Youth
Wharr I do?
Play videoThe speaker in this video is replacing a string of two alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ divided by an unstressed vowel /ɪ/ with an alveolar trill [r]. This is a very interesting example of how new, ostensibly difficult to pronounce sounds can be introduced to a language.
Duolingo for Talking to Children - SNL
An SNL sketch about how to speak "the language of children".
Why "No Problem" Can Seem Rude
Play videoThis video elaborates on the clash between different speakers' interpretations of phatic expressions like "no problem." It cites Dinkin (2017) as one of its sources.
Code switching
Play videoThis is a video showing a young boy and his sister speaking to each other in Korean. Their father asks the boy some questions in English, and the boy responds to him in English. This is a perfect example of code-switching between the English and Korean languages.
What is 'Cheugy'?
This is an article on the slang term 'cheugy', something that has recently been gaining popularity on Tik Tok and other social media! [Published on 04-29-2021]
Cheekface
Play videoOne of my favorite bands sings with prominent features of West Coast English. In this song especially, in order to poke fun at a certain kind of west-coaster, the singer's vowels are very fronted. There's also a notable drawn-out "r" sound in "smarter" and "more". The way he says "American imperialism" is especially hilarious.
Modern vs Older words of Black American Sign Language (BASL)
Nakia Smith and her grandfather, Jake Smith Jr., demonstrating some "old fashioned" BASL signs. For the first part of his education, Jake Smith Jr. went to a segregated school for Black deaf children, and here he is demonstrating some of the signs he and his peers used, while Nakia demonstrates their modern equivalents. [Published on 10-10-2020]
Example of Sajiao vs "Standard" Mandarin
Play videoThe full video contains many examples of the sajiao or cutesy way of speaking as the members of girl group SNH48 take turns using it. At around 3:20, one member will say a phrase in sajiao, while another repeats the phrase in a more standard manner, highlighting the difference between the two.
Saying Thank You for No Reason!
Play videoThe guy in the video was trying to elicit responses just by saying "thank you" without a specific request...it's funny that most people first responded with a surprised "for what?" but later gave a formal "you're welcome" response, as if they're trying to end/escape the awkward interaction?
Bernie Sanders' accent, explained
Play videoThis video briefly explains some aspects of the New York accent, such as r-dropping and vowel raising. It also goes over how the New York accent is strongest in the working class, how movies have stigmatized the accent, and how young people are much less likely than older New Yorkers to have these features in their speech. I think this ties nicely into our discussion of the Labov and Mather because it discusses the general trend away from the New York accent that may be occurring.
Why “No Problem” Can Seem Rude: Phatic Expressions
Play videoA discussion about Phatic Expressions and how language change over time creates differing ideas of the standard of politeness
Common Teenage Slang Terms
This article helps define several common teenage slang terms to aid parents' understanding of common slang terms that their teenagers may use. Some example of words that are prominent in teenage slang include "goals", "on fleek", and "thot". These slang terms are informal, yet very popular in usage both in person and online by teenagers, and thus this source provides a small description of a few terms to aide in parent's understanding of their teen's vernacular. [Published on 08-22-2018]
YEE.T
Picture of the alien ET on top and then of a meme'd version of ET with various emojis to make him seem more "dank" below entitled YEE.T ("ji-ti") [Published on 05-25-2018]
How do Mexican People Say "Despacito"
Play videoCutest video of a young girl who has grown up hearing different ways of pronouncing loan words, and is able to pronounce both an English and Mexican pronunciation perfectly. She is showing the different linguistic resources that she can draw on, see our discussion on Tuesday in class about repertoire.
MLE
explaining how London youth speak: "One of our most interesting findings," she says, "was that we'd have groups of students from white Anglo-Saxon backgrounds, along with those of Arab, South American, Ghanaian and Portuguese descent, and they all spoke with the same dialect. But those who use it most strongly are those of second or third generation immigrant background, followed by white boys of London origin and then white girls of London origin."
