What it was all about for me

The power of words…wow. Maybe subconsciously, I have always been aware of language and its ability to ignite different reactions. Actually, unless you are completely socially unaware, most people recognize that depending on the specific word choices one uses, it has a plethora of different response as a result. I am one who doesn’t like to offend people, and actually like to avoid it in most cases. But before this class, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you exactly how I avoid it through language. However after taking this class, it has made me realize that the nature of our interaction with people is not merely based off of our verbal communication necessarily, but what we MEAN by it. The interesting thing here, is that we may not even be aware of what we actually mean when we communicate with something. It is something so ingrained and subconscious, that we many times don’t even ‘mean’ what we say. By taking this class, I have become hyper-sensitive as to the language I use, how I use it, and what it means. For my personal life, this is the tool I am most grateful for after taking this course.

What I have learned in regard to language and society has been even more eye-opening. The connection between language and identity has been one of the most fascinating things I have ever learned. Before taking this class, I may have sided with the idea that “language has only as much power as you give it”. But language means so much more than that. It is a agreement with individuals and society in order to make sense of and understand one another. It has the power to start wars when it is not agreed upon, and an ability to make amends when utilized.

Furthermore, I truly appreciate Tiffany and her willing to teach. I’m not sure I would have absorbed as much as I have if it weren’t for her inspiring teaching style. The forum in which this class was set, I felt extremely open and relaxed. (Although sometimes and little shy and intimidated) And regardless of what particular class is set up in this way, it always makes a significant difference in a student’s interest for any given subject. Regardless of our many times lazy behavior as a class, I think we can unanimously agree, that we enjoyed both the contents and presentation of information within this class.

Above all else, I have learned that language is one of the many intricate parts of society, and a valuable aspect to consider when trying to understand the nature of human beings.

Final Blog

Although this semester has been disastrous for me, I really enjoyed this course and all of the course content. I especially enjoyed the lecture by Jabari Asim. The way that language usage shapes society is absolutely fascinating. All of the readings have been very enjoyable, and I would go as far to say that some have been enlightening. There are many things that I will take from this course, but I would like to focus on two things in particular that had a great impact on me.

First, I was blown away by the extent to which language is used to discriminate. The difference in dialects is another of many ways for humans to separate each other into groups and oppress those one another. I have always been under the impressions that southern, eastern and Midwestern dialects are only for uneducated and simple people. This subconscious sense of elitism led me to believe that these people simply chose to speak in an unintelligent manner because of a hatred for academics. This simply is not true. This class taught me that each language and dialect has a rich history and specific reasons for these differences in language, and that each of dialect follows its own set of rules and guiding principles.

The second thing that made a huge impact on me is the fact that language can be analyzed in a way to surface hidden motives and agendas of the speakers. When we analyze language critically, we are able to tell so much about the ideals, beliefs and motives of other people and groups. I love to analyze people and social dialogue, and looking at the language of these people and groups gives me an entire level of insight that I didn’t have before taking this class. Analyzing the way one speaks is just as important as analyzing the ideas being conveyed.

Thanks everyone. I hope I get to have some of you in my future classes. It’s been a blast. :)

AAE

"Da otha day, I was walkin’ down da street an’ thinkin’ ‘bout my ol’ frien’ Jackson. We use ta be such good friends, an’ den one day, outta nowheah, he say he didn’t wanna be my frien’ no mo’. It was sad. I fel’ real bad ‘bout it fo’ a long time. Then, as I turn the corna, I saw ‘im. He aks me, “How you doin’?” I say, “I’m okay. How you doin’?” He said, “Okay.” I tol’ him dat I am da new managa of my sto’. He said, “Congradulations.” He said he been workin’ real hard at his job an’ he was sorry dat he ain’t talk to me fo’ a while. He said I look good, and hope that we could get togetha soona ratha den latea. We shook hands an’ say g’bye."

Unfortunately, people are largely ignorant to the roots of AAE, or never bother to take the past into consideration, and for that reason, AAE is regarded as unintelligent by mainstream society. They believe that speakers of AAE are purposefully revolting against standardized English. That being said, I’m not sure, nor do I feel qualified to answer, about the issue of AAE-speaking children being treated either the same or differently from ESL students. On one hand, AAE isn’t a separate language from English. It’s a dialect of English, which means that English would not be their second language. But on the other hand, I believe that AAE speaking children would benefit from being taught Standardized English in a way that would help them learn the differences between AAE and SA. It is an unfortunate truth that conforming to mainstream society helps the individual flourish as a participating member, but would success be worth turning their back on their dialect and cultural heritage? I don’t know.

