Gender and Language

I find it far more easy to express my opinions with women than I do with men. Women are more understanding and less judgmental. That is the perfect atmosphere with which to share one's feelings. Women exhibit a lot of emotion when they speak. They use varied intonations and a ton of facial expressions! I've noticed that I tend to have no emotion on my face when I speak. I think that's a defense mechanism that I use to protect myself from the critical comments of others. I learned that technique in middle school to avoid being picked on. In general, men keep their emotions to themselves and don't allow others to know how they're feeling.

African American English

Da udda day, I was walkin down da street and thinkin bout my old fren Jackson. We use-a be such good frens, and den one day, outta nowhere, he says he don't want ta be my fren no more. It was sad. I felt real bad bout it for a lon time. Den, as I turn the corner, I saw him. He ax me, "How you doin?" I says, "I'm okay. How you doin?" He says, "Okay." I toll him I'm the new manajah of my sto. He says, "Gratulations." He says he been workin real hard addis job and he was sorry dat he hadn't talked ta me in a whiles. He says I look good, and dat we shoo get together sooner ratha dan late-ah. We shook hands and says goo'bye.

That was harder than I thought it would be! I think that AAE speakers should be encouraged to learn proper English. Part of the reason is that you can't succeed in the business world if you don't know how to use proper English. The fact of the matter is that people do discriminate against individuals who don't speak properly! If worse comes to worse, I think that the government should allocate some funds to help AAE speakers get caught up.

Class Discourse Analysis

I believe the reason class participation has gone down is because of our busy schedules. It's not easy juggling school, work, family, friends, etc! I have struggled myself. Sometimes it is just hard to motivate yourself! The course content is good. I think we are just tired of school.

Critical Discourse Analysis

You can't always take something at its face value. You sometimes have to analyze what is really being said. The KKK is a good example. They are trying to say that their organization is one of love when, in fact, they are an organization of hatred. They may love themselves, but they do not love their neighbor! To quote an inspired book, "...by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also."

Last Blog

As I have grown older, I have come to appreciate language. It's amazing that you can fully express yourself with the combination of a few words! Words would be powerless if they didn't have implied meanings attached to them! This semester I have learned that America has many distinct dialects and cultures. I think it is very interesting how some people communicate with one another.

about the class

The biggest thing I learned was that having our language change and morph and having others come into the United States that don't speak our language shouldn't be looked down upon but embraced. It was very interesting to look at New Orleans and see how they take pride in being bilingual with French and others in America take pride in that as well, but when it comes to people who are Spanish speaking the pride quickly dwindles. That's a shame and we need to embrace biculturalism and language is a huge part of that. I really enjoyed this class and loved all the discussions we had.

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.