Use of Style Shifting and Codeswitching in the English Language Style shifting in a language and codeswitching between languages are used for many different reasons. In this essay I will examine both the process of style shifting in English and codeswitching between English and other languages. I will look at the functions these processes serve, the reasons for their occurrence and the linguistic changes that occur in these processes. Style Shifting Style shifting is a method of altering your speech to suit a particular situation. The situation can dictate the style of speech you choose to use. If you are in an informal situation you will probably speak differently, perhaps more colloquially, than if you are in a formal situation. However, it is not only the formality of a situation which determines how one speaks. There are many other factors to consider. Allan Bell’s theory of audience design argues that your speaking style varies according to the audience you are speaking to. Bell studied New Zealand newsreaders on various radio stations and discovered that more formal pronunciation was used on stations where the audience was known to consist of professional, educated people. Interestingly, some of the newsreaders worked on several stations and their pronunciation would change to suit the style of the station (p.301 course book). Bell examined the pronunciation of the letter /t/ in words such as ‘writer’ and ‘better’. He discovered that the /t/ was pronounced more formally on stations with a professional audience. Peter Trudgill also compared the pronunciation of /t/ in his own speech to that of people he... ... middle of paper ... ...meone speaks the whole context of a situation is taken into account. The speaker's perception of the audience, the topic of conversation, the setting of the conversation and the types of social relationship are all considered before someone speaks. In this essay I have discussed the processes of codeswitching and style shifting. I have looked at different reasons for the occurrences of these processes and the motivations behind them. I have also discussed the grammatical constraints applied to the processes. Bibliography GRADDOL, D., LEITH, D., and SWANN, J., (eds) (1996) English: history, diversity and change, Routledge in association with The Open University (course book) University College of London Phonetics department website (www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/queen2.htm) entered on 23/3/03
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
Not only does this happen in the real world, but it also occurs in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Calpurnia talks to the people at her church differently than the way she talks with Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem go to church with Calpurnia (their “second mother”), but this church is mainly for the people of color--which Scout and Jem are not--but Calpurnia is. At church, Calpurnia is greeted by Lula, who starts to speak in a way that seemed strange to both Jem and Scout. The way that African Americans and white people spoke were different from each other, because the African American way of talking sounded more like “slang”, while the white people had a more “sophisticated” way of speaking. Lula and Calpurnia ended up talking to each other in their “slang,” which shook Scout because Calpurnia spoke “in tones [Scout] never heard her use”(135). Scouts reaction leads you to believe as if Calpurnia was speaking a whole different language--even though it’s in English-- but, it’s in a different pronunciation of words. Even though Calpurnia knows how to speak “better”, she doesnt because “folks dont like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do,” (143). Calpurnia doesn’t need to show everyone at church that she can talk a different way, almost seeming better than the people at her church. She has a character that makes her seem on top of the people that she is
Amy Tan has provided her experience about growing up with different types of English language. She told a story about her encounter with the different types of English she uses with her husband and her mother and how these languages are apart of her life. I never would’ve thought that written language differed from spoken language, until Tan told her story. Her experiences were quite emotional, because she had to pretend to be her mother on the telephone. The communicators on the other end of the line did not understand Tan’s mother or take her very seriously, which I found to be uncivil. It’s important for people to learn to be patient with those who need time to speak and those who have trouble with a secondary language.
When it comes to the education of the English language, every class tends to have their different views on what is constituted as proper writing. These views, also known as prescriptive rules, create many flaws for children growing up with an education which eventually will impact the general English language. A shibboleth, known as a word or way of speaking and behaving which proves that a person belongs to a particular group, is one of Pinker’s ways of explaining how proper writing within a class is depicted (Pinker 375). In his reading The Language Mavens, Pinker states that prescriptive rules have to be enforced consistently in order to be understood, providing a brief understanding that language may be
Furthermore, technology affected my language in more ways than one. Before technology humans would communicate through letters or in person. Everything was written out in full sentence and in details. But once technology was introduced everything started to become abbreviated/ shortened. There is even sometimes where no words could be spoken but an emoji can be sent and the person receiving the message would be able to completely understand. In the article Is Texting Killing the English Language? it states “Civilization, then, is fine — people banging away on their smartphones are fluently using a code separate from the one they use in actual writing, and there is no evidence that texting is ruining composition skills. Worldwide people speak
Analyzing dialects can be difficult due to the fact that is it hard to transcribe the pronunciation of an individual dialect because English is not spelled the same way it is pronounced. Furthermore, one person’s interpretation of spelling a dialect might not match up with another’s, so the reader might not “hear” the dialect properly. Regardless, written versions of dialects are essential to discussing dialectical differences.
