Advertising- so simple and so complex.  At the surface, it’s simply a captivating image meant to garner attention for a product.  However, through close analysis, you can see (or don’t) that they utilize sinister psychological tactics, perfect in time for Halloween.  Let’s inspect three advertisements from popular brands to find the fallacies lurking beneath the picture.

In this ad, a nun is enjoying gelato, as if it is a heavenly delight.  The fallacy perhaps could be fit under Appeal to Appeal to Traditional Wisdom.  Nuns and churches are associated with being all knowing powerful places, and thus an “endorsement” of their product makes people believe that if the church/nuns are recommending this product, I should have it too.

In this ad, this cigarette company has a new line of “thin cigarettes” and claim that the best ones are like women… thin and rich.  I found multiple fallacies here.  The first one is Style over Substance.  There is no discussion of the product, but instead focusing on a chic well dressed women.  There is also an Appeal to Emotions because for men it could arouse feelings of sexuality/love while with women it could be jealousy/aspiring to be like her.  By focusing on these emotions, the buyer ignores the facts of the product.

In this ad by PETA, an organization supporting animals and veganism, they claim that feeding kids is child abuse.  The first fallacy I see is the black-or-white one because it forces you into two options: either you feed your kids meat and you are an abuser OR you make them go vegan and you are a good parent.  There is also a Lack of Proportion because it removes all reason and makes parents believe that if their kids eat meat, they will be obese by showing a large kid eating a burger.  Even the ad seems to zoom in on the kid in a weird camera angel to exaggerate the facts.

These ads utilize these fallacies to convince consumers through devious means.  So can you detect them now?  Write in the comments below the three fallacies you see in this ad, and I’ll feature you in my next blog post!

Signing off,

Delectable Danielle

Multilingual.  Pluringüe.  Ilteangach.  All those words refer to the same concept- the ability to speak, write, or interact with people in a diverse community through multiple languages.  Multilingualism incorporates communities of all backgrounds and allows them to connect through cultural similarities visible to outsiders through word choices.  To better differentiate these groups, they are called discourse communities.  According to Swales (5), they are “groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals”.  From my club in college to a friend group on the weekends, these discourse communities all demonstrate the multilingualism of each individual.  However, there are more than just discourses, they are categorized as primary or secondary according to Gee’s theory.  As interesting as it is to put on costumes depending on the surroundings, we all have an identity, and thus comes with it a primary discourse.  “Our primary discourse constitutes our original and home-based sense of identity…it can be seen whenever we are interacting with intimates in totally casual social interaction”.  However, there are more than just discourse communities.  According to Swales, multilingualism has two distinct groups Swales defines the differences between a speech community and a discourse community.  He states that “a speech community typically inherits its membership by birth, accident or adoption; a discourse community recruits its members by persuasion, training, or relevant qualification”.  The goal of my data is to demonstrate that multilingualism is an embodiment of code switching in discourse and speech communities.  

To better understand multilingualism in a practical context, I determined to conduct an experiment to record how often I would code-switch in a twenty four hour period.  Codeswitching is a bilingual/multilingual practice that is used not only as a conversational tool, but also as a way to establish, maintain and delineate ethnic boundaries and identities (Lowi).  Often, individuals could technically communicate through a certain standardized way, but by selecting the right ‘language’, they are able to connect within a group and even preserve their ethnic identities in the process.  Lyiscott explains that her community still uses slang from the street to preserve the language of her people rather than assimilating.

To discover how often I would code switch and to what languages/dialects I was switching between, I mark the timing of each conversation using my phone as well as a log notebook following the conversation to record the details/word choices.  For each code switch, I would categorize it under one of the following categories: academic, family, friends, and public.  Each genre was also placed in either tier 1 (casual) vs tier 2 (formal).  After two days of the experiment, I have retrieved the following data: 7 instances of family language, 8 of friends, 5 of academic, and 4 of public.  To best represent this data, I created a pie chart that shows the percentage of total instances to each language.  Note that I decided to choose this instead of total time because I wanted to highlight even brief moments of codeswitching.  

