Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rebekah Diser
Rebekah Diser
When Hillary Clinton speaks at the UN Conference on Women, she speaks with an
oratorical style. (Brown, 2014) Her message is clearly meant for a larger audience. Her speech
is formal and prepared in advance. In her speech, she references events that already occurred.
She directly addresses those who were at those previous events. Hillary Clinton projects
confidence and authority. This makes it seem as though she has practiced her speech. After she
references the previous events of which she has been a part, she references history. In her speech
she illustrates how far womens rights have advanced. After she gives the listener all this
context, she urges her audience not to stop where society has advanced. She explains that there
are still places in the world where womens rights are not respected. She uses the example of
how unborn female babies are terminated in China because male babies are considered more
valuable. Hillary Clintons use of concrete examples and structure support the idea that her
speech was prepared before she gave the speech. Hillary Clinton appeared to glance at
notecards. She frequently made eye contact with her audience. This fact along with her
projected confidence support the idea that she practiced the speech before she gave it. (LIVE
Kate Middleton has several speech samples. The majority of her speech samples on the
site are prepared speeches. These speech samples are oratorical. (Brown, 2014) Her speech is
very formal. Kate Middleton gives examples of the work she has observed. She does not appear
comfortable when she is giving these speeches. Because of this one might think that she is either
nervous or needs more practice. She has less experience than Hillary Clinton, and her lack of
experience may contribute to her looking less polished than Hillary Clinton. Her lack of
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experience shows when she makes a mistake at the end of the speech she gave at the National
There are some speech samples for an interview that she and her husband did about their
engagement and when she visited a childrens hospice. These speech samples are deliberative.
(Brown, 2014) The speech is less formal than the planned speeches she gave at the various
events. She seemed more relaxed than when she gave the formal speeches. While both instances
were deliberative, the interview was more formal than the visit to the childrens hospice. She
seemed more relaxed when she visited the childrens hospice. Kate Middleton is the royal patron
for East Anglia's Children's Hospices, and some of the more formal oratorical speech samples
were about the childrens hospices. This supports the argument that the subject matter of the
speech samples is not the cause of the difference in quality of the speech samples. The quality of
the speech samples is most likely due to the difference in the environment and intended audience
or the nature of the event. As Kate Middleton continues to gain experience, her speech technique
Todd Chrisleys speech is casual. (Brown, 2014) This is interesting because the intended
audience is a large number of people that he does not know personally since the speech sample is
from a reality television show. Usually, people reserve this level of informal speech for people
they know. Chrisleys language is casual, and his topics of conversion are personal. He explains
for the audience how he raises his children. He explains the structure of his family. He appears
very comfortable in his speech. The speech samples are recorded in his residence. (Chrisley
Each speaker had a speech sample that was a different level from the other two speakers.
Kate Middleton had the multiple speech samples that allowed the listener to compare her speech
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at different levels of formality. While she appeared comfortable at the childrens hospice, she
appeared less polished speaking at the other levels. It would be interesting to be able to do a
References
https://usm.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?course_id
=_51974_1&content_id=_2722289_1
Chrisley Knows Best. (2015, May 4). Chrisley knows best | find your friends at school, im your
LIVE SATELLITE NEWS. (2015, March 10). Hillary Clinton speaks at a conference on women
Ramsdale, S. (2015, February 16). Kate middleton doesnt speak in public often, but when she
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/suzannah-ramsdale/545297/kate-middleton-doesn-t-
speak-in-public-often-but-when-she-does-it-s-so-very-lovely.html
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Rebekah Diser
The dialect quiz was interesting. It is possible for someones speech to fit into multiple
dialects at the same time. Some people may not have an expression for a particular idea. For
that reason, some of the ideas had I have no word for this as a possible response. Some people
may be familiar with more than one of these terms and may not have paid attention to which one
they use. This quiz may have heightened their awareness of these possible variations. These
individuals may find it useful to retake the quiz after having paid attention to their speech
patterns. They may find the differences between their first results and their new results after
noticing what they actually say in everyday conversation interesting. ("How you guys talk,"
2013)
The other quiz in this units course materials asks quiz takers to select the correct
meaning of the slang term. The quiz terms used are YOLO (you only live once), bae (a term of
endearment), unbothered (unfazed), joggers (a style of pants), rekt (wrecked), tfw (that feel
when), xans (Xanax pills), boolin (relaxing), lordt (Lord, as an exclamation), celfie (an alternate
spelling of selfie), (on) fleek (perfect), bruuh (bro). If one only misses one, he or she is told
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/02/22/upshot/internet-language-quiz.html?_r=1). This
is ironic because on fleek means that someone or something is perfect, and if someone misses
one item, his or her performance is not perfect, yet that is what the quiz says when one only
misses one. (Andrews & Katz, 2015) As words change meaning over time, it may be interesting
to consider if the definition of perfection may change based on such uses of the term. Some
slang words enter everyday vernacular while others fade away with time. It will be interesting to
know which of todays slang terms will continue to be in use in the future.
