Lysicott, Jamila/Ted Talk. “I am articulate.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn_mqVD_7XQ. youtube.com. FolkMedicine, November 10 2009. Web. October 12, 2017
Summary:
The author uses her experience to define and explain the basis of language. According to the author, the English language is split into many different aspects in which we learn and use to communicate with different types of people. This essentially means that language is a “discourse” as we learn our primary discourse or ways of communicating through their families. This includes basic pronunciation of words, our body language, and word choices. As we get older, we learn our secondary “discourse” which are essentially different sub-sets which we use in order to communicate appropriately with the right people. The author state how she can speak “three tongues” to show how people intuitively use different styles of communicating the same language based on the audience. Just because the right words, grammar, and pronunciations are used doesn’t mean that a person is articulate as he or she must speak in a way to meet society’s expectations and to conform with certain groups of people. Hence, people intuitively learn to adapt their styles of communication based on the audience.
Evaluation:
This article helped me understand how language goes beyond the basic principles of communication. It requires a lot of adaptabilities constantly as we speak to different types of people. The varying aspects of English bring out a bigger picture of how using different communication techniques such as words and grammar can help us conform with society which brings out greater articulation. The more adaptive we are in terms of applying different aspects of language the more we will be able to represent our identity and purpose in conversations.
Lowi, “Codeswitching: An Examination of Naturally Occurring Conversation”
Summary:
Rosalina Lowie describes codeswitching as the “utilization of language resources as multilingual speech”. This essentially means that the languages we learn contain many different aspects in which we pick up a few such as words, accents and other facets in order to communicate appropriately and effectively to certain people. People intuitively codeswitch in order to meet conversational objectives and sustain a certain role or identity. This can vary from speaking different languages separately in order to conform to a certain group or conversation or using a combination of multiple languages to maintain relevance to the context. Codeswitching can essentially be seen through an internal perspective as it can direct itself towards one’s natural behavior or attitude when communicating or in a broader idea as codeswitching can occur from social settings or from power. However, codeswitching is also structured as there is some form of obligation to use different resources of languages in order to gain conformity and relevance. People codeswitch in order to meet the expectations intended for their audiences.
Evaluation:
This article describes how language cannot be described with one meaning. There are multiple aspects of languages that shape peoples’ communication forms which should be emphasized. Society plays a huge role in languages as it sets the boundaries and expectations to which people intuitively follow in order to maintain their purpose and identity. It helped me learn a lot about my own use of language in terms of when and how I codeswitch. Society’s factors play a lot into the extent to which we codeswitch. This will inevitably help me be more aware when I communicate with a variety of people.