H 714 Language and Culture: Perspectives and Methodologies September 19, 2006 Kendra Winner

Agenda  Introductions  Our Group Culture  Course Administration  Critical Response Papers  What is the study of language and culture?

Introductions  Think about your own language … In what way is your language (or languages) important to you and why?  Think about today’s readings … What is one idea from today’s readings that is consonant with or contradicts your current ideas about language and culture?

Our Group Culture  Learning & understanding  Participation & discussion What will I contribute? (top 3) What will my colleagues contribute? (top 3) What will the course instructor contribute? (top 3)

Course Administration  Course Contact Information  Discussion Facilitation Sign up  Your questions about the course

Critical Response Papers  Logistics Two pages, approximately 500 words Four over the course of the semester Due at the beginning of class Only one accepted per class meeting, i.e., you can’t hand in two in one week Last day to turn in a Critical Response Paper is December 12th

Critical Response Papers  Purpose Promote preparation for class Foster critical thinking about the material Support discussion participation

Critical Response Papers  Evaluation Criteria Developing a critical stance, position or point of view Utilizing evidence/theories from readings as support Comparing/contrasting different theories presented Analyzing ambiguities, consistencies, lack of clarity Interpreting current week’s readings using previous readings/theories Extending ideas from reading to practice/experiences Identifying future research questions

The Study of Language and Culture  A rose by any other name ….. Anthropological Linguistics Linguistic Anthropology Sociolinguistics

Key Contributions to the Field  Franz Boas No necessary association between a given language and a given race or between a given language and a given culture Ethnographic work should be done using the native language of communities Lack of certain linguistic forms is not evidence of lack of abstract thought Extended unit of analysis beyond “word” level to sentence level

Key Contributions to the Field  Dell Hymes Reciprocal influence of language and culture Communicative competence Extended unit of analysis to include acts, situations, events Speakers as performers

Giving up your own language variety …  Situational Changes  Language Loyalty  Outside motivational forces  Personal language history (e.g., Poly-lingual family, second or third language learner, original language)  Politics of assimilation

Key Contributions to the Field  Schieffelin & Ochs First research conducted which fully integrated study of the acquisition of grammar with the acquisition of other cultural patterns Created the field of language socialization:  The process of getting socialized through language  The process of getting socialized to language Conceived of language socialization as a life-long process

What is culture?

 A shared organization of ideas that includes the intellectual, moral and aesthetic standards prevalent in a community and the meanings of communicative actions. Levine, R. (1984) Properties of Culture: An ethnographic view.

What is culture?  Collective  Organized  Multiply complex & irreducible  Variable

Discussion Question  Some have suggested the presence of two camps in linguistics: one which looks at the universal characteristics of language and the other which focuses on variation and/or continual change. How do Boas, Hymes, Ochs & Shieffelin work with these seemingly dichotomous approaches?

“... if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity--I am my language.” Gloria Anzaldua