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The Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University had three videos on its
YouTube home page. Two were in regards to the Cherokee language, and one was in regards to
Dr. Martin Luther King. It is amazing to consider the difficulties that Sequoyah experienced
when he was completing the Cherokee Syllabary. When he first completed the syllabary, some
members of the Cherokee Nation including members of his own family destroyed his original.
He had to construct the syllabary a second time. His completed syllabary was very calligraphic.
The current syllabary more closely resembles Roman letter in many cases since the current
syllabary has a typewritten version. The Cherokee Syllabary is unusual because most written
languages have more time between when they first become written languages and when a
typewritten option becomes available. While some members of the Cherokee Nation did not
originally support the syllabary since they destroyed the first version, it has been extremely
important in preserving Cherokee language and culture. In one of the videos, the viewer sees
that there is a newspaper printed in the Cherokee syllabary. The fact that the newspaper is
written using the Cherokee syllabary shows that there are modern readers who can still read
materials printed using the Cherokee syllabary. This is powerful because while the Cherokee
syllabary may have become less calligraphic as it moved from handwritten to typewritten, the
letters are still largely readable by those who are familiar with the syllabary and the Cherokee
language. This means that those who are able to read the Cherokee syllabary can read any text to
which they have access. Most readers of most languages are not able to read any text they may
come across because of changes in the language. This makes the readers of the Cherokee
syllabary special.
The other video about the Cherokee language focused on Cherokee grammar. The
speaker expressed that older learners experience difficulties when attempting to learn Cherokee
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because the verb has so many possible variations. The example given was go get it. The change
occurs in the middle of the verb depending on the object that the speaker wishes for the other
person to go get. The form of the verb changes if the object is liquid, solid, living, etc. It is
interesting to note that the Cherokee Nation is a Native American Tribe located in the United
States. It is also interesting that while the United States does not have a legal official language,
the majority of residents speak English. When one considers that the verb does not change in
English if the object of the verb changes, it may be more difficult for speakers of English as well
as speakers of other languages that do not behave the same way. (Language and Life Project at
The video about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. analyses his speech patterns. Dr. King had
several influences on his speech patterns. Some of his speech patterns were typical of
southerners while others were more common among African Americans. He also has his
profession as a factor affecting his speech pattern. The video gives the example of the way he
pronounces his rs and his ts as evidence of how these factors affect Dr. Kings speech patterns.
Dr. Kings speech was often r-less. This shows the southern influence in his speech patterns
since southerners are often r-less. Sometimes when he pronounced his rs, we would roll them.
This shows his occupations influence on his speech. His pronunciation of his ts reflects his
African American heritage. (Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University,
2016)
It is surprising to learn that ten different dialects of English exist in the United States.
The video starts by examining what different people call a sweetened carbonated beverage.
Some people call it soda while others call it pop or coke. The video continues by asking people
what they call a bug that rolls into a ball. The video asks people what they call it when it rains
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while the sun is shining. The most surprising response to this query was the devil is beating his
wife. (Mapping, n.d., Time Stamp 1:59) The video asks people what they call a pair of rubber
soled shoes. The video asks people what they call a big road on which one drives fast. The
video continues by asking what one calls the box in which one buries a dead person. The video
also asks people how they pronounce words: bag, pecan, umbrella, route, and miracle. (Mapping,
n.d.) One may be able to use this data to analyze how and to what extent culture affects ones
language.
In the interview with William Labov, the changes in American English are discussed.
William Labov states that he identifies fifteen different dialects of American English. William
Labov tells the viewers that the NewYork accent and the southern accent are marked as being
less educated than other accents. This is surprising because as William Labov points out New
York is a cultural and financial center. One would think that if New York were important
culturally and financially that a New York accent would be beneficial. This is ironically not the
case. Even though the southern accent also has this stigmatism, Bill Clinton was not hindered by
his Arkansas accent when he ran for president. The interview continued with the observation
that while most dialects are becoming more prominent and different from each other the southern
dialect is diminishing. William Labov posits that this may be due to the negative connotation
associated with the southern dialect. Then, he continues by telling the viewers that the worst
English is considered to be in the south while the best English is considered to be in Michigan.
