SOCL 3601 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Geoffrey Hinton, Erving Goffman, Social Class
SOCL 3601
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Sociology 3601 February 2, 2018
Dwayne Hinton
Social class differences in speech in USA are not as prominent as they are in other countries. Most
differences are geographical distances and white/black differences in speech.
I. Black/white speech differences
a. Physiological difference theory << discredited/disproved
i. Used to be the most popular explanation
1. Physiological differences in mouth, throat, larynx between those of
African descent and those of European descent
ii. This is wrong.
1. If you’re goig to poit out a physiologial differee, you hae to sho
how that change actually affects speech.
2. If due to physiological differences – the speech differences should be
universal, not just the USA – for example in UK, Canada, etc – that does
not occur
3. Very few people believe in this theory today.
b. African origin theory
i. African American speech styles respect characteristics of languages spoken in
west Africa when slaves were brought to the new world. Because of the
segregated nature of American society, these west African speech
characteristics have carried down through the African American sub-culture.
ii. Linguistics say if we study the speech styles in their own context, they are
correct and should not be seen as incorrect use of the English language – but
they should be seen as a separate dialect of English
1. This was named ebonics
a. Ebony + onics
2. African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the term preferred today
by linguists.
3. Some top linguists in the USA challenge this theory.
iii. Walter Wolfra’s Oraoke Islad “tudy
1. Studied generational differences in speech and speech of African-origin.
2. Off the coast of South Carolina.
3. Fairly isolated until recent decades – ferry boat only means of travel.
4. Populated by both black and white families who lived there for
generations, some dating back to the 1700s.
5. African-american speech styles did not exist as a separate speech style
among older generations who went to separate schools.
a. It only appeared in generations who went to schools after
desegregation.
b. This disproed the Afria origial theory
c. He concluded African-american speech style is oppositional
ode see last lass’ otes.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Sociology 3601 February 2, 2018
Dwayne Hinton
d. Once everyone was desegregated (black and whites going to the
same schools, etc) – is he the Afria-american speech
styles appeared. Perhaps as a ay to distiguish theseles
iv. William Latov – Do We “peak Aeria? 2004
1. He looked at geographic boundaries of different dialects and how
they’e haged soehat oer tie.
2. He noted something surprising – when he looked at geographic
differences in speech styles (dialects) – it was assumed (in linguistics)
that as we become a more mobile society (interstate, better
transportation, influence of mass media, etc) – the geographic
differences in speech would become less noticeable and up to fading
away completely.
a. These differences are even more noticeable today than they
were 40-50 years ago
b. People are using these geographic speech styles to show they
are a certain type of person from a certain type of place
c. He also looked at black/white speech differences.
d. The black/white speech differences became more and more
pronounced over time AND was more noticeable in urban areas
(and the larger the urban area, the more noticeable the
differences were).
e. Rural areas are typically more conservative in nature and
change more slowly.
i. If African origin theory is correct, the speech differences
would be more pronounced in rural/farm/etc areas
than in urban/city areas.
ii. However, these differences are more pronounced in
urban areas.
3. Latov concluded that African-american speech styles is a product of the
second half of the 20th century and has nothing to do with Africa.
II. The linguistic poverty hypothesis
a. Lower class people swear more than upper class before lower class people lack the
vocabulary to express themselves in more accessible ways.
i. Researchers normally look at how often people swear – by age groups, sex, by
how much people are offended by certain swear words – but no studies broken
down by social class.
1. There was one study in England on lower class women, but it was on
immigrant women.
2. There was another study Hungary – on agricultural peasants – but the
excessive swearing there was an oppositional code.
ii. The swearing confined to lower classes for the given reason is not necessarily
true
iii. Geoffrey Hughes – Swearing <<< published a couple of books on swear words.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Social class differences in speech in usa are not as prominent as they are in other countries. Most differences are geographical distances and white/black differences in speech. Black/white speech differences: physiological difference theory << discredited/disproved, used to be the most popular explanation, physiological differences in mouth, throat, larynx between those of. African descent and those of european descent: this is wrong. If you"re goi(cid:374)g to poi(cid:374)t out a physiologi(cid:272)al differe(cid:374)(cid:272)e, you ha(cid:448)e to sho(cid:449) how that change actually affects speech. It only appeared in generations who went to schools after desegregation: this dispro(cid:448)ed the (cid:862)afri(cid:272)a(cid:374) origi(cid:374)al theory(cid:863, he concluded african-american speech style is oppositional (cid:272)ode (cid:894)see last (cid:272)lass" (cid:374)otes(cid:895). February 2, 2018: once everyone was desegregated (black and whites going to the same schools, etc) is (cid:449)he(cid:374) the (cid:862)afri(cid:272)a(cid:374)-american speech styles(cid:863) appeared. The person will go overboard to show they really can do the job: ex.
