Publisher Summary This chapter discusses dynamic dimensions of language influence. Within the tra... more Publisher Summary This chapter discusses dynamic dimensions of language influence. Within the tradition of linguistics, there is sufficient precedent for a descriptive concern with languages in contact. The presentation that follows is dedicated to the prospect of showing how the development of English in American Indian communities, particularly those set off on reservations, has taken place in some rather intricate and fascinating ways. These descriptive details are a prelude to considering some of the attitudes, motivations, intentions, and expectations that have precipitated the resultant varieties of English. To investigate some basic questions about the nature of Indian English, a fairly extensive study of the English spoken in two Pueblo Indian reservations in the Rio Grande area of the southwestern United States was recently completed. Given the language situation that existed historically in many American Indian communities, it is reasonable to consider first the possibility that structures in these varieties of English are directly influenced by the ancestral languages of the community.
In 2012, North Carolina State University launched a campus-wide linguistic diversity program, “Ed... more In 2012, North Carolina State University launched a campus-wide linguistic diversity program, “Educating the Educated,” with a goal of engaging the campus community about language as a key element of diversity and increasing general knowledge of language and dialect differences. The program has successfully grown over the past several years since its launch, in large part due to the leadership efforts of the program’s student ambassadors. Student ambassadors are involved in peer education on campus, seek out opportunities to engage the campus and local communities, and develop partnerships on campus with existing organizations to enhance diversity education efforts with the inclusion of language diversity. A majority of these student ambassadors are graduate students in the linguistics Masters program. In this paper, we discuss the importance of the student ambassadors to the success of the program in terms of their contributions and advancement of program objectives. We also highli...
In our attempt to collect meaningful data, there are two major areas of concern: (1) the choice o... more In our attempt to collect meaningful data, there are two major areas of concern: (1) the choice of a sample population and (2) the elicitation of adequate speech data.
Many students have grown up in multicultural settings. To them, culturally based language variati... more Many students have grown up in multicultural settings. To them, culturally based language variation may seem usual, if they are even conscious of it. But because they live in a society that holds unwarranted attitudes toward language variation, it is important to give students the tools to identify and examine language contrasts and to counter negative attitudes. If they are to avoid perceiving others' dialects simplistically as grammatical mistakes or "funny accents," students need to become aware of the fact that language varieties spoken by members of the society are regular linguistic systems that differ systematically from each other. We need to give students an information base to counter dialect prejudice. Those who speak socially favored be much more tolerated than other forms of prejudice (Milroy & Milroy, 1985). Traditional education typically rejects any role for language variation in English, since differences are viewed simply as obstacles to be overcome in the acquisition of a standard variety. However, language and dialect difference need not merely be endured as an unfortunate fact of life in multicultural schools. Students' implicit knowledge of O n e of the hallmarks of multicultural societies, schools, and classrooms is the co-existence of multiple languages and language varieties, or dialects. Communication problems arise not only when people do not share a language, but also when variation exists within a single language. The problems associated with language variation, however, appear to result more from social attitudes about dialects than from authentic comprehension difficulties. The preferred, or "standard," variety of English is considered superior in some way and somehow better suited for communication than the disfavored nonstandard English, or vernacular varieties. In fact, Standard English is standard because it is used by the more powerful segment of the society, those whose opinions can be imposed on the less powerful. Crucial as it is that students become proficient in the standard dialect so that they can have access to the culture of power, there is no linguistic reason to discard or devalue vernacular dialects, which are natural human systems. Discrimination against individuals based on their dialect is as destructive as other kinds of discrimination against human variation, yet it seems to
From birth to early adulthood, all aspects of a child's life undergo enormous development and... more From birth to early adulthood, all aspects of a child's life undergo enormous development and change, and language is no exception. This book documents the results of a pioneering longitudinal linguistic survey, which followed a cohort of sixty-seven African American children over the first twenty years of life, to examine language development through childhood. It offers the first opportunity to hear what it sounds like to grow up linguistically for a cohort of African American speakers, and provides fascinating insights into key linguistics issues, such as how physical growth influences pronunciation, how social factors influence language change, and the extent to which individuals modify their language use over time. By providing a lens into some of the most foundational questions about coming of age in African American Language, this study has implications for a wide range of disciplines, from speech pathology and education, to research on language acquisition and sociolinguistics.
Most sociolinguistic descriptions of Hispanic English in the US have focused on relatively stable... more Most sociolinguistic descriptions of Hispanic English in the US have focused on relatively stable, durable communities, such as the Mexican-American communities of the Southwest (Penalosa 1980; Ornstein-Galicia 1984; Galindo 1987; Santa Ana 1991; Fought 2003; Mendoza Denton 2008) or Hispanic communities in urban area of the northeastern US (Wolfram 1974; Poplack 1978; Newman 2007). These descriptions naturally recognize that these varieties combine substrate features from the historical language contact situation with vernacular traits and regional dialect features of American English in various constellations to form distinctive socioethnic varieties. For example, Fought (2003) and Mendoza Denton (2008) observe that Chicano English in Southern California combines structural traits that include substrate influence from Spanish, regional Southern California dialect traits, features from vernacular African American English, and even characteristics associated with stereotypical
For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washi... more For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washington, DC 14 year old Native American male.
