The Substitute Perspectives On Tongue And Character By Thornborrow, Edwards, Weber And Horner

Ethnolects for all minorities, especially for those who have lost their ethnic language due to linguistic shift, plays an important role in reflecting their identity. Lebanese Australian English, for example, is heavily influenced by Arabic sounds and has distinct pronunciation differences; such as the substituting the stressed vowel /a/ in the position of the schwa at the end of words. The use of Arabic lexemes such as ‘habib’ into the ethnolect, is akin to the SAE lexeme ‘mate’, but ‘it is used carefully and deliberately, and reflects the values that are different…from Anglo-Australian values’ (Moore); thus creating a sense of group identity and solidarity. In X’s situation, she has expressed strong connections with her ethnicity stating: ‘I lived in Australia but am still Chinese’ (77). SAE does not accurately reflect her cultural identity, and in social interactions, MAE would be used instead. MAE reflect her identity through the use of certain Chinese lexical and syntactic features, such as omitting the alveolar fricative /s/ when pronouncing consonant clusters (/bɪgfərən/, 29) and the non-standard use of the definite article ‘the’ (‘but the here’, 34). She also hopes for her ‘sons can the study the Mandarin very well’ (70-71), reflecting her views on her

British linguist David Crystal once said “languages that don’t change are dead ones”, and the evolution of English language; not only in Australia, but on a global scale has developed in such a way that formal language is progressively becoming obsolete, whilst informal language is transforming into an increasingly contemporary form of written and spoken communication. The wide utilisation of informal language especially in modern-day Australian society functions to aid in the building of rapport, as well as enabling an increased association of an individual 's identity with the richness of Australian culture. Although this is clearly evident

Anzaldua’s How to “Tame a Wild tongue” goes to great lengths to discuss her opinions on language, and how her communication with people from various linguistic backgrounds required her to change gears in a way. To “switch codes.” Each of us as we participate in different environments with diverse expectations and duties switch various codes of our own. In my life I most often switch between a normal code, a snarky code, and a business code.

Do you ever think about the way you speak and why? Well, Paul Robert does an excellent job explaining why people use the dialect they use in Speech Communities. He discusses that people change their use of language throughout their lives to conform to either society or to what kind of person they want to be, or to just conform to who they need to be at a particular moment, in which I agree. People’s choice of language, including myself, are affected by many of their surroundings, such as where they live and grow up at, their peers, and a person’s work place.

The film “American Tongues” documents a variety of English accents that are present across the United States and highlights a lot of the opinions people have about accents and people who speak these accents. A large majority of the people who express opinions about other peoples’ accents tend to express negative views, as they see their own accent as the superior one. The film focuses on showing the array of accents found in the U.S., but also how a lot of people who speak these “inferior” accents work to learn “Standard American English” to increase their chances of getting jobs and communicating in more official domains. Although the film was made in 1988, it expresses views still present in today’s society towards different accents, as people tend to continue judging others based not only on what they say, but also how they say it.

Activist, Gloria Anzaldua’s narrative excerpt “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” She goes into depth of ethnic identity, while knocking down walls of linguistic and identity down. How one would identify themselves while broadcasting the struggles any person with culture has felt. She uses ethos, pathos, and logos alongside all five senses. Making the reader feel as though they witness the struggles she went through if not witness then actually experienced. Anzaldua’s thesis is that language is a part of one’s identity. It is what makes a person who they and connects them to their roots. People shouldn't let others try to tame their tongue or cut off their native language; because once they do and are given that power they can disconnect the person from their culture and roots.

Language is a very important and significant part of individuals’ life. It is considered as one of the best device of social behavior. Language is a means with the help of which people communicate and send a social message to one another. But language does have very special characteristics according to which it changes and very depending on many factors. According to the researchers there are no two people who speak identically. Their languages vary as per their geographic location, age, gender, ethnicity, social background etc. many a time, it is observed that even the members from same family speak differently due to differences in their location ( Biber & Conrad, 2014). For example, in my neighborhood, there is a difference in the ways of

The "Public and Private Language", by Richard Rodriguez and "Mother Tongue", by Amy Tan are great examples of how two immigrant families can have their similarities and differences. For a long time, the American people have looked at immigrants through their own eyes and perspectives. Never do people think to change gears and walk in the footsteps of a stranger. In this case, people need to look through the eyes of an immigrant and see that one immigrant family is not the same as the other. The different people may have connections with the same or different cultures, however, they have different obstacles and hardships with adjusting to a new way of living.