Most of us adjust the way we speak for the person or people we’re speaking to. This can be as subtle as speaking slowly for a child, or as obvious as switching to another language entirely. Depending on our situation or surroundings, we may change the way we express ourselves. The term for this is code-switching. Code switching is the practice of shifting between different languages or different ways of speaking or expressing yourself in a conversation with someone. Code-switching occurs when we begin “hop-scotching” between different cultural and linguistic spaces, moving between different parts of our own identities. It usually occurs within a single interaction. Once you become aware of
The English language has changed tremendously throughout the course of history. It began when the Germanic tribes began immigrating to Britain in the third century. The Anglo-Saxon language evolved into Middle English when France invaded Britain in 1066. The English we know today has flourished from the beginning of our technological advances. The modern English language spoken today began with defining advances of technology including the printing press, vehicles of transportation, and devices used to communicate.
As you walk around just take the second to notice that almost everyone you passed is quickly twiddling their thumbs across their phone screen. Ding. Someone’s iPhone just received a new text, two-seconds later, Swoosh. Did you figure out what the New Age English Language is yet? Yes, you are correct, texting. Since the first text message was set on December 3, 1992, our english language has been growing and evolving and it not stopping yet. Critics will claim that texting is destroy our english language as a whole. These critics do not understand that texting has formed from our modern day english. When thinking of texting, many fail to see that texting has become one of the newest form of the english language. In order to have a successful educational experience, one must be able to incorporate the benefits of texting which include having a strong understanding of grammar
new environment. We need to give him some time until he becomes familiar with his
English spoken today has been deformed by the sense of quickness used to convey messages on devices such as phones or computers. But it's a necessity when trying to talk about something newer or modern. Betty Birner states in her article Is English Changing? "This isn't a bad thing; if English hadn't changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn't have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV. As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language." It's not always a bad thing for language to change, however it is changing in two ways; One is the good type of change, the other is a far less intuitive way of speaking and communicating.
Language variation, whether across different regions or different social groups, is a complex topic with a plethora of factors worthy of investigation. As Figure A and Figure B show, there are some interesting patterns that develop as a result of such factors. The following analysis will consider ways in which a variety of issues can begin to explain the reasons for such correlation in the data. Specifically, ways in which methodological factors, linguistic prestige, and the notion of speech communities and ‘class’, all play a contributory role, will be considered.
...nt on L2 English stresses, on which this study positions itself. Besides, I investigate the basic ideas of way of life and also the past hypotheses about social character, and conceptualize personality inside the extent of social personality. I additionally show how the present study approaches personality. Finally, I search the past experimental studies which incorporate the issues of both stress and character. These studies incorporate the issues of English dialect taking in and educating, and the speaker's character (re)constructions. In the wake of evaluating the past studies, I present the reason for this study, and also its noteworthiness to the field of English training. From these three steps, I give a standpoint of the issues of stress and character encompassing L2 English speakers, and present my point of view on these issues as the essential specialist.
Introduction to the differences between speaking and writing in English in a variety of contexts, when considering varieties of English.
According to Mesthrie (2009), Fishman defines language choice as “who speaks what language to whom and when” (p.147). A speaker can change the way they speak according to whom they are talking to. This process was explained by Giles in terms of speech accommodation theory (p. 150). In some cases speakers tend to imitate a variety in order to fit; therefore they make a linguistic change. Allan Bell (1984) found that newsreaders on New Zealand radio stations tailored their pronunciations to different audiences, depending on whether they were broadcasting on national radio or a local community station (p.151), this is an example of accommodation. When speakers want to let others know of their variety and do not accommodate, it is called agency. Researches tried to explain why people vary the way they speak in interaction with others. The technique used by investigators was the matched guise and it helps to know how listeners may have linguistic attitudes towards different language varieties. The technique consists on recording a same person reading in two or more different languages. The recording is presented to