Instruction: Read the questions then answer all the questions.
1.List five compound words that exist in the Creole English spoken in your territory which are derived from English words but with non-English meaning.
2.Identify the features of Creole English that is/are present in the following sentences:
(i) If you come back tomorrow you go see my sister.
(ii) Me done talk.
(iii) No worry me, you wi get it when the right time come.
(iv) I know hi modda for a long time.
(v) Mi vex wid de boy dem.
(vi) Mi big sister dark yu see but mi younger sister is de opposite; she have belly already.
(vii) When we gat to de fording de win and rain was so bad we had to back back.
(viii) Di house ketch fiya an de brigade had to out out it.
(ix) Fi wi team paly football like dem fool fool.
(x) Im get new hair style mi chile.
3. Translate the following Rastafarian Speech into Standard English.
/aidrin/ /di uondli chaaj
Dat ai an ai az a
Rasta aidrin av/
Is di erb/siin ai
Duo av no mo chaaj/
4. Read the following consultative conversation between a policeman and a motorist and discuss the different ways that the power relationship is evident.
Policeman:“So you said you witnessed the accident at two o’clock this
afternoon?”
Motorist: “Yes, and it was caused when the red Ford ran the stop light.”
Policeman:“Are you sure you were present during the entire incident?”
Motorist:“Yes, Officer. I saw everything and the red car was at fault.”
Policeman:“Two o’clock it was?”
Motorist:“That’s correct. Will this take much longer? I have to pick up my....”
Policeman:“Are you sure the light was red?”
Motorist:“I just SAID that officer. CAN I go now?”
Policeman:“I’m not quite through with my investigation yet.”
5.Identify at least two words (related to place names, cultural practices, foods or objects) used in your country that are derived from the following languages or dialects:
(i) Amerindian indigenous language
(ii) Dutch
(iii) French
(iv) Spanish
(v) East Indian
(vi) African ancestral languages
(vii) American English
6.Read the extract and answer the questions that follow:
“Put in another application when your English has improved, “Mr. Channer said, without looking up from the Sunday Times . “Customers simply won’t understand you, dear.” With that, he was finished. Just another dismissal that makes you know your place. At least he said it. Others simply gave you the silent treatment, the condescending stare or the look of pity as if you commit a crime not to talk like them. Where should she go now? The boarding house, the silent hall way and more of that disgusting shepherd’s pie. Longing for country made her sick; the labrish on verandahs until late when you bust a laugh as you please; the anansi stories under the moon light brought a wave of longing that made her dizzy.
In an essay of 500 words discuss:
(a) The attitudes towards dialectal variation evident from Mr. Channer’s speech at the start of the extract;
(b) the linguistic factors that contribute to the alienation that the young lady in the excerpt feels.
(c) the impact of this experience on her sense of identity.
(d) the ways in which a video depiction of this scenario would serve to highlight her alienation and sense of longing. (25 marks)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Factors Influencing Language
Historical Factors
Langauge situation in any country can be likned directly to historical factors. Colonisation is in fact the greatest factor responsible for the spread of certain languages to diverse geographical locations. The language is of slavery and plantation life. It looks at the dispersion of tribes on plantations and colonies. The need to communicate and peals with sovereignty (take on the language of the colony that took over).These factors are often related to colonization or migration. For example, French and English are spoken in Canada today because it was the scene of several conflicts between France and England in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Social Factors
Social dominance of agroup enusres that its dialect becomes the one that assumes the place of importance in society.Social factors affect interaction with peers. It affects how you communicate with others of different age group and by structure in society.
Cultural factors ensure that the social dominance of a group ensures that its dialect becomes the one that assumes the place of importance in the society and is considered to be standard language of that society. Much of the dynamism of a language is a result of constant social change and the emergence of new cultural phenomena. However, the elements of social and economic class always affect attitudes to and choice of language. For example, persons seeking to be recognized as part of a certain social group may deliberately cultivate the language or dialect of that group although they do not normally speak that dialect. Sometimes persons may switch from one variety of language to another throughout the day while they interact in different social settings. Social factors also determine which types of language are considered desirable and which ones are improper.
