Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSuzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSlide 1 by Jeff Connby Jeff Conn

About me, you and this lecture – What do you hope to gain from this lecture?

Jeff Conn’s Webpage: web.pdx.edu/~connjc

Information about this lecture at: http://web.pdx.edu/~connjc/Suzhou%20Lecture%20Conn%202010.htm

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(voiceless sounds on the left)

First, a quick Phonetics review of English

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Non circled vowels = lax vowels

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SociolinguisticsThe study of language in its social contextsThe correlation of linguistic variation and social factorsSpeech community - group of people who share some set of social conventions (socioling norms) regarding language useAccent - pronunciationDialect - includes pronunciation (phonological/phonetic), but also includes grammatical, lexical and language usage - MFL exampleSome examples of homophones for some -- hock/hawk, caller/collar, cot/caught, Don/Dawn

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SociolinguisticsDialects in North America are mutually intelligible - the differences do not impede communication totallyDialect continuum – go village by village, from northwestern France to southern Italy and each adjacent village can understand each other, although Parisians cannot understand Romans.Variety - used as a more neutral term for dialect or language

Issues between dialect differences versus language differences are linguistic and political

What are some dialect differences in China?

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Linguistic variation and change – dialect (and language) differences due to linguistic change over time

Some social factors interacting with linguistic variation:REGION* - what are the major dialects/accents spoken in America?Sex/GenderSocial class*AgeEthnicity*Style

Sociolinguistics

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Linguistic variation and change - RegionRegional varieties described in terms of lexical choices done through Linguistic Atlas creationDialectologists looked at NORMs - (non-mobile old rural men)Asked what is the word you use for...Plotted variation on a map and drew lines – isoglossesCraig Carver, 1987 – Used Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) which looked at lexical variation to identify dialects of N. American English

Now sociolinguists look at urban populations and exam different regions in terms of what is happening in the cities with respect to language changeLabov, Ash and Boberg, 2005: Lingusitic Atlas of North American English = large scale phonological survey of North American English

American Tongues – Chapter 10

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What are the different regional accents in your opinion?

http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/mapping/map.html

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Dialect regions according to some dialectologists/sociolinguists

American Tongues – Chapter 5

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Dialect regions according to some dialectologists/sociolinguists

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Linguistic variation and change – cot vs. caughtFrom Linguistic Atlas of N American English

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Some “general” American pronunciationVoiced sounds (like b, d, g, j) are not really voiced in beginning and end of a word in isolation – dad = [] almost like ‘tat’

Voiceless stops (p, t, k) have aspiration after (little puff of air) before the vowel (when stop occurs right before vowel and no s in front).

Contrast bit [] pit [] and spit []

North American t – Can be aspirated at the beginning of a word (immediately before a vowel) as in tip []. Can become glottal stop (shut off air in throat) at end of word as in cat []. Can be glottal stop before a nasal with unstressed vowel as in kitten []. Between vowels (second vowel is unstressed) it becomes a tap (like a d) as in writer [] which comes out the same as rider because this happens to d too – rider []

American English r – dialect differences but all dialects have some r. Say “uh” and curl tip of tongue up to roof of mouth.

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General American - Vowel Reduction

In unstressed syllables, vowels become more central Common reduced vowels in English:

high central unrounded vowel

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSuzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSlide 14 by Jeff Connby Jeff Conn

Linguistic variation and changeSome dialects in North America have no r at the ends of words (car, card, guard, etc). For them, r can only be the beginning of a syllable.

Includes New York City, Boston, New England and some older southern styles (like Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, Richmond, VA)American Tongues Chapter 17, 44:24

post-vocalic r (car, card, guard, etc)

William Labov - NYC - listen to a New Yorker

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Linguistic variation and changeStyle and ling change interacts with social class

William Labov’s department store study

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Interpreting Labov, 1994

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Interpreting Labov, 2001

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Different Vowel Systems – Philly Bonnie - listen

C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSuzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSlide 19 by Jeff Connby Jeff Conn

Linguistic variation and changeRegional difference by vowel production shifts (language change) over timeNorthern Cities Shift (play Chicago sample - 3mins)

O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2009). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

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Linguistic variation and changeThe Southern Shift (Play Arkansas 2mins; play Eng 3mins;

O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2009). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

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Linguistic variation and changeThe California/Canada Shift (Play Cali - 1:45; Ontario 2:15)

