[Linguistic Anthropology] Listening to Prescriptivists

[Richard J Senghas]

On 29 Mar 2007, , at 8:55 PM, Kephart, Ronald wrote:

> Richard,
>
> Alexandre may correct me, but I understood him to imply a  
> preference for
> adding to people's linguistic repertoire, rather than trying to  
> make them
> lose their non-standard dialect altogether.

and
>
> Too often, the "speech therapy" enthusiasts seem to promote the  
> idea that
> speaking non-standard is some kind of character flaw that has to be
> eliminated. As though there should be "rehab" for non-standard  
> speakers.
>
> Damn! Y'all got me started...

Sorry, I meant to be slightly humorous (though partly serious).  I  
find it as hard to get people to really think, and think differently,  
about "correct" language as it is to get them to *use* language  
differently.  Both are hard retrainings, both involve dealing with  
deeply-seated socialization that normally operates at the  
unconscious, semi-automatic levels.  But in the end, usually success  
at getting them to recognize pragmatics results in changes in use  
(and reactions to uses), too.

But yes, my basic approach is to (try to) make people value being  
richly-lingual, and to understand the range of opportunity and  
enjoyment that can be opened by being aware of pragmatics as much as  
syntax.

-RJS

Richard J Senghas  (Professor of Anthropology, Sonoma State U,  
California)
Visiting Researcher, Institutionen för nordiska språk
Stockholms universitet
S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Richard.Senghas at nordiska.su.se
Richard.Senghas at sonoma.edu