which the learners are aware of their personal, ethnic, political and family identities which influence their language use (Lasmas & Stockwell, 2002). Certain learners are mother-tongue conservatism that means even in term of learning another language they prefer to keep their identity show. For example, in term of pronunciation in Cambodia context, they would pronounce the word Phnom Penh in English as exactly the same way as in Khmer. It is also evident that many conflicts are associated with the assertion of ethnic and linguistic identities (Piri, 2002). When we know our students, who really preserve to their language, we would adjust to them as they value it. Social network relationships To get adjusted into the classroom, Lasmas and Stockwell (2002) suggest that the relative strength of relations between individuals within a social group is very important to maintain, reinforce, and spread linguistic features. They also find that whether individuals have strong or weak ties to the group can be used as a measure of their sociolinguistic

Short Paper 3 4 Sociolinguistic Awareness influence. Teachers can, therefore, have fairly superficial or imprecise information, which is helpful, about their students before following up to gain a fuller understanding of what the students will respond in the classroom (Richards, 2001). Bunts-Anderson (2004) believes that second language learners language learning is highly influenced by opportunities to interact with members of the target language community. INCONCLUSION Sociolinguistic awareness needs to be extensively given in order to reveal the insights of individual learners. It shows the complexity of context when language is studied in its real, applied setting and it also suggests ways of understanding this situation and the affluence of language uses (Lasmas & Stockwell, 2002). For instance, teachers who have a large range understanding about society will lead to becoming real classroom masters. Instructors should
be the primary model of appropriate behaviors and expressions, and provide the insights into cultural differences. However, these authentic models related to different social act preferences should be provided from television, movies, and native informants.

Because people are now strappingly influenced by the society within the modern technology advanced their behaviors are also changed. For example, the learners from the high class family will perform powerfully and violently along with using the high-tech materials while the low-class-family learners seem to behave humbly. In terms of teaching and learning, this issue causes a lot of impact to the school, the teachers and the students themselves. Since it is noticed, it becomes a matter in education in Cambodia recently. Therefore, as teachers, I hope we will find better ways to deal with such problems.

Short Paper 3 5 Sociolinguistic Awareness REFERENCES Bernardo, B.I., & Gaerlan, M. (n.d.). Non-Native English Students Learning in English: Reviewing and Reflecting on the Research. Retrieved 07 December, 2011 from www.nus.edu.sg/celc/research/symposium.../01-bernardoREV.pdf Bunts -Anderson, K. (2004). Teachers conceptions of language learning: out -of-class interactions. Retrieved 07 December, 2011 from independentlearning.org/ILA/ila03/ila03_bunts-anderson.pdf Cregan, A. (2008). Sociolinguistic Perspectives on the Context of Schooling in Ireland: Parent Perceptions. Retrieved 07 December, 2011 from www.cpa.ie/.../200804_WP_SociolinguisticPerspectives-ParentPerce... Hismanoglu, M. (2002). Language Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 8. Retrieved December 06, 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Hismanoglu-Strategies.html Llamas, C., & Stockwell, P. (2002). Sociolinguistics. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), An Introduction to Applied Linguistics (pp. 150-169). New York: Oxford University Press. Piri, R. (2002). Teaching and learning less widely spoken languages in other countries. Retrieved 07 December, 2011 from www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/source/pirien.pdf Rechards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yule, G. (2006). Language history and change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.