Global movement of people has been a major influence on language. Migrants and refugees are eager to assimilate quickly to the new culture as they can, to facilitate their ability to fit in with their society. As generations are born into new culture much of their original language is lost.
Acculturation or assimilating of the new culture affects the language of immigrants; sometimes the language of the host country also undergoes change as a result of the new cultural influences. The coexistence of different languages from different languages from different cultures in a society results in linguistic changes in all the languages and the nature of the cultural changes determines which language is more widely influential and what types of change take place.
Interaction with peers
Media
Interaction with others [different age groups]
Structure of the society – cultural plurality [several cultures groups existing in the same environment]
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Environmental factors affects the present occasion. Meaning, it affects the function you attend. It affects the register that you use and it helps you to determine what kind of register should be used. This factor affects interaction within your home; the language used at church (ceremonial); the school language, where the language is one of interaction with peers and instruction.
EDUCATIONAL FACTORS
Level of educational background
Availability of educational materials which foster the development of language
The teacher
Interaction with students during class
Accessibility of and exposure to training
Level of literacy
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
Rurality vs. urbanization
These factors give rise to the issues which perpetuate the prevailing attitudes, both negative and positive, to language in Jamaica and some other territories in the Caribbean. Discuss among your friends the attitudes the Standard English and Jamaican Creole which you have observed; remember that you need to be able to analyse such in the Analytical section of the Internal Assessment.
EDUCATIONAL – This deals with the level of educational background. The availability of educational materials has helped to increase the development of language. Teachers help in the development of education with the interaction with the class.
ECONOMIC – The availability of material to improve education. Traveling helps in the development because by traveling, more exposure is gained.
POLITICAL – The official language of a country is normally indicated in the national constitution or other official sources. Recognition given to other languages is also a political or government decision. Most countries maintain the assigned status of their languages regardless of political change. In some countries language is significantly influenced by political events. Language policy determines which languages will be taught in schools, or used for particular official purposes. The policy may either promote or discourage the use of a particular language or languages. At other times it is designed to protect an ethnic language that may be in danger of disappearing.
Political influences on language can determine the extent to which minority languages or dialect are accepted, recognized or utilized in a society. Political decisions on language are sometimes taken to promote national identity.
Langauge situation in any country can be likned directly to historical factors. Colonisation is in fact the greatest factor responsible for the spread of certain languages to diverse geographical locations. The language is of slavery and plantation life. It looks at the dispersion of tribes on plantations and colonies. The need to communicate and peals with sovereignty (take on the language of the colony that took over).These factors are often related to colonization or migration. For example, French and English are spoken in Canada today because it was the scene of several conflicts between France and England in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Social Factors
Social dominance of agroup enusres that its dialect becomes the one that assumes the place of importance in society.Social factors affect interaction with peers. It affects how you communicate with others of different age group and by structure in society.
Cultural factors ensure that the social dominance of a group ensures that its dialect becomes the one that assumes the place of importance in the society and is considered to be standard language of that society. Much of the dynamism of a language is a result of constant social change and the emergence of new cultural phenomena. However, the elements of social and economic class always affect attitudes to and choice of language. For example, persons seeking to be recognized as part of a certain social group may deliberately cultivate the language or dialect of that group although they do not normally speak that dialect. Sometimes persons may switch from one variety of language to another throughout the day while they interact in different social settings. Social factors also determine which types of language are considered desirable and which ones are improper.
Global movement of people has been a major influence on language. Migrants and refugees are eager to assimilate quickly to the new culture as they can, to facilitate their ability to fit in with their society. As generations are born into new culture much of their original language is lost.
Acculturation or assimilating of the new culture affects the language of immigrants; sometimes the language of the host country also undergoes change as a result of the new cultural influences. The coexistence of different languages from different languages from different cultures in a society results in linguistic changes in all the languages and the nature of the cultural changes determines which language is more widely influential and what types of change take place.
