u10a2 Topic Activities

Activity Topic 1:

Activity 1: Language Variation in the US

It was interesting to read this chapter on Language in Social Contexts...the information discussed in this chapter is what attracts me to the subject of language. I've always been fascinated with a certain communities lingo/slang, even the funny accents or dialects used by people from other parts of the U.S. and around the world. Comedians have made a living on breaking down how humans use language or members of a particular community use subsets of the same language. You must admit that language variations are funny:)

According to O'Grady details of word choice, syntax, and pronunciation reveal us to be members of a particular speech community, a group of people who share social conventions, or sociolinguistic norms, about language (p.485). I feel that mutual intelligibility is the ultimate goal of communication, unfortunately for some NS subgroups, language variation and social distinctions pose a problem, that can lead to discrimination and stereotypes regardless of a persons education or finical background.

I know because I've seen it happen first hand when I taught in the state of Alabama. The first week of being on the job I was coined by some teachers as the "Yankee"...simply based on my accent. Now the term Yankee is defined as a person native to the north, which is true, I am from the north, however I couldn't help but feel that others attached a negative connotation to the term with-out even getting to know me...needless to say it was sad to think that others in the teaching profession felt this way. I had students in my classroom that had really thick southern accents, but I never once judged their intelligence level based on speech speed, accent or financial situation. In fact some of my brightest students where minority groups from socioeconomically challenged backgrounds.

Activity Topic 2

Activity 1: What would you do?

2.) After watching the video I wasn't surprised to see this type of discrimination, needless to say, I was disgusted by it. I'm sure that other ESL teachers who share the same sentiments as I do will help in the fight to advocate for ESL education reform and policy change for the betterment of our students, however I'm not so sure that non-ESL teachers will take the same approach. The common argument I've heard in the past is that time and money shouldn't be wasted on immigrant students...rather the focus should be our native English speaking students. This type of narrow minded approach to education does exist in smaller more rural areas and stubborn mindsets are hard to change. When the time comes, I don't look forward to those types of discussions with colleagues and administrators, but eventually they are going to happen. So when the time comes, I believe that one has to stand by their convictions, even if that means being the outcast of poker flat.

Activity 2: Do you speak American?

Do you speak American?..."we" the class may find this question funny, however I cringed when I hear people ask this question. English is a language that is constantly changing overtime, everything from the GREAT VOWEL shift to new words annually inducted into the Websters dictionary. The http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/sociolinguistics/sociolinguistics/ is an excellent website that synthesises the information concerning the topic of Sociolinguistics. Topics covered are accents, dialect, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, slang, and Socio-situational variation to name a few. This information can be useful for teachers, by giving them insight as to why a students writes or speaks a certain way, then the teacher can use that information to help their students become more effective communicators.