I was surprised to find I considered a lot of points in this article to be general knowledge. People judge others based on how they look so it makes sense they are judged on how they sound as well. Also, the idea that people who speak with a southern drawl have little to no formal education has been a common misconception for years. I liked how the article touched on another common misconception, the misconception that things were better "back in the good ol' days". Holding on to an archaic speech pattern seems just as silly to me as holding on to the belief that alcohol is an appropriate anesthetic. As we all know, "older" is not synonymous with "better". As a culture changes, so should their respective language. The article also contained a lot of information that was new to me. I had never heard of "case marking" although I use its patterns every day. Along with this idea of patterns, I found it very interesting when the author said that "we must give up the idea of errors and accept the idea of patterns." One person is not wrong just because they say something differently than another person would say it. We choose our words and how we say them based on experiences, who we're speaking with, and our mood at the time. Simply put, we follow our own pattern.
I liked the part about playing the game telephone as an experiment. It is funny to see how the beginning messege changes as it goes along the group of people. I used to play this game with friends and most of the time it changed just like in this experiment. Choosing words is based upon how an individual was grown up and how/who they are communicating with. My english teacher always said that English is the hardest language to learn. Like this article said, language is always chaning and the author mentions we must accept the idea of patterns.
In Donna Jo Napoli's piece on "Whose Speech is Better," I found much of the material to be common knowledge, but she still made very interesting points throughout the article. I fully agree that someone is judged on their speech, and we have all taken a part in this at one point and time in our lives. For example, if you needed to hire a lawyer, 9 out of 10 people are probably going to hire the person who speaks very clear and pronounces all of their words (the way they believe is correct). We may not be right to judge others in this way, but we are quick to judge and first impressions mean everything. Though I say this, everyone is brought up in different ways and taught to speak a certain way. We tend to become our surrounding environment and pick up on the language as we grow (starting at birth). This does not make one language superior to the other, it just makes everyone's own individual language unique. Many people may pronounce their words through speech more clear than others, but this does not make them right nor wrong. Everyone has a certain way of talking and accenting their words, therefore creating unique speech. Nobody's speech is better. We all have our own individual language, pronunciation of words, and use of accents in our speech.
I found the article to be very interesting. Although some of the material was common knowledge, I enjoyed reading about the different examples that the author used. I like the telephone exercise and also the example when the man was changing his voice. This article made me think about our first writing assignment that we just had to do. The girl that I interviewed has a very different accent than myself. Dialects and accents are a part of any language. I agree with the author of this article, that no language is superior. I also agree that as culture changes, so should language. Overall, it was a great article.
This article makes some interesting points. First off, I would have to agree with the author in that we do not all hear things the same way. I find myself not hearing what some people say right. I don't realize that i hear people wrong until they give me a weird look from responding to them in a non-related sentence.
I found this article interesting because it made me think about the differences within the English language and different dialects. When I have observed two people conversing that happen to be from opposite ends of the country conversing, I have noticed that they legitimately have a dificult time understanding each other even though they speak the same language. I also agree with the author, that no specific language or dialect is superior, but more culturally "neutral" accents that are now considered the mainstream because of media influence are often easier to understand and seen as more universal in a nation where media has a large influence on our perceptions of what is the norm.
I really enjoyed this article, because often times things get lost in communication whether its a misunderstanding/mishearing or even saying something when you mean another. I agree with this author when he says we do not all hear the same way. All in all it was interesting.
This article was very interesting. I have played the game where you whisper a sentence into someone's ear and go around the group until the last person says out loud the sentence that they heard, and it is never the same phrase that the first person said. This was done with people who were all from the same area and all spoke English, so I'm sure if you mix up the diversity of accents and languages it would definitely not turn out the same. I do think that it is bad that assumptions are formed about people by the way that they speak, but I guess it is no different than people being judged by the way that they look. I also think it is interesting that the author pointed out how people talk to each other in different ways depending on the group of people that they are around, because I catch myself doing that all the time.
