Stigma
In the yard, not too far from the car
A favorite scene from Jaws. I feel like this is a really interesting example of indexicality. Brody and Ellen are clearly aware of (r)-0 in coda position, though they probably wouldn't call it that, and they seem to have some idea of what it indexes and joke about that with each other.
Life of Brian - Latin Lesson - Romans Go Home!
Play video1979's "Life of Brian" comedically depicts the titular main character, played by Graham Chapman, defacing, in Latin, a Roman monument. A Roman centurion, played by John Cleese, stops him and punishes him for his "bad" grammar. The scene is largely a parody of the relationship between English schoolchildren and their teachers. Linguistically, it's interesting as a demonstration of prescriptive norms as well as the representation of different dialects. Cleese's dialect is meant to sound more elevated while Graham Chapman's, who is from Melton Mowbray, north of London, is meant to sound less elevated, which is supposed to add to the comedy. Funnily enough, I think some of Brian's usages correlate with changes that would end up occurring in Latin before it changed into the various Romance languages.
Indians React to Apu Controversy
Play videoThis video interviews Indian people in a casual, street setting (in Mumbai) to understand their perceptions of Apu, a stereotyped Indian character in 'The Simpsons'.
The Significance of Linguistic Profiling
Play video"What is Linguistic Profiling and why is it so prominent in our society? Dr. Baugh explores the field and explains dialects, accents, and our linguistic heritages."
Sorry to Bother You Trailer
Play videoArtifact for the 2018 film Sorry to Bother You. In it, the main character, Cassius Green showcases distinct usage of both /aɪ/ monophthongization and diphthongization.
Oprah on Black and Standard English
This is the episode where Oprah talks about her views on Black English, famously referring to this type of speech as the 'ebonic plague,'while speaking with features of Black English, as referenced in "Oprah and /ay/: lexical frequency, referee design, and style" (Hay, 1999).
"AAVE is For Black People And Black People Only"
Opinion piece by a Black author on non-Black people using AAE being cultural appropriation. I don't think the author is a linguist, but a lot of the concepts they reference (white people using AAE to look tough or funny or hip, while there is stigma attached to African Americans using AAE) feel similar to things we've talked about, especially the article about Mock Spanish. It's also interesting that the author is pointing out things reminiscent of indexicality (as mentioned, white people using AAE to sound cool or funny, not to actually pretend to be African American), and has a pretty big problem with such use by people who aren't in the social group being indexed, which isn't an attitude we've really seen in the reading. This was linked on a social media post where people were arguing about this topic I saw a while back.
Rachel Jeantel interview
Play videoThis is part of the interview between Rachel Jeantel and Piers Morgan mentioned in the Rickford and King article. They begin discussing the ways people have attacked Jeantel for her speech at around 5:35.
Disney Dialects
Play videoshort video including comparative examples of the speaking styles of good and evil Disney characters.
Animation for Black Actors
I remember seeing this on tumblr a couple years ago and found it cause it's basically Chris Rock showing he's noticed how black actors can only get roles as nonhuman animals. [Published on 12-31-1969]
How a New Accent Overturned BBC Tradition and Messed With the Nazis
Another thing about RP and the BBC.
Regional Accents debate on the BBC
Play videoIn a BBC news interview two white women talk about "polishing" or "smoothing" accents in order to be taken more seriously (particularly in work/business situations). I find the opinions of both these women problematic especially the idea that "accents should fit in with the people you are with" which immediately brings up issues of class and "prestige" not to mention the fact that opportunities to change ones accent are not available to everyone and instead perpetuates this idea of an accent-based hierarchy of what counts as "proper" English.
No Problem vs. You're Welcome
The Tumblr post referenced by Dinkin in his "response to thanks" paper. An older person gives his opinion on employees using "no problem" instead of "you're welcome," then a Tumblr user offers a sociolinguistic theory as a response.
What your speaking style, like, says about you | Vera Regan | TEDxDublin
Play videoThis is a nice Ted Talk that shares information about the use of the word "like" in Ireland and what conclusions can be drawn about the people who use it. Vera Regan opens with an example about the common use of "like" by teenage girls. The important points of her talk expand to a larger scale about sociolinguistic stigmas and the general population's tendency to stereotype based on language use.