Figure 1: Types of Languages in Discourse Community This pie chart displays the five different languages identified during the experiment based on the cell phone/physical notes of conversations

Of these genres, I also speak 9 times in a casual style and 11 times in a formal method.  I felt it important to also reveal this distinction because although I may be with a friend, I could choose a more professional or casual tone based on our relationship.

Figure 2: Formality of Languages in Discourse community This pie chart displays the two formality of languages in the study based on the researcher’s cell phone

Based on these results, my most used language, aka my primary discourse, was Formal Friends which is clearly evident by the great amount of friends I have are from college, and thus our language choices are a product of that.  On the other hand, my least used language was Informal Public.  When I am out with strangers, I always choose more formal speech because I do not want to stereotype based on their appearance.  If a future experiment were to be conducted, it should be done over a longer period of time to truly reflect the behavioral and literacy choices of the subject rather than simply two days.  As Lowi has stated, How code switching serves to function as a way of identifying and to align oneself with a group is another issue that researchers have examined.  My experiment in part reflected this question through the constant language changes to “fit in” with the particular group.  In just 2 days, I code switched over 21 times with different people to almost disguise myself as perfectly in their group.  The only ironic part of this argument is that the other party is code switching as well, and so we could be both speaking a different language based on expectations of the discourse.

After performing this experiment, I am amazed at the numerous languages and discourse communities are part of my everyday culture.  As Ludwig Wittgenstein stated, ““The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” With these discourse communities, the amount of worlds at my disposal is infinite.

References

• Gee, J. P. (1989). Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics. 1-8.
• Lowi, R. (n.d.). Codeswitching: An Examination of Naturally Occurring Conversation
• Quotes About Language (1842 quotes). (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2017, from                                             https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/language
• Swales, J. (1990). The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings, 21-32.

To better understand multilinguslism in a practical context, I determined to conduct an experiment to record how often I would code-switch in a twenty four hour period.  Codeswitching is a bilingual/multilingual practice that is used not only as a conversational tool, but also as a way to establish, mantain and delineate ethnic boundaries and identities (Lowi).  Often, individuals could technically communicate through a certain standerized way, but by selecting the right ‘language’, they are able to connect within a group and even preserve their ethnic identities in the process.  Lysicott explains that her community still uses slang from the street to preserve the language of her people rather than assimilating.

To discover how often I would codeswitch and to what languages/dialects I was switching between, I mark the timing of each conversation using my phone as well as a log notebook following the conversation to record the details/word choices.  For each codeswitch, I would categorize it under one of the following categories: academic, family, friends, and public.  Each genre was also placed in either tier 1 (casual) vs tier 2 (formal).  After two days of the experiment, I have retrieved the following data: 7 instances of family language, 8 of friends, 5 of academic, and 4 of public.  To best represent this data, I created a pie chart that shows the percentage of total instances to each language.  Note that I decided to choose this instead of total time because I wanted to highlight even brief moments of codeswitching.  

Of these genres, I also speak 9 times in a casual style and 11 times in a formal method.  I felt it important to also reveal this distinction because although I may be with a friend, I could choose a more professional or casual tone based on our relationship.

Based on these results, my most used language was Formal Friends which is clearly evident by the great amount of friends I have are from college, and thus our language choices are a product of that.  On the other hand, my least used language was Informal Public.  When I am out with strangers, I always choose more formal speech because I do not want to stereotype based on their appearance.  If a future experiment were to be conducted, it should be done over a longer period of time to truly reflect the behavioral and literacy choices of the subject rather than simply two days.  As Lowi has stated, How codes witching serves to function as a way of identifying and to align oneself with a group is another issue that researchers have examined.  My experiment in part reflected this question through the constant language changes to “fit in” with the particular group.  In just 2 days, I code switched over 21 times with different people to almost disguise myself as perfectly in their group.  The only ironic part of this argument is that the other party is code switching as well, and so we could be both speaking a different language based on expectations of the discourse.

