To what extent do you agree that accent and dialect is a performance of our identity?
I completely agree that accent and dialect is a performance of our identity and has been progressively over time. This is because in modern society, different types of groups speak with different ethnolects. This is most evident in grime artists outside London who have hugely increased in popularity as the culture has become much more widespread.
Furthermore, I also believe that the growth of MLE transforming into MUBE (Multicultural Urban British English) has produced further evidence to suggest that our accent is a performance of our identity, which is often a conscious decision. I maintain this because adding to the impact grime music has on modern society, many artists from various ethnicities and different backgrounds have become more well known as they seem to have the bigger influence on listeners. Initially, grime artists from other regions adopted MLE as a way of emulating the successful London movement, however gradually regional variation began to slip through which eventually made some grime artists outside London decide to rap in their own dialects, with some not choosing to mask this part of their identity. Therefore they are using their ethnolinguistic repertoire of music to identify themselves in a powerful way.
However, the performance of our identity being controlled by accent and dialect can not always be portrayed in a positive way. Instead, it sometimes has the ability to expose individuals true identities. This is proven by the controversial hip-hop persona Iggy Azalea. In a post published on 'Linguabishes', linguists reveal the false identity that Azalea shows through being a part of the music industry. She is not only conveyed to perpetuate several stereotypes but shows her complete ignorance and obliviousness through the non-regional lexical terms she uses in the content she produces and by not sticking to her true language background which several other white rappers have demonstrated they are capable off.
So, in conclusion, despite accent and dialect illustrating the pros and the cons of them being a performance of our identity, I still completely agree that is what it really is in any circumstance, as it can also be interpreted as a type of socialisation that helps us develop into a community and shapes us as an individual in society.
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Iggy Azalea LinguaBishes Article Summary
In this article, it is discussed through in depth linguistic analysis by linguists such as Maeve Eberhardt and Kara Freeman about how music artist Iggy Azalea, also known as a hip-hop persona, is a reference for linguistic appropriation as she uses her white privilege to identify herself but in an ignorant way that doesn't meet cultural standards or expectations. It suggests that in this era, 2018, there are plenty of artists in the industry successfully monetising hip hop and black culture who are white, which is significant as white people now comprise the majority of listeners. There are also many white rappers such as Eminem who is approved of as they stay true to their language backgrounds by only using the linguistic features he grew up with and not trying to portray another image or cross over into linguistic varieties from groups they don't belong to. This is comparison to people such as 'linguistic blackface' Azalea who is described to not only promote several stereotypes including her hyper-sexuality and support subvert standards as for example she stated in one of her interviews 'everybody loves a pretty white girl' which implies her lack of knowledge towards the importance of race in the US. Therefore the article as a whole criticises the fact Azalea uses her music as a way so obliviously to make herself known and more popular by using non-regional lexical items so freely and using AAE (African American English) features in her performances, ignoring their grammatical rules which is an issue as it can be seen as supporting a racist status.
https://linguabishes.com/2018/01/01/first-things-first-im-the-realest/
https://linguabishes.com/2018/01/01/first-things-first-im-the-realest/
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Regional Variations: Changing London Dialects Tasks
Task 1: Cockney Accent Article Summary - James Orr
In the article, the writer immediately states that Cockney rhyming slang is dying out 'amid London's diverse, multicultural society'. This is due to almost half of the people who polled, which were Londoners, having a lack of recognition towards certain words spoken in their society. It is also becoming noticable that much more new rhyming slang is being invented, so the idea of Cockney rhyming slang dying out is becoming much more widespread due to this and the fact that it orignially started out as a code language for London thieves who stopped using it once people began to find out what particular words meant.
Task 2:
1. Nikesh Shukla believes that 'Cockney rhyming slang is nang' as the title of her article suggests. He thinks Cockney is no longer spoken in East London and that it has moved to Essex with the minority.
2. He believes that rhyming slang is being replaced by the entry of different communities making the language more multicultural.
3. The reasons he gives for this is because people are moving from elsewhere to Cockney and they all 'need a new language' to represent us and our 'manors, our yard, our ends'.
4. The origins of MLE (multicultural London English) are that at first rhyming slang was in the East Ends of London, but ever since it has moved due to society becoming more multicultural, therefore people of other languages and cultures who have migrated have influenced slang making it more widespread.