Clothes as Codeswitching
Usage of clothing by immigrant women in the United States as a form of code-switching to help them identify / be identified with the culture they want to be [Published on 07-13-2017]
Slang in Young Generation
Play videoThis video shows how young generation uses slang in their language. It also shows that the difference of using slang based on the different social background and experience. The discussion between daughter and mother shows how speech community has its own ways of speaking and how important the meaning of words transfer and change in today's society.
Sylbo, The Last Speakers of the Lost Whistling Language
Play videoa video about the language Sylbo on the island of La Gomera, of the Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of north-west Africa. The Spanish government is attempting to preserve the whistling language which imitates the phonetic features of Spanish.
Um Okay Sure: 5 Types of Trees Or Whatever Lol
This is a short article from Clickhole that lists 5 types of trees, with a caption. The author, who probably does not speak this way in normal life, has mimicked the speech of a teenager by using phrases and words that show up mostly in teenage speech. This article reminded me of the reading we did on Tuesday, 02/19, "So who? Like how? Just what? Discourse markers in the conversations of young Canadians," by Sali Tagliamonte, because the Clickhole writer is using some of the same words that Tagliamonte looked at. Of course this Clickhole article focuses more on the way that teenage speak appears in writing rather than out loud though. [Published on 02-26-2019]
Taylor Mali Totally like whatever, you know
Play videoAn older white man thinks he is the only one that sounds like he knows what he's talking about but misses the irony in that he's talking about how younger people speak . . .
No Problem vs. You're Welcome
The Tumblr post referenced by Dinkin in his "response to thanks" paper. An older person gives his opinion on employees using "no problem" instead of "you're welcome," then a Tumblr user offers a sociolinguistic theory as a response.
Ever wanted to watch Sailor Moon in Anishinaabemowin?
Inspired by dubbed versions of Sailor Moon in languages all around the world, Westin Sutherland, an Ojibwe 18 year-old from Canada, created a dubbed version of Sailor Moon in Anishinaabemowin and Cree, two indigenous languages of Canada. He believes that it gives young speakers confidence and pride in their language, and encourages young speakers (who are traditionally the weak link in linguistic transmission) to keep speaking indigenous languages. [Published on 08-12-2018]
What your speaking style, like, says about you | Vera Regan | TEDxDublin
Play videoThis is a nice Ted Talk that shares information about the use of the word "like" in Ireland and what conclusions can be drawn about the people who use it. Vera Regan opens with an example about the common use of "like" by teenage girls. The important points of her talk expand to a larger scale about sociolinguistic stigmas and the general population's tendency to stereotype based on language use.
Hip Hop Artists in China Add American Rap Language and Culture in Their Rap music
Play video“Made in China” is a Chinese rap music. The lyrics contain Chinese and English, and the singers add rhymes of both languages in some words and sentences. Meanwhile, the artists mix Chinese and American hiphop culture together. This song also represents a group of Chinese rappers try to break some traditional “rules” in mainstream culture.
The linguistic genius of babies
Play videoThe video basically introduces some of the factors that are important to babies when they are first exposed to languages. And also, it shows us how critical period and puberty play a role in babies language acquisitions.
Teens Tell All About Slang
Play videoThis video emphasizes a new language habit of teenagers in todays' world. What I mean is using slang. Slang is highly informal and often used in colloquial speech. It is a part of a language that is usually outside of standard usage and that may consist of both newly coined words and phrases and of new or extended meanings attached to established terms. This video helps you to understand some slangs with a good explanation of the reason for these changes.
"Dangerous" Teenage Texting Slang
This article covers a viewpoint of parents on slang used over text by teenagers. The article provides lists of acronyms to provide insight in what teens are saying and ways for parents to "decode". It is interesting to see that communication has adapted so much to the point where an older generation needs a "decoding" list in order to understand conversations of younger generations. It also shows the difference in speech communities between two sets of age groups. [Published on 06-12-2017]
Key & Peele: School Bully
Play videoComedians Key and Peele act out a skit vocalizing the true thoughts and meanings behind the stereotypical school bully threats and phrases. While humorous, the skit displays how one’s words and language can be used to hurt, secretly signal one’s own emotions, and even the stereotyping of bullies and the struggles that lead to their outward aggression.
