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December 05, 2005
The Skin that We Speak: Chapter 3
The opening of this chapter raises an important issue in linguistics and that is that despite the fact that linguists say that everyone is entitled to use language as they wish and there is no form that is superior to another, we still want to sound correct when speaking. Even though we have the privellage to speak however we want, we don't, and this is because we fear being viewed a certain way. Linguistic profiling encourages people to speak the same because they do not want to become victims of stereotypes.
The opinions of Maya Angelou sharply contrast those of James Baldwin. Whereas Baldwin thought that calling Black English a dialect, rather than its own language, was insulting, Maya Angelou felt it was dangerous to call it its own language. She felt that this could suggest that African Americans are unable to learn White English, and as a result they would be looked at as stupid. It is interesting how two people can have such a different take on a subject and how each can have valid reasons for their opinion.
It is frightening to think about how much rides on the interview process of applying for a job. This chapter talks about the over-qualified computer technician who could not get hired because of her Southern and rural dialect. This enforces the idea that when you are competing for a spot in some sort of organization, the most important aspect of you is how you present yourself, specifically how you use language.
The concept of conscious learning versus unconscius acquisition is intersting because it states that basically the speed with which a language can be learned depends upon how much a person identifies with that language and whether or not using the language is fun. This reminds me of the Genie case, in which Genie was able to acquire language at first at a ridiculously fast rate. This accelerated acquisition was probably based on the fact that for a girl who had practically no human contact all of her life, speaking and interacting with others was fun and therefore she picked up the language at a faster rate.
When I read about the style in which young African Americans are taught I realized that the author is correct in saying that in schools the main focus of African American heritage is slavery. That is all I can remember learning about in regards to African Americans, and although it is an important part of history, schools should also make a point to teach about the positive aspects of African American heritage.
Some questions I had about this chapter were: Would African Americans be offended if white people tried to learn both forms of English as they have? Can a language be owned by its people? Does segregation have any advantages in the sense that African American students would not feel "less than" their white peers? In rejecting a student's mother tongue, are school systems weakening the education that those children receive? Is our nation's inability to see beyond language hindering our progress?
Posted by lcissullivan at December 5, 2005 09:29 AM