In Richard Lederer’s article “All American Dialects”, he states the ironic truth that “most of us are aware that large numbers of people in the U.S. speak very differently than we do.” (152) How is it that one language can have so many speech communities? It is because of the way our nation was developed. Our language is a mixture of culture and lifestyle that has diverted our English dialect, so that each region’s speech is unique. How I speak can define who I am, determine what I do, and locate exactly where I’m from in the U.S. This is the value of my, and my language’s speech communities. If one was to travel to Germany they would be constantly hearing German. What they wouldn’t notice is that each city within Germany tends to have their …show more content…
Finegan says this is something “living languages must do”. For me, I was raised in a military home in which we moved to a new region every couple of years. Coming from Germany, moving to Rochester, and then to Lowville, my dialect is a combination of all three speech communities. It is different than my parents, and will mostly be passed down to my children. As I age and move locations it is opted to change again as well. So it is not that I speak differently or incorrect than the rest of my family, my speech community is merely growing and changing as it is passed generation to generation. Richard Lederer stated in his article, “We are a teeming nations within a nation, a country that is like a world.” (150) He was portraying how our country, with a universal language, can be so diverted by each region’s version of the English language. I agree completely that although we all “sing” the same song of the American language, “we talk in melodies of infinite variety.” (150) The way our country was built was by different American regions doing their own work, for example, the south had plantations, where my ancestors were small town farmers who worked with manufacturing in mills and
There are so many different types of people in the world. Meaning there are many different dialects and accents. Accents and dialects are the words we use when we speak, as well as the way we pronounce them. The film American tongues specifically focuses on these different accents and dialects. It is quite amazing that there can be so many different ways of speaking in just one country. This specific film focuses a lot on stereotypes of people in different areas. These stereotypes are strongly based off of these accents. Many different examples are shown from all over the world. Surprisingly all discriminations that come from how a person talks carries out throughout all of the United States of America; each state saying
In the article “Do You Speak American?,” Robert MacNeil is trying to reach the american public, especially those who do not have a complete understanding of the ongoing changes that are happening to the English that is spoken throughout the United States. He uses a multitude of examples to prove this very fact. For one he wants to inform the people that one reason for this change is that average people now have more influence in the way language is spoken.Which to him is a good thing. He enjoys the new evolution that American English has undertaken. He believes that it is a step in the right direction. Another, example he uses are the changes different regions and/or group of people have made on the English language. He uses the different accents and dialect to show the growth and improvement that occurred. Even though, some linguist view these changes as wrong, MacNeil views them as necessary and as something that is unique to the United States. In essence, a necessary growth that only makes the United States grow into a better country. Thus, making it more diverse.
In “Do You Speak American?” by Robert MacNeil, MacNeil uses outside sources, personal anecdotes, and familiar diction in attempts to prove that the transformation of American English is a positive outcome and should be accepted.
Our world is full of different cultures and languages. Many of these different languages are mainly used in schools. Most of the time none english speaking students have a hard time transitioning between english and their native language. This could be a reason why school boards have provided programs like ESL, to help students adapt and learn american standard english. Recently one of the main languages that have been giving students problem to succeed in their education is African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Recent studies have been conducted to bring AAVE in schools which will result in higher test score, however people are disagreeing with the idea because they don't want their children to learn “slags”, but AAVE is not a slang, just like standard english AAVE is a language.
Of course, when Betty Birner writes “[l]anguage will never stop changing; it will continue to respond to the needs of the people who use it” (source D) in her article, she disagrees, maintaining that so often as an individual utilizes a language based upon one’s individual experiences the dialect becomes true. She believes that as long as one can individually express themselves through the use of words, correct or not, the phrases automatically become unerring. However, the point so mentioned simply does not stand. A dialect cannot be considered correct if it fails to follow the rules of Standard English. The rules may have been set years ago; however, their necessity becomes apparent when one thinks of a language’s comprehensibility. For instance,
Beside media and migration, Becker says “linguistic insecurity” is another reason why New Yorkers are changing their accent. Becker illustrated that they think that other people do not like their accent or they, New Yorkers, are not feeling their accent is interesting. New Yorkers consciously stop “Coffee Talk” and Texans like Robertson and her family stopped their accent on the first syllable like “SEE-ment” or “UM=brella” after they moved from Amarillo to Austin. Texas twang, however, is part of Texans and they are proud of it. Hinrichs points out, Texans use twang when it is appropriate with family or friends. He means that the twang is not going to become extinct. However, the fact that more than 1,000 new people move to Texas annually is changing the traditional old Texas
In the article“Speech Communities” by Paul Roberts, he uses examples in the text to helps give his audience an understanding of what a exactly speech community is and how they are formed in our lives.
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
The government of the United States of America is very unique. While many Americans complain about high taxes and Big Brother keeping too close an eye, the truth is that American government, compared to most foreign democracies, is very limited in power and scope. One area American government differs greatly from others is its scope of public policy. Americans desire limited public policy, a result of several components of American ideology, the most important being our desire for individuality and equal opportunity for all citizens. There are many possible explanations for the reason Americans think this way, including the personality of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population.
Another difficulty cultures deal with is language and the way people speak. In some cases, people struggle to belong by making changes in the way they speak the English language just to be assimilated. They attempt to use words and letters, as well as body language that fit in the norm; all in an attempt to denounce their original intonation and style of pronunciation. One ...
The statistics of those not speaking English could lead to the idea that English is diminishing in certain sections of the United States. An example of this is shown in the article “Why the U.S. Needs an Official Languag...
Language is universal, but there are different meanings and sounds, which vary from one culture to another. In China citizens speak many languages, but about 94% speak the Chinese language. The difference in dialects was overcome by the written word and eventually a version of Mandrin became the “official speech” (The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 1996,p.304). In America there are many ethnic groups with many varieties of language. The U.S. was created through many people from different countries migrating to the new states. In the U.S. there is an “official speech” which is the English language. The language of both these countries are not only different in meaning and sound, but also reflect the way in which the people in these societies live, believe, and function.
The way people interact with one another effects how they communicate. More specifically, their verbal and nonverbal communication define their social group, which in turn gives them their cultural identity. For instance, since I live in the Midwestern United States, I call a fizzy beverage ‘pop’, while someone in the northeast might call it ‘soda ' and someone from the southern part of the United States would likely refer to it as 'coke '. This shows the people in my area
Dialects do not merely differ according to country, however. Within a single country, there may be many dialects. In the United States, one can usually tell if a person is from the South, East, West, or Midwest based on the way that they speak. There are regional dialects within states and even within cities as well. Every dialect has its own phonological and syntactic patterns, as well as some unique vocabulary.
In a sociolinguist perspective “the idea of a spoken standardized language is a hypothetical construct” (Lippi-Green, 2012, pp. 57). They are the form of Britain English and American English that are used in textbooks and on broadcasting. Giles and Coupland observe that “A standard variety is the one that is most often associated with high socioeconomic status, power and media usage in a particular community” (1991, p. 38). Both native speakers and learners of English, where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL/EFL), speak dialect of English in everyday conversation (Kachru, 2006, pp. 10-11; Owens 2012, p.