CHAPTER 8: ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL NETWORKS
FEATURES 1) Has a number of features which do not occur in standard mainstream American English. 2) Differences = symbols of ethnicity.
AMERICAN STANDARD ENGLISH 1) She’s very nice. 2) He’s a teacher. 3) That’s my book.
AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH (AAVE)
NORMALLY HEARD 1) In the northern cities of the United States.
GRAMMATICAL FEATURE OF AAVE 1) The use of be to signal repeated actions.
2) Complete absence of copula be. 3) “She very nice”/ “He a teacher”/ “That my book”
2) “She be at school on weekdays”/ “The children do be messin’ around a lot”/ “The beer be warm at that place”.
MEMBERS OF THE BRITISH BLACK COMMUNITY
BRITISH BLACK COMMUNITY Speakers of minority languages who were born in Britain are normally described as members of the British Black community.
Speak Jamaican Creole (Patois) & a variety of English.
BRITISH BLACK ENGLISH
YOUNG BRITISH BLACKS
LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF PATOIS
1) Not many are fluent, but use Patois for in-group talk.
1) Quite distinct from standard English.
2) Those that are not fluent also use a variety of English that incorporates Patois features.
2) “Lick” means “hit” and “kenge” means “weak, puny”.
3) Patois = friendship and solidarity.
3) Tenses aren’t marked by suffixes on verbs, so “walk” is used rather than “walked”. T marked
SOCIAL NETWORKS Refer to the pattern of informal relationships people are involved in on a regular basis
DENSITY
PLEXITY
Refers to whether members of a person’s network are in touch with each other
A measure of the range of different types of transaction people are involved in with different individuals
The more members of a person’s network are in touch with each other, the denser is their network.
UNIPLEX
MULTIPLEX
Relationship and interaction between two or more people is in only one area.
Relationship and interaction between two or more people is along several dimensions.
Example: Mona and Linda are colleagues. They interact only at work.
Example: Ain and Iza study at the same university. They are also roommates. They interact not only during classes but also at home.
HOW IS THIS RELATED TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS? People's speech reflects the types of networks they belong to. Who we talk and listen to regularly is a very important influence on the way we speak.
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
This concept has been adopted to permit a focus on social categories
We use language to construct different identities in different social interactions. Example: At home, at school
Developed around the activities which group members engage in together, their shared objectives and attitudes
We all belong to many communities of practice which share particular goals and ways of interacting. Example: Families, colleagues
The Construction of Social Identity Using language to construct different identities in different social interactions
Different aspects of an individual’s social identity will be more or less relevant in specific social contexts, and even at different points within the same interaction.
Eg: “I am so damn exasperated with her attitude!” This is an example of a “masculine” identity described by whoever that is mad, despite their class, age, ethnicity and gender.
HOW IS THIS CONCEPT USEFUL TO SOCIOLINGUISTS?
They allow us to examine the ways in which individuals use linguistics resources in dynamic and constructive ways to express various social identities (class and gender, status, age etc)