Is "talking white" really a thing
Play videoThis is a clip in which two people are blindfolded and asked to determine if people are white or black only by their voice. The speaker is given a song to read aloud as the listeners try to determine if “talking white is really a thing”. There is a belief that people will inherently sound different simply because of their ethnicity. This puts the stereotypes to the test and shows how different vocal inflections are perceived
Ear Hustle Podcast
This podcast, "Ear Hustle" discusses the reality of life in prison, created in a prison by prisoner Earlonne Woods and a prison volunteer and artist named Nigel Poor. The first episode, "Cellies" describes the meaning of the word "Ear Hustle" which is synonymous with eavesdropping. Prison language and the language used outside of prison is highly various. This is just an example of various language used in prison and the connection to prison culture. [Published on 06-14-2017]
Sev'ral Timez Songs
Play videoThis video parodies 90s-style boy bands, especially their appropriation of AAE. Of note is their declaration, "We're non-threatening!" (found in the first and second clips) which I think captures many white Americans' attitudes towards black culture: a little is cool, but too much is scary. See 0:31 for an example of their use AAE features in speech.
Why are Disney villains gay/queer?
Play videoThis video addresses a problem in Disney films not addressed in Lippi-Green's 2012 paper: queer-coding of Disney villains. Disney commonly gives its villains stereotypically gay features, teaching children to associate homosexuality and immorality. While the video does not provide audio, I've provided some further links to queer-coded villains: King Candy (from Wreck-It Ralph): https://youtu.be/MVVeugPVD2Q Scar (from The Lion King: https://youtu.be/-8wgXRNYcPM
Professor suspected of being a terrorist because of a math equation
A woman thinks that an Ivy League professor is a terrorist due to her inability to understand what he's writing (among other things). Her standard language ideology influenced her to believe that because he didn't seem to be writing in English, this could only be an indication that he was foreign and, ultimately in her eyes, a terrorist. [Published on 05-07-2016]
The Cost of Code Switching
Play videoThis is a 10 minute TedX video addressing the complexities of style shifting/code switching in America, specifically AAE speakers being expected to conform to "standard forms" to survive in America. This talk addresses issues of police brutality, racism, and expectations of who is expected to style shift/code switch and why.
Moana Reo Maori
This article discusses the immense popularity of the Maori dub of Moana, showed at 30 free theaters across New Zealand. Maori has historically been a highly stigmatized language in New Zealand, and many speakers of the boomer generation were discouraged from speaking Maori when they were younger. Much like Hungarian in the Gal (1978) paper dealing with a Hungarian/German bilingual community, Maori is in danger of extinction as younger speakers use it less and less to attain prestige through English. However, this film is part of an effort to give Maori covert and explicit prestige among younger speakers through its association with a cool, hip film.
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts Busts Out His Baltimore Accent
Play videoIn this video, a Maryland-born reporter gives an example of "Baltimorese," an accent of English found among many white working-class individuals in the Baltimore metropolitan area. This video also gives an example of language prejudice, as the reporter from Maryland expresses his own dislike for the accent, and the two other reporters mock the accent to some extent. Given that Baltimorese is a working-class accent, this prejudice against the language is likely a proxy for some prejudice against working class people.
Fox News clip sampled on DAMN.
Play videoThis clip is a really clearly delineated example of "language as proxy" for racism. It's really clear in the tone of the broadcasters when reading Kendrick's lyrics that their issue is not only with the content but with the stigmatized aspects of AAVE. I also wanted to bring up this clip/the album DAMN. because it's a great example of a lot of the themes talked about in the film Talking Black in America, particularly regarding hip-hop. The way Kendrick puts his music, which deals with issues of race and is basically the way he was able to survive violence in dialogue with white people saying "hip hop is doing more damage than racism" is really masterful and gives me chills.
One Part Plant Lifestyle Podcast interview
In the introduction to the second episode of podcast, the host mentions that her dad listened to her pilot episode and criticized her usage of way too many prepositions at the end of sentences. She apologizes and acknowledges that she uses too many prepositions and that "it's bad." [Published on 07-16-2014]
Video Proves Logan Paul Did Many More Utterly Offensive Things In Japan
CW: Suicide Logan Paul is an online personality from America that basically just makes video blogs. Recently he went to Japan and vlogged about his time there. He came under fire almost immediately for positing a video of him in the Suicide Forest where someone had just committed suicide. In the week following, people also watched other videos of his time in Japan where he basically disrespects anything and anyone. At one point he breaks a game boy on purpose and brings it back to the salesman saying it was “much-o, broken-o”. Him and his friends also get together and yell “arigato” before running around — which shows he probably had no idea what it meant but yelled it because it translates to “thank you” in English.