Interaction with peers
Media
Interaction with others [different age groups]
Structure of the society – cultural plurality [several cultures groups existing in the same environment]
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Environmental factors affects the present occasion. Meaning, it affects the function you attend. It affects the register that you use and it helps you to determine what kind of register should be used. This factor affects interaction within your home; the language used at church (ceremonial); the school language, where the language is one of interaction with peers and instruction.
EDUCATIONAL FACTORS
Level of educational background
Availability of educational materials which foster the development of language
The teacher
Interaction with students during class
Accessibility of and exposure to training
Level of literacy
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
Rurality vs. urbanization
These factors give rise to the issues which perpetuate the prevailing attitudes, both negative and positive, to language in Jamaica and some other territories in the Caribbean. Discuss among your friends the attitudes the Standard English and Jamaican Creole which you have observed; remember that you need to be able to analyse such in the Analytical section of the Internal Assessment.
EDUCATIONAL – This deals with the level of educational background. The availability of educational materials has helped to increase the development of language. Teachers help in the development of education with the interaction with the class.
ECONOMIC – The availability of material to improve education. Traveling helps in the development because by traveling, more exposure is gained.
POLITICAL – The official language of a country is normally indicated in the national constitution or other official sources. Recognition given to other languages is also a political or government decision. Most countries maintain the assigned status of their languages regardless of political change. In some countries language is significantly influenced by political events. Language policy determines which languages will be taught in schools, or used for particular official purposes. The policy may either promote or discourage the use of a particular language or languages. At other times it is designed to protect an ethnic language that may be in danger of disappearing.
Political influences on language can determine the extent to which minority languages or dialect are accepted, recognized or utilized in a society. Political decisions on language are sometimes taken to promote national identity.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The Caribbean Territories
The Caribbean Territories
They are Spanish, Dutch, English and French
1.Spanish Speaking Territories
The following countries Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico are all Spanish speaking countries. All these countries use Spanish as an official and universally spoken language. They also use a non-standard Spanish dialect.
2.French Speaking Territories
Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana all have French as the official or standard language. Other languages variously called Haitian Creole, Haitian, or French Creole, Creole or patois exist.
3.Dutch Speaking Territories
Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Marteen) are all Dutch speaking territories. In Curacao for example, in 1983 preparations were made for making Papiamentu the official national language with Spanish and English as the official second languages, while preserving Dutch as the language of post primary education for at least ten years.
In Suriname the mass vernacular, Sranan, exist alongside minority languages and ethnic vernaculars such as Javanese, Hindi, Ndjuka, Saramaccan and Amerindian.
4.English Speaking Territories
The countries that fall under the English speaking territories are Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, St. Kitts, Montserrat, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Nevis and Antigua. They share English as the official language. This group is very diverse. There is monolingualism, bilingualism, multilingualism, diglossia, and post-Creole continuum.
Trinidad has several other languages other than English. There are French Creole, Spanish, Bhojpuri that serve as the media of everyday communication in most rural communities, and a post Creole English serves as the mass vernacular.
In St. Lucia and Dominica the English speaking rural and urban populations’ daily interaction is by way of a French-based Creole.
In Grenada the English is strongly influenced by a French Creole.
The U.S. and British Virgin Islands have a Post Creole English and all the other territories, an English Creole.
Jamaica falls in the latter group, having English as its official and standard language and English Creole as its mass vernacular.
The Linguistic Diversity gives rise to language situations ranging from monolingual, bi-dialectal, bilingual, diglossic to monolingual and continuum.
The U.S. and British Virgin Islands reflect a bi-dialectal situation in which the official language is English and the mass vernacular is post-Creole English.
Multilingual situations are evident in Belize, Trinidad and Suriname.
A diglossic situation exists in Haiti and the French West Indies. However a bilingual situation exists in St. Lucia and the Netherlands Antilles while a continuum exits in other English speaking territories where the official language is English and the mass vernacular is English Creole.
They are Spanish, Dutch, English and French
1.Spanish Speaking Territories
The following countries Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico are all Spanish speaking countries. All these countries use Spanish as an official and universally spoken language. They also use a non-standard Spanish dialect.
