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Discrimination and racial bias
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The Room for Debate series of blog posts between Bryan A. Garner and Robert Lane Greene presents to the reader two distinct views on various topics including that of authority in language, what makes a good and a bad rule, and what the purpose of these rules is. After reading the posts and doing some research on the people they mention, I noticed that the majority of them, whether lexicographers, linguists or writers (descriptivist or prescriptivist), had privileged upbringings and were educated at prestigious universities. The definition of linguistics is, ‘the scientific study of language and its structure’, and the definition of language is, ‘the method of human communication, either spoken or written’. Academics represent only a small percentage of British and American society (British and American English are the two variants mentioned in Room for Debate), and language is something that all humans use, therefore in this essay I will analyse and explore the views of Greene and Garner from a linguistic and social point of view.
In his first post, When Prescriptivists over Prescribe, Greene begins by admitting that there are “a set of standard conventions everyone needs for formal writing and speaking.” which is sociolinguistically logical. A Briton who speaks with a “Received Pronunciation” accent, pronounces the letter ’t’ in the word “Britain”, however someone who speaks with a “Cockney” accent/dialect usually substitutes phonemes with a glottal stop [bɹɪʔən]. Trying to communicate this through written language (graphemes) without using the prescribed ‘standard’ variant, would cause much confusion between different dialect areas, which could negatively impact society due to fellow citizens not being able to communicate effec...
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...to social factors, one has to expect to discover discrimination and unfairness due to human nature, as these things exist in every society in the world.
who, in my opinion, want to be viewed by society as being ‘intelligent’, ‘superior’ or more ‘educated’ than their counterparts.
Well educated Britsh and American ‘prescriptivists’ know how to use Standard English and Standard American English in way that enables them to ‘succeed’ (or at least not be penalised) within their society. However the downside of this, is that nothing is being done about the stigma surrounding “the real-world mess of dialects and slang” which the “often incorrect prescriptivist masses” sneer at so readily.
Works Cited
Thomas Shapiro; Tatjana Meschede; Sam Osoro (February 2013). "The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap: Explaining the Black-White Economic Divide”
Oxford dictionary
Conrad, Celia. "Racial Trends in Labor Market Access and Wages: Women." America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences. Volume II. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2001. 127. Print.
Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as well as “linguistical tyranny';
To find the accumulated wealth disparity between whites and blacks Oliver and Shapiro first had to start with an analytical distinction between wealth and income. After all, simply glancing at Forbes Magazine’s list of top income earners for 2011 appears to indicate that the once prominent socioeconomic disparity among whites and blacks has vanished. Over the past decade, famous black individuals such as Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson have all topped the charts as the highest income earners in America. At some points in recent history, blacks have even accounted for half of the top ten highest earners, an outstanding feat considering blacks account for only about 13% of the USA population. This picture painted by the list of highest income earners however, only tells half the story. Contrary to Forbes’ highest income list is Forbes’ profile of the 400 wealthiest Americans. This list contains few if any African Americans. Therefore, to explain this disparity a clear distinction had to be made between what is wealth and what is income.
Black Economics In Black Economics William Raspberry offers a personal insight into the economics of the black American, but as he states Raspberry is “neither a businessman, an economist, nor a social scientist.” He presents his views without analysis and his solutions without a business outlook; instead Raspberry looks to the people for the cause and the answer. William Raspberry makes a bold effort by calling on his race, the African Americans, for both the cause and solution to their economic problems. Raspberry chooses to open up with two myths about race, helping to set the tone of the paper. The first myth he deals with is that “race is of overriding importance, that it is a determinant not just of opportunity but also of potential, a reliable basis for explaining political and economic realities . . . ” He explains that it is easy to see how race has assumed such importance in the mythology since slavery is the very reason blacks are present in America. Raspberry continues to elaborate on the topic of slavery to produce the central theme of the myth: the myth of white superiority. There are two things that flow from the “racism-is-all” myth that are used to account for the difficulties of blacks. The first, Raspberry states, is that it puts the solution to their difficulties outside their control, and second it causes blacks to think of their problems in terms of a failure of racial justice. With the second result Raspberry elaborates by calling on civil rights. Income gaps, education gaps, test-score gaps, infant-mortality gaps, employment gaps, business-participation gaps, as stated by Raspberry are all now talked about as “civil rights” issues. He points out that the gaps are real, but that describing them as “civil rights” issues steers us away from possible solutions, and that while doing this the problems grow worse. He offers a comparison to a group of poor whites that are in a similar economic standing as blacks and are granted their full civil rights. So how can the lack of civil rights be responsible for their economic conditions when other groups are just as bad off without the racism factor? So if the racism myth is not the cause of the blacks difficulties, then what does Raspberry offer as the reason? To him the operating myth of blacks accounts for their condition, leading them to focus on the misdistribution of opportunities.
