Reflection Paper 1
Read some/all articles listed below and uploaded in Brightspace (In Readings folder):
King and Kinzler (2020) LA Times Op Ed: Racism and bias against speakers of African American English
Ro (2021). The pervasive problem of ‘linguistic racism’.
Savini (2021). How professors can and should combat linguistic prejudices in their classes. Opinion piece for Inside Higher Ed
how-professors-can-and-should-combat-linguistic-prejudice-their-classes-opinion?
Wolfram and Schilling (2015) Chapter 1: Dialects, Standards, and Vernaculars
As you are reading, consider the following:
What are some views you have about speakers of different dialects?
How do you view your own dialect relative to “Generalized American English”
What biases do you have when listening to different people speak or reading texts written in different dialects?
How do you think a teacher or speech-language pathologist thinks about different dialects? (If neither of these are your major, that’s fine, you can still think about this idea)
This class will examine the different levels of linguistic structure (and how we process these structures) including morphology (how words are put together), phonetics/phonology (the particular sounds of a language), syntax (how words are put together to form sentences), semantics (how the combination of words has meaning). For this reflection paper, you should address one of the following based on the readings linked above:
Describe a time when your own dialect was treated as “less than” or “othered” in some way. Discuss how this relates to the readings/lecture.
Describe a time when you heard someone else speak who did not speak with “Generalized American English” and what thoughts you had about the person because of the way they spoke. Integrate what you have learned through these readings and class discussions so far.
How do you think most educators / Speech-Language Pathologists view dialect variation? If one of these is your chosen career path, how will you strive to address dialect differences? Be sure to integrate information from the readings / lecture.
Add some of your own research. In the readings and lecture, the terms “standard” or “mainstream” for “general” American English are used. What other terms could be used? What have others suggested? What are some pros/cons of these different terms?
You may also address something else. If you choose this option, please email me to discuss first.