sociolinguistics – Page 4 – Educational Sociolinguistics

How to talk like cool kids

By Mengting Liu

Urban dictionary has become the most frequently used tool for me recently.

As I becoming to know more and more young people from parties and social medias in Montreal, I find out that they talk in a certain way, in which tons of slangs are used. In order to blend in their group, which is composed of Hip-Hop lovers, party goers and “fashion killers”, etc., I start to learn and imitate the way they talk.

“Ayeee, fam, wassup” is for daily greetings; “I dig” means “I understand”; “on fleek” means “flawless, perfect”; “clean” stands for “good, superb”; “no cap” represents “I’m not lying”; “no shade” equals to “no offence”; “Travis Scott is GOAT! Dat tour was liiiit!” means “Travis Scott is the Greatest Of All Time”…

Deciphering “Konglish”

Chris

Having recently returned to Canada after 4 years in Korea, I find myself using Korean variations for English words without realizing it. This form of language is known as “Konglish” (McPhail, 2018), and basically describes words that have been appropriated from English, and repackaged into Korean. Sometimes the words are shortened, distorted or have their meanings completely changed. This would explain the reason that when I go hiking, I cheer on others with a hearty “paiting !”, while simultaneously throwing an energetic fist into the air. “Paiting” being the English derivative of “fighting” or meaning to do battle, but in this case is used as encouragement. It basically means “you can do it!”. In English we can fight a foe, for love, or even an illness but we cannot fight a mountain. So the word has been taken out of context and has even changed a bit since Hangul (the Korean alphabet) cannot compensate for the sound made by our letter “f”.

A Look at Franglais in a Work of Quebec Fiction: noms fictifs

Brian

As Heller (2008) describes, culture in Quebec is something in which the government and Quebec society have invested a great deal of energy and money. As a result, the arts are thriving, and Quebec writers are able to take advantage of subsidized publishers, an enthusiastic public, and opportunities to export their work to francophone countries in Europe, where it is promoted as Quebec culture. This is in contrast to English Canadian writers, who have greater opportunity to see their work get recognized by the Anglo-American mainstream, but more barriers to publishing and less local support. I’m generalizing to an extent, but these are factors in why English-Canadian writers from Montreal are less likely to use vernacular than their francophone counterparts.

noms fictifs, by Olivier Sylvestre, was released in 2018 and was a finalist for the French-language Governor-General’s award in fiction, among other prizes. While a work of fiction, the entire book is told in verse, another trait that is unusual for English-language fiction. Because of this structure, there is extra focus on language, which makes it a good study for both Quebec slang and franglais, or, as we could also call it, bilingual repertoire.

It’s not easy to answer “how are you”…

Yunjie Xue

At the first two months when I had come to Montreal, the most “terrifying” and “dreadful” thing for me was to respond to “How are you?” asked by other nice, friendly people here—And imagine, I had to do it at any time and anywhere!

For sure I understand that is merely a simple and common greeting, but I just cannot get accustomed to it. This question always makes me feel very nervous and think a lot: Does he/she ask how I am going? Oh, he/she is such a kind person concerning about me! Should I say “thank you” and “how are you” back? Actually, I am so pleased now because I have just finished one of my assignments. So should I tell the person about it? But if I tell, it seems like we are going to have a formal conversation. If I don’t tell, what else could I do? Maybe I should give he/her a smile… Don’t call me a drama queen. It is literally what I went through in mind when asked about “how are you” at the very beginning.

Thoughts on Accessibility and Tooting My Own Horn

Max Jack-Monroe

Over the past several months, I’ve thought a lot about the idea of accessibility to knowledge. As a student at a renowned university with a plethora of resources at my disposal, I have privilege that most don’t. Especially as someone studying topics such as language and gender and sexuality, which are of worldwide importance, it often makes me feel uneasy to know and talk about things that don’t have the resources and/or space to.

Last semester, I was presented with concrete examples as to how to make knowledge more accessible to people outside of the academia bubble. In my Women’s Studies class, my professor, Dr. Alex Ketchum, an alum of McGill who is now a course lecturer at the school, brought our attention to some of the work she has done throughout the past several years in order to bring her dissertation topic to the masses. She has created websites and twitter accounts that are easy to find, easy to read, updated often. Now anyone, regardless of background, who is interested in learning more about feminist cafés, coffeehouses, and restaurants has access to that information at their fingertips. Dr. Ketchum continues to work hard to make knowledge accessible, which is the theme of one of her latest undertakings, The Feminist and Accessible Publishing, Communications, and Technologies Practices Speaker and Workshop Series.

