critical response to video

Linguistics 129 Reiko Kataoka

1. Authors: William Cran and Robert MacNeil. Title: Do You Speak American?: Episode 3. Publisher: Films for the Humanities & Sciences. Publisher location: Princeton, NJ. Year: 2005.

Video Note: Do You Speak American?: Episode 3 1

1. Patricia Lopez, a television show host • What is code-switching? Any examples? When does she use code-switching? When does she use only

English?

2. Two boys speaking in Chicano English • Who speaks Chicano English, English learners or native English speakers? • What are some of the characteristics of Chicano English? (examples of pronunciation and

vocabulary)

3. Steve Harvey, a radio DJ • What does he say when being asked, “Do you speak American?” (key quotes) • What are some of the characteristics of African American English? (examples) • Is he mono-dialectal or bi-dialectal? How can you tell?

4. Daniel Russell, a public elementary school teacher in L.A. • Why does he use the word “translate,” as in translate into mainstream English? • What are some of the sample “translations” made in the class? • Is the translation method effective? How can you tell?

5. Valley Girl speech; 6. Surfer Dude speech; 7. Gay speech • What are some of the characteristics of these sociolects? (example) • Why do speakers embrace a distinct sociolect? What stances might be displayed by the choice of

language variation?

Discussion Question:

1) What are some of the ways by which certain characteristics that are originally used by members of a particular regional/ethnic/cultural community become mainstream speech patterns? 2) What are some of the ways through which prestige/stigma associated with certain forms may change? 3) What is one hypothesis on the origin of African American English (AAE) that has strong support in this film?

Possible sources: Dragojevic (2017); Tottie (2002); Rickford (2002); Shin (2013)