R.S.V.P. - Clueless (1/9) Movie CLIP (1995) HD
Play videoSome examples of the third dialect in the 1995 movie Clueless.
Vocal Fry: The Rules
Play videoA somewhat comedic look at what vocal fry is and a plea from the video's author to stop it. The narrator talks about vocal fry's spread across various mediums and how it may be a reaction to rising vocal intonation that went way too far.
The Doge Meme
Fun Fact: it is the 12 year anniversary of the term doge. An internet famous canine known to many, one of the original meme phenomenons: the "doge." Originating with a picture of perplexed Shiba Inu, this picture was one of the first to get the meme movement going. Somehow, this photo of a dog evolved into the same picture with a smorgasbord of random phrases on it in juvenile neon comic sans font. Phrases such as "very wow" "such fun" "so perplex" "much doge" which are obviously not grammatically correct, nor do they make any sense, but for some reason everybody understands and laughs along. There are countless versions of the doge that apply to any situation, and the use of doge language is still relevant and understood 12 years later. [Published on 02-06-2014]
Anne Curzan: What makes a word "real"?
Play videoIn this video Anne Curzan reviews how a word can be introduced to language, how words can begin to move out of the language, and how the usage of words change and alter through time. Curzan also covers how people use dictionaries and resources in order to stay caught up but, editors of dictionaries are struggling to keep up with our vocabulary and have to gabble on which words will actually survive.
HIP HOP SLANGS
Play videoThis is about a Guy who is trying to explain rap slang. Based on the video he is a white male trying to explain the hip hop cultures slang. The thing that I found really interesting about the video is his persona that presents the word. How he tries to explain the word with “appropriate English”. I noticed that this related to our class because we talked about how we appropriate certain styles of language over the other. Even though rap slang is only used by a small group of people it seem to be represented a an inferior way of speak based on the presentation of this video. When they gave examples it was looked at as silly. Just a really interesting video especially when you relate it to this topic.
Intertextuality: Panic! At the Disco
Play videoThe song Victorious by Panic has lyrics which mention "50 words for murder, and I am every one of them" in reference to the (false) belief that there are 50 words in Inuktitut for snow.
The Crows in Dumbo
Play videoChildhood is an extremely critical time for socialization into a given culture. Children learn from parents, teachers, and friends about the norms and beliefs of their community. Language is an important category to be socialized into as language and ideologies surrounding language are intertwined with race, class, and status. Although there is no official language of America, English is pushed as the official language so much so that historically non-English speakers were forced by violence to shed their culture’s identity and language and subscribe to the “English-only” agenda. While the use of corporal punishment is not prevalent in modern society as a means of restricting non-English languages, the general attitude towards anyone who speaks something other than Standardized American English is unfavorable. The crows in Disney’s Dumbo show the ways in which language is used to stereotype a group of people which also acts to socialize young children to stigmatize people either directly or indirectly. In Jane Hill’s study on the use of Mock Spanish, she concluded that mock Spanish is directly linked to ideas of racism by saying, “racism is largely produced in and through everyday talk, not through the obvious racist slurs that most people today condemn but through unintentional, indirect uses of language that reinforce racist stereotypes” (Hill, 2008). Furthermore, Rankin and Karn’s study on Ebonics led them to the conclusion that “anti-Ebonics ideology is transmitted by a simple set of strategies which suggest one can ‘speak’ Ebonics by simply pejorating standard English” which then “produces a racialized language stereotype of a subordinate group” (Rankin & Karn, 1999). Disney’s portrayal of an animal who is colored black and speaking in a stereotypical manner of African Americans would further push the ideology that this is how all African Americans speak. This portrayal would then be normalized and viewed as acceptable based on the influence and power of media especially on children.
How to Sound Cooler in French
Play videoThis is a (humorous) tutorial for people who are learning French and want to sound more like a native speaker. It speaks to the French tendency to rely on sounds (like ouf, bof, etc) to convey subtle meaning in phrases.
Who’s Better at Baby Talk, Mom or Dad?