California Dialect

I was born and raised in California. I spent the majority of my life in the southern and eastern San Francisco Bay Area. I wasn’t able to notice the markers of the California dialect until I moved to Utah a few years ago. Although Utahans sounds a lot like Californian speakers, I was still (eventually) able to pick up on many differences. For example, people in the Bay Area (not so much in southern California) say the word “hella” quite often. “That’s hella cool” or “That’s hella funny” is said so often that it’s hardly considered slang. This was the main thing that I constantly had pointed out to me while living in Salt Lake. I don’t really say “hella” anymore as I have gradually and naturally assimilated to the Utah dialect, but I have noticed that it immediately comes back when I visit San Francisco, and it takes months for it to leave my every day vocabulary upon my return.

I believe that the Californian dialect has spread vastly and rapidly due to California’s influence on the rest of the country, mainly through music, television, movies and other forms of pop culture. Hollywood is obviously located in California, and the movies that come out of Hollywood studios are some of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country. Because life reflects art (and visa-versa) the rest of the country simulates what they see in movies and television, and the dialect spreads.

Class Discourse Analysis

Although my analysis of the class is coming at the end of the semester, I believe that I have some input that will help with your understanding of why the class slowed down. Since the time this blog was posted, the class involvement seemed to go back up, which is great.

But at the beginning of the semester, the material might have been more difficult, but it was highly theoretical which gave the students a lot to think and talk about and they were able to share their individual perspectives. In the middle of the semester, the material was still fascinating, but I don’t think the students were able to give as much personal input because the material were more factual (as opposed to theoretical) and pretty straight forward. For example, I enjoyed learning about French speaking in Louisiana, but I couldn’t personally contribute a lot to the subject. Another example is that I think it’s pretty obvious that many people feel uncomfortable by Spanish, and making English the official language is racist. Because I felt like these ideas were inherently true, there wasn’t much up for debate. I definitely enjoyed the readings and loved learning more about these topics, but I couldn’t give as much unique perspective as I could when discussing subjects like ethnography or CDA. I think students started becoming more involved near the end of the semester because subjects like gender and sexuality effect us every day in deep and meaningful ways, and we are able to give more personal insight.

Critical Discourse Analysis

The most interesting thing about CDA to me is the idea that discourse shapes reality, and how opposing discourses shape reality, and whoever controls the perception of reality has the power. I’ve been noticing how this happens through seemingly simple interactions and conversations. I think a perfect example of this would be Fox News. They intentionally impose a conservative slant on the news, and their bias forms an untruthful version of reality for their viewers. I was getting my car fixed the other day and I needed to take a taxi home. I was picked up by a man who appeared to be in his 70’s, wearing a flannel shirt tucked into his belt-buckled wrangler jeans. On the ride home, he was listening to Sean Hannity on talk radio, and he began to tell me that he would never vote for Barack Obama because he is deeply tied with American Islamic extremists, hates people who live in the mid-west, and loathes The United States of America. All of this, apparently, he learned from watching Fox News. Because Fox was able to control the public political discourse for conservative viewers, they were able to change this man’s view of reality, which gives power to the Republican Party through voter support. Indeed, whoever controls public discourse controls the public.