Though the things he did were disrespectful to Japanese culture for a number of reasons these things discussed linguistically showed the shallow amount of knowledge he had on the place he was visiting and the lack of care he had for the people there. I see this as a form of speech communities - because Logan Paul is from a very laid-back, privileged, English speaking community online and went to Japan but changed nothing, therefore observably offending members of the speech communities in Japan. [Published on 01-05-2018]
Key & Peele: School Bully
Play videoComedians Key and Peele act out a skit vocalizing the true thoughts and meanings behind the stereotypical school bully threats and phrases. While humorous, the skit displays how one’s words and language can be used to hurt, secretly signal one’s own emotions, and even the stereotyping of bullies and the struggles that lead to their outward aggression.
Vocal fry
Play videoA CDC News broadcaster explores the use of vocal fry (a.k.a. creaky voice) among women and considers the debate surrounding this speech quality's stigmatization. (Also note some of the comments below the video that highlight this topic of conversation as somewhat polarizing/ controversial.)
Empowering Identity with Language
Play videoA YouTube blogger named Finn talks about how language can power and disempower identities. Specifically he talks about how trans individuals need to use confident language when talking about their identity. He points out the faults of expressions and phrases commonly used by the Transgender community that feed into the disempowered dialogue used by non-trans individuals. The way that we talk about ourselves not only influences the way we feel about ourselves but also how we allow others to talk about us.
Trump's Hispanic Accent
This is another example of Hispandering by none other than our current president, Donald Trump. He gets a laugh out of some of the people in the crowd but the look on Melania Trump's says it all... why Donald, why? It is a short video that not only captures hispandering and a total disregard for offending Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics, but it depicts Trump's belief in what's right and wrong to say in a Presidential Address. [Published on 10-06-2017]
The term “Ching Chong” as the representation of mocking Asian community in the U.S.
This audio surrounds the concept of “Ching Chong” which is one of many well-known examples that have been used as an insult to Asians in the United States. The concept of “Ching Chong” was initially formed from an anti- Chinese sentiment and were often brought up as a taunt back in the 19th Century. Mimicry, particularly for mocking Asian accents, is the default pejorative mode. The article mentioned that this form of mockery identifies Asians as decidedly, unequivocally foreign, and that Asians and Asian Americans are the “other” and excluded from the American community.
President Obama speech
Play videoThis is a clip of President Obama talking about how everyone in America except for the Native Americans are from somewhere other than the USA, so we should all understand that we are mostly a nation of immigrants.
Difference Between Men and Women
Play videoA short clip from the TV show, “Friends” posted in June of 2017. The video explains the generalizations society has for the way men and women speak. The women in the video tend to over exaggerate the situation, in which they grab glasses and a bottle of wine to discuss the kiss. Whereas, the men in the latter part of the video are eating pizza casually talking about the kiss in a matter of five seconds with a few words each. The actions in the video describe the generalizations society gives men and women’s communication styles.
"Pink or Blue" Video
A video essay set to a poem on gender. It was commissioned to open the Saatchi showcase in Cannes the film uses 3D technology to allow the viewer to switch between two different versions of the film depending which set of glasses they view it through. Much of the video and poem deals with how language and performance affect one's social interactions. [Published on 07-01-2017]
Maori words for mental health revised and added onto
New Zealand wanted to expand the mental health language to not have ‘sometimes condescending’ English terms and to use more nonjudgmental terms to better describe people with mental health problems.
So You Like Dags?
Play videoIn this video, the assumptions the narrator reaches about the use of the Romani language comes from his beliefs about Romani as a group. The narrator assumes that gypsies are untrustworthy, and that this is why they speak in a manner that is difficult for him to understand.
Trying American
Play videoIn this scene Daphne shares her frustration with how people react to her accent. This demonstrates how different accents and dialects index social identity, eliciting feelings and reactions sometimes unwanted by the speaker. These interactions may influence future discourse practices.