Seeing Dr. Ketchum’s work and reflecting on my own experience, I decided to make a website related to my research interest of queer language and sociolinguistics. Especially as queer people have long depended on the internet as a safe haven and a knowledge hub, a website seemed like the inherent way to get information out to the masses, queer and otherwise. Queerlanguage.com is still very much in its early stages, but it truly is a labour of love, and, I see it as much more than a simple class project. The website includes information that would otherwise only be available to someone with access to a university database and/or sufficient amounts of time and effort, as well as the words of everyday queer people and their own experiences with queer language and sociolinguistics.

Weird language and culture attitude from the social context in Taiwan

Chingheng Chang

Are you proud of your languages, identities, and cultures? How would you think of the crystallization of wisdom and brilliant civilization from your ancestors? I believe most of you are so proud of yourselves because the invaluable assets passed from generation to generation have made what you are today. However, negative attitude toward local Taiwanese dialect and self-identity can be obviously reflected through the social contexts, and I think many of my compatriots are not even aware of it from what they say and think.

People in Taiwan once experienced a forced visible language planning, which is a plan by Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist government) that all local Taiwanese people were forced to learn Mandarin and abandon Taiwanese dialect. The reason for the state to implement such “cultural purification” is to “de-Japanize¹” and “make the once colonized Taiwanese people great citizens with Chinese culture²” (Hsiau, 1997, p.305).

How many styles of English do you speak?

Mengting H.

Do you speak the same English when you talk with your partners, peers, parents, co-workers, and supervisors? At least, I do not. More importantly, I find many people change their styles of language too.

I have an African friend here in Montreal. He has been living here for almost 8 years and he can speak English and French with almost no accent. I remember one day I heard him talking over the phone with his closest friends who were back in hometown. Surprisingly, I could not fully understand his English! He pronounced words differently and he used very different vocabulary and expressions.

After his call, I asked, “Do you know you were speaking a different English?”

“Yeah, I did that on purpose. That’s my friend. I don’t want him to feel that I changed.” he replied.

Problematizing “For Example”

Teachers often use examples to illustrate the point they want to make. As a language teacher, I am not an exception. While giving examples in my classes, I used to make many culturally embedded references, and when I did, many students’ showed a heightened interest. However, while I was reading Van Herk’s What is Sociolinguistics?, I became increasingly uncomfortable with the examples he used in the textbook. I have been thinking about this sense of unease for a long time, but I wasn’t sure how to articulate it until I read an article written by Patricia Duff (2004), and I found what it was that bothered me.

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“You cannot teach me English because you are Asian!”

By Xiaoke Sun

Hey, everyone!

This post is a real story happened lately about myself being Asian and becoming an English teacher in Montreal Chinese heritage school. It happens to correspond with the topic of ethnicity and language learning that we have talked previously. I would like to share the story, and you are more than welcomed to help me to figure out my current puzzle.

For quite a long time, I have questioned what is the fundamental criteria to be an English teacher. There is no doubt that having an advanced language proficiency is necessary. Besides, English pronunciation, as mentioned by Yerim in the previous post, is also commonly judged by people as it demonstrates one’s capacity to express themselves and to be understood. Despite of other factors, such as the ability of curriculum design, assessment, and so on, can it be concluded that one’s ability to exercise a language equals to one’s qualification for being an English teacher? If not, what other factors could influence the way of learning and teaching?

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Sociolinguistic noticing for language learners

By Melissa J. Enns

Have you ever noticed how effortlessly you switch registers in your first language? Have you ever wondered why it’s easy for you to identify where a character in a story or movie is from based on the way she speaks? Probably not, because mostly, you just know.

It may be easy for you, but second language learners are often at a disadvantage in picking up on these subtleties, and this can be socially and academically problematic. Van Herk (2012) states that “although teachers are aware of the stylistic range that their students might need, their own language ideologies or limited teaching time lead them to focus on the standard end of language” (183). While I agree with his statement, I dislike the truth of it. As teachers, we (hopefully) strive to meet students’ linguistic needs to the very best of our abilities, but failing to give them the tools of sociolinguistic evaluation leaves them disadvantaged socially and academically. Please allow me to explain.

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