the world's people

As I look back upon the last four months of my life; I recall overwhelming procrastination, hesitations, absences and social restraints and pressures. Coming into the class I figured it would be a neat way of looking at communication; the underlying messages and meanings Incorporated into speech and how we effectively come to subconsciously or consciously initiate and use these communicative foregrounds. I've gotten much more than what I may have presumed at the beginning. I think this class has helped me to not only realize alot about the world around me and how language shapes and manipulates that world, but about myself and how I come to use language in my daily discourse. I like to over-analyze and question every motive, instinct, thought or movement in any particular moment in life; having this new found understanding of language I feel is going to help me better come to grip with the realities of the world around us and its inhabitants, to better understand my fellow human being. Alongside many other great facilities of knowledge (Anthropology, psychology, sociology, social work, etc.) I'm able to now incorporate this brief introduction to language into that basic background of human nature and existence. I'll take this course as far as I'll travel on foot and it will never vanish from the depths of mind through the strange and obscure thoughts that have provoked thereafter. While my attendance was extremely incongruent and I've actually tallied it to be the worse in my entire higher education process; this class has come to be one of the most valuable and interesting subjects I have encountered. I'd like to thank not only you Tiffany but the other students for really putting some great insight into the discussions and topics abroad, during & aside class time (when I was present). While I was never one to talk I always listened and conceptualized off of the discussions at hand. And as time meets time I will never forget the value that has been asserted through this course and its attendee's. So with that thanks to ya'll and I wish you the best of luck in pursuing your life's interest and goals.

I think this class will stay with me for a long time.  Looking at language is really interesting to me now.  I've noticed the power of what you can say  and the way you choose to say it can result in many different reactions.  Plus the interaction of the different sexes has taken on a whole new light to me now. I was over at a friend house this weekend and I was the only girl and the guys started to insult me with jokes and before this class I would have started worrying that they hated me and didn't want me over there.  But taking this class made me realize that I was just one of the guys.

I've also noticed that I've started to turn off my mouth filter a bit more lately and the reactions from people have been mixed.  (also referring to the F U I dropped in class last week, sorry about that one)  Some people will jump right in with me and others are a bit annoyed by it.  Its just interesting to watch people a bit more.  But it also ties in with my final project and going into an offroad group and watching the interaction between the men and than looking at how there speech changes when you get back to camp and now have the wifes and girlfriends around.  

This class has opened my eyes to the power of words and how when you enter different groups of individuals your speech changes.  I've really enjoyed the class and loved how many different topics we went over during the semester. 

Thanks Tiffany!

last blog

this class has to be one of the best English classes i have ever taken. because we talked about so many interesting topic that i tough would never be in a English class. i learn new way of writing and i fell that i have improved in so many ways like my writing, reading. this i will always apply in all my classes.

Language is life.

For most of my life, I lived by the standard that actions speak louder than words.

Today - that has changed.

I was never blind to the association of power and language. I've been using language to get what I've wanted for years. I was never ignorant about language and it's role in identity - again a tool that I have used in my behalf for ages. But I was never really interested enough to look outside my world and see the impact of language on a global scale.

I think I was, more or less, purposefully ignorant to the intricacy of language in life, politics, power, identity, racism, etc.. But again, that has all changed.

I now tend to listen to not only what is said but how it's said, mixed in with when and why it's said, and then compare it to the actions of the sayer.

With that said - I want to say thanks to all those that made this class possible...

Thanks to Tiffany for the good class material. I appreciate the diverse examples of language types, situations, groups and uses that this class looked at. It kept me engaged and open minded as well help reiterate the themes of the class.

Thanks to all the students: I think we did a pretty good job in discussing and handling the material. There was definitely some sensitive material and I feel we talked it out in a respectful manner.

See y'all later.

last blog!!

I have learned so much in this class. I never knew that language could mean so much. I listen much more closely than i ever have. I have always kind of ease dropped, but mostly just payed attention to what was being said, not how they said it. I now do both and have found that paying attention to the little things such as the words, norms, the roles they play etc. The information i have learned in this class carries over to your everyday life and is used all of the time.

Final Post - The End of a Class and Reflections

I will take home many things in a sense. I mean the class had many thought provoking and insightful things of discussion. Some of the readings were that way as well. The main thing I will take home though is the concept of language, what its true meanings and usages are, and how different languages and different ways of speaking the same language have so many diverse meanings as well. I mean a perfect example was before when I went to Japan I never realized that it's not only a different language but in Japan or here in America we not only speak a different language than everyone else, but we think in a different way as well. We use words to describe and put meanings on things, and in a different language like Japanese they do the same thing, they describe and think in a certain way that is different than us. I mean I know we both have different languages but I liked the concept of thinking in a different way or thinking in your languages way of thinking. This class opened my eyes to that idea much more, and now I have a broader concept on something so huge.
When it comes to the final project I will try and hone in on how Japanese exchange students think, when it comes to using English and being in America. I want to see where they are coming from and try to put that down on paper. I would like to ask questions about slang, language in the classroom versus language in the real world and others similar to those.
Yes I will apply many of the concepts like sometimes you need to try and see how things are below the surface instead of just seeing them how you think they are. Like see what the language is really saying not just what you see.
Yes, at first I didn't want to take this course but after looking back I like how it was set up, the discussions were awesome, the assignments and readings really made us think, and yes like others in the class I didn't show up. When I did, however, I tried to take as much from the presentations and talks as possible with me after I left class and went into the real world.

