WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM BAD ENGLISH PRESENTATION FOR ENGLISH TODAY, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM “BAD ENGLISH”

PRESENTATION FOR ENGLISH TODAY, NEAT SEMINAR ELIZABETH PETERSON

• descriptive (socio) linguist

DESCRIPTIVE SOCIOLINGUIST …?

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1) all (spoken) languages change over time 2) all spoken languages are equal in linguistic terms 3) grammaticality and communicative effectiveness are distinct and independent issues (vis Chomsky’s proficiency vs performance and de Saussure’s langue vs parole) 4) written language and spoken language are historically, structurally, and functionally different creatures 5) variation is intrinsic to all spoken languages at every level (Lippi-Green 2012)

DESCRIPTIVE IDEOLOGIES

STANDARD LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES

speakers are not equipped to care for their own language; whatever it is that they have learned before they enter school and subsequently learn “the right way” does not count.

IMPLICATION:

RELATIONSHIP OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE TO SLI

dissemination of written language standardization codification prescriptivism, SLI

19/09/15 ¡ "Bad English" 6 ¡

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Lippi-Green (2012:61): “The myth of standard language persists because it is carefully tended and propagated, with huge, almost universal success, so that language, the most fundamental of human socialization tools, becomes a commodity. This is the core of an ideology of standardization which empowers certain individuals and institutions to make these decisions and impose them on others.”

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The ¡three ¡circles ¡model ¡of ¡English ¡in ¡the ¡world, ¡ based ¡on ¡Kachru ¡1986 ¡

Bottom-up learning: 1) individual learning of English; influence is from “the bottom up” 2) different style of English than historically, influenced by AmEng but also by AAVE 3) learning the grammar is not seen as important; the learners are not prescriptive 4) English is used for lingua franca purposes (Melchers & Shaw 2003: 183)

GLOBAL CULTURE / YOUTH CULTURE

Global and Regional Variation 10 ¡

SEPARATED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE?

INDIAN ENG MORPHOLOGY

• reduplication: small small favor
• countability of non-counts: furnitures, luggages
• addition of prepositions/particles: Everyone is

dismissing off my proposal.

• use of progressive in stative verbs: I am knowing

the answer.

• lack of articles (by some users)

(Sailaja 2009)

IE SYNTACTIC FEATURES

• yes/no questions

Hasn’t the president left for Nairobi? UK, US: Yes, he has left for Nairobi / No, he hasn’t left for Nairobi. Indian: Yes, he hasn’t left for Nairobi / No, he has left for Nairobi.

(Bhatia 2004; see also Sailaja 2009)

Indian English Dictionary

Helping Business People to Communicate with India

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— Special forms of semantics, grammatical features, spelling, etc. “[AA youth] obviously value language knowledge and are willing to learn the orthographic, grammatical, lexical and phonological rules of both AAE and GE. And these rules become the grist of their power

• discourse. Yet, educators routinely consider AA youths’ powerful

knowledge of language to be in conflict with formal learning and education goals. This is a tragedy not only for youth whose identity is

• ften attacked through language, but for society at large, who treat

black youths’ identification with their community as a national problem” (Morgan 2002: 131).

WASTED RESOURCES?

• “While the notion of Blinglish points us back at one level to the idea of a

homogenizing spread of language and culture, as kids around the world imitate African American speech forms, it is also worth considering that if it is indeed disenfranchised African Americans who are spearheading the global dominance of North American language and culture … then we are looking at forms of expression of resistance to dominant white culture becoming a dominant global cultural norm” (Pennycook 2007: 3).

THE LOGIC OF “BAD ENGLISH”

AAE English yourself yourself hisself himself herself herself

• urselves
• urselves

yourselves yourselves theirselves themselves

Finnish Swedish English AAE (and others) (minä) puhun jag pratar I talk I talk (sinä) puhut du pratar you talk you talk (hän) puhuu han/hon pratar he/she talks he/she talk (te) puhutte ni pratar you talk you talk (he) puhuvat de pratar they talk they talk

LOGICAL?

LOGICAL?

Swedish English AAE (and others) jag var I was I was du var you were you was han/hon var he/she was he/she was ni var you were you was de var they were they was

UNIVERSALS CHECKLIST

AAE ELF L1 Eng pidgins

• 1. -ing à -in

X X ? X

• 2. CC simplification

X X X X

• 3. final obstruent

devoicing X ? X X

• 4. leveling of

irregular verbs X X X X

• 5. default singulars

in verbs X X X X

• 6. multiple negation

X X X X

• 7. copula absence

X ? X X

A CHANGE IN ATTITUDES = BETTER EQUALITY

Baugh 2007: Linguists have a moral duty to make their findings public

• Resulting in such changes in policy, for example, as in Ann Arbor,

Michigan

• “[linguists …] embody an ethos of human equality among all people,

and therein lies the direct and indirect relevance to the global quest for racial justice …” (Baugh 2007: 344). compare to Milroy 2001:

• “…linguists do indeed have an ideological agenda – to alter public
• pinions on language use. They are not at this point disinterested

scientists, and the public is correct to perceive this” (J. Milroy 2001: 538).

• “Good English” is socially constructed and reinforced; it reflects social

biases

• not supported from a linguistic point of view
• it is commonly believed that “Good English” can’t be entrusted to the

common people; it requires some sort of social expertise, reflecting mainstream, hegemonic values

• the idea of Standard Language is something relatively new in English,

coming from written standards and mass media

WHAT ABOUT TRANSLATORS, TEACHERS AND EDITORS?

Baugh, ¡John. ¡2007. ¡LinguisPc ¡ContribuPons ¡to ¡the ¡Advancement ¡of ¡Racial ¡JusPce ¡Within ¡ and ¡Beyond ¡the ¡African ¡Diaspora. ¡Language ¡and ¡Linguis+cs ¡Compass ¡1 ¡(4): ¡331-­‑349. ¡ ¡ Kachru, ¡Braj. ¡1986. ¡The ¡alchemy ¡of ¡English: ¡The ¡spread, ¡func+on, ¡and ¡models ¡in ¡non-­‑ ¡ na+ve ¡English. ¡Oxford: ¡Oxford ¡University ¡Press/Illini ¡Press. ¡ Lippi-­‑Green, ¡Rosina. ¡2012. ¡English ¡with ¡an ¡Accent. ¡Routledge. ¡ Melchers, ¡Gunnel ¡and ¡Philip ¡Shaw. ¡2003. ¡World ¡Englishes: ¡An ¡Introduc+on. ¡Arnold. ¡ Milroy, ¡James. ¡2001. ¡Language ¡ideologies ¡and ¡the ¡consequences ¡of ¡standardizaPon. ¡ Journal ¡of ¡Sociolinguis+cs ¡5 ¡(4): ¡530-­‑555. ¡ ¡ Morgan, ¡Marcyliena. ¡2002. ¡Language, ¡Discourse ¡and ¡Power ¡in ¡African ¡American ¡Culture. ¡ Cambridge ¡University ¡Press. ¡ ¡ Pennycook, ¡Alistair. ¡2007. ¡Global ¡Englishes ¡and ¡Transcultural ¡Flows. ¡Routledge. ¡ Sailaja, ¡Pingali. ¡2009. ¡Indian ¡English. ¡Edinburgh ¡University ¡Press. ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡

Questions or comments? elizabeth.peterson@helsinki.fi

THANK YOU