HELP!

[conuly]

I have this project due tomorrow. I had been planning to do a tape of people speaking and come up with results (it's for sociolinguistics) but the tape is impossible to hear for most of it. So I'm doing the OTHER project, which I had originally decided not to do because I didn't have enough people. Basically, I'm going to get a few results and extrapolate from them, instead of doing what I was supposed to do which is give the survey to two groups of 10 people each, which are alike in all respects except one. PLEASE help!

[Poll #360503]

Edit: Unless this affected your answers, don't worry about it. Just a clarification: AAVE is *not* supposed to be taken to mean slang. I lost the explanation we were supposed to give, which is just as well as I really thought that explanation was biased towards AAVE anyway. I mean, so am I, but that didn't seem fair. Anyway, AAVE is supposed to be considered as a dialect such as RP english or Brooklyn english, not as slang.

Non-americans, unless you know a lot about the subject (or think you can guess based on your knowledge of nonprestigious dialects where you are), don't answer. I'm locking this so that I can't be called out for rushing the assignment.

Comments

[fjorab-teke.livejournal.com]

It's a little silly what I'm going to say in light of what's already been said: what I'm going to attempt to say will probably not adequately represent exactly what I mean.

I find that many language variances have their "proper" places and cultures, but that does not mean it is advantageous overall to use them. The further one strays from the core language, the further they stray from being clearly understood by others in their society. Their more "local" culture may be able to understand it, but others will not and may even look down on them for doing so. That said, I believe it is very important for people to understand standard rules (grammar, spelling, pronunciation, and usage) of the language that is central to their surrounding culture.

There are "typed languages" and coded languages that have appeared largely due to technology, shortcuts, and the need or desire to be understood by only a small percentile of people. When it spreads out, it becomes more widely accepted but not necessarily "correct." The main downfall to this is that people become so accustomed to the "wrong" way that they literally forget how to use the standard language and make problems for themselves through that. I know of several young people who have used "chtspk" so much that they don't even make an effort to spell words properly or differentiate between "your" and "you're," for example. Among friends who understand and use chtspk, I guess that is fine. I find it hideous to read, and if it's used too much I think it impairs one's ability to type and sometimes even speak more formally.

Wow, that was long. :-/

[conuly]

That actually comes close to my favorite argument for IAL/interlinguas!

Namely that it's better to encourage local dialects/langauges and have everybody learn one, non-national langauge than it is to just stamp out the local forms of speech.