Swales seems to try to discover in this paper what a discourse community truly is.  Each community has their own rules such as what and how to speak.  These communities do not have physical boundaries and thus must be defined within the area they work in.  To better classify the discourse community, Swales has six characteristics that the community contains:

First, it has a broadly agreed set of common public goals which means that the group exists to achieve some purpose.  The members are all united in the communality of the goal even if their communication breaks down.  Second, it has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.  Third, it uses its participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback.  Fourth, it utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.  Fifth, in addition to owning genres, it has acquired some specific lexis.  Sixth, it has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

In the beginning of this paper, Swales defines the differences between a speech community and a discourse community.  He states that “a speech community typically inherits its membership by birth, accident or adoption; a discourse community recruits its members by persuasion, training, or relevant qualification”.  I agree with his argument because many people are born into a specific group based on their surroundings, such a Latina being part of the Dominican community, however as time passes and her interests adapt, she could become a part of a discourse community.  In my own life, I was born into a Russian family living in Queens, and thus that was my speech community.  However, as I became more Americanized, I feel that I have joined more of Patriot discourse community.

In Lowi’s paper, she decided to create an experiment analyzing code switching by spectating the code switching behaviors of various participants through their telephone lines.  After interviewing each person and understanding their opinions of code switching as well as their personal language history, the experiment was activated.  And what I found was very unique about it is that people who grew up in bilingual households or looked positively upon code switching performed it much more often than those who opposed the idea.  An example would be Ana who felt that languages must not be mixed and instead maintain a solid state: “Ana was ambivalent on the issue of codeswitching. She considered ‘mixing’ languages a sign of incompetent usage” (Lowi 1395).  Thus, she refrained from code switching however would still switch languages when she expressed dis contempt with her son.  Thinking back to Lyiscott, I wonder if the reason she is able to maintain all three tongues is because of her positive opinion of code switching.

What does it mean to be articulate?  According to Merriam Webster dictionary, it is having the ability to speak fluently and coherently. However, in her monologue, she reveals the transformation of her speech in various social languages, thus making her a “tri-lingual orator”.  She contrasts the major differences between formal and informal speech through her three recognized styles: school, friends, and home.  She discusses in detail how the importance of being able to change dialects based on social situations can affect the level of communication between peoples.  An example would be when she states that if her Professor was on the block, or in a non-academic environment, to be articulate would require him to change his style of speech: “So when my Professor comes on the block and says, “Hello”, I stop him and say “Noooo …You’re being inarticulate … the proper way is to say ‘what’s good”.  Lyiscott also explained the prejudices she and the black community feel for having their dialect looked down upon as unsophisticated.  To connect her opinions to my evaluations of switching dialects, I’ve learned that perhaps that I need to work on my articulation because I often speak in a academic/formal style regardless of where I am.  In Gee’s terms, I am stuck in a primary discourse and should learn to adapt and apply secondary discourses as well.

October 12

12:00pm-12:05pm, talk with librarian at school to find textbook (ACADEMIC)

12:10-12:25pm, chat with friends over lunch (FRIENDS)

12:30pm-2:20pm, attend trading club, professional speech with peers (ACADEMIC)

2:35pm-2:45pm, talk with uber driver in reserved heightened speech (PUBLIC)

3:00pm-5:00pm, visit Times Square with best friend, casual and goofy style (FRIENDS)

5:45pm-6:15pm, family dinner with mother, casual discussion (FAMILY)

6:45pm-8:30pm, do homework, ask questions on mindtap (ACADEMIC)

9:00pm-10:30pm, online gaming using voice chat, more loud and rushed style of speaking (FRIENDS)

October 13

10:10am-10:30am, breakfast at Starbucks with friend who I haven’t seen in a long time, more professional speech (FRIEND)

11:35am-11:40am, ask to borrow laptop in library (PUBLIC)

11:50am-12:00pm+- study group in library (ACADEMIC)

My method of data collection this time was to make a mark on my phone for public, academic, family, or friend at the beginning of the conversation, and at the end of the conversation.

