The comments on my last post, along with a bunch of other stuff, have compelled me to give another (short) book commentary here on hifi. It's not a book review because I think that's boring. If I'm going to write a bunch of stuff about this book, that means I think it's worth reading. You may disagree but I won't lose sleep over that. The General's (see the People's Republic link on the side) recent posts also gave me some motivation to write. So, the book is called "Do You Speak American?" and it's by two linguists - Robert MacNeil and William Cran.
So, the general idea of the book is that, like it or not, English rules the world and specifically, American English rules the world. The book then attempts to answer the obvious question this statement begs: what is American English? The rest of the chapters try to answer this question by talking about dialects (or "accents") of American English that are fading away, such as certain kinds of Appalachian dialects or the 'Ah deeclare Scah-let' type of Southern accent (that's 'I declare Scarlet') and how others are getting much bigger (the more standard country music Southern accent and the California "Valley girl" dialect. So, the book is mostly cool stuff like that, and it also validates my dialect by stating that, according to most linguists, my Mid-America dialect/accent is "officially" (as official as these things can be) standard American English. How 'bout that!! So far, everything is interesting and life is good.
These guys screw their book up with their discussion of two topics: English education in public schools and African American English. First things first. It's not news that most people believe (and many tests show) that English skills among the young are worse than they used to be. Children simply are not writing American English as well, on the whole, as they did in the past. So, people who see this, admittedly mostly through anecdotal observation, often claim that American English is in a state of decline. The authors' brilliant rebuttal to this claim? Oh, well, American English isn't getting worse - just look at all of the amazing and award winning American authors out there. Plus, we've got tons of amazing poets!! Great argument. Let's see how it works in another context:
Guy 1: Wow, have you seen these statistics? Americans are getting really obese. We need to do something about how heavy Americans are getting.
Guy 2: What, are you crazy? Did you see the NBA Finals this year? All those dudes were totally cut and super athletic. American fitness is totally fine.
Brilliant. Next.
The next topic they discuss is African-American English. The authors do a reeeeeeaally sweet job of subtly calling a racist anyone that has anything bad to say about the vernacular in use by a large percentage of African-American youth. As I read it over again, it was essentially the written equivalent of clearing your throat and mumbling "racist" at the same time. Nice job guys. They cover the whole "Ebonics as a foreign language" debacle that went down a few years ago, but then discuss more contemporary viewpoints on "AAE" as they call it. Essentially, they argue that if you tell a child that he should say, "He goes to school everyday" when he wants to say, "He go to school everyday" you are hurting his self-esteem and keeping him from achieving his full potential. They essentially question why we should even criticize AAE because it serves those that speak it "well enough for the purposes they use it for." Wow, that's a great question, Mr. Linguist. I think I'll take a stab at it, though, and address my answer directly to the author.
So, you're a linguist, huh? Wow, you probably went to school for a long time... Got that Playa Hater Degree (PhD), huh? Nice. And you probably received some big time grants in your career too, right? Yeah, I mean you have to, right, to be the guy chosen to do that PBS special. You've probably written some big time papers, probably had them published in the big linguistics journals, I bet. And you work for which university? Wow, not bad. So, let me ask you a question. When you were writing your PhD disseration, and writing all those grant proposals, and interviewing for a faculty position at that university, did you conjugate your verbs with the third person singular when it was appropriate, or did you pretend that the third person singular conjugation doesn't exist in English? Oh, OK. And just out of curiosity, were you born knowing the proper way to conjugate verbs? Oh, ok, so someone TAUGHT YOU HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH PROPERLY AND YOU USED THAT KNOWLEDGE TO GET A GOOD JOB. Hmm, that's interesting. So, Mr. Linguist, when you're dropping the kids off at the private school they go to, and then parking the ol' Volvo in the faculty lot, you might want to consider that other people might like to have a chance at the same opportunities you've had - opportunities that you could capitalize on because you can speak and write English in a way that people understand and accept as grammatically correct. Just something to think about. NEXT.
Anyway, the book overall is pretty cool. I guess it's officially a companion to a PBS series, but I had never heard of it. The book is at my local library, but it was always checked out, so I bought it at a bookstore. Worth a read.