2.French Speaking Territories
Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana all have French as the official or standard language. Other languages variously called Haitian Creole, Haitian, or French Creole, Creole or patois exist.
3.Dutch Speaking Territories
Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Marteen) are all Dutch speaking territories. In Curacao for example, in 1983 preparations were made for making Papiamentu the official national language with Spanish and English as the official second languages, while preserving Dutch as the language of post primary education for at least ten years.
In Suriname the mass vernacular, Sranan, exist alongside minority languages and ethnic vernaculars such as Javanese, Hindi, Ndjuka, Saramaccan and Amerindian.
4.English Speaking Territories
The countries that fall under the English speaking territories are Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, St. Kitts, Montserrat, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Nevis and Antigua. They share English as the official language. This group is very diverse. There is monolingualism, bilingualism, multilingualism, diglossia, and post-Creole continuum.
Trinidad has several other languages other than English. There are French Creole, Spanish, Bhojpuri that serve as the media of everyday communication in most rural communities, and a post Creole English serves as the mass vernacular.
In St. Lucia and Dominica the English speaking rural and urban populations’ daily interaction is by way of a French-based Creole.
In Grenada the English is strongly influenced by a French Creole.
The U.S. and British Virgin Islands have a Post Creole English and all the other territories, an English Creole.
Jamaica falls in the latter group, having English as its official and standard language and English Creole as its mass vernacular.
The Linguistic Diversity gives rise to language situations ranging from monolingual, bi-dialectal, bilingual, diglossic to monolingual and continuum.
The U.S. and British Virgin Islands reflect a bi-dialectal situation in which the official language is English and the mass vernacular is post-Creole English.
Multilingual situations are evident in Belize, Trinidad and Suriname.
A diglossic situation exists in Haiti and the French West Indies. However a bilingual situation exists in St. Lucia and the Netherlands Antilles while a continuum exits in other English speaking territories where the official language is English and the mass vernacular is English Creole.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Foreign Words borrowed into English
From the list below, see if you can match these foreign words borrowed into English with their language of origin. Some languages are represented more than once.
Borrowed words/ Phrases- A capella, Alma mater, Bambino, Batik, Cul-de-sac, Eureka, Grand Prix, Guru, Haiku, Ikebana, Jihad, Karaoke, Kindergarten, Terminus, Verbatim, Volkswagen
Options- Japanese, Latin, Greek, Javanese, French, Hindi, German, Italian, Arabic
Answers- A Capella-Italian, Alma mater-Latin, Bambino-Italian, Batik-Javanese, Cul-de-sac-French, Eureka-Greek, Grand Prix- French, Guru-Hindi, Haiku-Japanese, Ikebana-Japanese, Jihad-Arabic, Karaoke-Japanese, Kindergarten-German, Terminus-Latin, Verbatim-Latin, Volkswagen-German
Borrowed words/ Phrases- A capella, Alma mater, Bambino, Batik, Cul-de-sac, Eureka, Grand Prix, Guru, Haiku, Ikebana, Jihad, Karaoke, Kindergarten, Terminus, Verbatim, Volkswagen
Options- Japanese, Latin, Greek, Javanese, French, Hindi, German, Italian, Arabic
Answers- A Capella-Italian, Alma mater-Latin, Bambino-Italian, Batik-Javanese, Cul-de-sac-French, Eureka-Greek, Grand Prix- French, Guru-Hindi, Haiku-Japanese, Ikebana-Japanese, Jihad-Arabic, Karaoke-Japanese, Kindergarten-German, Terminus-Latin, Verbatim-Latin, Volkswagen-German
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Communicative Behaviour
Human beings communicate a great deal by use of their bodies. Our inner responses to situations are normally communicated through our bodies. Body language can also be misread.Non-verbal communication refers to a wide array of behaviours bu which we communicate messages without the use of our voices.Such behaviours are referred to as communicative behaviours.The most obvious non-verbal behaviour are seen in our gestures, posture, movements and in our use of objects, space and time.