Growing up, I always believed that the English language simply required learning the necessary vocabulary, spelling, and grammar to master the skill.  However, after conducting an experiment by analyzing my language use during the day, as well as analyzing Gee’s essay, I realize that language requires an understanding of social culture as well.  For example, Gee explains the combinations of all these abstract concepts through Discourses which are “ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes”.  It is simply not enough to speak, but you must communicate appropriately through subliminal behaviors and language choices.  To apply this concept to my life, I noticed it best when out in public, specifically the Uber drivers.  My first Uber driver was a college educated young gentleman, and thus I adapted my language to a heightened extent, my posture was straight, and I incorporated sophisticated vocabulary in our conversation.  On the other hand, my second Uber driver was a more gruff older man where English was not his first language.  My reaction was to be slouched, talk in basic simple sentences, and incorporate slang in my speech.  Just like Gee’s identity kit, I had various behaviors, speech, and attitudes depending on the social context, and these “costumes” could be switched at any time.

I also was fascinated by Gee’s theory of primary vs secondary discourses.  As interesting as it is to put on costumes depending on the surroundings, we all have an identity, and thus comes with it a primary discourse.  “Our primary discourse constitutes our original and home-based sense of identity…it can be seen whenever we are interacting with intimates in totally casual social interaction” (485).  For me, I completely relate to this idea, because when I am home or with very close friends, I feel free to say whatever comes to my mind without a necessary filter that runs through my mind in other contexts.  For example, in the morning during breakfast with my mother, I was still slightly sleepy and thus was resting my head against my elbow and speaking in short sentences.  However, during the family barbecue, despite it getting late, I made sure to appear attentive and energetic.  The only question that arises for me is whether primary discourses are able to change or adapt if we develop new secondary discourses?

Gee, J. P. (n.d.). Literary, Discourse, and Linguistics.

Signing off,

Delectable Danielle

October 7th to October 8th Data Collection

• 9:00 am-9:30am, speak to mother during breakfast (FAMILY I)
• 9:45 am-10:15am, talk with friends on social media (FRIENDS I)
• 10:50 am-11:05am, discuss weather and new york city with uber driver (STRANGERS II)
• 11:10am-12:00pm, meet friends in person and discuss week (FRIENDS II)
• 12:20pm-12:25pm, receive call from cousin in another state (FAMILY II)
• 12:45pm-1:00pm, take Uber again and make small talk (STRANGERS I)
• 1:25pm-1:35pm, arrive home and speak with mother about outing (FAMILY I)
• 2:00pm-3:00pm, work on academic paper (SCHOOL II)
• 3:30pm-6:00pm, attend family/friend barbecue, spoke with many different people (FRIENDS/FAMILY II)
• 6:30pm-6:35pm, spoke with doorman in our house about his day (STRANGERS II)
• 7:00pm-8:15pm, online gaming/chat with clan members (FRIENDS I)
• 9:00pm-9:25pm, called grandparents in Russia (FAMILY II)
• 10:30pm-11:40pm, texting with best friend (FAMILY I)

Edits: I decided to re categorize each section into tiers

Tier I- less formal

Tier II-more formal

The title was not click baiting you, I promise (sorta).  In class today, we had the chance to participate in a speed dating like system where we discussed our ideas and plans for the next project on code switching.  Honestly, I was shocked at the amount of advice I was able to receive from the beginning to the end of this program.   Even as I kept repeating the same plan to each peer, through my vocalization of thoughts, I discovered new applications myself.  I also was able to voice my concerns and receive valuable tips to fix those issues.  At first, I was unsure how to graphically represent my data, but after speaking with them, they helped me to come to the idea of a line or double bar graph.

Perhaps speed dating is better than I thought?

Signing off,

Delectable Danielle