Votes and Vowels: A Changing Accent Shows How Language Parallels Politics

Hey look guys, it's Labov! (that's the same guy who did the New York social class study where he got people to say "fourth floor", and yes, he's still alive haha)

Votes and Vowels: A Changing Accent Shows How Language Parallels Politics

"It may seem surprising, but in this age where geographic mobility and instant communication have increased our exposure to people outside of our neighborhoods or towns, American regional dialects are pulling further apart from each other, rather than moving closer together. And renowned linguist William Labov thinks there’s a connection between political and linguistic segregation."

just thought it would be cool to see some real life application of what we're learning :)


Kimberley

Tutorial 1 (B) - Question 5

Q5. Singlish is referred to as a basilect. What are the implications of categorising Singlish or any other variety of language in such a way?

Tutorial 1 (B) - Question 4

Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish (last accessed: 12/03/09)

"Acrolectal Singaporean English “is the "highest-class" form of speech, used by the well-educated in formal situations. Acrolectal Singaporean English is roughly the same as formal British English with the exception of some pronunciation differences that occur due to the influence of Singlish pronunciation. Acrolectal Singaporean English does exhibit, however, a much smaller degree of Singlish pronunciation features than do mesolectal, basilectal, and pidgin variants of Singlish. For example, speakers of acrolectal Singaporean English attempt to restore the phonemes /θ/ and /ð/ (as in thin and then).

Basilectal Singaporean English is the colloquial speech used by almost everyone, educated or not, in informal settings, and is the speech usually referred to as "Singlish". Here can be found all of the unique phonological, lexical, and grammatical features of Singlish. Many of these features can be attributed to Asian languages such as the Chinese languages, Malay, or Indian languages such as Tamil, though some cannot.'

Q4. Examine the Wikipedia definitions of ‘acrolect’ and ‘basilect’. To what extent do you agree with the descriptions of how English is used in Singapore?

Tutorial 1 (B) - Additional question not found in worksheet

What do you think the speaker means when she concludes that ‘We all speak English. But some English is more English than others’? Do you agree with her?

Tutorial 1 (B) - Question 3

Q3. What do you understand by the term ‘Native English Speaker’? Why does Ruby Pan require specification on the variety of English that she, as an English Language Teacher is expected to speak?

Tutorial 1 (B) - Question 2

Q2. Ruby Pan observes that news presenters in Singapore speak in “fake BBC English”, radio DJs speak in “fake American English” and teachers speak with “a stiff upper lip”. What does this suggest about the different roles of ‘Englishes’ in different domains of experience?

Tutorial 1 (B) - Question 1

Q1. The speaker started by referring to the comment made by her American friend - "Wow! Really? But you have no accent!" when he/she found out that the speaker is from Singapore and not California. How does this comment reflect his/her perception of 'accents'?

In my opinion, I think that the speaker's American friend has a perception of 'accents', which actually refers to any other accent except the American accent. Perhaps it is because the American accent is so much a part of his/her life that it becomes a normal way of speech and everyone who does not conform to the American 'accent' is an oddity and therefore has an 'accent'. I think this is also true for most people. For example, in Singapore when we listen to someone talk in English without the Singaporean slang, we perceive that person as outside the norm and having an accent. :P

Please comment! :D

Amy
13AO1E