Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

Language and Media: an analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

Wajih Zafar, Sana Waqar, Saad Abid, Bilal Siddiqi and Ali Abdullah Bajwa The Lahore School of Economics

9-05-2010 Language, Culture and Society Dr.Shahid Siddiqui

Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

Introduction Background and Context The mass media has been traditionally viewed as a mirror where societys opinions, biases and diversities are reflected. If demand dictates the content of the media as per the pluralist stance, then the content of the mass media must be coherent with the society, from where it gains its viewership. In this case, the language of the society will reproduce itself in the media. Language arguably, has its roots in the cultures, traditions, norms and values that collectively make societies and give birth to linguistic codes which have lexical meanings in societal contexts. Society then, rests upon the prevalent cultures and if this view is to be adopted then, a multilingual media represents a multilingual, multicultural society.Hence societal and cultural differences in the media can be traced through geography and time. Statement of the Problem Among the functions of language is that it encodes and decodes meaning. Given this function, the language of a society will unconsciously contain cultural and lexical meanings in terms of both grammar and phonology but to what extent is this true? Can language, given that the media is perfectly representative of societies, be used to conclude anything about the people who use it? How does language reflect the inherent social and cultural differences through geography? Significance of the Study The standpoint of the research is pluralist with the starting point being the presumption that the media (television sitcoms in particular) are mere representations of reality and hence only reflect what is already present in society. Therefore, the study will be significant in determining the cultural differences in the youth across the globe at a specific point in time. Scope The scope of this research is limited due to the time constraints and small sample set which will be from within the city of Lahore. Moreover the number of sitcoms under observation will be three; College Jeans (comedy soap), F.R.I.E.N.D.S and Goodness Gracious Me. The absence of a sitcom production in Pakistan is also a restraint but the research will nonetheless be able to

Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

provide a basis for further detailed research that will extensively research the role of language in facilitating the essentially pluralist function of the media and television sitcoms in particular.

Literature Review Pluralist literature, which is the standpoint of this research, holds that the media is an institution in society that reflects it as it is; if there is something in the media, it must have its roots within the society that media stems from. Given this, sitcoms, or situational comedy shows, as they are fully understood become representative of society and of the people that reside in that particular society. Hence the dialogue used in these sitcoms must be the mode of communication of the real life counterparts of the archetypes portrayed in the sitcoms. Katherene Billsborough (2009) suggests that sitcoms are an excellent classroom resource for this very nature. She further argues that their importance in communicative studies comes from the fact that the conversation extends beyond verbal boundaries and in order to excite the audience, the use of intelligent catchphrases and metalinguistics is resorted to, all of this being done as a response to demand (Hannah West, 2005). According to Loverde (1999) the origin of television shows can be traced back to the radio. Interestingly, this makes the language used even more important because radio is one medium which uses language as the only mode of communication between the presenter and the audience. Even though the popularity of television sitcoms extends beyond that of radio shows, the nature of dialogue, expression and other communicative tools is equally important because in both cases, the artist is catering to a live audience. Major Research Question How were television sitcoms in the 1990s, reflective of the American, British and Pakistani youth in terms of their cultures, norms and linguistic habits in particular?

Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

Subsidiary Research Questions 1. What is a television sitcom? 2. What were the general linguistic habits of the youth in the three societies during the time 1990s? 3. What is the significance and role of language in characterization? 4. To what extent did sitcoms accurately reflect the language and culture of the archetypal characters and that used by their real world counterparts? 5. What, if any is the impact of language on the viewer? 6. Is language really important in the study of society? Methodology Sample The questionnaire will be distributed to a carefully selected sample of forty respondents who are already familiar with the three sitcoms. A sample of five will be observed for the Observational Study for their receptiveness towards language. Research Tools There are primarily two tools that primary information will be collected on the basis of; questionnaires and overt non-participant observation where respondent reactions will be noted. Data Analysis Procedure The quantitative and qualitative techniques employed will ensure that the analysis of data is well round up and extensive for the scope of the research. Time Frame The time frame for this research will be no more than one month. The research proposal will be submitted on the 9th of July following which the questionnaire survey and the interviews will be done (14th July). The observational study however, will be conducted on the 18th of July 2010.

Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

Implications References

Bilsborough, K.(2009). Sitcoms as a tool for ELT. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/sitcoms-a-tool-elt

Diley,R. (2003). "The media reflects society; just as there is diversity in society, there is diversity in the media.. Retrieved from http://www.coursework.info/AS_and_A_Level/Sociology/Media/_The_media_reflects_s ociety__just_as_the_L17119.htm

Mane, E.(2005). Assess the pluralist view of the mass media Pluralism is the belief that power is spread widely throughout the world. Retrieved fromhttp://www.coursework.info/GCSE/Media_Studies/Audience_and_Production_Anal ysis/Assess_the_pluralist_view_of_the_mass_me_L112936.html Loverde, E. (2000).Screenplay vs. Sitcom Scripts. Retrieved from http://www.screenstyle.com/screenvssits.html

Leaane, Z.(2009).Television Sitcoms- a chance to laugh at ourselves. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1286462/television_sitcoms_a_chance_to_laug h.html?cat=7

Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

Questionnaire Television Sitcoms

1. Do you watch television sitcoms? Yes No

2. Do you regularly follow the sitcom that you watch? a. Yes b. No c. Depends, If I have the time.

3. Which sitcom would you say you watch the most? ________________________________________

4. Why do you watch television sitcoms? a. Humor b. Celebrities c. Glamour d. Social Relevance

5. Which of the following sitcoms have you most watched? a. Friends b. Goodness, Gracious, Me. c. College Jeans

6. Do you think Television sitcoms reflect societies, populations and cultures? Yes No Somewhat

Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

7. Do you think American sitcoms like Friends, How I met your mother, The Office and Entourage are based on reality? a. Yes, the characters are very human b. Yes, the characters and situations are real life. c. Yes, they are real but exaggerated. d. No, they are too make-belief

8. Name one sitcom character that you can remember. ________________________________________

9. Why do you remember this character? ( you may select more than one option) a. The actor b. The dialogues c. The characterization

10. How important is dialogue in a sitcom? a. Extremely b. Somewhat c. Not important

11. Which Pakistani serial did you watch the most out of these? a. College Jeans b. Kaanch Kay Paar c. Family Front d. Shashlik

12. Why? _______________________________________________________________________

Language and Media An analysis of language, culture and society through television sitcoms

13. Do you watch any recent Pakistani dramas? Yes No

14. If yes, which? (if your answer is NO, move to the next question) _________________________________________ 15. (answer only if your answer to Q 13 is No.) ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

16. What areas do you think Pakistani shows need improvement in? a. Dialogue b. Characterization c. Implementation d. Direction e. Story