27.4150, Review: English; Anthro Ling; Disc Analysis; Gen Ling; Socioling: Schilling-Estes, Wolfram (2015)

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Subject: 27.4150, Review: English; Anthro Ling; Disc Analysis; Gen Ling; Socioling: Schilling-Estes, Wolfram (2015)

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Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2016 10:23:57
From: Polycarp Dajang [pollienice23 at yahoo.com]
Subject: American English

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-5441.html

AUTHOR: Walt  Wolfram
AUTHOR: Natalie  Schilling-Estes
TITLE: American English
SUBTITLE: Dialects and Variation, 3rd Edition
SERIES TITLE: Language in Society
PUBLISHER: Wiley-Blackwell
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Polycarp Naanma Dajang, University of Jos

Reviews Editor: Robert A. Cote

SUMMARY

The book “American English: Dialects and Varieties” (third edition) by Walt
Wolfram & Natalie Schilling is a 436-page, twelve-chapter effort which deals
in detail with the most recent sociolinguistic and theoretical topics and
issues relating to American English. Different dialects in the United States
(as well as varieties based on particular sociolinguistic indices) are covered
in the book. The book sets out to be a simple read and an interactive,
reader-friendly material especially for learners interested in American
dialects and in general variation studies. In fact, the publication of the
book was done with a thought spared even for readers without any prior
knowledge of linguistics. The book contains exercises by Caroline Myrick and
Joel Schneier (which have online answers) designed to augment understanding of
the issues raised in it, as well as websites with text, audio and video files
to further aid comprehension of the issues discussed. Additionally, each
chapter closes with a “Further Reading” section and a “References” section.
After the last chapter is a useful section on the glossary of (technical)
terms used in the book as well as an index section listing topics and items
referred to in the book.

Chapter 1 is titled “Dialects, Standards, and Vernaculars”. It establishes a
widely-accepted operational definition of the term “dialect”, as distinct from
its popular, non-technical sense, as follows: “… a variety of a language
typical of a given group of speakers” (Wolfram & Schilling, 2015, p. 2). Four
different popular views of the term are provided by the authors (p. 2), all of
which are given simple yet ample analyses for elucidation. In doing so, the
authors reveal several commonly-held fallacies concerning dialects and the
objective position of language experts in relation to dialects. Also, the
chapter discusses the inevitable issue of “standard” versus “nonstandard”
varieties of American English, distinguishing specifically between “formal
standard English” and “informal standard English” (p. 11). Wolfram & Schilling
carefully guide the reader through a discussion of the sociolinguistic
variables associated with the notions of standard, nonstandard and
“vernacular” dialects (of American English) and the age-long distinction
between linguistic prescriptivism and descriptivism. The book acknowledges
that it is not altogether possible to jettison the point of people making
judgments on “standardness” and “vernacularity” (p. 16) in terms of language
use. It submits that in terms of standardness and vernacularity dialects are
in a cline relationship with each other.

Chapter 2, simply titled “Why Dialects?”, explains the raison d’être for
dialects, and dispels the thinking that American dialects are endangered.
Instead, in the words of the authors (p. 27), “… types of dialect differences
are actually intensifying rather than receding…” The chapter explains the
sociohistorical and linguistic factors responsible for dialect, especially in
a setting brought and held together by advancement in sociotechnology, when
the expectation is that differences among language varieties will wither away
as a result of increased social cohesion. Language change is inevitable, as is
social change. The chapter basically discusses reasons for the creation of
dialects.

Chapter 3 is titled “Levels of Dialect” and continues in the tradition of the
first two chapters in the preliminary discussion of dialects. Specifically,
the levels of dialect are discussed, namely the lexical, phonological and
grammatical levels. In other words, examples of vocabulary differences, of
differences in phonology, and of differences at the level of morphology and
syntax, are provided in the chapter. Also, differences in language use—in
terms of context and sociocultural orientations—account for dialect
differences in language. This is sufficiently treated in the chapter.
Ultimately, it is worthy of note that concepts and ideas established in the
first three chapters form the bedrock of the discussions in the rest of the
book, as the reader is constantly referred back to them in the post-Chapter
Three parts of the book.

Chapter 4, “Dialects in the United States: Past, Present and Future”, deals
with dialects spoken in the United States across a time continuum. The
evolution, in a nutshell, of dialects in America is associated with the origin
of the dialects (from precolonization times) and the present state of the
dialects as well as the future state of American English. This is expounded
considerably in the chapter. The chapter chronicles American English from the
pre-American English era. Language and dialect contact, along with a purely
American invention, account for the creation of American English. Recent
trends occasioned by changes in sociocultural phenomena have shaped the
current state of dialects in the United States. Increased fluidity in
movement, ease and advancement in communication have brought about change in
the linguistic situation in America. Indeed, according to Wolfram & Schilling
(p. 121), “… new dialects must be included along with the old when we consider
the contemporary state of dialects in the United States.” The future is likely
to witness continued dialect change and dialect formation.

In Chapter 5, titled “Regional Varieties of English”, the book covers regional
varieties of English in the United States. Wolfram & Schilling espouse the
integrated approach to the study of regional dialects, which brings together
methods from geography and those from linguistics in a harmonizing attempt at
explaining regional variation. The authors provide an array of mappings (and
possibilities for mappings) for American dialects based on geographical
considerations, discuss the intricacies associated with the methods, and
discuss the spread of  dialect forms in the United States. Lastly, the chapter
concludes by showing the place of social identity in people’s conception of
“region” rather than it being merely the idea geographical, or “physical
space” (p. 154).