Die Antwoord's Evil Boy: A Dynamic Crossroad of Language, Culture, and Rap in South Africa
Play videoDie Antwoord is a controversial rap group from Cape Town, South Africa fronted by Ninja Yolandi Vi$$er. Speaking from a post-apartheid perspective, this group offers an underrepresented view of young, lower-middle class, white Afrikaans - a subculture known as "Zef." Historically, Zef has been considered a derogatory term describing someone who was white, poor, and "trashy." However, Die Antwoord and others have looked to transform this into a self-reflective, somewhat satirical, parody that Ninja described as being "apocalyptic debris that we’ve stuck together." In this music video, they display their unique code-switching between Afrikaans and English, as well as Xhosa - the Bantu language of the Xhosa people. Adding to their mixed-bag controversial nature, is the relationship of the Afrikaans languages’ association with apartheid.
Through dynamic language and visual use, this video reflects the complex sociocultural and sociolinguistic interactions that occur in this region. The lyrical narrative told is a statement on the clash between traditional tribal circumcision rituals, and the modern subcultures that seem to offer an alternative path to "manhood." This can be heard in the verse by the guest rapper Wanga, sung in his native tongue:
"Mamelapa umnqunduwakho! (listen here, you fucking asshole)
Andifuni ukuyaehlatini! (I don't want to go to the bush with you)
Sukubammba incanca yam! (don't touch my penis)
Andi so stabani! (I’m not a gay)
Incanca yam yeyamantobi! (this penis is for the girls)
Incanca yam iclean! (my penis is clean)
Incanca yam inamandla! (my penis is strong)
Ndiyinkwekwe enkulu! (I am a big boy)
Angi funi ukuba yeendota! (don't want to be a man)
Evil boy 4 life! yebo! (yes)
Evil boy 4 life!"
Through the use of polyglossic code-switching, performativity, sociocultural and racial integration, and a revamping of contextual meanings, Die Antwoord is doing its part to redefine what it means to be young and Zef in South Africa, and what a socioculturally- and sociolinguistically-complex rebellion sounds like.
Do I sound Gay?
Play videoThis is a documentary on netflix that looks what the stereotypes of how gay men speak. It also looks at the homophobia that present in in the conformity to the speech pattern and the stigma of "sounding gay". Stereotypes of speech patterns for gay men show indexicalitys of language. Hearing a person speak in a certain tone, pattern, etc. and using a social constructed stereotype, one is assumed to be gay if their speech pattern conforms to the stereotype and index identities that they might hold. Now whether this index is accurate of the person's identities are not is the problem that is being addressed in the documentary. The documentary also looks at how this stereotype of gay speech originated and how it was socially constructed to convey that the speaker is gay when conforming to this style of speech. The documentary as whole however assumes a naturalness to the speech patterns and features of straight males, and ignores the fact that there also features and patterns that are stereotypical of straight males that speak English that can be used to index their identities as well and is no way natural and is constructed by society as well.
British Villains -Tom Hiddleston en Jaguar F-Type Coupé
Play videoThis Jaguar car commercial adds to an ideology that an English accent sounds villainous. Indexically and through performativity the actor, Tom Hiddleston, describing how to successfully sound "villainous". This commercial is a part of a series featuring other British actors describing how to sound "villainous".
Faith Salie Vocal fry
Play videoFaith Salie in this video reflects on her experiences as a Rhodes scholar and comedian. Salie talks about societal perceptions of a dichotomy between intelligence and comedic ability. The misconception of vocal fry being an indication of lower intelligence falls apart amidst her clear academic success.
John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!
This is a TED talk by John McWhorter in which he is explaining that writing is just a representation in the way we talk. He explains that there is an emergent complexity in fingered speech (texting). There is a new kind of "language" that is being created now that speech is in continuous change and therefore a new structure is created. [Published on 02-01-2013]
Why Do Girls Have Creaky Voices?
Play videoThis sociolinguistic artifact covers the topic of "Vocal Fry" or the new way young women talk in which the tone and sound of their voice sounds creaky. People don't exactly enjoy hearing someone talk using vocal fry, and studies have proved that girls who interviewed for a job and spoke using vocal fry were deemed more untrustworthy than those who didn't, and were viewed more negatively than men who used vocal fry, which relates to gender differences in spoken language and language use. What is particularly interesting is why vocal fry is so common among young women. This artifact suggests that linguists think that women tend to be the "vocal trailblazers" because they are more sensitive and receptive of social interactions and more likely able to pick up on settle vocal cues such as a "fry", again accounting for the gender differences in spoken language and language use. Also, there is a theory that vocal fry is simply a form of in-group communication between young girls.
