Essay On Diglossia

What is the meaning of bilingualism? Even with a dictionary definition, can it be trusted to give an answer that everyone agrees with? The dictionary definition is controversial, which results in people discussing the actual definition that fits everyone’s perception. But of course, with discussions, comes arguments. Who discusses such topics, and what do they talk about? Two prominent figures who discuss this topic are Martín Espada and Richard Rodriguez. Both have contrasting views on bilingualism, and their views are shown in their essays, which are The New Bathroom Policy at English High School by Espada and Hunger of Memory by Rodriguez. Espada’s definition of bilingualism is the ability to learn a new language and the right to

However, Downs deliberate use of colloquial dialogue displays notions of acceptance and conversely isolation in

Sociolect is defined as the variation in language depending on the social status of different people. In each city of the world, big or small, there lies a separation in the class of people depending on their economic status. In Australia too we have people who are economically very strong and people who are economically very weak. People who are rich often speak the English which reflects their good education and the social status. On the other hand people of the low economic status often don’t share the same standard of English.

Read each case below and determine what psychological disorder each patient might have. In your own words, state your reasons why. Type your answer directly below each case.

In Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan discusses how the way her bilingual mother speaks negatively affects how people perceive her intellect. Despite the fact that Tan’s mother is actually very intelligent and understands more than many people expect her to, she often is ignored and belittled because of how she speaks. Tan feels that those who ignore and belittle her mom are oblivious to the beauty, complexity, and richness of her mother’s speech. In Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan shows that the belief that standard English is inherently better than other forms of English is flawed by questioning the prominence of proper English and sharing how rich and beautiful her mother’s English can be.

downwards during the day to avoid visual predators and upwards during the night to feed in

Over recent years there had been increasing attention focused on the neurological sequelae of sports-related traumatic brain injury, particularly concussion. Concussion can often lead to ALS and CTE. ALS is mostly found in Athletes, which affects the athletes playing ability. CTE is found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma, mostly athletes as well. CTE includes symptomatic concussions. The sports world should educate the players about the dangers of head to head collision and also enforce different rules without changing the traditional game.

On October 22, 2014, Raffaella Zanuttini’s essay, “Our Language Prejudices Don’t Make No Sense,” was published in Pacific Standard magazine. This work was written to draw attention to the false assumptions made about different varieties of the English language. Zanuttini starts her essay by considering, “There are some things you just don’t say in a polite society” (173). With this statement, she is referring to the ridicule made on different varieties of language. Zanuttini offers a few examples of judgements people often make, negative concord demonstrating one of them. Negative concord is a part of the Russian language and many others, but in today’s English, those who speak with negative concord occupy a low position on the socioeconomic scale. Zanuttini then introduces an argument in which people believe the language they speak is inferior. The English language has many recipes and according to Zanuttini, these different variations can be associated with age, ethnic or social identity, and geographical location. Although, there is a prestige language that should be used for business matters. As a final remark, she describes how different varieties of the same language should be viewed. Zanuttini indicates different dialects are like bread. No bread is better than any other, but for certain purposes, different breads should be used. Just like bread, no variation of language should be judged.

In “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, she opens the story by informing us that she speaks more than one language. She states that she is a writer and she is someone who has always loved language. Throughout the story she explains the different situations that she experience because of the way she talks such as when she has to translate for her mother on the phone and how she talks proper when she is giving a speech. She feels as if her mother’s English “limits” her perception of her. She also states that at one point she was ashamed of her mother’s English. On the other hand, her mother’s English is perfectly clear to her and she describes it as her mother tongue.

The author’s purpose in writing this essay is to show that there are different forms of English – there is no one way of speaking the language. The moment of realization for Tan occurs when she is speaking to a group of professionals and notices that she is speaking to them differently than she would her mother. Tan obviously sees the difference in her speech pattern when she notes, “Just last week, as I was walking down the street with her, I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her.” (Tan, 2006) In spotting her different versions of English with her mother, Tan proves the point of her essay. She is correct in her theory that we speak to different people in our lives in a variety of different manners. She brings to light an occasion with her mother’s stockbroker where her mother’s “broken” English would have caused confusion and Tan had to represent her mother with a clearer English to make the point adequately. In that one memory, Tan integrates the English people believe they should hear and the English that exists in her life.

Although Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and homosexuality has been in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for many years, I was personally unaware of the controversy that surrounded it. I realized that I needed to educate myself in the issues and changes that have occurred in the DSM regarding GID and homosexuality over the years.

Among the most important concepts to emerge are those relating to dialects and language standards. Sociolinguists have documented the presence of dialects in every language. These dialects, all of which are legitimate, are associated with educational, economic, social and historical conditions. Hence, even if an individual scrupulously studies all the possible dictionaries of a random language, he would still be somewhat of a stranger to that language since he is unaware of all the dialectal changes.

Throughout twenty-centuries ago, writers thought that ordinary language and literary language were two different languages. But this is an analytical assumption. There is only one language, which

Non-standard dialects are regarded with contempt, mistreated as improper forms of a language. Linguists and researchers reported that speakers of minor varieties seem to form negative attitudes towards their culture, rating their own varieties badly and lacking respect for them (Lambert et al., 1960; Genesee & Holobow, 1989, as cited in Campbell-Kibler, 2011). With the fear of being prejudged, speakers of other dialects begin to feel inferior about their vernacular dialect and start to use the variety with higher status when they are surrounded by outsiders and they would employ their dialect again only if they are with their tribes (Petyt,

In multilingual countries, diglossia occurs, which is the result of language contact and social interaction. This therefore helps shows how the patterns of social interaction between speakers of different languages predict results of language contact as diglossia is a result of this and display the countries multilingualism. Diglossia “describes societal or institutionalised bilingualism, where two varieties are required to cover all the community’s domains.” (Holmes, p.30) There are two definitions of diglossia but it is Joshua Fishman’s modification of Charles Ferguson’s definition that