Key areas which define our identity are our gender, class, and
ethnicity. The way we use language as men or women, working class or
middle class, black or white people, tells others about how we see
ourselces and how we wish others to see us; we basically establish our identity through the use of the language.
Activity 1: Use
a sheet of paper from your copybook and in the middle of it write your
name. Collect vocabulary and phrases that you use and would identify
different aspects of your identity; use this checklist to help creating
your "IDIOLECT" (personal language map or identity)
- Your gender. How is this significant? Would you use certain words and not others because of yourgender? Ways of describing things, particularly colors, and people?
- Parents. Their jobs, interests, what they taught you about language, what you got into trouble for saying?
- The geographical area you were brought in. Dialect words, accents, etc.
- Places you moved to.
- Education: Junior, Middle, Senior...
- Friends. Peer influence e.g. teenage slang, etc.
- Social Media
- Hobbies
- Your own habits: fillers like "y'know", "really", favorite words
People
swear for a variety of reasons, which vary across societies according
to different circumstancs; It is not an uncommon act: About 72 percent
of American men and 58 of women admit to swearing in public.
Most researches believe that swearing is most often usd to relieve stress and release tension. For example, do you ever find yourself swearing when you realize you've forgotten to do something important? People also swear when something painful or unexpected happens. Do you rememmber what came out of your mouth the last time you stubbed your toe or slammed your finger in a drawer? Swearing can serve many social functions, as well, as including the following:
- It can be used to establish group identity or membership to a group
- It can be used to express solidarity, trust and intimacy with other people
- It can be used to add emphasis or humor.
- It can be used to hide a peson's fear or insecurity.
Sometimes
people feel like they're expected to swear in a certain situation or to
feel included, and for many, swearing can be become and habit. This can
be unfortunate when you slip up and say something you shouldn't at work
or around children. Swear words often include social taboos like
profane, sexual or vulgar words, or even discriminatory slurs, they may
get you into more trouble than you expect.
Does profanity make you more tolerant to pain?
Watch
the following video and answer the following question: What do you
think is going to be the result of the test? If you were asked to take
this test , what would be your results?
Names and naming practices
The giving and using of names is fundamental to people's identity;
it is what distinguishes us from other people. Different cultures have
different naming practices e.g. Russia: "son of X", etc.
- What kind of identity does your name give you?
- How do you feel if someone gets it wrong?
- How do different people address you in different contexts?
- The way people address you; the degree of formality, intimacy or status, affects the communication. E.G.: MR., BOY, SIR, MATE, etc.
- Different cultures have different ways of addresing in public situations.
- Language fits with other indicators of social identity and group membership such as style of clothes, type of haircut and taste in music. How would the people in the pictures address each other?
Do you speak English?
Language can give a strong sense of belonging or being excluded.
Not being able to speak or understand a language effectively excludes
you from a group or nation or makes you a second class citizen. E.G.:
not speaking English or not having a RP accent.
1. Who is being excluded in this video?
2. How are their identities being expressed through the use of language?
3. What communities are they representing?
User-profile:
A
social networking page or site can serve as a complex way of
communicating identity with a broader community. How do you "read" a
Facebook page and think about the identity of the user?
Activity: "The Many Texts of Student X" CC p.117
Friday June 29th, 2012
Language and....? CC p.121
THE MYTH OF MARS AND VENUS
- Language and communication matter more to women than to men; women talk more than men.
- Women are more verbally skilled than men
- Men's goals in using language tend to be about getting things done, whereas women's tend to be about making connections to other people. Men talk more about things and facts, whereas women talk more about people, relationships and feelings.
- Men's way of using language is competitive, reflecting their general interest in acquiring and maintaining status; women's use of language is cooperative, reflecting their preference for equality and harmony.
- These differences routinely lead to "miscommunication" between the sexes, with each sex misinterpreting the other's intentions. This causes problems in contexts where men and women regularly interact, and especially in heterosexual relationships.
ADVERTISING AND GENDER
CC p. 127
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