There are two options for this blog, both relating to the Linguistic Anthropology material we are covering at the beginning of this week. Pick ONE of the options below for writing your blog.
Your post must be at least ten sentences long, end with a question to your classmates.
OPTION 1: Think about the three theories of language-brain-culture interaction (Universal Grammar, Critical Period Hypothesis, and Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis), and see if you can find examples of any of them in our daily life.
For example, check out this video made by neuroscientist/actress Mayim Bialik, where she talks about the effects of the words we choose:
You can find your own examples and discuss them in the blog. You might also enjoy taking a look at these two articles:
Multilinguals have multiple personalities
Change of language, change of personality?
OPTION 2: One of the particularly interesting things about language is the way that it is used not only to communicate ideas directly, but to communicate other information about the speaker. Often, patterns of speech are used to characterize or stereotype the speaker in ways that are not necessarily accurate, and often, are discriminatory.
An interesting topic in Linguistic Anthropology is the AAVE (“Ebonics”) debate from the 1990s in the United States. Before responding to this prompt, read (or at least skim) John Rickford’s “The Ebonics Controvery in My Backyard.” Then read these two short articles about Rachel Jeantel, who was a friend of Trayvon Martin’s and testified at the George Zimmerman trial: Language on Trial: Rachel Jeantel (and her use of the N-word in court) and Stanford linguist says prejudice toward African American dialect can result in unfair rulings
Or this one: Why Donald Trump says “the” before “African Americans” or “Latinos”
Or this one: It Wasn’t ‘Verbal Blackface.’ AOC Was Code-Switching
Or this one, where a Glaswegian (someone from Glasgow, Scotland) talks with a linguist about why his own accent is considered the “least attractive” accent in the UK, and how linguistic variants are tied to social status and class: https://youtu.be/6jd7kHjsYNU
From these examples, we can start to see that the ways in which we speak our language often carry greater weight than the things we actually say.
From your own experience/knowledge, or using examples from the media of today, how do you think linguistic variation plays into other aspects of our lives as members of society? This response is really more of an opinion piece, and you shouldn’t feel pressured to share anything personal here, but this could be an interesting place to start a discussion of the power of language in our societies.
Please follow the correct instructions to complete this job. Do not use Al and make sure that the reference links you put can be found online when searching for it and do not cause a problem with my assignment.
