Sociolinguistics: Part 3
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Sociolinguistics: Part 3

Some more of the down-and-dirty of language.

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Sociolinguistics: Part 3
Irene Yi

Alright! In this part of the series, I'm talking about the second half of the bilingualism survey.

I left off last time talking about how some people who speak multiple languages don't consider themselves to be "bilingual." Now, I'll be discussing those who do consider themselves as bilinguals. Those who were bilingual were proud to be bilingual. Language is a beautiful thing, and these bilingual individuals were excited to talk about their multiple languages and cultures. They mostly found advantages, though some noted disadvantages such as a mother tongue accent on the second, learned language. This could be reflected in subtle discrimination in the workplace and everyday society.

Other disadvantages bilinguals sometimes felt included the confusion of their true cultural and lingual identity. If a Chinese person spoke both Mandarin and English, were they still purely Chinese? Is there even such thing as "purely" Chinese? Would a white American who learned Spanish be "tainted" with another language? Does a "pure" white American exist? The answer is simple: No. No identity is purely one thing or the other; there is no "pure" white race, not even in America. America was built on the idea of a "mixing/melting pot," where cultures and racial identities could be blended together. Because the stigma against Spanish speakers exists in this country, and I'm not afraid to call out its Bologna Sandwich, I'll say this: America is not being "tainted" with Latino culture. Rather, this diversity will make America all the more rich in culture and soul. Bottom line -- Xenophobia is just that: a phobia. In psychology, we learned that a "phobia" is an irrational fear of something that is essentially harmless, and that the fear is blown way out of proportion. As you can see, language and society are all tied up together. You can't have one without the other's influence. I'll leave this paragraph with that as food for thought.

At this point, I need to bring up something on a little tangent: We read a Mary Bucholtz study on "The Whiteness of Nerds: Superstandard English and Racial Markedness." It was a keen observation on the fact that all the nerds at a certain high school (on which the survey was conducted) were white. At this high school, "coolness" was associated with using slang words derived from African American Vernacular English. The "cool kids" would use phrases -- for example -- like "rockin' it" instead of "rocking it," where they disregard the ending "g" in an "-ing" word. By adopting AAVE features, the white people de-racialized these otherwise marked words. The nerds, however, distanced themselves by not using the AAVE-influence language. They probably were not intentionally avoiding AAVE in particular; rather, they most likely were just trying to isolate their language from the "cool kid" language. That is to say, they were not intentionally being racist.

What if an African American kid was "nerdy"? The study shows that they were not called "nerds" if they weren't white; they were called "brainiacs" for using "white language." In fact, these African Americans who spoke with "white language" were seen as strange in their own African American communities, condemned for being "too white." In a white workplace, though, a "white-speaking" black person would be called "articulate." They have a double-bind, where they can't be too black or too white; the double standards placed on African Americans' language uses trap them in a limbo between two worlds. It's quite rude to call an African American "articulate," as if their AAVE speech isn't "articulate" enough for white culture. This might sound vulgar, but it's reality. AAVE is invalidated as soon as a white person praises African Americans for being "white enough."

As if an African American who speaks AAVE in the workplace is any less professional or educated than a white person in the same workplace. As if AAVE isn't a valid language that people can be articulate and fluent in. As if the only type of English was Standard American English.

Hmm.

(Keep an eye out for the next part in this series!)

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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