British identity and English (only?)

[Aurolyn Luykx]

Yes. Though a pragmatist might say that while all
parties should be more sensitive to varying
conversational norms/politeness systems, the
immigrants are the ones who pay for any
misunderstanding, so the pressure is on them to learn
the dominant system (as with languages). You'll recall
in the movie, who was the job applicant and who was
the interviewer!
Aurolyn
p.s. Where does an Old Labour sympathist find haven in
Britain's political spectrum these days? (throwing
darts at pictures of Tony Blair?)

--- Anthea Fraser Gupta <A.F.Gupta at leeds.ac.uk> wrote:

> Though the point of Crosstalk was that the
> 'immigrants' had different
> politeness systems from the 'indigenous'. So I
> suppose that those who
> promote a common culture for all Brits would say
> that 'immigrants' (and
> ethnic minorities) should learn the 'indigenous'
> ('mainstream') systems
> in order to assimilate. A 'multiculturalist' would
> say that both sides
> should be sensitised to the possibility of
> alternatives.
> 
> I find it all very depressing.
> 
> Anthea
> (old Labour (=old fashioned style of socialist), old
> multiculturalist)
> 
> 
> *     *     *     *     *
> Anthea Fraser Gupta (Dr)
> School of English, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
> <www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg>
> NB: Reply to a.f.gupta at leeds.ac.uk
> *     *     *     *     *
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> [mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu] On
> Behalf Of Aurolyn
> Luykx
> Sent: 22 September 2005 18:46
> To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> Subject: RE: British identity and English (only?)
> 
> 
> I wasn't referring to "manners" in the etiquette
> sense, but rather in terms of the sorts of things
> highlighted in Gumperz's film -- interactional
> styles,
> implicit "codes" and expectations guiding
> conversation, etc. Certainly not agreed upon by all
> the people speaking English in Britain! (as the film
> shows). No doubt it would look quaint these days,
> but
> the arguments still hold.
> Aurolyn
>  
> 
> 


 "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt


		
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