Research Book Option. . .

Blog Post #2: Write about which book you chose, briefly describe (in your own words!) what it's about and why you chose it.
 
Hello Everyone,
The book that I chose is named Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English by Rickford, John Russell. This particular book is about the African American vernacular, and how it obtained its prevalence in society. It focuses on the history of  the English Language and discusses the significant similarity and differences between it and other western African languages that serve as influences of the vernacular. With elements of history and disadvantages it attempts to negate the theory of "laziness" and focuses on the various differences in culture and pronunciation.

The reason why I have decided to engage in research using this book is because I am very fascinated in learning if the African American vernacular is a co-requisite in the decisions and perceptions about the world. In addition, I want to research its origins and obtain an understanding of a language which is as popular as "standard English". Furthermore it is a topic worth exploring and aides in understanding the cultural norms of African Americans, which could enable my peers and I to be a lot more empathetic toward people that I may not understand or agree with.

Relations: My Language within a Language

Relations: My Language within a Language

My relationship to language ties to the commerce language of America – English. It is the language that I speak, read and write, and the language I feel most comfortable communicating in. Within English, I have my colloquialisms that lie root to my community and inadvertently slips whenever I am speaking at a formal setting. My colloquialisms and I are connected because it is part of my cultural identity, and is an indicator of where I came from even if I no longer reside in that community. Language tells a story regardless if people are willing to listen. It tells of all the places you have been, and expresses the knowledge you have attained through these experiences. At home, which is my comfort zone, I do not speak formally and neither does the rest of my family. We are very expressive of our thoughts, and therefore, we are not very conscious of the way we say things. While I am at LaGuardia, I tend to stay within the lines of formal communication even with classmates. Amongst the friends that I have, it would depend on the action or topic of discussion. If my friends and I are talking about politics we keep the conversation formal; each expressing our thoughts equally. In contrast, if we are conversing about something less formal like celebrity screw ups, we tend to embrace casualness.

Language is acquired without effort in many cases. I believe being immersed into any environment in which the language is different from your own allows you to begin to expand your vocabulary and eventually begin to understand speech within that culture.  In addition, I believe language also begins while the child is younger and in usually acquired in the household from the parents or through education. Although I think it would be harder for an adult to learn other languages through instruction, learning from being included into a culture whether through traveling abroad or living in a community that solely speaks the language of interest would better help you attain the language and at the very least become conversational.

In Deutscher’s Article, he challenged my opinion of language and gender specific associations. He states that assigning inanimate objects a specific gender code could possibly reflect cultural views and perceptions of the world. Although this is a well thought out hypothesis, I would argue that each individual reflects their own opinions and that a language does not dictate personal perceptions. The way a person views the world are based on life experiences and the upbringing of the child, and therefore, the children’s sound description of the objects reflects their own opinions on how the object might have sounded.  

Furthermore, language is mutual understanding of a common form of communication. Whether the language is “standard” or a construction from it, it is a form of communication amongst those that speak it, and there is an understanding both culturally and linguistically. In addition, although there is informal and formal communication in every language, it does not  make the informal speech any less acceptable, hence all languages whether colloquial or formal are considered a language.