Language Ideology And Language Prejudice By Rosina Lippi-Green

“Our society tends to regard as a sickness any mode of thought or behavior that is inconvenient for the system, and this is plausible because when an individual doesn't fit into the system it causes pain to the individual as well as problems for the system; thus the manipulation of an individual to adjust him to the system is seen as a cure for a sickness and therefore as good.” This quote provides a lucent and focused direction to the prevalent predicaments of language discrimination. Unfair treatment, due to the way or type of style used while speaking can be seen in most everyday cases. The comparison between the book “Beyond Ebonics: Linguistic Pride and Racial Prejudice” by John Baugh and the continuously transpiring, real life event of

People who are different are consequently viewed differently. It is human nature to judge others by the stereotypes that have been ingrained into our minds for however long. Stereotypes, however, may not encompass the whole story. Sometimes, you are only getting the discriminatory side of the story--a single story. Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” focuses on the discrimination towards broken English compared to Standard English and the stereotypes that evolved from such discrimination. Similarly, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” presents the idea that the “single story” is the reason for biased stereotypes that, more often than not, are untrue. Tan’s life in America was seemingly difficult due to the fact that her life and education were dependent on the language barrier between English and her “mother tongue”--the latter being seen as inferior and embarrassing. She initially felt that her mother’s fragmented English was something to be ashamed of since that was the “single story” that her peers have been spoonfed their whole lives. Adichie, however, denies these views by explaining that such stereotypes are incomplete and do not relay the person at hand’s true identity. In both “Mother Tongue” and “The Danger of a Single Story,” the speakers express how a person’s native language influences their identity through rhetorical devices such as ethos, diction, and metaphors.

Those who believe a shared language shows a country’s identity do so because of the cultural assimilation this provides. Because language is a large part of culture, to learn one language is to culturally unite all of those people in a country with the same shared language. Henry Ford, the creator of Ford automobiles, believed in such an ideal; he was even famous for his English school which taught newly-migrated immigrants to learn the “language of America” while also providing them with jobs and wages. However, shared language does not always mean unity. For example, even in the US where English makes up the majority of spoken language, there are always ideological disparities today between people—like the disparities between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, and religious groups and non-religious groups. Likewise, multiple languages does not lend itself to disunity. Even the US Bill of Rights’s guaranteed protection of the “freedom of speech” is not limited to the English language, supporting the idea of a united yet pluralistic society. Throughout the years, though, there have been laws made in America that have either supported or gone against the use of only

Speech is often associate with race because some individuals believe that if the person does not sound “educated” enough the person comes from a lower class and was brought up in the so called “ghettos” and this association is often made towards someone that forms part of a minority group. The author illustrates that race is tight up with speech

In the civilized society that everyone lives in today, all languages and culture should be equal. That is the main idea in both Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, as well as James Baldwin’s “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”. The authors in both these texts support their argument in various ways, and in doing so, manages to effectively persuade their audience. The ways that each author approaches their argument is different in their appeals, evidence, and styles. Similarities also exist between the texts of the two authors. The rhetorical strategies that Anzaldua uses makes her argument much stronger than Baldwin’s argument.

Linguistic stereotypes are an existent form of discrimination. Since, languages are criticized and mocked due to the connection between language and cultural character. Thus, language is significantly related to the identity of the speakers. In addition, languages are vulnerable to criticism due to differences in cultural behavior.

Savan explains how close yet how far apart the White and African American languages really are. She writes about how often black language is now being used in everyday “American talk”(381) by white people. She feels that the media has used so many words of African Americans that these words are now becoming part of “Standard English”(368). Although many words of blacks are becoming extremely accepted by white people the entire black language is not accepted. “December 1996, the Oakland, California, school board approved [a new way of teaching] African American students [in the classroom]’’(Savan 385). The school board approved the method of using ebonomics in several African American populated schools around the Oakland area. This new way of teaching created an uproar with the media and white people. Once again African American people were being scrutinized over their language and were being made fun of again. Many of the same white people/media using black language were mocking African American’s saying “to teach ebonomics [is wrong because blacks would be ignoring] standard english”(Savan 386). This is a very thoughtless statement because if blacks would be able to use their own black language in school it could help them understand the standard english system along with several

Allport, Gordon. “The Language of Prejudice.” Language Awareness. Ed. Paul Eschholz. Alfred Rosa. Virginia Clark. Boston: Bedford St. Martin, 2013. 324-333. Print.

“… not all English speakers are privileged equitably in the US. Expressing racist, classist, ableism,

The reason why I use Ebonics in my everyday language is to show homage to my ancestors. Ebonics started because our ancestors was not granted the right to education so they used Ebonics as a way to communicate with each other. Ebonics is a historical way of speaking and many schools in the Philadelphia Public School district don't teach children to speak like this, but afrocentric charter schools make it their obligation to teach us to speak like that and allow it with in their classrooms. Not teaching allowing black americans to speak ebonics in the school is telling them to neglect their culture and History. Forcing them to

In the first two paragraph of his literature, James addresses the topic about language and how it defines people. “Language…is the most vivid and crucial key to identity, it reveals the private identity, and connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger, public, or communal identity” (Baldwin). He explains how language is used to

African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or more commonly known as Ebonics, is derived from the words ebony, meaning black, and phonics, meaning the science of sounds. In essence, Ebonics is the science of black speech and language (Baugh, 2000, p. 2). According to early linguistic scholars, as told by John Baugh (2000), Ebonics is, in simplicity, a mixture of African and European languages that formed with African slaves (p. 3). The term Ebonics was coined in 1973 by a group of African Americans scholars who felt “black English” was a discriminatory name and contributed to the low regard of the language (Baugh, 2000, p. 2). However, Baugh (2000) states, just changing the name to Ebonics, or more professionally AAVE, does not help to increase

Who am I? What is it that defines that personality? Anzaldua argues in her essay that the language is what defines one’s identity. Language is indeed an important component of culture, and culture is known to be a crucial definer of identity. People use language to connect to their identities and communicating their realities and values to themselves and to the world around them… In other words, language is important because people use it to express their thoughts and beliefs. “People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances” (Baldwin 109). Consequently, language does not necessarily define identity as much as identity defines language. People decide on

Language attitudes, which include people’s perception about the language variety in their own community and language varieties in other communities, has been one of the crucial topics in sociolinguistics since 1960s.

From my readings to research from Edutopia to literature courses, I have gained a deeper appreciation for language. In order to understand what one is speaking, a person needs to spend time listening to one’s language and before responding must reflect and analyze what the other said and how to respond. If a person wants to love another person they have to listen to their language in order to speak their language, and the core part of learning another language is by listening. According to Joan Blaska, author of The Power of Language: Speak and Write Using “Person First” the language people use shows one’s bias and prejudices.  Beliefs and another’s performance fall under the influence of language. Blaska claimed “ the degree to which children are able to perceive themselves as competent and worthy, or the opposite, is heavily influenced by the verbalizations used by their teachers...Studies have found that labeling of students does affect teacher expectations which in turn affects student progress”. People have heavy influence with their words, because of this, our language must be intentional in a way, that breaks down negative stereotypes and helps one gain empathy as well as seeing others capabilities. Communicating and reading others comments and inquiring others has helped me to accept