science

Markedness model

Markedness model is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Markedness model rather than just read about it. In short: The markedness model (sociolinguistic theory) proposed by Carol Myers-Scotton is one account of the social indexical motivation for code-switching. The model holds that speakers use language choices to index rights and obligations (RO) sets, the abstract social codes in operation between participants in a given interaction.

Key takeaways

Markedness model belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Markedness model to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Markedness model from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The markedness model (sociolinguistic theory) proposed by Carol Myers-Scotton is one account of the social indexical motivation for code-switching. The model holds that speakers use language choices to index rights and obligations (RO) sets, the abstract social codes in operation between participants in a given interaction.

Theory According to Myers-Scotton, for any communicative situation there exists an unmarked, expected RO set and a marked, differential one. In choosing a code the speaker evaluates the markedness of their potential choices, determined by the social forces at work in their community, and decides either to follow or reject the normative model. Making the marked choice is thus a conscious bid for a new RO set. Speakers employ code choices rationally, as a way of establishing their social position according to the "negotiation principle": "Choose the form of your conversational contribution such that it indexes the set of rights and obligations which you wish to be in force between the speaker and addressee for the current exchange". Marked choices are often accompanied by prosodic features such as pauses, or metacommentary on the switch. When the unmarked choice is not clear, speakers use code-switching in an exploratory way to establish the favored social balance. Myers-Scotton has proposed that the markedness model is applicable to all language choices, beyond the limits of code-switching. The markedness model operates within Myers-Scotton's matrix language-frame theory, a production-based explanation for code-switching that posits constraints on switches at the level of the mental lexicon (as opposed to that of the surface structure). The theory holds that a code-switching speaker alternates between the matrix language (ML) and an embedded language (EL). The ML is the more active and more frequently-used language, which restricts the use of the EL. It is common, though not necessary, for the ML to correspond with the unmarked choice in a typical interaction.

Example Myers-Scotton gives the following example to illustrate the markedness model, involving a clerk and customer at a bank in Nairobi for whom the unmarked code choice is Swahili. The customer begins speaking in the unmarked Swahili and later switches to Luo, their shared ethnic language, to index social solidarity with the clerk, trying to solicit extra help. Clerk (Swahili): Ee-sema. 'OK-what do you want?' (lit.: 'speak') Customer: Nipe fomu ya kuchukua pesa. 'Give me the form for withdrawing money.' Clerk: Nipe kitabu kwanza. 'Give me [your] book first.' (Customer gives him the passbook.) Customer: Hebu, chukua fomu yangu. 'Say, how about taking my form.' Clerk: Bwana, huwezi kutoa pesa leo kwa sababu hujamaliza siku saba. 'Mister, you can't take out money today because you haven't yet finished seven days (since the last withdrawal).' Customer (switching to Luo): Konya An Marach. 'Help, I'm in trouble.' Clerk (also switching to Luo): Anyalo Kony, Kik Inuo Kendo. 'I can help you, but don't repeat it.'

Criticisms Analyst Peter Auer has critiqued the markedness model for not adequately describing speakers' perceptions of their own behavior. He contends that in switching codes speakers do not make reference to any pre-existing normative model but rather actively create and produce social meaning according to the particularities of the interaction. Blommaert and Meeuwis, drawing on a study of Zairians in Belgium, have further proposed that the markedness model is limited in its failure to account for variability within languages (codes), describing only shifts from one language to another. They criticize the model for assuming monolingualism to be the normative point of reference in communication. Kathryn Woolard has challenged Myers-Scotton's assumption that code-switching is strategic, and suggests that switching is not always a deliberate, or even conscious choice. Her research has shown that speakers are not always aware of their code-switching in communicative interaction.

See also Bibliography of code-switching Diglossia Indexicality Language contact

Notes and references

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Markedness model

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Markedness model claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Markedness model before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Markedness model ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Markedness model

In research: Markedness model appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Markedness model in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Markedness model is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Sociolinguistics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Markedness model outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Markedness model in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Markedness model means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Markedness model out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Markedness model in simple terms?

Why does Markedness model matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Markedness model?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Markedness model.