After doing the readings and watching the videos for this week, I found many commonalities between them. One prominent, recurring theme is “labels and power”. There is a hierarchy between varieties of English, and this hierarchy is reinforced by humans and is not something that exists naturally.
Barrett et al. (2023) explain that language creates and reinforces categories based on the way people speak, creating stereotypes that position some people as inferior to others (p. 40). Language also creates racist ideologies by ascribing meanings to everyday words, objects, and behaviors – even when those meanings are false (p. 39). However, Barrett et al. also point out that these labels do not exist naturally. These categories feel “natural” but are in fact cultural, historical and political constructs.
In Chapter 3, Barrett et al. (2023) bring up the idea of prescriptivism versus descriptivism, which I found fascinating (p. 57). It is often people with “authority” – self-proclaimed experts such as writers, teachers, editors, or columnists — who reinforce these prescriptive rules in “Standard English”. They may have no linguistic training and understanding of people’s backgrounds, but they claim authority because their way of speaking is associated with power and prestige. This reinforces inequality: speakers of minority or working-class dialects are marginalized, and creates linguistic insecurity because people feel forced to follow a “standard English” model. As a result, many internalize shame and think “my English is not good enough” (p. 58).
This reminded me of the video Incomunicado. In it, Shaw, a Chinese American, explains that she was unable to understand Mandarin or connect more deeply with her grandfather because she never systematically learned the language. She also talked about the belief she had growing up that “monolingual people are smarter than bilingual people because if you're bilingual, you don't know any language” This belief kept her from learning Mandarin and caused her to miss many opportunities to communicate with her grandfather.
This video made me tear up; I feel somehow relatable to this story and the readings. Growing up, I also strived to speak “standard English.” My parents and my English teachers always told me to pronounce words the “American way.” I often felt humiliated and ashamed when others didn’t understand me when I spoke English. They laughed at me because I was pronouncing words my own way and not the “generally accepted” way. Over time, I internalized the assumption that if someone didn’t have an American accent, they didn't speak “well.”
This reminded me of the language hierarchy and prescriptivism discussed in the two Barrett chapters. I realized that I had fallen into the same trap: the passing on of stereotypes that had been passed on to me. This is related to the point that linguistic categories feel natural -- just as race categories seem obvious but are constructed, the idea that “Standard English” feels natural but is also constructed.
Finally, the last part of Incomunicado spoke to my heart. Shaw talks about a moment when she discovered her connection to her grandfather was beyond words and language. Her sister says in the video, “Maybe language isn’t what we need.” Indeed, maybe language isn’t the only thing we need – we also need more understanding, empathy, and the ability to see each other’s perspectives without stereotypes.