Show:
Identity and Power
Study/Definition of Language
Language Contact and Language Change
Learning Language + Thinking with Language
Performance and Media
100
True or False: One can choose one's own language and identity.
False. Although people can develop linguistic repertoires (like Wilson) and unique styles of speaking, language and identity are inherently social processes that are linked together. Ascription processes, power relations, life circumstances, and language socialization all affect language and identity.
100
True or false: There is one definition of 'language.'
False. Language is defined in many different ways and how a scholar defines/thinks about language may affect how she studies it.
100
True or false: Code-switching is a degradation of language.
False(ish). Code-switching is a common practice around the world where people who speak two or more languages intermix lexical and grammatical elements from their shared languages. The 'ish' part of this reflects the fact that some people do attach negative meanings to code-switching and view it as an impure form of speech, despite its widespread practice.
100
True or False: Bilingual children tend to have trouble learning to read and write.
False. Bilingualism can help, hinder, AND/OR have no effect for children learning to read and write. Help: Understanding concepts of print (reading process, grapheme-phoneme relationship) Hinder: Vocabulary development (related to oral language competence) No effect: Meta-linguistic awareness (phonology/morphology)
100
True or false: Performance is a significant dimension of linguistic anthropology study.
True. Since the 1970's, performance studies have gained in importance and attention in linguistic anthropology. We can analyze the forms of performance (use of language, narrative devices, music, etc.) as well as its functions (social cohesion, raising awareness, resistance, etc.) to explore the social relations, linguistic conventions, and issues of power, politics, gender, etc.
200
How do Deaf people form a 'speech community'?
According to Carol Padden, a community is a group of people who live in a particular location (for Deaf people, often Deaf learning institutions) and share common goals (advocacy for the Deaf, recognition, ASL, etc.). A Deaf community may include persons who are not themselves Deaf, but who actively support the goals of the community and work with Deaf people to achieve them.‖ Deaf culture emphasizes use of signing (over lip-reading), treating Deafness as a mark of identity not disability, and expressive forms of communication, including constant/frequent eye contact.
200
How does linguistic anthropology today differ from linguistic anthropology practiced during Boas's lifetime.
There are overlaps between now and then, but to put it simply: during Boas's lifetime, linguistic description was part of anthropological study and practitioners analyzed symbolic systems, language patterns, and linguistic relativity. Today, linguistic anthropologists use the frame of language to analyze systems of power, identity processes, and social issues.
200
What can happen when languages and their speakers are in contact?
There are many possibilities that emerge: -Bilingualism/Multilingualism: people know/learn more than one language. -(Voluntary) Language shift: speakers of one language gradually begin speaking the other. -Language deprivation/forced language shift: speakers of one language are forced to speak another language (often in contexts of colonialism or war). -Code-switching: People intermix lexical and grammatical elements of two or more languages. -Pidgins/Creoles: Development of 'mixed' language, sometimes becoming first language for some children. -New identity processes -Changes in power relations -Development of standard/non-standard forms of language -One or more languages become national language(s), others are not given official status -Intergenerational language differences -Etc.
200
How can linguistic anthropologists contribute to studies of language learning?
As Ochs and Schieffelin demonstrate, linguistic anthropologists can use cross-comparative ethnographic analyses to show how language learning can prepare a person to speak in socially appropriate ways.
200
Is music a form of communication? What are some of its social functions?
Yes. In addition to conveying content (lyrics), music can be used to create social cohesion, express spirituality, engender resistance, revitalize culture, and spark emotion, among other things.
300
Who speaks 'bahasa gay'?
Some gay Indonesians and members of their wider community speak bahasa gay. Based on Indonesian, with distinct lexical and grammatical elements, bahasa gay is remarkably similar across the Indonesian nation (as opposed to regional and dialectal differences across the Indonesian archipelago). It is a way to mark oneself as gay, though aspects of the language have been picked up by non-gay members of wider society.
300
Did human language develop through biology or culture?
Both. Language evolution research demonstrates that biological developments occurred through human evolution (speech anatomy, ability to produce distinct sounds), as did cultural changes (language socialization practices, various needs for communication, the social aspects of language). Further research is needed to understand the interrelationships of these processes.
300
What are 'language ideologies'? What is an example of a 'language ideology' we've discussed in class?
Language ideologies are what people think about their own and others' languages. They sometimes differ from what people actually DO with language. Example: Dene children are developing a language ideology that associates Kaska language with elders, status, and cultural authority. This is how they make sense of language discontinuity and shift in their community and it differs from how many adults think about Kaska.