Family Guy- Almost American Foreigners
Play videoThis is a family Guy clip showing the “guys who have been in America almost long enough to speak English”. This clip reinforces stereotypes of foreigners not being equal for not speaking English. This also shows differences in language, culture, and way of speaking. They use terms that are almost correct, but their foreign differences still show through.
Classic Trade Federation Episode 1 Lines
Play videoThis video is a compilation of all the lines from the trade federation in star wars episode 1, in this video you can see that all the people in this certain race all speak in a heavily overemphasized "Japanese" accent. they are also depicted as incompetent and unintelligent in the film series. In the star wars prequels George Lucas had a habit of assigning alien races with an american depiction of what a foreign accent, usually over emphasized and looking back on it may be racist and considered a mock version of that language's accent.
'English Only' Sign Triples Diner's Business
Play videoThis video reports about an owner of a diner in North Carolina that gained major support when he posted an 'English Only' sign at his door. In this interview the owner claims it started because of it was annoying to him and his staff to have to wait on people that did not speak English. He said it became very frustrating for both parties and eventually the Spanish speaking customers were hostile towards him. When the sign was first put out the diner tripled its business. People from the local community supported his stance and pledged their support for him in there continual attendance. He even said people requested to have their own signs so he made copies and has given out nearly 2,000 signs. What was shocking to me was the national support this man was getting. Celebrity new anchors and various organizations contacted him in support of his stance. One political organization even offered free law support if he were to come into any conflict regarding the issue. I figured something like this would have support, but not nearly to the magnitude it did. What shocked me even more was the lack of push-back he was receiving. He claimed that there was little to none. That being so, it can either show the dominant ideology in America regarding the English Only movement, or the difficulty to organize anti-Engliah Only groups.
My Fair Lady - Why Can't The English?
Play videoThis song called "Why can't the English?" from the movie My Fair Lady. In this song Henry Higgins starts the song off by singing: "Look at her, a prisoner of the gutter, Condemned by every syllable she utters By right she should be taken out and hung, For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue." referring to Hepburn. With this, followed by a lot of remarks that are similar in nature, he is implying very strongly that there is a Standard English language that should be spoken by all English people, and if anyone doesn't, "by right" they could be hung. He says most people are never "taught" and instead learn other stigmatized varieties of English and refers to these as murderers of the English tongue. He is in this way implying that there is a legitimate use of proper English language, and that is the standard variety that he speaks. therefore considering himself as a "better Englishman", and more educated, in this way making a social class distinction between him and the others. He is also implying that there should be unity of the nation as mentioned by Bourdieu in "The Production and Reproduction of Legitimate Language". Higgins refers to the English speaking people of England as Englishmen, but also mentions that non-standard speaking varieties are "painful to your ears" and is afraid they will never be able to get "one common language".
Anjelah Johnson-Nail Salon
Play videoThis video is a stand-up comedy act about an experience in a nail salon. Johnson’s voice changes as she impersonates a nail technician. Although she is using it as a joke, Johnson stereotypes Vietnamese nail salon workers to be both pushy but also unaware. In watching the video, it is easy to think that the workers are uneducated because it seems as though they don't understand English, but there is no effort being done on the customers side to really communicate in their language. Here, English is being depicted as a more educated language, creating stigma for the women working.
What is Ebonics?
A look into what Ebonics sounds like and how people feel about this style of speaking.
There's nothing controversial about code-switching
The article, on face, is only about code-switching, but the article goes on to address the standard language ideology which contends that it only happens and/or is negative when African American speakers engage in code-switching. Thus, the article also addresses, although somewhat shallowly, the issues of power and/or racism. [Published on 05-04-2016]
Linguist Says You Can Use ‘Like’ More. He’s, Like, Wrong.
This article demonstrates the, potentially discriminatory, language ideology contending that the word "like" is overused in society today. [Published on 11-01-2013]
Unapologetically Southern
Play videoIn this video, Chad Prather, a man who identifies himself as a Southern Gentleman. "Rants" in defense of his southern "accent" or dialect. Here we can see a man defending his own way of communication against attacks (in the form of social media messages and comments) from people who hold the language ideology that his accent proves that he is not intelligent.