Anzaldua produces her argument by utilizing her past experiences as a multicultural female living on the border between conflicting cultures and languages, and describes how she and thousands of others are being looked down upon for being a minority and for speaking their foreign tongues. Anzaldua opens her literary work with a narrative of the dentist where she includes the quote, “And I think, how do you tame a wild tongue, train it to be quiet, how do you bridle and saddle it?” (34) to introduce the concept of the wild tongue and how this idea applies to her both literally and symbolically. The tongue, representing her linguistic traditions, is being threatened by society who is pressuring her to forgo her culture. By incorporating a comparable and connecting experience, Anzaldua strongly utilizes the rhetorical strategy of pathos because she provides her readers with a perspective of a person who has experienced this “taming” of a “wild tongue” firsthand, evoking a sense of empathy within her readers.

Gloria Anzaldua uses extended definition in her essay How to Tame a Wild Tongue in order to express her experience with language. Starting off with a possible fictitious anecdote of a dentist’s office experience, Anzaldua uses function to demonstrate the type situations that her language—in the anecdote, her tongue— has lead her to experience and later defines how these situations have affected her and her dialect. For example, Anzaldua uses exemplifications of actual anecdotes, such as a scolding for speaking spanish during recess or being pushed to speak more ‘American.’ These fictitious and genuine anecdotes express the oppression that Anzaldua felt growing up and even further, the way other Chicanos feel being shamed for their language

In Gloria Anzaldua’s essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Anzaldua expresses her experience of growing up in the United States with a strong Mexican background. She is quick to point out the prominent social and cultural differences within the dual cultural society such as language and culture. Anzaldua uses definition essay to demonstrate that language and culture is not always concrete. Throughout her essay, Anzaldua switches back and fourth between English and Spanish. It is clear that Anzaldua is proud of not only her Spanish language, but also her ability to speak both English and Spanish.

When people speak of affective qualities of a language variety, it is not the language that is being evaluated, but an underlying stereotype of the speakers themselves. For this reason, attitudes toward divergent language varieties “are better understood as attitudes towards the members of language communities” rather than the variety itself (Edwards, 1994, p. 89). In this way, then, by judging the speakers of in-group language varieties, respondents are also indirectly evaluating members of these in-groups as well , essentially making qualitative judgments regarding language and their own group identity (Edwards, 1985). Fundamentally, as Edwards (1985) writes, language attitudes “allow some insights into the perception and presentation of identity” (p. 151). Therefore, by looking at attitudes of learners of Mandarin toward regional accented-Mandarin, we can probably understand whether this language variety is more likely to be used, emulated, and accepted throughout learners of Mandarin.

There are many indicators of identity by which we are made known individually, socially and culturally; the best of these would be language and how it has shown great flexibility in accommodating the needs of people. Through language people have been able to establish their identities and cultivate friendships with others who share the same common ground. By looking at accents such as Broad Australian English, slang and phonological features as they apply to Australian varieties, we can see how it has forged solidarity and assisted in creating an identity on an individual and national scale.

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,

Other forms of the English language are developed from speech communities with an intention, for efficiency and to show inclusion, and to exclude others. It also helps to convey a specific identity of the speaker, with the use of syntactic and phonological differences from Standard English. These modifications form non-standard dialects, transferring the speaker’s cultural background and language to provide a better perception and reflection of identity. The falling intonation accompanied with interrogatives in the Asian ethnolect, such as ‘Gravy?’, is the opposite of the rising intonation used for the same purpose by Australians, and can quickly cause conflict between the two communities due to the missing benchmark in language. Pronoun deletion in ‘No like’ (‘I don’t like it’) is a feature of many ethnolects (Greek, Aboriginal English), and is differing from the Standard, yet still helps to get the message across. Ethnolects develop from Standard English, and helps to express a user’s identity through their language use and in-group solidarity within the speech community.