I was surprised to find I considered a lot of points in this article to be general knowledge. People judge others based on how they look so it makes sense they are judged on how they sound as well. Also, the idea that people who speak with a southern drawl have little to no formal education has been a common misconception for years. I liked how the article touched on another common misconception, the misconception that things were better "back in the good ol' days". Holding on to an archaic speech pattern seems just as silly to me as holding on to the belief that alcohol is an appropriate anesthetic. As we all know, "older" is not synonymous with "better". As a culture changes, so should their respective language. The article also contained a lot of information that was new to me. I had never heard of "case marking" although I use its patterns every day. Along with this idea of patterns, I found it very interesting when the author said that "we must give up the idea of errors and accept the idea of patterns." One person is not wrong just because they say something differently than another person would say it. We choose our words and how we say them based on experiences, who we're speaking with, and our mood at the time. Simply put, we follow our own pattern.
ReplyDeleteI liked the part about playing the game telephone as an experiment. It is funny to see how the beginning messege changes as it goes along the group of people. I used to play this game with friends and most of the time it changed just like in this experiment. Choosing words is based upon how an individual was grown up and how/who they are communicating with. My english teacher always said that English is the hardest language to learn. Like this article said, language is always chaning and the author mentions we must accept the idea of patterns.
ReplyDeleteIn Donna Jo Napoli's piece on "Whose Speech is Better," I found much of the material to be common knowledge, but she still made very interesting points throughout the article. I fully agree that someone is judged on their speech, and we have all taken a part in this at one point and time in our lives. For example, if you needed to hire a lawyer, 9 out of 10 people are probably going to hire the person who speaks very clear and pronounces all of their words (the way they believe is correct). We may not be right to judge others in this way, but we are quick to judge and first impressions mean everything. Though I say this, everyone is brought up in different ways and taught to speak a certain way. We tend to become our surrounding environment and pick up on the language as we grow (starting at birth). This does not make one language superior to the other, it just makes everyone's own individual language unique. Many people may pronounce their words through speech more clear than others, but this does not make them right nor wrong. Everyone has a certain way of talking and accenting their words, therefore creating unique speech. Nobody's speech is better. We all have our own individual language, pronunciation of words, and use of accents in our speech.
ReplyDeleteI found the article to be very interesting. Although some of the material was common knowledge, I enjoyed reading about the different examples that the author used. I like the telephone exercise and also the example when the man was changing his voice. This article made me think about our first writing assignment that we just had to do. The girl that I interviewed has a very different accent than myself. Dialects and accents are a part of any language. I agree with the author of this article, that no language is superior. I also agree that as culture changes, so should language. Overall, it was a great article.
ReplyDeleteThis article makes some interesting points. First off, I would have to agree with the author in that we do not all hear things the same way. I find myself not hearing what some people say right. I don't realize that i hear people wrong until they give me a weird look from responding to them in a non-related sentence.
ReplyDeleteI found this article interesting because it made me think about the differences within the English language and different dialects. When I have observed two people conversing that happen to be from opposite ends of the country conversing, I have noticed that they legitimately have a dificult time understanding each other even though they speak the same language. I also agree with the author, that no specific language or dialect is superior, but more culturally "neutral" accents that are now considered the mainstream because of media influence are often easier to understand and seen as more universal in a nation where media has a large influence on our perceptions of what is the norm.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article, because often times things get lost in communication whether its a misunderstanding/mishearing or even saying something when you mean another. I agree with this author when he says we do not all hear the same way. All in all it was interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting. I have played the game where you whisper a sentence into someone's ear and go around the group until the last person says out loud the sentence that they heard, and it is never the same phrase that the first person said. This was done with people who were all from the same area and all spoke English, so I'm sure if you mix up the diversity of accents and languages it would definitely not turn out the same. I do think that it is bad that assumptions are formed about people by the way that they speak, but I guess it is no different than people being judged by the way that they look. I also think it is interesting that the author pointed out how people talk to each other in different ways depending on the group of people that they are around, because I catch myself doing that all the time.
ReplyDelete