As the interview continues William Labov talks about a map at which he is looking during the
interview. This map is not shown to the viewers. While from what William Labov says about
the map the viewers should be able to discern that it is a map of at least a part of the United
States, it difficult if not impossible to determine how much of the United States is included in the
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map to which he refers. William Labov tells the viewers about a portion of the map that is
outlined. It is not obvious where exactly the outlined portion is located on the map. William
Labov gives some cities that gives some indication of where this area is located, but there is not
enough information to know how large the area is or if the areas given are the endpoints or are
located within the area in question. William Labov outlines how English is changing. Again he
refers to a map that is not shown to the viewers. (Labov, 2013) The interview would have been
more useful if the viewers were able to see the maps that William Labov referenced.
Language can tell a lot about a culture. The fact that a term exists for one concept, but
not another may indicate what a particular culture values. One can explore this idea as it applies
to gender and culture. If one considers situations like the one told by Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jordan
where a husband had to take his child to daycare because his wife had to be at work early that
particular day. When the husband arrived at the daycare with his child the child vomited on his
jacket. The husband cleaned the jacket as best he could and then proceeded to his place of
employment. His university students noticed something was amiss and when he explained how
he had taken his child to daycare, his students were impressed. When he went home and shared
this experience with his wife, she shared how the situation would be interpreted differently if she
had experienced it. Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jordan later conducted a study about how managers
view different attributes in leadership. The study concluded that the taking charge behaviors
attributed to males, and care taking behaviors attributed to females. This was consistent among
participants. This finding is significant when one considers that women with the same
qualifications as men are hired in lower positions. They experience fewer promotions. When
one considers language and gender expectations, one may make cultural discoveries in regards to
References
Andrews, W., & Katz, J. (2015, February 22). Language quiz: are you on fleek? New York
language-quiz.html?_r=1
How yall, youse and you guys talk. (2013, December 21). Sunday Review. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-
map.html?_r=0
Labov, W. (2013). American English is changing fast (David Pakman, Interviewer) [Online].
Available from
https://usm.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?course_id
=_51974_1&content_id=_2722311_1.
Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University. (2016, February 21). Cherokee
Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University. (2016, February 29). The
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epoVTTDRzRg
Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University. (2016, March 28). The Cherokee
https://usm.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?course_id
=_51974_1&content_id=_2722307_1
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TEDx Talks. (2012, November 29). How to avoid gender stereotypes: Eleanor Tabi Haller-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZFNsJ0-aco
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Rebekah Diser
Sixty Million Frenchmen Cant Be Wrong by Jean-Benot Nadeau and Julie Barlow
explores why the French are the why they are, so that the reader should be able to better
understand the French. Nadeau and Barlow point out that North Americans readily admit that
Chinese and Japanese are different culturally, so they do things differently than is done in North
American culture, but this realization is not readily made about the French. Nadeau and
Barlows goal is to help the reader make this realization as well as understand what makes them
culturally different from North Americans. Nadeau and Barlow express that they felt well suited
for the task because Nadeau is a French speaking Quebecker and Barlow is an English speaking
Canadian. They start out explaining that France is full of paradoxes. While many people are
aware of the French paradox regarding the French diet, fewer people are aware of the other
paradoxes that exist such as that even though the French only work 35 hours a week, they still
have the highest rate of productivity. Nadeau and Barlow were originally going to write about
how France was fighting globalization when they discovered that France was not fighting
globalization. France was just globalizing in their own way in their own time. During their
original research, they discovered several other paradoxes, and they changed research topics.
Instead of studying why the French were resisting globalization, they would study the French to
gain a better understanding of why the French do the things that they do the way they do them.
Nadeau and Barlow into three section: spirit, structure, and change.
In spirit, Nadeau and Barlow explain the major concepts that affect why the French do
what they do. They start the section with a chapter considering the French as Aborigines of
France. The idea here is that the French are different than other people from around the world
because they are French, and when one goes to France one should not expect the French to
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conform to ones expectation. They are in their own country. Their culture is the dominant one.