Based upon research, “Mothers responded 88% to 94% of the time to the babies vocalizations, while dads responded only 27% to 33% of the time” (Park, 2014). Therefore, babies respond more to their mothers than their fathers. Additionally, a mother responds more to a daughter and less to a son. Whereas, a father responds more to a son than a daughter. Verbal interaction impacts language performance and academic success. [Published on 11-03-2014]
Performativity in Home Alone
Play videoThis is a clip from the movie Home Alone. Kevin goes grocery shopping and while at the register he talks to the cashier as if he is an adult. Kevin also pulls out coupons just as an adult might do, and tells the cashier the toys are “for the kids.” Kevin is using performativity in order to make himself appear as an adult shopping alone at the store before the cashier starts asking him about his real age and why he is alone.
Hurt BAE
Play videoThis video shows a younger couple discussing the infidelity on part of the male in the relationship, while a variety of older viewers watch the conversation. The video shows the differences in how younger generations communicate versus older generations, and the changes in how we communicate. Throughout the video, you see and hear the various reactions from the group and hear their thoughts and perception of the situation based on the conversation between the couple and the memes that were posted on the internet about the video.
Teen Slang: What's, like, so wrong with like?
This article is about the use of 'like' and other fillers and the way it is deemed inappropriate. It is commonly used among teens as a way of 'belonging', and is used in certain contexts. The article also goes on to say that someone might not like the use of fillers because they are not part of the speech community it's used in. [Published on 09-28-2010]
Be Free- J. Cole
The artist J. Cole uses his lyrics to express the hardships that he has faced in relations to his experiences as a Black man.
Baby Talk
This is an article that talks about how “baby talk” is the best way for infants to acquire language skills. It discusses the argument that talking to infants like that may be condescending; however, studies have shown that it is an excellent way for them to learn their language. It also discusses how babies are ready to learn language in the last trimester when their ears are fully developed. They are already listening to their mother and the sounds around them. The use of repetition and slower speech is helpful with infants in learning language patterns. [Published on 12-06-2016]
Latinos Guess Urban Dictionary Terms
Play videoThis video is interesting because it is asking Latinos specifically what they think certain slang words mean that are often used today. The words are slang words that most young adults and teenagers know but a few of the words were aimed at the Latino community. An interesting aspect of the video was that they included slang words related to the presidential race of 2016 and you can see how the Latinos react to certain words or what they assume one might mean.
Code-Switching Baby
Play videoThis video shows a young child speaking in German with his father for most of the video until he looks up and sees his mother, with him immediately switching to Japanese upon seeing her. This shows how code-switching is prevalent even in younger multilingual speakers and is used as a way to communicate with different people. Although the child in this video is very young, he still is aware enough to know that his father understands German best and that his mother responds best to Japanese.
Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent
Animator and Narrator, Safwat Saleem, reflects on his experience with the "pre-existing notion of normal" at a young age and how he is still challenged by that notion today. Throughout his life Saleem has faced criticism due to society's idea of what is "normal" and what is "good" and has let it negatively affect his career and esteem. Saleem explains how he has overcome those challenges and now chooses to use his accent and work to help shape and transform a more accepting society. [Published on 02-01-2016]
The linguistic genius of babies
Nothing more than a very interesting video showing how babies learn "language". I think it's very interesting to listen to. [Published on 10-01-2010]
Twitch Speak the Language of Twitch Chat
This short article attempts to delve into the appeal of twitch.tv's brand of emoji language and how it has developed into its own language community that spans multiple continents. [Published on 08-08-2014]
Babies Are Linguistic Geniuses
In this TedTalk, Patricia Kuhl assess the linguistic abilities of babies and how their surrounding environment affects their language acquisition. She examines the various mental processes and reasoning babies use in order to understand their life in this world. [Published on 10-01-2010]
Bilingual children switching between English and Spanish
Play videoThis video includes children in a one on one setting switching between spanish and english, during various exercise. It features bilingual children in an office setting. The focus is on literacy and acquisition of bilingual children.
How to Speak Hip
Play videoThis is the intro to a 13 part "album" instructing listeners on how to speak and understand "hip" language. Those who want to appear "cool" to this subculture that includes hipsters, juvenile delinquents, jazz musicians, etc.