O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2009). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

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Different Vowel Systems - Portland

C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons

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“Do You Speak American” – watch video for examples of regional linguistic variation – jot down notes about anything surprising or parts that were hard to understand

Watch clips of video in class – the website here:

http://www.pbs.org/speak/

Conn article on Portland speech is here:

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/pacificnorthwest/

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Let’s try to sound Southern

Let’s try to sound Northern (Northern Cities Shift)

Let’s try to sound Californian (maybe west coast in general)

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Linguistic variation and change - AttitudesThere are many different varieties - what is correct?Standard English is just one of many different varieties

Linguistics try to describe these varieties and all the varieties are equal in linguistics terms

Are other dialects mutually intelligible – here some sounds here from the Northern Cities area: Northern Cities Shift (not #5)

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What are the consequences of speaking a non-standard dialect?

What is standard American English? Is there a standard pronunciation?

What happens if someone speaks non-standard in China? What are the consequences?

Listen to clips from American Tongues – Funny Accents track, Chapter 12 (negative feelings toward southern American), American Tongues Chapter 17, 44:24

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSuzhou English Educators’ Program at PSUSlide 27 by Jeff Connby Jeff Conn

Linguistic variation and changeEthnicity - Chicano English, African American Vernacular English, Native American English; etc.AAVE - shares features with other English dialectsPhonological features part of other varietiesHabitual be, copula deletion - more elaborate than standard EnglishThe coffee cold today. (One time event) The coffee be cold here. (Habitual)

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Linguistic variation and changeEthnicity - African American Vernacular English,

From O’Grady, et. al. 2005.

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Linguistic variation and change – Listen to clips from DYSAEthnicity - African American Vernacular English,

From O’Grady, et. al. 2005.

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•What are the benefits for teaching English with knowledge of variation?

•Knowledge of the different types of English students will encounter will help them prepare.

•All language has variation, so to NOT acknowledge that is to limit our knowledge of the language.

•Need to understand the repercussions for speaking in a non-standard way

•Language and identity connected – American Tongues 52:27 – do we accept differences?

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Teaching pedagogy

As far as teaching style, I prefer a very informal setting. While lectures are good, I believe lectures with laughter are better.

Why? I think that students grasp the knowledge better if they can interpret it through their own experience. I think an emotional connection to the information is vital for having it mean something to the student rather than just processing information.

While some students are great at processing information on a very rational/objective level, I feel I reach more students if I can access their emotional/subjective level of understanding. Through this (what Krashen in Second Language Acquisition calls an Affective Filter), I think students will not only gain a more thorough understanding of the material, but it will also be more valuable to them.

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Video and Internet Sources:

American Tongues video - http://www.cnam.com/non_flash/language/american.html

Nice examples of different American dialects, mostly regional dialects, some profanity, a little outdated, good examples of how every day people feel about dialects

Do You Speak American – website and video http://www.pbs.org/speak/

Nice examples of a lot of different American Englishes, regional differences as well as ethnic differences, linguist viewpoint (very descriptive with little information on attitudes toward language), a little long and not all is relevant, good web resources that can be used with video including teacher’s guide

Conn article on Portland accent: http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/pacificnorthwest/

International Dialects of English Archive - http://web.ku.edu/~idea/

Great examples of many types of English, a little hard to find some good accent productions (not all speakers have strong regional accents)

Resources

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Some Useful Books:

Labov, W. (1994) Principles of Lingusitic Change, Volume 1: Internal Factors. Oxford: Blackwell. (Very technical information about language change)

Labov, W. (2001) Principles of Lingusitic Change, Volume 2: Social Factors. Oxford: Blackwell. (Very technical but detailed including Labov’s Philadelphia Study.)

Milroy, L. and Gordon, M. (2003) Sociolinguistics: Method and Interpretation. Oxford: Blackwell. (Good information about field and methodology of sociolinguistics – some technical linguistic knowledge required, not a lot of actual examples)

Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 1: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press.

Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 2: The British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press.

Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press. (Good descriptions of different accents, focuses on pronunciation, mainly descriptive and not as theoretical as others)

*Wolfram, W. and Schilling-Estes, N. (2006) American English. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 2nd Edition. (Best choice for beginners – assumes some linguistic technical knowledge, many specific examples)

Resources