What they are doing may seem strange to the person visiting their country, but it is not strange to
the French and since it is France, the French are not strange; the person who thinks that the
This is illustrated when Nadeau and Barlow explain how Halloween was adapted for the
children of Honfleur. Nadeau and Barlow explain that it is more difficult for children to go door
to door because of the way that they houses are set up in France. The French version of
Halloween more closely resembles a labor strike. The children who are dressed in costumes
demand candy by chanting We want candies. (Nadeau & Barlow, 2003, p. 13) The children
have a police escort and businesses give the children the candy. It makes sense that the French
would have this adaptation of Halloween since protests and strikes are common ways that the
Another idea that is different when comparing the French perspective with the North
American perspective is the notion of privacy. North Americans might think that it is rude that
French people might not introduce themselves. This is because the information that one shares
with others is different among different cultures. For example the French do not discuss money.
It is considered rude to ask what someone does for a living. This information is considered
After exploring these as well as other topics that help explain the French way of thinking,
Nadeau and Barlow continue their book with a section on structure. For example, there is a
chapter on the state. In France, there are no private foundations, so Nadeau and Barlow had
difficulty explaining this concept because the state takes care of the functions that a private
foundation would accomplish in America. While America relies on individuals to take care of
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themselves and private charities to take care of those who cannot, the French expect their
government to take care of the people. The government ensures that the French people can
retire, have adequate healthcare, etc. The French people pay high taxes to ensure that they have
these services. They demand high quality civil services. If civil services are not adequate the
French demand more. The French pay very high taxes, so one could argue that they do not have
the money to give to charities or private organizations to provide these functions. One might
also argue that if Americans paid more taxes, the government could provide these services.
Since American politicians often run for office with promises of lower taxes, it unlikely that the
The last section discusses France changing. While France is changing, it is changing in a
way unique to France. This book aims to help Americans understand the factors that influence
how and why the French behave the way that they do. (Nadeau & Barlow, 2003)
This book is very valuable. It helps the reader understand the French perspective. This
may help the reader be more successful in his or her encounters with the French. The book also
provides explanations about how France structures its society and why. This may encourage
more positive experiences between the reader and the French. There is so much information in
this book that a reader would benefit from reading this book multiple times. This book would
make a valuable addition for any teachers library. The information in this book would help a
teacher provide insight into French culture and society. The teacher could integrate the
information into the regular lessons in an input based format or could use some of the
information to lead a cultural discussion in order to expand students worldviews. Being aware
that other world views exist, and that they are valid will serve the students well throughout their
lives.
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References
Nadeau, J., & Barlow, J. (2003). Sixty million frenchmen cant be wrong. Naperville, IL:
Sourcebooks.
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FL 665 Exercises
Rebekah Diser
FL 665 Exercises
Chapter 1 page 28
1.) Find at least two examples in speech or print of new words or old ones used in new
ways. Using The Random House Dictionary, 2nd ed. And or The Oxford English
On fleek
e-cigarette
5.) Listen to a foreign person speak English, and write down every word for which the
English word sounds foreign because the wrong allophone was used. (That is, the sound is close
to the way an English speaker would pronounce it, but is a little off.) Try to figure out what
the rule for the allophone is in English and how it must differ from the foreign language.
Alternatively, if you know someone who speaks another language, ask them to say a word or two
to you that has a sound that is not in English. Then try to pronounce the word, asking the
speaker to correct you. How many times do you have to make the sound before the speaker
verifies that you have made it correctly? Can you make it correctly at all? Ask the speaker if
other English speakers pronounce that sound the way you did. Alternatively, ask the person how
he or she knows someone is not a native speaker of his or her language by telling you which
The C is overemphasized when the speaker pronounces the words. Also in the other
The author of these answers tried to pronounce the word. She did not succeed in
pronouncing the word correctly. The native speaker can tell when nonnative speakers are
Chapter 3
1.) How many registers do you think you usually command? Give examples of each
along with a description of the circumstances that evoke each. What are the
There is a register for the writers family. When with her family, the writer is
very familiar. The writer may give commands to her children. She can also speak
There is a register for the writers friends. This is slightly more formal than that
of her family. The writer would never give her friends a command. She might ask
There is a register for the writers colleagues. This is more formal than the
register used with the writers friends. She might make a polite request.
There is a register for the writers superiors. This is very formal. The writer
2.) Observe the difference in address forms that you give and receive in two different
social situations (work, school, home church, party, etc.). How do English speakers
compensate for the lack of honorifics or a difference between a T and V forms for
you? Do not work from memory. From these forms, can you make any judgments
about the social structure of the community you observed? (Chaika, 2008, p. 104)
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At home, the writers children call her mom. At work, the writers colleagues call
To compensate for the lack of a T and V form for you, English speakers adjust
their register. A superior will be addressed by his or her last name while a colleague
is much more likely to be addressed by his or her first name. The day when the writer
went to see her superior, the speech was very formal. When she spoke to her
colleague later that day, the speech was much less formal.
