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The aim of this paper is to inquire a corpus of columns of the language (CDL) of the Argentine magazine El Hogar: the section entitled "La paja en el ojo ajeno..." signed by Pescatore di Perle (Francisco Ortiga Anckermann). This CDL was published weekly for almost fifty years (between 1914 and 1963). I will analyze the columns of 1927, the year in which new debates on the national language appeared, especially in the newspaper Crítica. In the context of the institutionalization of philological disciplines in Argentina, the professionalization of the disciplone and the appearance of porteño dialects and colloquial expressions in the media, Pescatore di Perle's columns were a proposal on the use of language for the society that the magazine represented. The hypothesis that we want to demonstrate is that in them, through a strategy of prize and reward, the readership is encouraged to appropriate common sense about the "appropriate" uses of the language. The selection and awarding of the hunt for typos and the comments on the matter functioned as actions typical of «language surveillance», according to the perspective of Laienlinguistik, through which a specific linguistic citizenship was proposed. On the other hand, these CDL promoted linguistic correctness while using, without questioning, certain colloquial expressions as well as lexicon of cocoliche and lunfardo. This functioned, apparently, as objects of ridicule but in the same act, they were given body and representation for their use and domination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a contrastive analysis of the instances of attenuation occurring in a set of Argentine and Spanish colloquial conversations. Attenuation -understood as a pragmatic phenomenon reducing the illocutionary force of communicative acts, which involves face and the speakers' responsibilities for their messages (Caffi 1999, 2007; Thaler; Albelda 2016)- has been studied to a significant extent in the Spanish language, beginning in the 1990s, from the perspective of politeness studies (Haverkate; Briz 1995, 2007), pragmatics (Schneider) and sociolinguistics (Samper Hernández; Cestero). However, studies concentrating on the comparison between its diatopic varieties are scarce (Briz 2007; Albelda 2008). This study quantitatively and qualitatively analyses the attenuation resources utilized in colloquial conversations between speakers aged 20-34 at the higher and middle social strata in the cities of Tucumán (Argentina) and Valencia (Spain). The analysis was based on a methodological data sheet (Albelda/ others) with the aim of finding the main similarities and differences between both diatopic varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociolinguistic literature in sign linguistics has characterized the deaf community as diglossic. My own research into the sociolinguistic patterns of the Argentine deaf community has always indicated that the same diglossic situation has been observed in this community. A deeper insight into the current linguistic situation of the deaf community has induced me to question the previous analysis, especially because since 1999 deaf people in my country have been struggling for recognition of Argentine Sign Language. Therefore, this paper, although merely tentative and as yet quite imperfect, puts forward a reinterpretation of linguistic community, a term much debated in the sociolinguistic literature. This paper aims to show that the linguistic situation of the Argentine deaf community is not diglossic as the sociolinguistic, political and symbolic values of both languages involved in their interaction show. Therefore, when Spanish and Argentine Sign Language are in contact is diglossia a valid concept for the sociolinguistic characterization of a historically marginalized monolingual community as are the deaf in Argentina? Is not diglossia another term functionally at the service of the dominant ideology in order to present deaf people and their sign language as a different exotic community, a fact obviously leading to discrimination? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of English in South America through the investigation of attitudes towards English by a group of MBA students in Argentina. To investigate their attitudes, a survey questionnaire was administered. Its analysis and the relationship between attitudes and the socio–political environment are explored in this paper. The findings suggest a close association between English and the job market, while they also indicate a lack of sociolinguistic awareness vis–à–vis non–native users of English elsewhere. As part of the discussion, I make connections between the historical moment of Argentina and the perceptions of the role of a world language such as English. The paper concludes with a call for a more conscientious inclusion of issues pertaining to the sociolinguistics of the global spread of English as part of the classroom curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the study of politeness phenomena, small talk is an area that has gained in interest and popularity over recent years (cf. Coupland, 2000b). Given its close connection with phatic communion (Malinowski, 1972 [1923]), it constitutes a valuable resource for maintaining friendly relations in social interaction. This paper deals with the interactional dynamics of small talk in a dialectal variety of Argentinean Spanish, namely Buenos Aires Spanish. It does so from a sociolinguistic perspective, but it also builds on sociocultural pragmatics. The aim of the study is to investigate how small talk operates in both institutional and noninstitutional settings in terms of socio-discursive and pragmatic strategies, and to identify some of the functions that it fulfills. The corpus analysed consists of a range of data collected in Bahía Blanca in the form of notes from participant observation as well as recordings of naturally occurring face-to face interactions. Also included is some consideration of how members of the community under study perceive (Placencia, 2001) and interpret (Gumperz, 1982a; Tannen, 1996) the phenomena in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starting point of our investigation is the hypothesis that the non-standard Patagonian variety is made up not only of phonological, grammatical and lexical features, but also of oral interaction patterns which are essentially different from those used in urban societies. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to investigate everyday conversations from a socio-pragmatic approach, in order to give account of the relationship between this form of verbal exchange and the socio-cultural context where its production occurs. Our analysis is based on data collected during a field research carried on in two Mapuche-Tehuelche communities of the province of Chubut, in the Argentine Patagonia: Blancuntre and Cerro Centinela. Recorded spontaneous dialogues and personal interviews form the Corpus of analysis. The study focuses on the following structural constituents of conversation: pauses, silences and redundancy, within the frame of a theoretical pattern that allows us to identify a group of socio-demographic variables, which constraints the interacting behavior of the members of the investigated communities. The analysis of the collected corpus shows the relationship between conversational structures and strategies; and the Amerindian culture, where the interaction develops. The conclusion is that cultural diversity clearly emerges from the pragmatic level of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status of English as a global language has made it not only widely available in Argentina but increasingly necessary to the average Argentinian as well. In the past decade those seeking a job or a promotion or those pursing a graduate university education have become acutely aware that proficiency in English is an essential requirement. As a symbol of prestige and modernity, it has become a ‘means of social ascension’ (Friedrich, 2000: 222). This paper sets out to provide insight into the dimenisons and dynamics of English in Argentina by drawing a sociolinguistic profile of this language in a South American setting. It begins with an overview of the languages and cultures represented in Argentina and the historical presence, contact and availability of English from the eighteenth century on. It describes the users and uses of English in terms of Kachru's (1992) framework, and Argentinian attitudes towards English. The sources of the availability and status of English are traced to the strong cultural legacy of the British which has influenced the teaching of English, its contemporary presence and prestige, and to the shift of economic power to the USA in tandem with developments in communication technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]