The Language of Twins
This article provides a good overview of language acquisition among twins and the possible development of “cryptophasia,” or a secret language. The article points out that, when they are young, twins spend a great deal of time with each other and reinforce each other’s language mistakes, thus creating a unique form of communication. They are, in a sense, their own community of practice. [Published on 08-24-2011]
30 Trendy Internet Slang Words and Acronyms You Need To Know To Fit In
Do you ever read an acronym and have absolutely no idea what it means? Seems to be happening more and more lately! Especially with teens and young adults. Here is your key to internet slang! [Published on 07-15-2015]
What Do Deaf People Think of the Show, "Switched at Birth"?
In this thread, we see a few responses to the question, "What do deaf people think about the show, "Switched at Birth"?" The show is a teenage drama sitcom which portrays many deaf and hard-of-hearing characters alongside hearing characters. The show features characters whose first language is ASL, some who learned later in life and some who are just learning. The first piece on the thread, written by Spencer Horelik is a pretty detailed response to the question. I thought his comments on a hearing actress playing the show's main character, a Deaf teen to be very interesting. [Published on 02-14-2015]
Rise of the 'vocal fry': Young women are changing how low they talk to sound more like Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry
Women in the UK are changing their voices to match American celebrities. [Published on 04-26-2016]
The Language of Pokémon
Play videoThis short video illustrates how Pokémon trading card game (TCG) players comprise a community of practice with its own unique vocabulary. The community has millions of members and, arguably, has created its own culture and rituals reflected in the words that it uses.
Kiezdeutsch
A brief description of Kiezdeutsch, a German dialect first classified as an ethno- or multiethnolect, with primarily Turkish and Arabic foundations. This article emphasizes the sociolect's primary usage among young speakers in larger cities. (Compare with Matsuda's reference to a "youth accent", pp 1361 in Voices of America. The Yale Law Journal.1991.) [Published on 02-11-2012]
7 Year Old Polyglot
Play videoThis is a girl who is half-Japanese and half-Spanish, and she is currently (as of 2015) living in Spain. In this video she shows us how many languages she has at her disposal, highlighting the fact that speakers can have many different repertoires to index their identities.
Creoles
Play videoThis short video gives a great background of how far language can come from something as simple as a few words that are understood between a small group. It shows how creoles get created through pidgins.
Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism by FCKH8.com
Play videoThis video uses young girl cussing to show that there are more problems in society than little girls cussing. The fact that they are talking the way they are is shocking, which is done to make people actually listen to the bigger point.
How to Speak INTERNET
Play videoA group of three British guys basically put together a video "guide" to understanding all of today's internet slang. From "YOLO," to ""FML," they cover a handful of different types of internet slang and explain what they all mean in the non internet world.
Friends: Joey acting nineteen
Play videoIn this clip from the TV show FRIENDS, the character Joey is pretending to be a teenager to prove he can land an acting gig as a younger guy. He uses a bunch of what he thinks is teenager slang while trying to convince Chandler that he can do it. This is a good example of slang, especially in regards to youth and the area in which the show is set (NYC).
Key & Peele - Awkward Conversation
Play videoIn this video, Key & Peele use a sketch to poke fun at people they feel simply react to others instead of sharing actual views. Jordan Peele's character uses types of performativity, including drawn-out words and phrases, eye rolls, and looking at his friends while excluding Keegan's character to express his displeasure with Keegan's opinions on pop culture.
Family Guy Stereotypes
Play videoThis video is a combination of stereotypes that have aired on family guy over the years. Many of these stereotypes have to do with race and language in society today.
Why these UK school kids love learning languages
Play videoThis group of students talk about why they feel it is important to learn a different language.These students are amazing in the sense that they seem so grown up and ready to take on the world, and language is one very powerful tool to help them do just that!
Does Not Speaking Spanish Make You Less Latino? Pero Like Ep.4
Play videoThis article discusses speech communities and how the language you speak does or does not define your culture. In this example, the video is discussing if not speaking Spanish makes you less Latino.