Task 3: Paul Kerswill:
Summary of his ideas:
- Paul Kerswill was a professor of socio-linguistics at York University who said that there are two things going on, youth slang that many people use but also core users of MLE and to them it is a dialect and an accent. It doesn't have to have slang in it. He states 'it's a new kind of Cockney in a way.'
1. The main linguistic elements of MLE are...
- Linguistic researchers / professors identified the 'new cockney hybrid dialect
- It has West Indian, South Asian, Cockney and Estuary roots. (What the dialect has been influenced by) and it was originally named Jafaican - fake Jamaican .
- The dialect is most prevalent in East London, among people with few oppurtunities.
2. It has developed from West Indian, South Asian, Cockney and Estuary roots and the dialect has been helped to popularise by famous individuals such as rap artist Dizzee Rascal and Hackney born actor Idris Elba.
3. People use it because if they are one of the core speakers in the East End of London, where they have low opportunities, they use MLE to speak differently, using it as an 'exclusionary strategy' as one of the mechanisms when people find themselves unable to make progress in life or are discriminated against.
4. You can relate this to William Labov due to his findings on Martha's vineyard in 1961. This is because Labov was interested in how social class affected language usage, therefore it can be related as MLE is used in places such as the East End of London, a place where people have low opportunities, so you can investigate how the less fortunate people are affected in contrast to different parts of the population - to see how the results vary and if your social class actually determines this.
In the article, the writer immediately states that Cockney rhyming slang is dying out 'amid London's diverse, multicultural society'. This is due to almost half of the people who polled, which were Londoners, having a lack of recognition towards certain words spoken in their society. It is also becoming noticable that much more new rhyming slang is being invented, so the idea of Cockney rhyming slang dying out is becoming much more widespread due to this and the fact that it orignially started out as a code language for London thieves who stopped using it once people began to find out what particular words meant.
Task 2:
1. Nikesh Shukla believes that 'Cockney rhyming slang is nang' as the title of her article suggests. He thinks Cockney is no longer spoken in East London and that it has moved to Essex with the minority.
2. He believes that rhyming slang is being replaced by the entry of different communities making the language more multicultural.
3. The reasons he gives for this is because people are moving from elsewhere to Cockney and they all 'need a new language' to represent us and our 'manors, our yard, our ends'.
4. The origins of MLE (multicultural London English) are that at first rhyming slang was in the East Ends of London, but ever since it has moved due to society becoming more multicultural, therefore people of other languages and cultures who have migrated have influenced slang making it more widespread.
Task 3: Paul Kerswill:
Summary of his ideas:
- Paul Kerswill was a professor of socio-linguistics at York University who said that there are two things going on, youth slang that many people use but also core users of MLE and to them it is a dialect and an accent. It doesn't have to have slang in it. He states 'it's a new kind of Cockney in a way.'
1. The main linguistic elements of MLE are...
- Linguistic researchers / professors identified the 'new cockney hybrid dialect
- It has West Indian, South Asian, Cockney and Estuary roots. (What the dialect has been influenced by) and it was originally named Jafaican - fake Jamaican .
- The dialect is most prevalent in East London, among people with few oppurtunities.
2. It has developed from West Indian, South Asian, Cockney and Estuary roots and the dialect has been helped to popularise by famous individuals such as rap artist Dizzee Rascal and Hackney born actor Idris Elba.
3. People use it because if they are one of the core speakers in the East End of London, where they have low opportunities, they use MLE to speak differently, using it as an 'exclusionary strategy' as one of the mechanisms when people find themselves unable to make progress in life or are discriminated against.
4. You can relate this to William Labov due to his findings on Martha's vineyard in 1961. This is because Labov was interested in how social class affected language usage, therefore it can be related as MLE is used in places such as the East End of London, a place where people have low opportunities, so you can investigate how the less fortunate people are affected in contrast to different parts of the population - to see how the results vary and if your social class actually determines this.
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Language and Gender Exam Question
Discuss the idea that women and men use language differently.
In your answer you should discuss concepts and issues from language study. You should use your own supporting examples and the data in Table 1.
