Language and Ethnicity

Penelope Eckert

Observed how white varieties of English are categorised into many levels of dialects (eg Mancunian, Yorkshire etc). However non white varieties of English tend to be lumped together and viewed as an inferior form of English (eg Multicultural London English, Black British, Jamaican English

Laurence D. Bobo (2001)

Defines ethnicity as being ‘associated with cultural factors, such as language, religion and nationality’

What is the main reason for ethnic varieties of English in the UK?

Migration → After WW2 members of the commonwealth were encouraged to move to Britain to rebuild. Ship brought people from the Caribbean to Britain in 1948 (Windrush generation). Many new forms of English started to be heard around the UK, particularly in urban areas

What is a pidgin language?

A contact language developed when speakers of different languages need to communicate (pidgin languages have no native speakers) and has reduced grammar and vocab

What is a creole?

A pidgin language becomes a creole when it becomes the native language of a speech community

Jamaican Patois formation…

• Considered a language separate from English

• Developed when enslaved people from Central and West Africa were taken to Jamaica and exposed to English through enslavers

• Huge variety of pidgins and creoles that developed through slave trades as many enslaved would not share a language with one another or their enslavers

Jamaican Patois features:

• Mi = I am

• H dropping

• Rhoticity

• Verbs not always marked for tense ‘I be rather than ‘I’ve been’

• Consonant cluster reduction eg respec*

Gary Ives (2014) Study:

Bradford → 95% of students from Pakistani backgrounds

South London → Students from a wide range of ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. Above average rate of English as an additional language. Largest proportion of students come from Afro-Carribean background

Bradford Asian English (Ives)

• 8 boys interviewed on the way they speak

• Initial responses included “its the way we were born” “everyone speaks like this” “its natural”

• When encouraged to elaborate it become clear it was a conscious choice rather than natural “we mix Punjabi and English” “It’s all about our area” “We might speak English to mum and dad but with our friends we add in Punjabi” “We use a different language so they don’t know what youre saying… theres different types from different areas”

Code Switching (Ives)

• An element of Bradford Asian English is code switching

• Occurs when a bilingual speaker will alternate between different languages when talking

• Participants said the most common punjabi words they used were swear words such as ‘bastard’ and ‘bitch’

Code switching and age (Ives)

• Two members of staff with Pakistani heritage confirmed the use of code switching and their own integration of punjabi into everyday talk

*Also spoke to teenage girl of Indian background, her first language being Gujrati. Stated she felt like a minority as school and was unlikely to code switch between English and Gujrati though she would if in a social group with more speakers

Multicultural London English (Ives)

• Actively chose words and phrases that ‘set them apart’ from the rest of the country eg bare, ends, yard, hype, calm

• Features of MLE have roots in West African, Caribbean and Indian languages. However Ives said using MLE appeared to be based on forming a group identity not ethnicity

• Described as ‘an organic hybrid - a convergence of a great number of influences’

Kerswill and MLE

MLE has arisen out of areas of social deprivation. Kerswill suggests feelings of discrimination could lead to language diversion to form a social identity

David Starkey’s views on MLE…

• Concerned with its impact on traditional forms of English

• Associates it with social decline and deprivation (a breakdown of linguistic standards)

• MLE is a ‘dumbed down’ version of standard English

Multicultural London English → Multicultural British English

• Suggested to have emerged from Multicultural London English

• Variety of speech features used alongside local dialects all around the UK (mostly young people)

• Evidence suggests MBE spread due to grime music, as artists from around the UK are found to use the same features of the dialect

MLE - John Pitts

• Developed in the 1980s as a resistance identity

• The expression of young people that investment in society and social dorms has disadvantaged them

• A form of ‘anti language’ to resist oppression

Fryer and Levitt study: **might need more

• Investigated why black Americans were still faring less well in life (in terms of employment, economic stability, health and other measures of prosperity) than white Americans

• Data set of every birth certificate in California over 40 years (huge data set of over 16 million)

• Found that names were an indicator of life outcome but not a cause

Kircher and Fox (2019) - Attitudes towards MLE

• Did an online survey from people living in London which questioned whether they use MLE and their views on people who spoke MLE. Questions answered on a scale of 1 to 5 for intelligence, ambition and education

