Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 1 by Jeff Conn About me, you and this lecture – What do you hope to gain from this lecture? Jeff Conn’s Webpage: web.pdx.edu/~connjcweb.pdx.edu/~connjc Information about this lecture at:

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 2 by Jeff Conn (voiceless sounds on the left) First, a quick Phonetics review of English

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 3 by Jeff Conn Non circled vowels = lax vowels

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 4 by Jeff Conn Sociolinguistics  The study of language in its social contexts  The correlation of linguistic variation and social factors  Speech community - group of people who share some set of social conventions (socioling norms) regarding language use  Accent - pronunciation  Dialect - includes pronunciation (phonological/phonetic), but also includes grammatical, lexical and language usage - MFL exampleMFL example  Some examples of homophones for some -- hock/hawk, caller/collar, cot/caught, Don/Dawn

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 5 by Jeff Conn Sociolinguistics  Dialects in North America are mutually intelligible - the differences do not impede communication totally  Dialect continuum – go village by village, from northwestern France to southern Italy and each adjacent village can understand each other, although Parisians cannot understand Romans.  Variety - used as a more neutral term for dialect or language  Issues between dialect differences versus language differences are linguistic and political  What are some dialect differences in China?

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 6 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change – dialect (and language) differences due to linguistic change over time  Some social factors interacting with linguistic variation:  REGION* - what are the major dialects/accents spoken in America? REGION  Sex/Gender  Social class*  Age  Ethnicity*  Style Sociolinguistics

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 7 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change - Region  Regional varieties described in terms of lexical choices done through Linguistic Atlas creation  Dialectologists looked at NORMs - (non-mobile old rural men)  Asked what is the word you use for...  Plotted variation on a map and drew lines – isoglosses  Craig Carver, 1987 – Used Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) which looked at lexical variation to identify dialects of N. American English  Now sociolinguists look at urban populations and exam different regions in terms of what is happening in the cities with respect to language change  Labov, Ash and Boberg, 2005: Lingusitic Atlas of North American English = large scale phonological survey of North American English American Tongues – Chapter 10

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 8 by Jeff Conn What are the different regional accents in your opinion?

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 9 by Jeff Conn Dialect regions according to some dialectologists/sociolinguists American Tongues – Chapter 5

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 10 by Jeff Conn Dialect regions according to some dialectologists/sociolinguists

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 11 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change – cot vs. caught From Linguistic Atlas of N American English

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 12 by Jeff Conn Some “general” American pronunciation Voiced sounds (like b, d, g, j) are not really voiced in beginning and end of a word in isolation – dad = [ d  Qd  ] almost like ‘tat’ Voiceless stops (p, t, k) have aspiration after (little puff of air) before the vowel (when stop occurs right before vowel and no s in front). Contrast bit [ b  It ] pit [ pHIt ] and spit [ spIt ] North American t – Can be aspirated at the beginning of a word (immediately before a vowel) as in tip [ tHIp ]. Can become glottal stop (shut off air in throat) at end of word as in cat [ kHQt? ]. Can be glottal stop before a nasal with unstressed vowel as in kitten [ kHI?  n ]. Between vowels (second vowel is unstressed) it becomes a tap (like a d) as in writer [ raIR  ] which comes out the same as rider because this happens to d too – rider [ raIR  ] American English r – dialect differences but all dialects have some r. Say “uh” and curl tip of tongue up to roof of mouth.

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 13 by Jeff Conn General American - Vowel Reduction  In unstressed syllables, vowels become more central  Common reduced vowels in English: high central unrounded vowel

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 14 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change  Some dialects in North America have no r at the ends of words (car, card, guard, etc). For them, r can only be the beginning of a syllable.  Includes New York City, Boston, New England and some older southern styles (like Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, Richmond, VA)  American Tongues Chapter 17, 44:24  post-vocalic r (car, card, guard, etc) post-vocalic r  William Labov - NYC - listen to a New YorkerNYClisten to a New Yorker

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 15 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change  Style and ling change interacts with social class   William Labov’s department store study

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 16 by Jeff Conn Interpreting Labov, 1994

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 17 by Jeff Conn Interpreting Labov, 2001