There is a heavy, long winded debate over the fact that women and men use language differently, held by several linguists. Many argue that women's language is inferior, and the linguistic techniques they use in attempt of communicating are seen as weak or unnecessary therefore they are belittled for it. This is in large comparison to male's whose language is seen as more authoritative, in a more naturalistic way as they are labelled to be the more dominant sex, who are less likely to be criticised or questioned for every little thing they do. Simultaneously, men and women do hold some similarities in their language but these are not as common as the differences both of the genders portray. Nevertheless, in this essay I will argue that in a body, the idea that men and women hold a variety of differences is a certainty and a number of theorists will also help me to explain why...
As the data in table 1 suggests, female speakers contrast a considerable amount to the five male speakers. This is proven through the difference in the average number of seconds per turn. Like Table 1 shows, women get a lot less time to speak in comparison to men which could immediately illustrate the dominance men hold over women. A theorist who then supports this idea that this is the attitude conveyed is Robin Lakoff, who created the Deficit Approach (1975). Lakoff asserted that women are 'socialised to believe that asserting themselves strongly isn't nice or ladylike or even feminine' which could suggest why women get a sparse amount of time to speak than men because they are held back over speaking up. This is again established through the theorist's identification of faulty characteristics in women's language, more specifically through their use of hedges, fillers alongside tag questions which Lakoff says women only use to seek validation from men or because they are too talkative and indecisive. Therefore this could evoke the significant difference in social status between men and women, however this approach is argued against by linguist Pamela Fishman who declares tag questions are only used to start dialogue, arguing against the fact that women use them to seek validation from men and instead accepts this is primarily down to male dominance as they are reluctant to the usual conversation starting as they label it as 'shitwork'. So, there is a shorter average for women in the time they have to speak than men as demonstrated in table 1 because asking questions requires longer responses.
Another point to show that women and men use language differently is through Zimmerman and West's dominance approach (1975). This theory discusses that during mixed-sex conversations, men are more likely to interrupt than women, and this concluded is then proven in table 1 as the men's 'did interrupt' average was once again higher than women's. They argue that this is again a reflection of male dominance in society, however Beattie criticises this approach as he questioned interruptions being a reflect of interest and involvement and interestingly when he repeated the experiment, the results contradicted the findings of Zimmerman and West as he found that women and men interrupted with more or less equal frequency. Table 1 also reinforces this idea as Woman D and Man E have the same average result of 2.0 on interrupting per meeting, so this disproportionate result could change everything. It's agreeable, the majority of theorists help to prove that there is a difference between how men and women differentiate but additionally, multiple sources such as newspapers, online articles or even documentaries have helped to support this idea too. Take 'The Guardian' for example, and it's article 'Do men and women speak the same language?'. This is where it is debated whether there is a language barrier in communication between men and women and if it is truism or not. It endorses that this difference is a 'Mars-and-Venus theory' reinforcing the idea that the gap between the two could be so big that it could be elucidated as being even worlds away. Although this could be disputed as throughout time, the topic of male and females and the stigma that surrounds the equality between theme as made sufficient progress. But who really knows?
Furthermore, the hypothesis that dominance is the main lead to miscommunication in language between men and women, likewise to Zimmerman and West's theory as mentioned previously, and resulting in their differences is again supported by another linguist, Deborah Tannen. Tannen created the Difference Approach in 1990 where she claimed six main differences between the ways men and women use language, one of which that assists the data given in the first column of table 1 is 'status vs support'. Men on one hand see language as a means of asserting dominance, whereas women see it from a more positive perspective as a way of confirming or supporting ideas, but sometimes by unintentionally encouraging men. This proposes that women aim for more positive politeness strategies and that men are less supportive and complimentary to each other. This then could be an accurate evaluation as it is proven multiple times in different forms of speech that men usually take control over many conversations, but in the theory alone she is missing concrete evidence to back this statement up, therefore this approach could be criticised as Tannen is perpetuating stereotypes as it is clear that not all gender's are the same and in society, communication and language skills are bound to differ based on different cultures, classes or ethnicities so it is wrong to imply your gender is the only feature that determines this. Maybe this topic as a whole is simply just one big misinterpretation.
In your answer you should discuss concepts and issues from language study. You should use your own supporting examples and the data in Table 1.