11 comments:
Teej, you make me happy.
~Teresa
you don't have to talk perty to get ahead in this world. and I quote
"Me fail English, that's unpossible" -Ralph Wiggam
He's on The Simpsons people, a real life actor, making tons and tons of dough
LOL. All I can say is that in law school, you get your ass handed to you on a bone china plate for saying 'like,' 'um,' 'dawg,' or the like. There are simply different vernaculars for different situations. For instance, the way I speak to a group of friends at a bar is muuuuuch different from the way I would speak in front of my Mother. (Let alone in front of a Judge. *shivers*)
I have friends who disagree with me on this, however. I mean, yes, ok, you can speak in whatever manner you wish to speak. But people WILL look at you askance if you start talking about the hizzhouse at a business meeting, and they WILL NOT take you seriously, no matter how smart and ambitious you may be. Agh.
One more little rant: I hate having to keep my emails to friends at a third grade writing level. Not because they're idiots- they're not- but simply because their vocabulary was never properly developed throughout their schooling.
Though... come to think of it, its even MORE annoying when similar issues come up during dates. For instance, a few months back I was on a date and attempted to say something witty about a mutual friend: "You know Chad, right? He's dating a new girl, and she's got the poor boy so well trained that we're thinking about nicknaming him 'Chattel.'" To which said date replied, "Chattel...?"
(And no, I never dated him again. Is that bad? That's probably bad. But still. CHATTEL. I mean, if you've studied law, economy, history, or even sociology, you HAD to have come across the word. In fact, you SHOULD have come across it in high school, whilst learning about the slave trade. But nooooo. The joke worked fine with either of the two definitions for it, too. Agh!)
Maybe he just thought it was a terrible joke.
...well, yes. But you it was a date! Even if the jokes are bad, you can still smile and nod, darnit! (Really, though, since he then pointedly asked me what 'chattel' was, I'm thinking it was a little of both... :p)
"But you it was a date"?
Hmm.
I believe that was supposed to read, "But it was a date".
Just in case you were wondering...
...I was studying for the Bar Exam too long, wasn't I? Gah! I KNEW this was going to happen. My entire sense of humor has been shifted towards "not really funny, but good try."
Crap.
Still and all, I appreciate you saying that the joke was at least understandable.
Sigh. 'Chad', 'Chattel'. I thought it worked... all right, all right. Shutting up now.
Ahhhh... I get it now. First, I didn't know what the hell "chattel" was. Sorry, I just never came across the word before. Then I didn't really verbalize it, as most American english turns t's into d's when they exist in the middle of a word. British english pronounces all their t's, but we don't. All that being said, calling him "Chaddel" would be hilarious.
On the subject of English, I always say the same thing: your intellect is limited by your language. If you think in English, and you don't know English very well, you will not be able to interpret or communicate complex emotions and situations. Your ability to understand a situation or idea, is limited by your mastery of the English language, and your ability to communicate your thoughts precisely is, again, limited by your mastery of the English language. I will even say that some languages are better than others on certain subjects. English overuses the word "love", so its meaning is diluted. Eskimos have more words for ice than English, and can more precisely identify the particular physical characteristics they are trying to describe. The greater the vocabulary, the more precise one can be in thought and communication. I would say this extends to grammar as well.
So, what does that say about AAE? Personally, besides the fact that you can't make it in the professional world speaking AAE, I think it is a less capable language than standard English. Does that make me a racist? No, that means I think cultures that promote AAE are doing themselves a diservice. If we want to use the "racist" card, I chose to pull it on the Academics that support AAE. Why? A) They assume that blacks are unable to learn standard English, B) they assume that blacks will never become professionals and will never have need for standard english, C) they discourage blacks from developing the skills necessary to advance their economic status and their culture, thus keeping them in an "oppressed" state.
Man, I feel like I read it myself. I'm debating whether to read the book or just settle for your comprehensive review.
Keep the reviews coming.
I should just go on record here and say that I thought the word "chattel" was just another word for livestock.
Teej, you make me so proud!! I'll send you a steak in the mail now.
Teresa
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