SACE Stage 2 Language and Culture key terms

The degree of formality in language chosen for a situation, ranging from casual speech to formal writing. It reflects the relationship between participants and the purpose of the exchange.

A variety of language associated with a particular social group, such as a class, age group, or profession. It signals group membership and can carry social prestige or stigma.

The unique, individual way a single person uses language, including favourite words, pronunciation habits and sentence patterns. No two speakers share an identical idiolect.

A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, yet usually mutually intelligible with other varieties of the same language.

The way pronunciation reveals a speaker's regional or social background. Accent concerns sound only, whereas dialect also involves grammar and vocabulary.

The variety treated as the norm for education, media and official use in a speech community. It is codified in dictionaries and grammars and often carries prestige.

Alternating between two or more languages or varieties within a conversation or even a single sentence. Speakers do this to signal identity, accommodate others, or fill lexical gaps.

The ability to use two languages in everyday life. It exists on a continuum from basic competence to balanced mastery and can be individual or widespread within a community.

The use of three or more languages by an individual or within a society. It is the norm in many parts of the world rather than an exception.

The study of how meaning depends on context, including implied meaning, politeness and speaker intention. It explains why the same words can mean different things in different situations.

An utterance that performs an action, such as promising, apologising, requesting or declaring. The same intention can be expressed through different forms across cultures.

Linguistic strategies used to manage social relationships and avoid causing offence, such as hedging, indirect requests or honorifics. Norms for politeness vary widely between cultures.

Words or grammatical forms that show respect to the addressee or a person being discussed, often marking age, status or kinship. Languages such as Japanese and Korean encode these systematically.

The branch of linguistics concerned with the internal structure of words, including roots, prefixes, suffixes and how they combine to create meaning.

The rules governing how words combine into phrases and sentences in a language, including word order and sentence structure.

The study of the sound system of a language, including which sounds are meaningful units and how they pattern together.

The study of literal meaning in language, covering how words and sentences convey concepts, and how meaning relationships such as synonymy and antonymy operate.

Language in use beyond the sentence, considered as connected text or talk. Analysis of discourse examines cohesion, coherence and how speakers organise information for an audience.

A recognisable category of text or interaction defined by shared purpose, structure and conventions, such as a news report, recipe, speech or advertisement.

The complete inventory of words and morphemes in a language, or the mental store of vocabulary possessed by a speaker.

A word adopted from one language into another, often adapted in pronunciation or spelling. Loanwords are visible evidence of contact between cultures.

The situation in which speakers of different languages interact regularly, leading to borrowing, mixing or structural change in one or both languages.

A simplified contact language with limited vocabulary and grammar, developed between groups with no shared language. It is nobody's first language.

A fully developed language that has arisen from a pidgin and become the native language of a community, acquiring a complete grammar and vocabulary.

The gradual replacement of one language by another within a community over several generations, often ending in the loss of the original language.

Efforts by a community or institutions to keep a language in active use, such as through schooling, media, family transmission or official status.

The condition in which a language has few remaining speakers and is no longer being passed to children, placing it at risk of extinction.

Organised attempts to reverse the decline of a threatened language, for example through immersion education, community programs or digital resources.

Decisions by governments or institutions about which languages are used, taught or recognised in public life, shaping status and access to services.

The sense of belonging to a group defined by shared traditions, values, history and often language. Language can both express and construct this identity.

The aspect of identity linked specifically to a group's language and ethnicity. It can strengthen when a language is threatened or contested.

The principle of understanding beliefs and practices, including language use, within their own cultural context rather than judging them by another culture's standards.

Judging another culture by the standards of one's own, often treating one's own practices as normal and superior. It can distort cross-cultural interpretation.

An oversimplified, generalised belief about a group of people. In intercultural study, stereotypes are examined as barriers to accurate understanding rather than as facts.

The overall framework of assumptions and values through which a group interprets reality. It is embedded in language and shapes what is considered obvious or important.

Adjusting one's speech, such as speed, vocabulary or formality, to suit an interlocutor. Convergence moves toward the other's style; divergence emphasises difference.

A topic, word or behaviour a culture treats as forbidden or deeply sensitive in particular contexts. Knowing taboos is essential for appropriate communication.

Meaning conveyed without words, including gesture, facial expression, eye contact, posture, silence and use of space. Its interpretation varies significantly across cultures.