There is a heavy, long winded debate over the fact that women and men use language differently, held by several linguists. Many argue that women's language is inferior, and the linguistic techniques they use in attempt of communicating are seen as weak or unnecessary therefore they are belittled for it. This is in large comparison to male's whose language is seen as more authoritative, in a more naturalistic way as they are labelled to be the more dominant sex, who are less likely to be criticised or questioned for every little thing they do. Simultaneously, men and women do hold some similarities in their language but these are not as common as the differences both of the genders portray. Nevertheless, in this essay I will argue that in a body, the idea that men and women hold a variety of differences is a certainty and a number of theorists will also help me to explain why...
As the data in table 1 suggests, female speakers contrast a considerable amount to the five male speakers. This is proven through the difference in the average number of seconds per turn. Like Table 1 shows, women get a lot less time to speak in comparison to men which could immediately illustrate the dominance men hold over women. A theorist who then supports this idea that this is the attitude conveyed is Robin Lakoff, who created the Deficit Approach (1975). Lakoff asserted that women are 'socialised to believe that asserting themselves strongly isn't nice or ladylike or even feminine' which could suggest why women get a sparse amount of time to speak than men because they are held back over speaking up. This is again established through the theorist's identification of faulty characteristics in women's language, more specifically through their use of hedges, fillers alongside tag questions which Lakoff says women only use to seek validation from men or because they are too talkative and indecisive. Therefore this could evoke the significant difference in social status between men and women, however this approach is argued against by linguist Pamela Fishman who declares tag questions are only used to start dialogue, arguing against the fact that women use them to seek validation from men and instead accepts this is primarily down to male dominance as they are reluctant to the usual conversation starting as they label it as 'shitwork'. So, there is a shorter average for women in the time they have to speak than men as demonstrated in table 1 because asking questions requires longer responses.
Another point to show that women and men use language differently is through Zimmerman and West's dominance approach (1975). This theory discusses that during mixed-sex conversations, men are more likely to interrupt than women, and this concluded is then proven in table 1 as the men's 'did interrupt' average was once again higher than women's. They argue that this is again a reflection of male dominance in society, however Beattie criticises this approach as he questioned interruptions being a reflect of interest and involvement and interestingly when he repeated the experiment, the results contradicted the findings of Zimmerman and West as he found that women and men interrupted with more or less equal frequency. Table 1 also reinforces this idea as Woman D and Man E have the same average result of 2.0 on interrupting per meeting, so this disproportionate result could change everything. It's agreeable, the majority of theorists help to prove that there is a difference between how men and women differentiate but additionally, multiple sources such as newspapers, online articles or even documentaries have helped to support this idea too. Take 'The Guardian' for example, and it's article 'Do men and women speak the same language?'. This is where it is debated whether there is a language barrier in communication between men and women and if it is truism or not. It endorses that this difference is a 'Mars-and-Venus theory' reinforcing the idea that the gap between the two could be so big that it could be elucidated as being even worlds away. Although this could be disputed as throughout time, the topic of male and females and the stigma that surrounds the equality between theme as made sufficient progress. But who really knows?
Furthermore, the hypothesis that dominance is the main lead to miscommunication in language between men and women, likewise to Zimmerman and West's theory as mentioned previously, and resulting in their differences is again supported by another linguist, Deborah Tannen. Tannen created the Difference Approach in 1990 where she claimed six main differences between the ways men and women use language, one of which that assists the data given in the first column of table 1 is 'status vs support'. Men on one hand see language as a means of asserting dominance, whereas women see it from a more positive perspective as a way of confirming or supporting ideas, but sometimes by unintentionally encouraging men. This proposes that women aim for more positive politeness strategies and that men are less supportive and complimentary to each other. This then could be an accurate evaluation as it is proven multiple times in different forms of speech that men usually take control over many conversations, but in the theory alone she is missing concrete evidence to back this statement up, therefore this approach could be criticised as Tannen is perpetuating stereotypes as it is clear that not all gender's are the same and in society, communication and language skills are bound to differ based on different cultures, classes or ethnicities so it is wrong to imply your gender is the only feature that determines this. Maybe this topic as a whole is simply just one big misinterpretation.
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