I really enjoyed everyone's language presentations this week! Everyone’s presentations were well organized, engaging, and informative.
I feel like languages like Korean, Spanish, Mandarin, and even ASL to an extent, feel like concrete languages one learns in school. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in comparison is something that many people don't even consider a "language" and it was so interesting to learn about it in a more concrete, educational context. I loved the activity the AAVE group had on their handout, and it really made me think about AAVE in ways outside of just spoken language. The presentations also made me think about language and its relation to culture, and the way that language can impact the way people see both themselves and others.
I found it very interesting to compare the video about the Ruiz article with the Barrett chapter, and think about these both in relation to our presentations this week. I really appreciated Ruiz's commentary about different language orientations.When thinking about the language as a problem orientation and connecting the use of language with negative stereotypes about a group, I was reminded of the Barrett chapter. Both pieces explored the uses of language to perpetuate negative stereotypes about different groups of people, often racial and ethnic minorities, who may speak different dialects of English, or have limited English proficiency. I feel like many of the presentations spoke on this matter, and emphasized the policies that impact racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. So many laws have specifically targeted people with limited English proficiency, especially immigrants, and create further barriers for their existence.
The connection between limited proficiency in “standard English” with poverty, and societal value is so engrained in our society. This stereotype has been perpetuated lately by negative press surrounding immigrants and refugees, further emphasizing that they are “different” and not welcome members of our society. We saw so many policies emphasizing these, especially policies limiting use of languages besides English in public schools.
It was interesting to learn about hardships that speakers of certain languages faced throughout their time in the US. It was also quite evident that many groups of people faced the same, or similar issues. Non-English languages have been severely devalued throughout history, and perpetuated negative stereotypes about various groups of people over time. It is clear that this negative attitude towards immigrants has shifted from group to group over time, from German immigrants, to Chinese immigrants, to Mexican immigrants, and will continue to persist, shifting from group to group unless there is a clear effort to change societal mentality.