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 18 by Jeff Conn Different Vowel Systems – Philly Bonnie - listen C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 19 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change  Regional difference by vowel production shifts (language change) over time  Northern Cities Shift (play Chicago sample - 3mins) Northern Cities Shift Chicago sample O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2009). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 20 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change  The Southern Shift (Play Arkansas 2mins; play Eng 3mins;Arkansas 2minsEng 3mins O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2009). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 21 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change  The California/Canada Shift (Play Cali - 1:45; Ontario 2:15)CaliOntario 2:15 O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2009). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 22 by Jeff Conn Different Vowel Systems - Portland C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 23 by Jeff Conn “Do You Speak American” – watch video for examples of regional linguistic variation – jot down notes about anything surprising or parts that were hard to understand Watch clips of video in class – the website here: Conn article on Portland speech is here:

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 24 by Jeff Conn Let’s try to sound Southern Let’s try to sound Northern (Northern Cities Shift) Let’s try to sound Californian (maybe west coast in general)

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 25 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change - Attitudes  There are many different varieties - what is correct? Standard English is just one of many different varietieswhat is correct  Linguistics try to describe these varieties and all the varieties are equal in linguistics terms  Are other dialects mutually intelligible – here some sounds here from the Northern Cities area: Northern Cities Shift (not #5)Northern Cities Shift

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 26 by Jeff Conn What are the consequences of speaking a non-standard dialect? What is standard American English? Is there a standard pronunciation? What happens if someone speaks non-standard in China? What are the consequences? Listen to clips from American Tongues – Funny Accents track, Chapter 12 (negative feelings toward southern American), American Tongues Chapter 17, 44:24

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 27 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change  Ethnicity - Chicano English, African American Vernacular English, Native American English; etc.Chicano EnglishAfrican American Vernacular English  AAVE - shares features with other English dialects  Phonological features part of other varieties  Habitual be, copula deletion - more elaborate than standard English  The coffee cold today. (One time event)  The coffee be cold here. (Habitual)

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 28 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change  Ethnicity - African American Vernacular English,African American Vernacular English From O’Grady, et. al

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 29 by Jeff Conn Linguistic variation and change – Listen to clips from DYSA  Ethnicity - African American Vernacular English,African American Vernacular English From O’Grady, et. al

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 30 by Jeff Conn What are the benefits for teaching English with knowledge of variation? Knowledge of the different types of English students will encounter will help them prepare. All language has variation, so to NOT acknowledge that is to limit our knowledge of the language. Need to understand the repercussions for speaking in a non- standard way Language and identity connected – American Tongues 52:27 – do we accept differences?

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 31 by Jeff Conn Teaching pedagogy As far as teaching style, I prefer a very informal setting. While lectures are good, I believe lectures with laughter are better. Why? I think that students grasp the knowledge better if they can interpret it through their own experience. I think an emotional connection to the information is vital for having it mean something to the student rather than just processing information. While some students are great at processing information on a very rational/objective level, I feel I reach more students if I can access their emotional/subjective level of understanding. Through this (what Krashen in Second Language Acquisition calls an Affective Filter), I think students will not only gain a more thorough understanding of the material, but it will also be more valuable to them.

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 32 by Jeff Conn Video and Internet Sources: American Tongues video - Nice examples of different American dialects, mostly regional dialects, some profanity, a little outdated, good examples of how every day people feel about dialects Do You Speak American – website and video Nice examples of a lot of different American Englishes, regional differences as well as ethnic differences, linguist viewpoint (very descriptive with little information on attitudes toward language), a little long and not all is relevant, good web resources that can be used with video including teacher’s guide Conn article on Portland accent: International Dialects of English Archive - Great examples of many types of English, a little hard to find some good accent productions (not all speakers have strong regional accents) Resources

Suzhou English Educators’ Program at PSU Slide 33 by Jeff Conn Some Useful Books: Labov, W. (1994) Principles of Lingusitic Change, Volume 1: Internal Factors. Oxford: Blackwell. (Very technical information about language change) Labov, W. (2001) Principles of Lingusitic Change, Volume 2: Social Factors. Oxford: Blackwell. (Very technical but detailed including Labov’s Philadelphia Study.) Milroy, L. and Gordon, M. (2003) Sociolinguistics: Method and Interpretation. Oxford: Blackwell. (Good information about field and methodology of sociolinguistics – some technical linguistic knowledge required, not a lot of actual examples) Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 1: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press. Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 2: The British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press. Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press. (Good descriptions of different accents, focuses on pronunciation, mainly descriptive and not as theoretical as others) *Wolfram, W. and Schilling-Estes, N. (2006) American English. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 2nd Edition. (Best choice for beginners – assumes some linguistic technical knowledge, many specific examples) Resources