http://youtube.com/watch?v=wgWQoZz6nEk
while I was writing my etnography and tried to find more information about codeswitching to employ it to my paper I found very interesting example of code switching on you tube. It is really interesting
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Jabari Asim - the N word
I found Jabari Asim’s conferences very interesting. One of the things I found very impressive was when he talked about the cover sheet of his book the N Word. He says that the front page is for those who do not like to use the word “nigger” and therefore the letter N is crossed out, on the other hand, on the side there is letter N that is not crossed out for those who employ “nigger” in their discourse. I think this symbolism shows his standpoint of his whole book. I see importance in using colors for the cover page titles. It seemed to me that the front page RED letter N symbolize non-African-Americans who want to eliminate this word and the crossing BLACK lines stay for the African- American culture who do not like to see the N word coming out of mouth of non-Black society. Moreover, I assume that African American people are trying to say to the people of different color “You are not supposed say this word because if you say that it will mean you discriminate me!” As we can notice lines are not going over the N. That’s what I see as the main point of this that the word “nigger” will never disappear because it has strong roots in our society.
From the side view of the book the letter N is colored in BLACK not crossed out. I assume that this symbolizes that the society is set up as only Black people can use the N word. However, it was interesting when Jabari Asim said that African American should be the last people who should use this word, which has never had any positive connotations. I definitely agree with his idea conveying that this negative and discriminative word will never disappear. It is a vicious circle because if there was not a word “nigger” there would be another word that would harmfully influence our society.
From the side view of the book the letter N is colored in BLACK not crossed out. I assume that this symbolizes that the society is set up as only Black people can use the N word. However, it was interesting when Jabari Asim said that African American should be the last people who should use this word, which has never had any positive connotations. I definitely agree with his idea conveying that this negative and discriminative word will never disappear. It is a vicious circle because if there was not a word “nigger” there would be another word that would harmfully influence our society.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Extra Blog - The Death of the Letter?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89723829
"The Death of the Letter?
'You get so much human personality on a piece of paper that has writing from a human hand on it — and that may be disappearing," Young says.
Thomas, the former White House bureau chief, wonders whether technology will mean ' the death of the letter."
Can text messages, e-mails and instant messages reflect the times in which they were written — the events, the state of the world — the way letters can? "
I came across this article on NPR's website and it made me think of our class discussions on technology and it's effect on language, specifically when we talked about hand writing and what is happening to it as our technology increases. I like how this article talks about the personality that you get from a hand written letter, the kind of paper, the handwriting, the spelling, and how many of those elements are lost with typing and other new technologies. For me hand writing will always hold it's own place, totally separate and different than typing and all other forms of communication!
"The Death of the Letter?
'You get so much human personality on a piece of paper that has writing from a human hand on it — and that may be disappearing," Young says.
Thomas, the former White House bureau chief, wonders whether technology will mean ' the death of the letter."
Can text messages, e-mails and instant messages reflect the times in which they were written — the events, the state of the world — the way letters can? "
I came across this article on NPR's website and it made me think of our class discussions on technology and it's effect on language, specifically when we talked about hand writing and what is happening to it as our technology increases. I like how this article talks about the personality that you get from a hand written letter, the kind of paper, the handwriting, the spelling, and how many of those elements are lost with typing and other new technologies. For me hand writing will always hold it's own place, totally separate and different than typing and all other forms of communication!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Gender and Language
http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/prejudice/women/
Gender plays in language very important role. It sometimes can be source of prejudice and subject of stereotyping. There is a myth or maybe a stereotyping that says that women talk more than men. However, the truth is that men talk more than women. There have been many studies that have proved the point that male side of society is more talkative than the female side. In Janet Holmes article, there are shown many studies that definitely are a persuasive argument that contradicts the myth. I personally assume that the reason why people think that women talk more is because women’s arguments are really loud and powerful. They might not talk that much however when they say something it has a very prevailing meaning. On the other hand, coming out of the concept that women speak less, I think it is because they are not that confident. I personally have noticed it on myself. I am rather quiet if I am asked a question in class because one, I am scared that nobody will understand me for my accent, and two, because I am not really sure about my answer. I think it is hard for women to just make it up right away. There are two choices for women: they either know the right answer and they are definitely sure about the rightness of the answer, however they are still not confident to speak up, or they just slide down to their chair trying to be invisible. If they are asked for an answer, even though they do not know it they just say “I don’t know” and do not even try to come up with some filling.
Gender plays in language very important role. It sometimes can be source of prejudice and subject of stereotyping. There is a myth or maybe a stereotyping that says that women talk more than men. However, the truth is that men talk more than women. There have been many studies that have proved the point that male side of society is more talkative than the female side. In Janet Holmes article, there are shown many studies that definitely are a persuasive argument that contradicts the myth. I personally assume that the reason why people think that women talk more is because women’s arguments are really loud and powerful. They might not talk that much however when they say something it has a very prevailing meaning. On the other hand, coming out of the concept that women speak less, I think it is because they are not that confident. I personally have noticed it on myself. I am rather quiet if I am asked a question in class because one, I am scared that nobody will understand me for my accent, and two, because I am not really sure about my answer. I think it is hard for women to just make it up right away. There are two choices for women: they either know the right answer and they are definitely sure about the rightness of the answer, however they are still not confident to speak up, or they just slide down to their chair trying to be invisible. If they are asked for an answer, even though they do not know it they just say “I don’t know” and do not even try to come up with some filling.
British English vs. American English
Before I came to United States I was taught at school British English. Our teacher used to tell us that the only proper English is the British English. She totally refused American English as possible language to learn. She said there is too many slang employed.
When I came to United States with my poor British English speaking knowledge I was lost in a maze of totally different words, different pronunciation as well as different spelling. English placement test at SLCC put me into English 990. When my teacher gave me back my paper back, it looked like a red sea of my teacher’s pen trying to correct all of my misspelled word and also words that she marked with a note “Check the dictionary!” I felt horrible. I thought my English spelling was not that bad, however, she absolutely proved the point that I have to start all over again. My two years here, in the U.S. have taught me a totally different language and the British language I had known before is gone. I have noticed that sometimes when I watch a movie that is produced by the British I cannot understand what they are saying.
I found really interesting article or table that shows some of the differences. How would you feel if you have to le-learn “the same” language?
When I came to United States with my poor British English speaking knowledge I was lost in a maze of totally different words, different pronunciation as well as different spelling. English placement test at SLCC put me into English 990. When my teacher gave me back my paper back, it looked like a red sea of my teacher’s pen trying to correct all of my misspelled word and also words that she marked with a note “Check the dictionary!” I felt horrible. I thought my English spelling was not that bad, however, she absolutely proved the point that I have to start all over again. My two years here, in the U.S. have taught me a totally different language and the British language I had known before is gone. I have noticed that sometimes when I watch a movie that is produced by the British I cannot understand what they are saying.
I found really interesting article or table that shows some of the differences. How would you feel if you have to le-learn “the same” language?
FOXP2 - a human language gene
The first language gene, FOXP2, was discovered about 5 years ago. The location of the gene on the human genome is on the 7 th chromosome (see below). This gene's significance is thought to be in the control of facial movements (ability to speak clearly). One of the scientists estimates language and speech genes could number as much as some 10 to 1,000 genes.
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