The author provides some theories in explaining why racial inequality exists and how it continues to exist. The first sets of theories are the deficiency theories. Deficiency theories state that “Racial minorities occupy an inferior economic, social and political status because of some
With these information about wealth and history, it is concluded that one of four races considered nonwhite have one chance of growing in their economy. The racial wealth gap can take people back in time to see how the economy of the nation was created. There is no fairness in base of the economy. If each one of the citizens in the coutry are considered equal under the law, why can’t it be the same in the economy? Segregation and discrimination continue to exist in the nation. Whites are not considered equal as nonwhites. In conclusion, if this gap between the races perdures to be open there will never be true equality and justice.
Due to the certain accent’s stereotyping images, other “original English speaker” think they are uneducated, rude, and ignorance. TV comedy shows increased this negative image to audiences as making fun of their accent and laughed. The video introduced some words which are unfamiliar to us: cabinet is milkshake, gum band is rubber band, schlep is to carry, and pau hana means work is done. Those words and phrases are noticeable if they are native English speakers. On the other hand, I hardly notice those accents and dialects as a foreigner because I don’t have enough knowledge to judge what “standard English” is. In fact, we normally learn “standard English” in school as a foreigner, but we have a great chance to hear mixed dialects and accents everywhere because of mixed race society. Nevertheless, standard English accent is easier for me to understand. I easily distinguish and guess people’s hometown if they are foreigners by their accent. Still, it’s hard to recognize accents and dialect within states. Moreover, this video was difficult to understand because of the
One student stated that “as long as I know how to speak slang and proper English, I should be ok” (Godley, p. 708). However, nearly all students felt a need for speaking AE or, at least, avoiding slang in work settings (Godley, p. 708). Students’ arguments in favor is maintaining AE in work situations appeared to be navigated by the belief that AAVE is perceived as negative in mainstream society (Godley, Page 709).
It is apparent that there are many types of dialect within American English. The coexisting of two or more languages, either serving together in the same area or servicing different areas, is as old as language itself (Pei 106). This has happened throughout time and appears to be inevitable. It is impossible to believe an entire country could conform to one language, and then only one dialect of that language. Throughout history societies have survived for some time using different languages until these language barriers tore territories apart. It is apparent how, in America, barriers between dialects separate black men from white men even more than physical conditions.
...nglish.” (Rickford, 1999) The ultimate goal is to produce readers and writers of standard English, as the conventional education system is not doing its job teaching many AAVE speaking children. To address the legitimacy of the language, linguists argue that it is impossible to call Ebonics slang. Although there is controversy over it being a language or a dialect, linguists whole-heartedly disagree with the notion that it is not a “full-fledged linguistic system.” (Rubba, 1997)
Birk and Birk explore the many processes that automatically and often unintentionally, take place during the gathering of knowledge and expression through words. In their book Birk and Birk break the usage of words into sections: Selection, Slanting by the use of emphasis, slanting by selection of facts, and slanting by the use of charged words. When words are used this way they reveal naturally occurring bias of the writer. Upon reviewing the selection from Birk and Birk’s book Understanding and Using Language it is clear that the essay written by Jake Jameson has examples of every principal Birk and Birk discuss. The Birk and Birk selection provides us with a set of tools that enable us to detect bias in the many forms that it takes. These tools reveal what Jamieson favors and make plain the bias present in his essay The English-Only movement: Can America Proscribe Language With a Clean Conscience?
When it comes to the education of the English language, every class tends to have their different views on what is constituted as proper writing. These views, also known as prescriptive rules, create many flaws for children growing up with an education which eventually will impact the general English language. A shibboleth, known as a word or way of speaking and behaving which proves that a person belongs to a particular group, is one of Pinker’s ways of explaining how proper writing within a class is depicted (Pinker 375). In his reading The Language Mavens, Pinker states that prescriptive rules have to be enforced consistently in order to be understood, providing a brief understanding that language may be
George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know better,” (598). Ugly language has been gaining ground in our population by a positive feedback mechanism.
Maybe part of my opinion is based on spite: If I had to learn all the dos and don’ts of modern English, so should you. But I think it’s more then just that. I can see the writing on the wall and it’s not looking too bright. Dumbing down the language to simplest terms can be a very dangerous thing. Don’t believe me, flip through a copy of Orwell’s 1984 and you’ll see how Big Brother has developed a “plainspeak” directive. In fact, I’m not alone in this belief. In Sven Birket’s article “Into the Electronic Millennium” he discusses the devolution of modern language: “The complexity and distinctiveness of spoken and written expression, which are deeply bound to traditions of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of ‘plainspeak’” (70).
We are now living in a globalised world where cultural diversity is considered as the norm, which resulted in international and intercultural communication skills being essential. English language spread in accordance with the process of globalisation. Because it was passed on to many different nations with diverse cultural perspectives, the ownership of English no longer belongs to typical English speaking inner circle countries (Kachru, B. B., 1984). Since international communication involves an international language, it is vital that we are informed of the concept of changed ‘ownership’ of English language, by considering denationalisation and renationalisation. This will then enable us to understand and communicate well in between different