Students: Chapter 5
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Flashcards
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In Print
Bryson, B. (1991). The mother tongue: English and how it got that way. New York: Harper Collins Perennial.
This book is an entertaining look at the history of the English language. Bryson offers amusing observations of how English is used and misused, where funny and odd things in our language come from, discourse on swearing and word games, and the origins and evolutions of the language in general.
Smitherman, G. (2000). Black talk: Words and phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
This book is a dictionary of words and phrases drawn from various aspects of black life. The collection offers a snapshot of African American experience represented through the language used within the cultural group.
On the Web
http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/publications/texts/nonsexist.html
This link takes you to report by Virginia L. Warren that was prepared for the American Philosophical Association. The report discusses the problems created by sexist language and offer guidelines for the non-sexist use of language.
This website allows you to interact with a computer that is simulating human conversation. Although this program has won prizes for its ability to adapt to a conversational partner, it has yet to fool judges into thinking it is human.
On Film
Inarritu, A. G. (Director). (2006). Babel [Motion picture]. United States: Hollywood.
This film weaves together three interrelated plot-lines about American tourists who become the focus of an international incident at the hands of a Moroccan farmer, a San Diego nanny who makes a disastrous decision to take her employers children to a wedding in Mexico, and a deaf-mute Japanese teen who deals with the relationship with her father following her mother's death. The movie deals with language and misunderstanding and their subtle influence in terrorism, immigration, and family relations.
Apted, M. (Director).(1994). Nell [Motion picture]. United States: Egg Pictures.
This movie features Jodie Foster as a young woman who grew up alone in the backwoods of North Carolina where she developed her own unique language. Once the woman is discovered by doctors, her world changes as she acquires the language she needs to express herself and form relationships with others.