POSTURE, GESTURES AND MOVEMENT
These are most obvious means of communicating our feelings and attitudes.These meanings are culturally determined and may vary from place to place.Posture in any context is a crucial indicator of attitude and helps to determine how others willl react towards you. Gestures enhance a verbal presentation, while movements may also suggest timidity, doubt and fear but one has to be careful not to misread the meaning of a person's movements.
Use of space-PROXEMICS
Proxemics is an overlooked form of communication. People who are skilled in communication know how to use space to their advantage and they influence the behaviour of others.
Interpersonal space can be divided into several categories:
Intimate distance used for embracing, touching and whispering
Personal distance used for interactions among good friends
Social distance used for interactions among acquaintances
Public distance used for public speaking.
Distances decribed are culturally based. Knowing about these differences and what is socially acceptable distance allows for better cross-cultural communication.
When someone leans close to you in a social gathering you may feel several different emotions depending on how you perceive this change in social distance.
KINESICS
This is the interpretation of body language such as facial expression and gestures, or more formally, non-verbal behaviour related to movement of the body or any part of the body. It is also culture bound. The movement of the body, or separate parts, conveys many specific meanings and they carry a risk of being misinterpreted.
Use of the time-CHRONEMICS
This refers to the use of time, waiting or pausing.These are generally used to get your attention.
DRESS
Our dress communicate our social standing, especially in those cultures where specific clothes are worn only by specific individuals. Colour is also used symbolically. Women in positions of power often wear red. Black is associated with mourning. Costumes also depict some aspect of nature or some historical or social event.
PARALANGUAGE
This is used to modify meaning and convey emotions. Paralanguage includes pitch, volume and intonation of speech. It is also revealed in text communication via the internet.Shouting or speaking softly each changes the way that a message might be interpreted. Our laughs, cries and moans all have meaning and communicate some feeling or emotion. Vocal segregates such as ooh, eh and mmmh may appear incomprehensible but each has some special meaning whether it is acceptance, agreement or uncertainty.
POSTURE, GESTURES AND MOVEMENT
These are most obvious means of communicating our feelings and attitudes.These meanings are culturally determined and may vary from place to place.Posture in any context is a crucial indicator of attitude and helps to determine how others willl react towards you. Gestures enhance a verbal presentation, while movements may also suggest timidity, doubt and fear but one has to be careful not to misread the meaning of a person's movements.
Use of space-PROXEMICS
Proxemics is an overlooked form of communication. People who are skilled in communication know how to use space to their advantage and they influence the behaviour of others.
Interpersonal space can be divided into several categories:
Intimate distance used for embracing, touching and whispering
Personal distance used for interactions among good friends
Social distance used for interactions among acquaintances
Public distance used for public speaking.
Distances decribed are culturally based. Knowing about these differences and what is socially acceptable distance allows for better cross-cultural communication.
When someone leans close to you in a social gathering you may feel several different emotions depending on how you perceive this change in social distance.
KINESICS
This is the interpretation of body language such as facial expression and gestures, or more formally, non-verbal behaviour related to movement of the body or any part of the body. It is also culture bound. The movement of the body, or separate parts, conveys many specific meanings and they carry a risk of being misinterpreted.
Use of the time-CHRONEMICS
This refers to the use of time, waiting or pausing.These are generally used to get your attention.
DRESS
Our dress communicate our social standing, especially in those cultures where specific clothes are worn only by specific individuals. Colour is also used symbolically. Women in positions of power often wear red. Black is associated with mourning. Costumes also depict some aspect of nature or some historical or social event.
PARALANGUAGE
This is used to modify meaning and convey emotions. Paralanguage includes pitch, volume and intonation of speech. It is also revealed in text communication via the internet.Shouting or speaking softly each changes the way that a message might be interpreted. Our laughs, cries and moans all have meaning and communicate some feeling or emotion. Vocal segregates such as ooh, eh and mmmh may appear incomprehensible but each has some special meaning whether it is acceptance, agreement or uncertainty.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Attitude to Language
Langauge plays a major role in all aspects of society. The most obvious is its social role of allowing persons to communicate and relate to each other, share information, emotions and ways of life.