The Brain Doubts Accent
Follows along with Matsuda, Mari J. 1991. Most of the info related to accent bias has already been covered in class, but the article points out that difficult-to-process language can sometimes lead to more attention in the listener. [Published on 09-21-2010]
Professional Educator: Grades, Showing Up On Time Are A Form Of White Supremacy
This education consultant takes issue with values that are taught in schools as beneficial for success but which she says are selected to favor white people, including language-related expectations of students. She suggests some unusual methods to "move away from all these aspects of white privilege in education." [Published on 04-16-2016]
Response to "What it Means to Sound Gay" (LanguageLog)
Reed professor Sameer ud Dowla Khan's open letter response to NPR interview with filmmaker and speech pathologist from film project "Do I sound gay?" (transcript of interview found at link). Sameer describes how linguistic features do not necessarily link directly to social category (as is seen in indexical models) to problematize the concept of "natural"-ness in speech. (Compare with research done by Gaudio, Rudolph. 1994. Sounding gay: pitch properties in the speech of gay and straight men; especially re:criticisms of other studies made in introduction pp. 34-41). [Published on 07-10-2015]
Key & Peele: Meegan, Come Back
Play videoWe all know the comedians Key and Peele, but what most people don't know is that Peele has a popular "Meegan" skit, where he portrays himself as a woman. He has also voiced several female characters, one of them on the cartoon show "Bob's Burgers." This video is an example of not only how a stereotypical woman would act, but also how she might sound.
Language, Race, and White Public Space
This article talks about the use of language in comparison to race. It talks about the negative stereotypes that are directed to Chicanos and Latinos by talking about "Mock Spanish".
Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism by FCKH8.com
Play videoThis video uses young girl cussing to show that there are more problems in society than little girls cussing. The fact that they are talking the way they are is shocking, which is done to make people actually listen to the bigger point.
Why the f*** shouldn't women swear?
This article talks about sexism in the fact that there is an idea that women should not curse. For example, it mentions that people tell female rapper, Nicki Minaj that she should not cuss, but the same is not said to male rappers, like Eminem or Lil Wayne [Published on 11-04-2014]
Swing County USA: Hispandering
Play videoThis video talks about Hispandering in the United States. It details moments on the campaign trail where Presidential candidates, Democratic and Republican, engage in Hispandering. Many of the candidates refer back to their parents and their experiences as immigrants.
Ax VS. Ask
Play videoThe video is an example of "ax" vs. "ask". Becuase "ax" is sterotyped as being less statusful, hearing politically prominant figures like Barack Obama use language in this way stands out.
Does Not Speaking Spanish Make You Less Latino? Pero Like Ep.4
Play videoThis article discusses speech communities and how the language you speak does or does not define your culture. In this example, the video is discussing if not speaking Spanish makes you less Latino.
CNN Election Center
Play videoIn this video there are many different types of sociolinguistic artifacts, and in any kind of SNL skit they have to make it more dramatic to bring out the commentary. Yet, within this clip you see many types of tags used within the first few minutes. For example, Donald Trump is the first person to be impersonated, but within the short clip that he is in he shows tags of "Race/Ethnicity, Sexism, Gender, Politics and Policy". And for Hillary Clinton she is showing many of the same character traits as well. Within all of these impersonators they are all trying to benefit themselves in some way that looks appealing to the audience.
Ernestine Johnson Performs 'The Average Black Girl' on Arsenio Hall Show
Play videoErnestine Johnson's performance of "The Average Black Girl" shows the stereotype of talking white vs talking black. Here is a good example of the relationship between race and language.
If Latinos Said The Stuff White People Say
Play videoThis video is extremely comical, yet makes a claim that often times, white people approach other races as completely foreign, different, and even alienate them. This hints at the idea of code-switching as well as linguistic discrimination and provides examples of the white race usage of language connotations towards other races.
What Is Vocal Fry?
Stigmatizing a linguistic style prevalent among young females in our society.
How kids of different backgrounds are affected by racism
This group of videos shows how kids of all races and backgrounds are affected by words and racism.
President Obama - Hispandering
Play videoIn Obama's Cinco de Mayo speech it is clear that hispandering is taking place. He invited a crowd of what appeared to be people of hispanic background. What Obama is speaking about is clear, he wants immigration laws and reform to continuously be adjusted and bettered. Each time Obama said the term 'tequila' he changed the way he said it to sound more hispanic and the crowd went nuts so he continued to say it to please the people there. He used code-switching to his advantage in this speech.