Chapter 4
4.) Observe eye contact in your home or social group. What seems to be the normal
amount of eye contact in an interaction? What topics or situations seem to call for
longer eye contact? Alternatively, try to compare the eye contact behavior of two
different groups (ethnic, gender, social class) and determine what differences there
The writers family looks each other in the eye through the day. The family may
speak to each other without maintaining eye contact. When eye contact is made,
one may continue comfortably. The participants may blink unless one of the
children is in trouble. In this case, the parent will maintain eye contact without
blinking.
7.) Try to analyze a few minutes of a movie or other video source, correlating facial
expressions and kinesics to the verbal message. How much of the message is being
given in words alone? How much in kinesics alone? How much by interaction of
both? Alternatively, observe people interacting, and estimate how much of their
Running Header: SOCIOLINGUISTIC PORTFOLIO PART II 24
messages are being overtly stated and how much is given in kinesics. (Chaika, 2008,
p. 144)
In the Buffy the Vampire episode Hush, the episode starts out with some
kinesics, but a lot of the message was verbal. This changed as the cast was unable to
speak. The characters showed how much the characters rely on their voice. Several
situations were made much more difficult by their inability to speak. Sometimes this was
even dangerous for the characters. While this highlighted the kinesics communication,
the most powerful kinesics was at the end of the episode when Buffy and Adam were
both saying that they needed to talk, but their body language said that they really did not
Chapter 5
9.) Do you participate in a jargon? If so, describe it and show how it fulfills its purpose.
What difference is there between a jargon and slang? Do they overlap? Defend your
The writer participates in a jargon. At work, the writer often speaks about
comprehensible input, cfas, target structures, etc. These serve the purpose of
ensuring that the department understands what everyone is doing. The Spanish
teachers ensure that they have taught the same target structures. The writer
compares what the Spanish teachers do with what she does and vice versa. This
Chapter 6
6.) Listen to some comic monologue on TV, audio recordings, or at a live performance
and count the derogatory jokes about females. How many of these concern a
Running Header: SOCIOLINGUISTIC PORTFOLIO PART II 25
females sexual activities? What other characteristics of females are joked about?
[sic] Are there similarly derogatory jokes about any other segment of society, such as
all males, the Chinese, Native Americans, or fathers? (Chaika, 2008, p. 244)
In Bill Mahrs opening monologue, he made four references to women: two about
Hilary Clinton, one about Queen Elizabeth II, and one about Harriet Tubman.
Two of them were derogatory jokes. One of them concerned sexual activities. He
also made derogatory jokes about politicians and celebrities. (Buzzzing, 2016)
Chapter 7
6.) Watch television commercials that feature speakers using regional or ethnic dialects.
Recently, many commercials have been featuring British male speakers, some of
whom do not speak upper-class British. That is they do not speak like the actors
Jeremy Irons or Hugh Grant. Why do you think these Brits are chosen for these
commercials? What are they advertising? What features of the dialect do they seem
to be using so that you will identify it as such? If you are familiar with the dialect in
question in any of the commercials, how accurate is the actors representation of it?
These Brits are chosen for these commercials because they sound like they are
just like everyone else. The average person can identify with them. They were
Chapter 9
1.) What speech community do you think you belong to? What communities of
practice? Do you or people you know have a social network that influences
Running Header: SOCIOLINGUISTIC PORTFOLIO PART II 26
2008, p. 421)
The writer belongs to a Saint Louis middle class speech community. She
affected as she has changed location. She has only been in Arkansas for a
year, so as time passes, she may begin to speak more like her current
may slow down the rate at which her speech community changes, since all
the teachers will have had similar experiences in higher education. This
may have affected their speech communities and it may also insulate them
Chapter 10
4.) Ask a male and a female for directions on how to do something. What differences, if
any, are there in the way they give those directions? (Chaika, 2008, p. 476)
The female is much more detailed in her directions. She describes her
References
Buzzzing. (2016, April 22). Real Time With Bill Maher Opening Monologue April ,22, 2016
Chaika, E. (2008). Language the social mirror (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Heinle Cengage Learning.
Whedon, J. (Director), & Whedon, J. (Writer). (1999, December 14). Hush [Television series
https://www.netflix.com/watch/70133793?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C9%2C51f7b13
4-438b-4afd-82ee-3b978fd5f91e-131488470