Thanks for the great semester and I wish the best of you luck,

JHill

ending

Well, I really don't know what to say.
there are many things that I have learned from this class that I would not have known if I had not taken it.
I have noticed that when I talk to people that I start picking apart their language, trying to find the norms for them.
I also tell other people about things I have learned in class, it's really interesting when I go to work and talk about things I have learned in class because they are things that most of the people I work with don't know, but that's understandable as to why they don't know, most of them are still in high school.
I think the most fasinating thing that I have talked to my co-workers about is the "N" word and the lecture that I went to, most of them don't really understand but that is what makes it so interesting to explain.
this class has openned my eyes about many, many things and I know that I am the better for it.
in closing: I have mixed emotions about the class ending, I am happy for school to end, but sad because I am going to miss everyone.
I have learned so much, this has been one of the best classes I have ever taken.

Short and final thoughts

I had compiled a rather large response to this blog, but then, somehow, decided against posting it.

I have failed to have been convinced of many of the conclusions to which I have been compelled in this class. I'm still a Prescriptivist and still believe in having a national language.

The class overall has been undoubtedly fascinating. I am hoping that a majority of students will be capable of re-examining their own speech in relation to its context in a thoroughly racist, imperial, and patriarchal world.

I would engender to understand how a vastly different society organizes its mechanisms of authority.

After this class I would want to speak to those who had a passion for what was discussed.

Goodnight.

what was it all about?

I have learned a lot from this course about language that I had never thought of or noticed before. For me, the most interesting idea that we learned about was how language helps define a person's identity. I notice it so much more now, that the way people speak and the words they use really do have a huge influence on how they are percieved. Just by having a short conversation with someone, you can find out so much about them by studying their language, like where they are from, or whether they are a prescriptivist or are more laid back. I hope that by completing this final project, it will give another opportunity to see how much language can influence a situation in the real world (rather than just talking about it in class). I think that by taking this class I have learned to better understand what people are saying, not only because I pay closer attention to their words, but also because I notice how and why they say things, so I can sort of read between the lines a little better than before.

Post 9

In this course, I found that language and its uses are very powerful. Now I keep catching myself trying to analyze there speech and speech environment. Before this course I never put much though into language, or how our language roots came from. I found it very interesting on how some people will use certain language to control another group of people. I definitely know a lot more about how language is used through out the world now at the end of the semester than I did before this class started. The things I learned in this class will be a great help in finishing my final project. In my final project I am going to the senior center with my grandma and playing bingo with all the other senior citizens.

Greater Awareness

I have learned so much in this course about the tremendous influence language has on our society. It is amazing to think back on this semester. We have gone over so much information in many different areas such as history, politics, race, gender, power struggles, etc. The biggest thing I have come out of this class with is increased awareness. I have become much more aware of how people use language to identify themselves. I have noticed that this class has caused me to listen to the way others interact with each other. I like observing the way all the little subcultures in our city use language. I caught myself listening to two gamers the other day. At first I didn't notice I had been listening to them and analyzing the way they were using language. When I finally realized I had been observing their language practices, it dawned on me that I have been making observations like that since after our first paper. I believe the ability to break down and analyze language is a very valuable skill that I will be able to use throughout my life.

Post 9

From this class, I will probably remember, mostly, that I became more informed about the variety of races and different perspectives the world has on them. There were a few words that I learned in this class that I have never heard before and I may or may not remember them in the future. One new word that I learned was ‘the C-word.’ From the things I learned in this class, I will be able to apply them and use them in my final paper. I know more what is expected now than I did at the beginning of the semester. In my final project I will discuss the language use of loan officers in a bank while they converse with different dealers. I will probably use what I learned in this class in my everyday life as I converse with people especially those who are not my same race.