English or Ebonics
Play videoThis is a video that show the code-switching involved between "Standard English" and African American Language.
A Politician Walks Into King Taco ... A Look At The Political Term 'Hispandering'
Article regarding "Hispandering" in the current political presidential race. [Published on 12-08-2015]
Key & Peele - Negrotown
Play videoIn this Key and Peele video, the stigmas attached to African Americans are shown. A white police officer begins to arrest a black man walking in an alley who is doing nothing wrong. When they enter 'Negrotown' he begins singing a song in which he says "here you can walk the streets without being stopped, harassed or beat." This brings in race and ideology about how African Americans are still being treated unfairly.
3 Ways To Speak English
This TedTalk features Jamila Lyiscott, who describes the "three Englishes" she speaks on a daily basis, which is determined by her surrounding environment and who she is with. Her detailed breakdown of the different "tongues" she speaks shows the correlation between language, culture, and race, as well as how society and culture effect language acquisition/usage as a reflection of widely held language ideologies. [Published on 02-01-2014]
If you don't have anything nice to say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS
An episode of This American Life on internet trolls, which includes a segment on the criticisms of female TAL contributors who use creaky voice, with an interview with Penny Eckert. [Published on 01-23-2016]
G'day mate: 'Lazy' Australian accent caused by "alcoholic slur' of heavy-drinking early settlers
A newspaper article reporting on an opinion piece written by a communications professor at Melbourne's Victoria University suggesting that the Australian accent resulted from the slurring of speech of early (drunk) settlers. [Published on 10-27-2015]
Pledging Allegiance to Islamophobia in US Classrooms
Last month, at a high school in New York, the pledge of allegiance was recited in Arabic in observance of National Foreign Language Week. This resulted in controversy among the students/families of the high school, largely due to their associations (the usual ones relating to Islamophobia) with the language. This issue is an interesting example of indexicality, especially the way in which it can misinformed and ultimately harmful. [Published on 03-23-2015]
Debate about who gets to use a word
cw: discussion of racial slur
This is a CNN interview between a white commentator and a black rapper named Trinidad. They're debating about use of the n-word.
I find the controversy about who gets to use certain words fascinating. I hear a power & privilege conversation most often, as well as an "in-group" vs "out-group" conversation. [Published on 03-17-2015]
Study: At 'Rate My Professors,' A Foreign Accent Can Hurt A Teacher's Score
A study done on Rate My Professor shows that students rate teachers with accents lower than those without. [Published on 03-15-2015]
Thug Kitchen: Literary Blackface
Play video"Now, the Hollywood couple behind online blog turned vegan cookbook are in the limelight for a clumsily adopted, expletive-charged “thug” persona reminiscent of hypermasculine Black men. Thug is a heavily loaded word and while it is not explicitly synonymous with African Americans, it recently adopted new meaning and performs as a colloquial version of the n word. Did I mention the founders of Thug Kitchen are white? Yes, white. The authors kept their identities anonymous for quite some time."
-http://www.forharriet.com/2014/10/dear-creators-of-thug-kitchen-stop.html#axzz3S8EWrMRn
Pidgin: The Voice of Hawaii
Play videoAn excerpt from the documentary Voices of Hawaii, profiling the accent discrimination case of James Kahakua et al. in the late 1980s, where speakers of accented English were denied jobs as broadcasters for the National Weather Service.
Dear Jagoffs, Pittsburgh officially has the ugliest accent in America
Pittsburgh is the official winner of Gawker's "America's Ugliest Accent" context. [Published on 10-20-2014]
Which English you speak has nothing to do with how smart you are
A Slate guest post by linguist Anne H. Charity Hudley addressing issues of language discrimination in U.S. schools based on the use of nonstandard varieties and features. She argues in favor of embracing language diversity in the classroom. [Published on 10-14-2014]
Is the Pittsburgh accent ugly?
A radio interview with linguist Scott Kiesling about the Pittsburgh accent, which has made it to the semi-finals in Gawker's "ugliest accent" competition. The other three semi-finalists are Boston, Providence, and Scranton, PA. [Published on 10-14-2014]
What's Wrong with "America's Ugliest Accent" Tournament
Slate.com's version of Joe Fruehwald's objections to the Gawker tournament where voters select "America's Ugliest Accent." [Published on 10-02-2014]
Nefertiti Menoe: Speaking White
Play videoA video by artist Nefertiti Menoe on the criticism of minority speakers as 'speaking white.' She disagrees with this characterization, saying "having proper diction doesn't belong to the Caucasian race." The video sparked the long-time debate over accusations of speaking 'white' in the U.S.
