Connection between identity and language

In the general society, there is commonly believed to be a natural connection between the language spoken by members of a social group and that group’s identity, e.g. Italians speak Italian. Indeed even an accent may be more important than speaking the language itself as seen in the comment of a boy participating a study on Breton. He was asked whether being able to speak Breton was a necessary part of being a Breton. He replied, No, it’s much more important to have the accent, that way you know straight away that someone is Breton. (Hoare, 2001). Through their accent and other features of their dialect, speakers identify themselves and are identified as members of this or that speech/discourse community. Crystal wrote ‘If you wish to tell everyone what part of a country you are from, you can wave a flag, wear a label on your coat, or (the most convenient solution, because it is always with you, even in the dark and around corners) speak with a distinctive accent and dialect. Similarly, on the world stage, if you wish to tell everyone what country you belong to, an immediate and direct way of doing it is to speak in a distinctive way’ (2003).

By using accents in speaking English, people bridge the gap between intelligibility and identity. They retain their group identity while communicating with the world at large. This group membership gives them also ‘personal strength and pride, as well as a sense of social importance and historical continuity from using the same language as the group they belong to’ (Kramsch, 1998). Kramsch also stated that group identity is created through highlighting or blurring the lines of race, nationality, ethnicity, language, and so forth. This is even the case even for a minority language, regional or social, that may be highly valued by its speakers for any number of reasons. This close tie between the language and the social identity of ethnolinguistic groups is not to be overlooked though it is important also to keep in mind the following: ‘there is not a one-to-one relation between identity and language. A distinct social, cultural, or ethnic identity does not always have a distinct language as counterpart, while groups with distinct languages may have largely overlapping identities. Furthermore, identities and languages are not monolithic wholes but are clearly differentiated, heterogeneous and variable. This makes their relation in specific situations even more intricate’ (Appel & Muysken, 1987).

Consequences

The strong social group identity created by language and other factors is not only important in social interaction and in identifying others as “the same” but it also forms our judgements of others as “different”. This ultimately leads to a division of in-group and outgroup, in layman’s terms: “us” against “them”. Not only does our social identity shape our evaluations of someone in an out-group, they will also affect our evaluation of our ingroup (Cargile & Giles, 1997). But how to determine and define which group someone belongs to? Human beings do not react on the basis of stimulus and sensory input alone but rather we interpret what we perceive and then react (Edwards, 1999). Perception is a cultural screen window in the mind through which all things filter. “What we perceive about a person’s culture and language is what we have been conditioned by our own culture to see, and the stereotypical models already built around our own” (Kramsch, 1998). We do not create our own attitudes; our attitudes are passed on to us by the generations before us and the society around us. These stereotypes are learned behavior, and persist; although they may or may not reflect the social reality, they are obligatory for our survival (Ladegaard, 1998). (To be continued in Unit 2-15)

UNDERSTANDING THE SUMMARY ORGANIZATION AND EXPLICATION OF KEY FACTS AND IDEAS

Instruction: Getting ready to write a summary keep in mind thatthe first sentence or paragraph often is an opening or a general definition. It may be safe to assume that your reader is already familiar with the subject matter; thus you do not have to include it in your summary.

This can save time and effort for you. But remember that the classification of the principles, concepts and facts is mportant. Ignore specific details about the different principles. Remember that many terms are self-explanatory. Include a description of the problem surrounding correct identification of a particular accent. Provide some support/explanation for the problem, but not all the details. Describe other problems associated with differing speaking modes of ethnically different students. Provide some explanation, but not all the details. Describe the action taken by the author to solve the problem.

More tips for summary writing

1. A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the article's title and author.

2. A summary must contain the main thesis or standpoint of the text, restated in your own words. (To do this, first find the thesis statement in the original text.)

3. A summary is written in your own words. It contains few or no quotes.

4. A summary is always shorter than the original text, often about 1/3 as long as the original. It is the ultimate fat-free writing. An article or paper may be summarized in a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs. A book may be summarized in an article or a short paper. A very large book may be summarized in a smaller book.

5. A summary should contain all the major points of the original text, and should ignore most of the fine details, examples, illustrations or explanations.

6. The backbone of any summary is formed by crucial details (key names, dates, events, words and numbers). A summary must never rely on vague generalities.

7. If you quote anything from the original text, even an unusual word or a catchy phrase, you need to put whatever you quote in quotation marks ("...").

8. A summary must contain only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your own opinions, interpretations, deductions or comments into a summary.

9. A summary, like any other writing, has to have a specific audience and purpose, and you must carefully write it to serve that audience and fulfill that specific purpose.

(After Christine Bauer-Ramazani)

 

Section 2. Grammar workout

Incomplete noun clauses

Noun clauses are the third type of subordinate clause. They begin with noun-clause markers. Noun clauses that are formed from statements begin with the noun-clause marker that. Noun clauses formed from yes/no questions begin with the noun-clause markers whether or if. Those formed from information questions begin with wh- words: what, where, when, and so on.

Examples:

Dr. Hopkins' office is in this building, (statement).

I'm sure that Dr. Hopkins' office is in this building.

Is Dr. Hopkins' office on this floor? (yes/no question).

I don't know if (whether) Dr. Hopkins' office is on this floor.

Where is Dr. Hopkins' office? (information question).

Please tell me where Dr. Hopkins' office is.

Notice that the word order in direct questions is not the same as it is in noun clauses. The noun clause follows statement word order (subject + verb), not question word order (auxiliary + subject + main verb). Often one of the distractors for noun-clause items will incorrectly follow question word order.

Examples:

I don't know what is her name, (incorrect use of question word order). I don't know what her name is, (correct word order)

She called him to ask what time did his party start, (incorrect use of question word order). She called him to ask what time his party started, (correct word order).

Noun clauses function exactly as nouns do: as subjects, as direct objects, or after the verb to be.

Examples:

When the meeting will be held has not been decided, (noun clause as subject).

The weather announcer said that there will be thunderstorms, (noun clause as direct object).

This is what you need, (noun clause after to be).

Notice that when the noun clause is the subject of a sentence the verb in the main clause does not have a noun or pronoun subject.

In structure items, the noun-clause marker, along with any other part of the noun clause –subject, verb, and so on – may be missing from the stem, or the whole noun clause may be missing.

Identify and correct errors involving noun clauses:

One basic question psycholinguists have tried to answer is (children acquire language/how do children acquire language/that children acquire language/how children acquire language).

(Language policy in the European Union is/If language policy in the European Union is/When language policy in the European Union is/That language policy in the European Union is) both ineffective and hypocritical, doesn’t help to promote ideas of linguistic equality and multilingualism in Europe.

(Why has English become a lingua franca/Why English has become a lingua franca/If English has become a lingua franca/By what causes has English become a lingua franca) is obvious and clear.

The traditionally superior position of French in Europe explains (what the French cannot accept in the decline/that the French cannot accept the decline/how the French cannot accept the decline/whether the French cannot accept the decline) of their own linguistic power.

(There is the politically-correct ideologies/It is the politically-correct ideologies/What are the politically-correct ideologies/The politically-correct ideologies) of some sociolinguists, (constantly fuel opposition against/that constantly fuel opposition against/what if constantly fuel opposition against/because they constantly fuel opposition against) the idea of English as a European lingua franca.