Dialects In The Film 'American Tongues'

Words: 663
Pages: 3
Open Document
In the film American Tongues, many different aspects of dialects are addressed. Whether it is the advantages or drawbacks of noticeable dialects or the stereotypes ascribed to them, all those interviewed had an opinion. Throughout this film, it is repeatedly noted that everyone has a dialect, no matter how prominent. The film concludes with the overarching message that dialects should not be used segregate others, only to supplement their existing personality, The film begins with a montage of people from many different region giving their opinions on people from other regions due to their dialects. What stood out most to me is when a white male was describing the African-American dialect as “yackety-yak” and addressed them with a slur. These scenes show that judgments are automatically made based on how you speak, no matter the intensity of that …show more content…
In the case of the phone operator, she needed a homogenized, simple voice to appeal to the entire nation. Her standard dialect helps her say the numbers without making any certain impression. The Brooklyn saleswoman hopes for a similar outcome through taking dialect courses. However, just like speaking a nuanced dialect can invoke judgments, so can speaking a standard dialect. In a community full of those speaking with an African-American dialect, using homogenized speech is not an advantage. Their dialect is used to communicate race and similar backgrounds, which ends up separating those who do not speak it, even if they are black. The African-American dialect is addressed again when the film covers the young, professional black woman. She almost exists with two identities, defined by what dialect she chooses to use. That is because dialects represent communities and while she enjoys her casual, Southern girl environment with her friends, her more standard dialect represents the more serious work
Show More

Related Documents: Dialects In The Film 'American Tongues'

Code Switching Essay

Gloria Anzaldua expressed how she used code switching in her story “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Anzaldua grew up in Texas, near the Mexico border, to a Mexican-American family. Her family primarily spoke Spanish, but while at school and in the community, they had to speak English, the accepted language of America (Anzaldua 530). Anzaldua did not want her native language to die, so she wrote “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” to express her feelings, and to show how code switching affected her everyday life…

Words 1538 - Pages 7

Essay on High Culture

decades, the word "culture" has developed a number of very negative, very wrong connotations. When a modern American thinks of culture, he thinks of snobbish rich people watching fat Vikings shriek at each other in Italian. He cannot relate to this image, thinking it pretentious and boring. This may be partially because these same snobbish rich people, when thinking of the rest of the American public, picture an unkempt hillbilly scratching himself and saying, "I'd shore love to go to the ball-let…

Words 809 - Pages 4

Essay about Elli Orenstein & Such

the use of sloppy language. She says people who speak improperly make her feel "insane" and she criticises teenagers for using words such as "like" and "innit". But is peppering one's sentences with "like" such a heinous crime against the English tongue? Language experts are more understanding of teen culture than Thompson, pointing out the word's many uses. It's the unconventional uses that are probably getting the actress hot under the collar. One of the most common is using "like" as a filler…

Words 2009 - Pages 9

Gp Essay Mainpoints

GP NOTES 2010 (ESSAY) Content Page 1. Media a. New vs. Traditional b. New: narcissistic? c. Government Censorship d. Profit-driven Media e. Advertising f. Private life of public figures g. Celebrity as a role model h. Blame media for our problems i. Power + Responsibility of Media j. Media ethics k. New Media and Democracy 2. Science/Tech a. Science and Ethics b. Government and scientist role in science c. Rely too much on technology? d. Nuclear technology…

Words 24667 - Pages 99