America's Ugliest Accents: Something's Ugly Alright
Sociolinguistic Josef Fruehwald responds to the Gawker "Ugliest Accent" tournament, highlighting the use of language as a proxy for discrimination against speakers from various social and geographic groups. [Published on 10-01-2014]
Gator fan fails miserably with Jameis Winston "scrong" sign
A response to a sign making fun of football player Jameis Winston's pronunciation of the word "strong," with palatalization in the initial cluster. Many football fans have stigmatize the player as illiterate and uneducated. [Published on 09-13-2014]
American Tongues: New Orleans
Play videoA clip from the documentary American Tongues featuring speakers of New Orleans English, who discuss being judged for sounding uneducated. "If you keep your mouth shut you'd be perfect."
American Tongues: Linguistic Insecurity
Play videoA clip from the documentary American Tongues profiling speakers with linguistic insecurity, including a speaker from Brooklyn who takes accent reduction classes to reduce her New York City accent.
Vocal Fry doesn't harm your career prospects
A critique of the Anderson et al. study that found that females using creaky voice were judged less desirable. The author points out that the matched guise approach involved speakers who were taught to produce more creaky guises, so that the creak is an imitation. Further, the creaky utterances were longer and had lower pitch, raising questions about what listeners were reacting to. [Published on 06-06-2014]
Study: Women with creaky voices deemed less hireable
The Washington Post reports a research study that found that women who used creaky voice were judged by listeners to be less competent, less educated, less trustworthy, less attractive, and less hireable. The research team concludes that speakers should "should undertake conscious effort to avoid vocal fry in labor market settings." [Published on 06-02-2014]
America's Ugliest Accents
The Kroll Comedy Show spooks speakers from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in one sketch, and Gawker calls them "America's ugliest accents."
Hagar the Horrible: I don't get no respect
A blog page that contains a comic strip from Hagar the Horrible where Hagar's negative concord is stigmatized.
The Grammar Rules Behind 3 Commonly Disparaged Dialects
A 2013 piece highlighting three features of three stigmatized U.S. dialects - a-prefixing in Appalachian English, "liketa" in Southern English, and remote past BIN in African American English
Rachel Jeantel's Language in the George Zimmerman Trial
A guest post on Language Log by John Rickford on the media's reaction to the use of AAE in the testimony of Rachel Jeantel in the 2013 George Zimmerman trial.
Stereotypes of an Appalachian Dialect
Play videoA speaker of an Appalachian dialect discusses stereotypes of his dialect.
Teaching Tolerance: Sound Effects
A 2013 article in the Southern Poverty Law Center's "Teaching Tolerance" publication about addressing linguistic diversity in the classroom.
When Presidents say "Y'all:" The Strange Story of Dialects in America
A 2013 Atlantic interview with Walt Woflram on dialects and politics.
Saying no to "gizit" is plain prejudice
A 2013 contribution to The Independent by sociolinguist Julia Snell, arguing against the sentiments in a letter by a teacher in a primary school in Teesside, U.K. that students should remove features of Teesside dialect from their spoken speech in order to succeed in school.
Slate: The Ebonic Plague?
A 1997 article in Slate Magazine on the Ebonics Controversy.
Them Hillibillies
(Enlarge image)From the Indiana State Museum; full title "Since them hillbillies moved down to the holler."
Scrubs: Guy Love
Play videoA musical parody from the TV show Scrubs, where the close friendship between two heterosexual men leads to jokes about acceptable masculinity and homosocial relationships.
Copywriter uses male pen-name
A 2009 blog post from online copywriter James Chartrand of Men with Pens, revealing her choice to adopt a male pen-name in order to earn more in her field.
How to speak with an American Accent
Play videoA commercial advertising accent reduction services designed to enhance speakers' American accents.
Harvard Sailing Team: Boys will be Girls
Play videoA sketch from the Harvard Sailing Team displaying male actors using "women's language."
Racism (Linguistic Profiling) Caught on Tape
Play videoWhite office manager at Tennessee car rental company makes racist remarks over the phone after wrongly guessing the race of the customer based on linguistic profiling.