300
What does 'linguistic determinism' mean? How is this related to linguistic relativity?
Linguistic determinism is the idea that language determines thought and experience. An oft-cited example is that there are 'many Eskimo words for snow', but this is less compelling ethnographically than Whorf's example of vaporous gas barrels being labeled 'empty', increasing fire hazards.
300
Who do Kotis parody in their performances and how do they reflect their own identities through language use and performance?
Kotis parody Hijra forms of sexuality and language in their performances. They adopt high-pitch, nasalized forms of speech as well as vulgar language to parody Hijras' speech. Through their performances, they critique both third-gender and non-Koti homosexual forms of sexuality. In doing so, they emphasize their own authenticity, healthy forms of sexuality, and malleable speech practices.
400
How might consideration of power and identity influence ESL teachers' practices in the classroom?
By recognizing links between language, identity, and power, language teachers can have a more nuanced view of the social aspects of language and can be sensitive to these when designing lesson plans and when conveying linguistic (and social) information to students. It moves beyond a language description model to one where language practice is emphasized and actively considered.
400
What are 'gesture-calls'? Give an example.
According to Burling, gesture-calls are a graded form of communication shared by human and non-human primates. Human facial expressions and emotional displays (crying, laughter) are examples of gesture-calls.
400
What is the definition of a pidgin language? What is an example of a pidgin?
A pidgin is a language developed to facilitate communication between peoples who do not speak the same language. Usually one language incorporates elements of one or more other languages. Pidgin speakers maintain their own language, using the pidgin only to communicate across a language divide for particular purposes (for example, trade).
400
Who created the two-part model of the sign (signifier and signified)? What is an example of this model?
Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Example: Signifier: 'sound pattern' - tree. Signified: 'concept' - picture of tree/real tree/etc.
400
What is the 'vulgarity debate'?
The vulgarity debate occurred in the Persian blogosphere, sparked by a blogger's comments about human rights and Islam. Rather than responding to the blogger's argument, another blogger attacked his use of casual and 'vulgar' (non-standard) language. This debate reflects anxieties about cultural and linguistic authority, which have been reconfigured through online forms of communication.
500
What is the difference between a 'speech community' approach and 'communities of practice' approach? How does this affect scholarly understandings of language and identity?
Speech community: Focuses on shared values, behaviors, and norms of language use. Communities of practice: Focuses on ethnographic study of language in practice and accounts for power relations and various factors that will affect one's speech forms (gender, age, race, ethnicity, class, etc. and different contexts of language use). Both help to locate language in the social practices of communication and therefore link identity and language. Focusing on abstract 'norms', taking a speech community approach may not give a scholar adequate tools to understand the different contexts of language use and the various social factors affecting speech forms.
500
What kinds of methods do linguistic anthropologists use to study social life and language?
Linguistic anthropologists primarily rely on ethnographic methods to study how language is used in practice and how this relates to people's social relationships, ways of being in the world, identity processes, power relations, etc. Ethnographic methods include observing and recording speech, participating in speech events, conducting interviews, conducting cross-cultural research, and analyzing how people speak (not just what they say).
500
What are the differences between Francais avancee and generale classes in a francophone school in Toronto?
Francais avancee: Code-switching is generally not tolerated and teachers insist on (standard) French. Mostly white, middle/upper class students generally do not resist these practices. Through their classroom socialization process, they are prepared for university and elite bilingual employment and link French with prestige. Francais generale: Code-switching is tolerated and English use is prevalent. Students resist their teachers and express ambivalence about the value of French. Mostly lower-class, visible minority, and immigrant students, they are prepared to work in trades where English will be privileged and their dialects of French will be stigmatized.
500
What kind of directional system do the Guugu Yimithirr rely on and how did John Haviland show their directional thought system in his study?
Cardinal directions (or an 'absolute system'). He compared films of storytellers using gestures to reference cardinal directions in their stories. Note: The storytellers would also refer to people in their immediate surroundings (people sitting next to them) but would not necessarily use directionals.
500
Are media technologies transforming social relations and forms of communication?
Yes and no. Media have affected forms of speech (for example, blogging as an emergent speech genre, text-speak) and shifted some ways of relating to one another (for example, facebook); however, as linguistic anthropology scholars we must be critical about how these media and technologies empower/disempower people, globalize/localize practice, transform/reinscribe power relations, and structure/rearrange/maintain social and language relations.