Your speech conveys specific impressions to an audience. People form impressions of your personality, emotional state, geographic origin, age, or socioeconomic status from the language you use and the way you use it. Some impressions are formed largely because of societal and personal attitudes to certain types of language.
People often adopt certain linguistic behaviours that they believe would create more favourable impressions of themselves, or enable them to fit in with the crowd.
In the Caribbean there are varying attitudes to language. This is due mainly to our history, people of the region tend to place a high value on standard langaugesas it is the langauge of power and economic might. Most persons believe that upward mobility is largely dependent on one's ability to fit in with the predominant socioeconomic class, and language is the main signifier of fitting in.
Most Caribbean persons tend to use a 'twang' or take on a new accent in order to fit in and be seen in a higher social class. Persons view proficiency in spoken English would gain them respect from others as well as allow them to get a job, advance their career, makes them feel mature and proud. Proficiency in Standard English is necessary if person want to travel or widen their horizons.
Attitudes to language vary from one sector of the society to another and some people demonstrate self-conscious behaviour when speaking the standard language.
Some persons view the use of Creole as the langugae to be used among friends and families.
Your speech conveys specific impressions to an audience. People form impressions of your personality, emotional state, geographic origin, age, or socioeconomic status from the language you use and the way you use it. Some impressions are formed largely because of societal and personal attitudes to certain types of language.
People often adopt certain linguistic behaviours that they believe would create more favourable impressions of themselves, or enable them to fit in with the crowd.
In the Caribbean there are varying attitudes to language. This is due mainly to our history, people of the region tend to place a high value on standard langaugesas it is the langauge of power and economic might. Most persons believe that upward mobility is largely dependent on one's ability to fit in with the predominant socioeconomic class, and language is the main signifier of fitting in.
Most Caribbean persons tend to use a 'twang' or take on a new accent in order to fit in and be seen in a higher social class. Persons view proficiency in spoken English would gain them respect from others as well as allow them to get a job, advance their career, makes them feel mature and proud. Proficiency in Standard English is necessary if person want to travel or widen their horizons.
Attitudes to language vary from one sector of the society to another and some people demonstrate self-conscious behaviour when speaking the standard language.
Some persons view the use of Creole as the langugae to be used among friends and families.
Language Variation
Language variation means that a given language is not one uniform or homogenous system, but that it contains many varieties which differ with respect to their grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. The varities are normally referred to as dialects.
Langauge variation influences language change. Language use varies because of a number of social factors which include social identities of the people engaged in the speech acts, their socially defined purposes for interacting, as well as the social setting within which the interaction takes place.
Different languages are spoken in different geographical locations. For example, people in Spain, Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico speak Sapnish , but the Spanish spoken in each country is somewhat different from that spoken in the other countries.
No language is spoken in exactly the same way when used. As a language evolve, one particular dialect becomes dominant. This is due to the fact that it is the dialect spoken by the people with the economic power or greatest social influence in that society. This dialect now becomes the standard variety and becomes the one used for writing and other formal purposes and is often given prestige over other varities.
Depending on whon you are speaking or writing to, you instinctively vary the way in which you express yourself. This type of language variation is known as code switching.
Of importance is the fact that choice of register also generally reflects teh speaker's or writer's relationship with his or her audience.
Langauge variation influences language change. Language use varies because of a number of social factors which include social identities of the people engaged in the speech acts, their socially defined purposes for interacting, as well as the social setting within which the interaction takes place.
Different languages are spoken in different geographical locations. For example, people in Spain, Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico speak Sapnish , but the Spanish spoken in each country is somewhat different from that spoken in the other countries.
No language is spoken in exactly the same way when used. As a language evolve, one particular dialect becomes dominant. This is due to the fact that it is the dialect spoken by the people with the economic power or greatest social influence in that society. This dialect now becomes the standard variety and becomes the one used for writing and other formal purposes and is often given prestige over other varities.
Depending on whon you are speaking or writing to, you instinctively vary the way in which you express yourself. This type of language variation is known as code switching.
Of importance is the fact that choice of register also generally reflects teh speaker's or writer's relationship with his or her audience.
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