Sociolinguistics?

[Beli Orao]

What do sociolinguists actually study? Do they utilize any models to represent sociolinguistic phenomena (whatever they may be)?

[Jashan]

What do sociolinguists actually study? Do they utilize any models to represent sociolinguistic phenomena (whatever they may be)?

Can't help you with the second one, but as to what they study, the following are all valid:

- Class differences in vocabulary use, pronunciation, and grammar. I.e. it was found once (this was back in the 70s, might be different now) that educated Britons dropped their /r/, while in New England America (the closest dialect to British English that we have in America), educated New Yorkers brought it back. Similarly, using ain't, despite it being a historically correct form, is seen as a marker of an uneducated speaker throughout America.

- Gender differences in language usage. Apparently American women use a lot more adjectives and a lot more "hedging" words (sometimes, may/might, could, apparently) than American men, who are more likely to use fewer adjectives and more direct statements.

- Code-switching or language-switching in sociological contexts. I.e. if someone is fluent in two languages (or two dialects), what determines which language/dialect they use in a certain situation, and why do they make that choice?

- The "vocabulary of framing" (likely not the official name) -- the choice that people make, conscious or unconsciously, to describe events or situations with specific words. For instance, what one person calls a pre-emptive strike, another might call an unprovoked attack. Painting people who wish to outlaw/restrict abortion as pro-life gives the impression, on some level, that people who wish to allow abortion are anti-life. Would it be different if instead of pro-life and pro-choice, they were called anti-women and pro-choice ? Etc.

- Age differences in language usage. Generally only older people (in my area) still use whom and distinguish whale from wail. Younger generations are further contracting contractions and creating unique grammatical structures, such as I am going to -> I'm goin' -> Imma, as in Imma download some music.

Just some examples.

[CaesarVincens]

More generally, Sociolinguistics looks at social factors in addition to linguistic factors to explain linguistic phenomenon.

And, yes, there are theoretical models within sociolinguistics (if I understand your meaning).