Teacher raps to relate to students
Play videoTeacher uses rap song to teach children. She uses rap and dance movements to relate to the children because she knew that the kids would catch on to what she was teaching if she used methods that would keep the kids wanting to learn.
Grandmas Attempt To Define Modern Slang Words [LABS] | Elite Daily
Play videoGrandmas try to decipher what modern slang words mean. Here you can see how age and culture can determine your language use. I think we can also see how slang plays into language and how misunderstood slang can be.
5th Grade Class Starts American Sign Language Club to Better Communicate with Deaf Classmate
Students at an elementary school in Illinois have started learning ASL signs to communicate with a hearing-impaired student in their class. [Published on 02-25-2016]
Dad Learns Internet Slang
Play videoA son is teaching his father words that are commonly used on the internet and seeing what he thinks they mean. It is very interesting to see how different generations think of these words as two completely different things.Throughout this video of course slang is being used but I think stigmas are brought up throughout this video as well. The refer to Justin Bieber as having swag and then describe it as, hat turned sideways, pants sagged low, etc.
How kids of different backgrounds are affected by racism
This group of videos shows how kids of all races and backgrounds are affected by words and racism.
How Others Interpret Slang
Play videoThis is video shows different members of society, whether it be by age, gender or race, trying to identify what different slang terms mean.
Mock spanish
This is an interesting article touching on the use of mock spanish in children's books.
"The Day Beyonce Turned Black"
Play videoWithin this SNL skit, there are many different forms of language used. For this skit, it is explaining how caucasian people tend to look at the world in a over dramatic way. Throughout the skit, there are race, gender, & sexualities between white people and Black people. This skit has a comical view on different political problems that we have in this country today, and what the children of our culture are growing up in.
Garrard McClendon on Black English - Ebonics
Play videoGarrad McClendon addresses the dangers of the African American language. Although he believes the African American language is beautiful, he feels strongly that the African Americans in the US need to learn how to code-switch. They need to learn when it is appropriate to talk in slang and when it is necessary to code-switch to "proper" English. Garrad also addresses the issues that teachers need to become more aggressive in correcting children's language at a young age and not be afraid of doing so. The children's future is dependent on being taught proper English and being correct when they don't use it.
Teenager Girls: The Real Disruptors of Language
Details historical evidence that young women have always been a driving force behind language change, including some changes previously credited to Shakespeare, for example. [Published on 08-07-2015]
Multilingualism on cognitive development
This article talks about how children who are bilingual gain an advantage at problem solving versus a child who is monolingual. [Published on 02-11-2016]
Youth codeswitching
Play videoThis is an example of a child having a conversation with both his parents in 3 different languages.
The Bae factor
This picture is a perfect example of how our youth have started taking common words of endearment and changing it out of laziness but to mean the same thing as the original word.
The unstoppable march of the upward inflection?
A short piece speculating on the origins of/reasons for upward inflection/"Valley Girl" speech. [Published on 08-11-2014]
If you don't have anything nice to say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS
An episode of This American Life on internet trolls, which includes a segment on the criticisms of female TAL contributors who use creaky voice, with an interview with Penny Eckert. [Published on 01-23-2016]
Code-switching example
Play videoThis is a perfect example of a child being put in a very unique linguistic environment. This video depicts code-switching for a boy at a very young age. While discussing a hole found in a pair of shorts, the boy uses Indonesian, French and English to talk to his parents.
Child Parodies Mother's logic to get his own way.
Play videoThis video is a great example of a child's language acquisition. This young man uses his mother's terms to "reason" with her to get his way going as far as to adopt her slang for a spanking (burn your butt and pow pow's)
From upspeak to vocal fry: Are we "policing" young women's voices?
An episode of Fresh Air with sociolinguist Penny Eckert, in part a response to a recent episode of Fresh Air with a speech pathologist who criticized features used by young people in American English. [Published on 07-23-2015]
Filmmaker and Speech Pathologist weigh in on what it means to "sound gay"
An episode of Fresh Air, profiling a filmmaker who made a documentary about sounding gay, as well as an interview with a speech pathologist who makes a number of troubling comments about features of youth language, including high rising terminals, creaky voice, and discourse markers. [Published on 07-05-2015]
'Yo' Said What?
