HON 2205 - Why Do You Talk Like That?

Credits: 4
A language like English has a dizzying array of varieties, different ways of talking based on where we are from, our social class, age, gender, ethnicity, education, and more. Many of the differences are simply curious, like whether you call a certain kind of sandwich a sub, a hoagie, or a grinder. And of course we all remark on the different forms of pronunciation found within the US, not to mention throughout the English-speaking world. Some accents we like; others we may disparage. This course unpacks the nature of all this variation, examining the origins of today’s many social and regional dialects, their structure, and, vitally, how we make judgments about one another based on our assumptions regarding these varieties and their speakers. We will examine standard and nonstandard dialects, slang, linguistic identity, and issues of language and power. Students will have the opportunity to do their own observations and surveys of local varieties and linguistic attitudes.
McDaniel Plan: Multicultural