• People who spoke MLE ranged into their 50s and had loyalty to the multiethnolect. People who didn’t speak MLE saw it negatively as a ‘broken language’ and ‘decaying’. MLE had a score of 2.2 for social status and attractiveness (this reflects general trends in the UK). Those with higher levels of education or had a native language other than English viewed it more positively

Gates (2019) - Ethnicity and linguistic variation in MLE

• Carried out 1:1 interview where participants read out passages and word lists. Took questionnaires to gather data on participants and spent time to get to know them. This was done to gather information on the way participants spoke in multiple circumstances. The participants were 27 14-15 year olds who attended an East London secondary school

• Multiple factors contributed to the speaking of MLE, ethnicity is one but friendship groups and the diversity of these groups is key. Boys were more likely to speak MLE. White British girls were more likely to speak close to Cockney. Also found difference amongst those who spoke MLE in th-dropping and pronunciation of vowels

Kerswill (2014): The Media and MLE ***

Method → Discourse analysis of 87 articles (using Nexis UK) mentioning MLE or ‘Jafaican’; studied collocates and how narratives developed over time

Findings → Media mostly used neutral temrs (‘new’ ‘English’ ‘accent’) but also negative ones like ‘fake’. MLE was linked to crime, loss of Cockney and sexist attitudes. Media portraying MLE as ‘cool’ and ‘anti-establishment’

The 1996 Ebonics Controversy

• Also known as AAVE or Black English

• Oakland (California) school district recognised Ebonics as a separate language and not simply a dialect of American English. The school district suggested that Ebonics should be used as a tool in the classroom instead of being dismissed as wrong

• Met with contention within both white and black communities. Claimed it celebrated an incorrect language and would technically classify students as bilingual

• The resolution was misunderstood and spread moral panic. Amended the resolution in 19977 and little has been done to recognise AAVE since

Zimmerman Trial Case Study:

• Jeantel spoke AAVE

• White jurors found her ‘untelligibile’ and ignored her evidence

• They had no interpretor for her dialect (only foreign languages get interpreters)

• Social bias and unfamiliarity meant her 6 hour testimony ‘played no role’ in verdict

• The outcome was that AAVE was “found guilty” and crucial evidence was dismissed, affecting justice

Rickford and King

Courtrooms must incorporate linguistic expertise to ensure fair trials:

• Provide dialect interpretation

• Train legal actors (judges, lawyers and jurors need education on vernacular dialects to prevent stereotyping and comprehension failures

• Institutional reform (legal system needs to recognise language prejudice can distort evidence and outcomes, policies that safeguard dialect bias must be implicated)

What is cultural appropriation?

Defined by adopting elements typical of one culture by individuals of another

Christian Ilbury “Sassy Queens”

• Aimed to identify how aspects of AAVE are used in internet communications by gay men in Britain

• Used to form an identity by people outside the culture. Aspects of the cultural that black women are often criticised or stereotyped for were adopted and seen as positive in the gay community. Several characteristics are widespread in gay men’s communications. ‘Slay’ and ‘yaas’ were examples of where this was used. Found that these aspects linked specifically to black American women

Eberhardt and Freeman “First things first, I’m the realist”

• Aimed to identify the use of AAVE in Azalea’s entire discography and whether this was fitting with how she spoke in her interviews

• Azalea is able to use her status as an attractive white women to take features of AAVE that are otherwise seen as undesirable and make money off this

• Azalea exploits AAVE to gain a fanbase. Her mimicry exceeded the way that black rappers spoke and her accent was deemed inauthentic. Some features were used 90% of the time in her music but only 2% in spoken language

Pilcher and Williams “Hipsters in the hood”

• Four South London men who used MLE and hip hop speech features to signal membership of urban, Black influenced culture

• Distinguished ‘authentic’ hip hop speakers from ‘intruders’ (white m/c Oxbridge education), policing who counted as genuine participants

• Use of these features wasnt tied to ethnicity but to their desire identity, people adopted MLE to align with the toughness and street cred of grime/hip hop role models

• Appropriation was detected

Drummond “Maybe its a grime ting”

• TH stopping (pronouncing thing as ting) appeared regardless of ethnic background

• Speakers used TH stopping strategically when they wanted to project ‘grime’ authenticity

• Adoption of this MLE feature was linked to identification with grime role models, not being from an ethnic group

• Demonstrates cultural appropriation for identity construction