In Baltimore kids have started using "yo" as a gender neutral pronoun. [Published on 03-15-2015]
xkcd: Quotative Like
The webcomic xkcd offers a humorous take on language change and the use of "like" as a quotative complementizer.
Vocal Fry on This American Life: Freedom Fries
A segment on This American Life that profiles the complaints the show has received about the use of "vocal fry," or creaky voice, by its female commentators. It profiles the dominant stereotype that it is used by young women only, and that it indexes a set of negative attributes. Penny Eckert is interviewed on her recent research on NPR and creak that finds an age-based difference in perceptions of creak. Ira concludes, "people who don't like to listen to young women on the radio have moved on to vocal fry." [Published on 01-23-2015]
Why we are saying "uh" less and 'um' more
Changes in our filled pauses [Published on 02-07-2015]
DYSA African American English (or Ebonics) in the classroom
Play videoA clip from the documentary "Do You Speak American?" profiling the use of contrastive analysis exercises to teach children who speak both SAE and AAE in the LA Unified School District.
Why do people say "like" so much?
A Grammar Girl post that summarizes Alex D'arcy's research on the discourse functions of like. [Published on 12-05-2014]
"This is her, right?" "This is me, right?"
Play videoCatherine Tate as teen Londoner Lauren, performing the quotative "this is + SPEAKER" among other features associated with urban young Londoners of low socio-economic class.
Time Magazine's "Which Words Should We Ban?"
The banned word poll consists mainly of slang found in youth culture and in AAE, and while the article suggests the words in question are new and over-exposed, the lexical items in AAE have long been in use. The descriptions for the words and slang mock those who use them, heavily targeting African American youth. [Published on 11-12-2014]
Australian Youth Representative 2013
Play videoAn example of a young speaker of Australian English that might be considered "general," (on a continuum from broad - general - cultivated)
Can changing how you sound help you find your voice?
A NPR story profiling two women who worked to change their voices due to the stigmatization of their ways of talking. These woman worked with a voice therapist who normally provides therapy to transgender individuals. [Published on 10-14-2014]
Vocal Fry may hurt women's job propsects
An Atlantic article summarizing the study of Anderson et al that concluded that use of creaky voice makes women less hireable. [Published on 05-29-2014]
Vocal Fry doesn't harm your career prospects
A critique of the Anderson et al. study that found that females using creaky voice were judged less desirable. The author points out that the matched guise approach involved speakers who were taught to produce more creaky guises, so that the creak is an imitation. Further, the creaky utterances were longer and had lower pitch, raising questions about what listeners were reacting to. [Published on 06-06-2014]
Study: Women with creaky voices deemed less hireable
The Washington Post reports a research study that found that women who used creaky voice were judged by listeners to be less competent, less educated, less trustworthy, less attractive, and less hireable. The research team concludes that speakers should "should undertake conscious effort to avoid vocal fry in labor market settings." [Published on 06-02-2014]
XKCD: Misusing Slang
A XKCD comic about language change, youth, and slang.
Linguist finds a language in its infancy
A 2013 podcast about Light Warlpiri, a new language created by children living in Northern Australia.
Like, You Know
Play videoA performance from poet Taylor Mali entitled "Like, you know" that comments on the use of a number of features of youth language.
Commercial: Kiwi and Aussie kids
Play videoA 2008 Mitre 10 commercial with two Kiwi kids (one Maori, one Pakeha) and one Aussie kid talking about home improvement.
Southern Shift
Play audioA young female speaker from George Mason University's Speech Accent Archive from Norton, Virginia (English15) who has the Southern Shift.
Dude: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Play videoDude: Bolling Cartoon
(Enlarge image)A Short Class in Manglish: 88, 3Q
Mandarin Chinese written internet-slang is becoming more popular; however, there is also growing opposition to the inclusion of English words and phrases into the Chinese language. By Patti Waldmeir.
Dad wears skirt
A 2012 article about a German father who supports his son's desire to wear skirts and dresses by wearing a skirt himself.