1 / 6

Language in its social setting

Language in its social setting. By Betz Lund. Language is a social phenomenon. Language expresses solidarity or group identity, separating insiders and outsiders, creating those in and out of the language loop. Groups can be determined by geography

cole
Download Presentation

Language in its social setting

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Language in its social setting By Betz Lund

  2. Language is a social phenomenon • Language expresses solidarity or group identity, separating insiders and outsiders, creating those in and out of the language loop. • Groups can be determined by geography • Northerners put groceries in a bag but Southerners use a sack • Groups can be small • families, friends, roommates, colleagues, couples • Larger social groups have dialects based on class, ethnicity, gender, or age

  3. Examining Social issues with social dialects • African-American Vernacular English • Also called Ebonics or Black English • Mainly used by African Americans from working class or inner-city areas. • Not strictly used by African Americans, those living in inner cities or in opposition to mainstream culture will use it. • Some find Ebonics as ignorant, others see is as a symbol of pride and some see it as a language separate from English. • With enough exposure anyone can pick up the lingo of a new context

  4. Gender differences • Gender roles not gender influence language • 1970’s- US Department of Labor tried to eliminate gender bias • Use “flight attendant” not “stewardess” • Users adapt a word to mean something different from original intent • Ms was meant to be female equivalent of Mr where marital status is not identified • It is used as trendy alternative to “Miss” or by widowed or divorced women • “Guys” is gender neutral though guy is usually masculine, the plural can refer to a group of all females

  5. Do You speak American? • US is founded on diversity in religion and ethnicity, but diversity gives way to one language: English • Some believe if you don’t speak “American” you are not an American • Government policy tried to end Native American languages • Trying to preserve them now-too little to late? • Loss of language is common for immigrants • Schools during 1900s focused only on English • More than 50% dropped out of high school during the height of Eastern European immigration

  6. Bilingual Education or isolationism? • 1970s-court ordered bilingual education tried to help speakers of minority languages • Idea to teach core subjects in native language • Effective when done well yet controversial • California rejected bilingual education for English immersion projects • Supporters fear that this is a step backwards towards isolationism • Americans still face issues of assimilation and minority language rights

More Related