For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washi... more For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washington, DC Two 11 year old Native American males. Snakes, dogs, hunting, movies
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses dynamic dimensions of language influence. Within the tra... more Publisher Summary This chapter discusses dynamic dimensions of language influence. Within the tradition of linguistics, there is sufficient precedent for a descriptive concern with languages in contact. The presentation that follows is dedicated to the prospect of showing how the development of English in American Indian communities, particularly those set off on reservations, has taken place in some rather intricate and fascinating ways. These descriptive details are a prelude to considering some of the attitudes, motivations, intentions, and expectations that have precipitated the resultant varieties of English. To investigate some basic questions about the nature of Indian English, a fairly extensive study of the English spoken in two Pueblo Indian reservations in the Rio Grande area of the southwestern United States was recently completed. Given the language situation that existed historically in many American Indian communities, it is reasonable to consider first the possibility that structures in these varieties of English are directly influenced by the ancestral languages of the community.
In 2012, North Carolina State University launched a campus-wide linguistic diversity program, “Ed... more In 2012, North Carolina State University launched a campus-wide linguistic diversity program, “Educating the Educated,” with a goal of engaging the campus community about language as a key element of diversity and increasing general knowledge of language and dialect differences. The program has successfully grown over the past several years since its launch, in large part due to the leadership efforts of the program’s student ambassadors. Student ambassadors are involved in peer education on campus, seek out opportunities to engage the campus and local communities, and develop partnerships on campus with existing organizations to enhance diversity education efforts with the inclusion of language diversity. A majority of these student ambassadors are graduate students in the linguistics Masters program. In this paper, we discuss the importance of the student ambassadors to the success of the program in terms of their contributions and advancement of program objectives. We also highli...
In our attempt to collect meaningful data, there are two major areas of concern: (1) the choice o... more In our attempt to collect meaningful data, there are two major areas of concern: (1) the choice of a sample population and (2) the elicitation of adequate speech data.
Many students have grown up in multicultural settings. To them, culturally based language variati... more Many students have grown up in multicultural settings. To them, culturally based language variation may seem usual, if they are even conscious of it. But because they live in a society that holds unwarranted attitudes toward language variation, it is important to give students the tools to identify and examine language contrasts and to counter negative attitudes. If they are to avoid perceiving others' dialects simplistically as grammatical mistakes or "funny accents," students need to become aware of the fact that language varieties spoken by members of the society are regular linguistic systems that differ systematically from each other. We need to give students an information base to counter dialect prejudice. Those who speak socially favored be much more tolerated than other forms of prejudice (Milroy & Milroy, 1985). Traditional education typically rejects any role for language variation in English, since differences are viewed simply as obstacles to be overcome in the acquisition of a standard variety. However, language and dialect difference need not merely be endured as an unfortunate fact of life in multicultural schools. Students' implicit knowledge of O n e of the hallmarks of multicultural societies, schools, and classrooms is the co-existence of multiple languages and language varieties, or dialects. Communication problems arise not only when people do not share a language, but also when variation exists within a single language. The problems associated with language variation, however, appear to result more from social attitudes about dialects than from authentic comprehension difficulties. The preferred, or "standard," variety of English is considered superior in some way and somehow better suited for communication than the disfavored nonstandard English, or vernacular varieties. In fact, Standard English is standard because it is used by the more powerful segment of the society, those whose opinions can be imposed on the less powerful. Crucial as it is that students become proficient in the standard dialect so that they can have access to the culture of power, there is no linguistic reason to discard or devalue vernacular dialects, which are natural human systems. Discrimination against individuals based on their dialect is as destructive as other kinds of discrimination against human variation, yet it seems to
From birth to early adulthood, all aspects of a child's life undergo enormous development and... more From birth to early adulthood, all aspects of a child's life undergo enormous development and change, and language is no exception. This book documents the results of a pioneering longitudinal linguistic survey, which followed a cohort of sixty-seven African American children over the first twenty years of life, to examine language development through childhood. It offers the first opportunity to hear what it sounds like to grow up linguistically for a cohort of African American speakers, and provides fascinating insights into key linguistics issues, such as how physical growth influences pronunciation, how social factors influence language change, and the extent to which individuals modify their language use over time. By providing a lens into some of the most foundational questions about coming of age in African American Language, this study has implications for a wide range of disciplines, from speech pathology and education, to research on language acquisition and sociolinguistics.
Most sociolinguistic descriptions of Hispanic English in the US have focused on relatively stable... more Most sociolinguistic descriptions of Hispanic English in the US have focused on relatively stable, durable communities, such as the Mexican-American communities of the Southwest (Penalosa 1980; Ornstein-Galicia 1984; Galindo 1987; Santa Ana 1991; Fought 2003; Mendoza Denton 2008) or Hispanic communities in urban area of the northeastern US (Wolfram 1974; Poplack 1978; Newman 2007). These descriptions naturally recognize that these varieties combine substrate features from the historical language contact situation with vernacular traits and regional dialect features of American English in various constellations to form distinctive socioethnic varieties. For example, Fought (2003) and Mendoza Denton (2008) observe that Chicano English in Southern California combines structural traits that include substrate influence from Spanish, regional Southern California dialect traits, features from vernacular African American English, and even characteristics associated with stereotypical
For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washi... more For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washington, DC 14 year old Native American male.
For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washi... more For rights information contact the collector’s institution: Center for Applied Linguistics. Washington, DC Two 11 year old Native American males. Snakes, dogs, hunting, movies
Uploads
Papers by Walt Wolfram