Chapter 6 is titled “Social Varieties of American English”. It discusses
social varieties of American English, an aspect of language variation usually
twinned with regional (geographical) varieties during dialectological
discussions. Wolfram & Schilling reveal that social status-based and
ethnicity-based variables have been employed over a long period of time in
studying American English variation. Social class distinctions—as vague as
they are—are the often used in variation studies. The authors are of the view,
however, that despite the positive value derived from such a venture, it is
based mostly on certain assumptions that are not necessarily consistent
universally, hence a good number of current sociolinguists have jettisoned the
traditional social class models. Still, according to Wolfram & Schilling (p.
174), “… it is not surprising that social values assigned to certain groups in
society will be associated with the linguistic forms used by speakers from
these groups.” This shows that linguistic features continue to be linked with
social class considerations. Examples demonstrating the patterning of
linguistic features based on social groups are given in the chapter. The
chapter culminates with an intelligent discussion of the role of social class
in language change, consequently submitting: (a) that contrary to popular
assumption, it is the lower social class groups (not those at the extreme
edges of the social continuum) that are “much more responsible for language
change than they have been given credit for” (p. 177), and (b) that the upper
social classes oppose linguistic change initiated by the lower social classes,
leading to “social differentiation of language in American society” (p. 179).

In Chapter 7, titled “Ethnicity and American English”, Wolfram & Schilling
open with a concession that ethnicity, as a concept, is rather difficult to
define precisely because it is closely intertwined with other social indices
(race, religion, social status, ages, gender, etc.) and behavioral traits.
They go on to discuss the problems associated with ethnicity-based definitions
of language varieties, including the fact that focusing on a basic set of
beliefs as a strict determinant of a people’s ethnicity is rather complicated
and unsteady even among a monolithic group of people or among individual
members of such monolithic society, and the fact that such a view of varieties
of language is likely to lead to erroneous conceptions concerning the nature
of varieties spoken by, say, Anglo whites and “African Americans, Latinos, and
others” (p. 185). The chapter identifies language transfer as a possible index
of the pattern of ethnolinguistic variation. It also presents an alternative
view, which is the fact that variation based on ethnic correlations may merely
indicate various levels of affinity to neighboring groups and their 
language(s). Specifically, five ethnically-based varieties of English (Latino
English, Cajun English, Lumbee English, Jewish American English, and Asian
American English) found in the United States  are discussed, with their
distinct, identifiable ethnolinguistic features pointed out in each case. The
discussions on Jewish American English and Asian American English are new,
with perspectives of “religiosity” (for Jewish American English) and “mock
language” (for Asian American English) explained in the chapter.

Chapter 8, “African American English”, is separately dedicated to the
treatment of African American varieties of English in the United States. The
reason for this is perhaps captured in the following statements by Wolfram &
Schilling (p. 217): “AFRICAN AMERICAN ENGLISH (AAE) is the pragmatic case of
ethnicity-based language diversity”, and “more than five times as many
publications devoted to AAE than any other American English dialect” exist.
The chapter acknowledges the difficulty in attempting a precise definition of
issues relating to language and ethnicity because of the availability of
multiple labels (Negro Dialect; Nonstandard Negro English; Black English;
Vernacular Black English; Afro-American English; Ebonics; African American
(Vernacular) English; African American Language, AAL) attached to AAE. It also
highlights the complication surrounding the status of AAE or AAL as a
“dialect” or a “language” due to the existing debate about the divide between
the two terms. The authors maintain the view that the matter of the divide
between the two terms is more a sociopolitical than a simple linguistic one.
Specific distinguishing phonological and grammatical features of vernacular
varieties of AAE (albeit mere approximations) are provided (p. 221) which set
vernacular AAE apart from similar European American vernacular varieties. The
chapter discusses, in considerable, systematic fashion, the evolution of AAE
(with its various associated hypotheses) as well as the contemporary state of
development of the variety. Lastly, the chapter concludes that AAL plays a
unifying role among African Americans by according them “a sense of solidarity
and identity” in spite of its resistance by mainstream, official institutions
like schools and professional organizations, and that AAL transcends a
consideration of the formal features of the variety to an incorporation of the
pragmatic features of the variety.

Chapter 9 is titled “Gender and Language Variation”, and explores issues of
gender as a factor of language variation, pointing out the fact that most
people approach issues of the link between gender and language with a prior
assumption that there is necessarily a difference between male and female
speech universally, whereas research has indicated the complexity of engaging
in such an approach. The chapter examines gender differences as they relate to
“patterns of language use” (pp. 246-247), and discusses gender in terms of the
current perspective in which it is studied, namely the fact of the term being
regarded as a social construct and, especially, that it is regarded as
practice, or performance. Basically, the authors adopt the qualitative
approach, which looks at how male and female speech types are patterned, and
how members of each group are talked about.

In Chapter 10, “Dialects and Style”, the focus is on variation in speech based
on the individual rather than on group dynamics. The effect of context—as
reflected in speakers, topic of conversation, domains, etc.—on the style of
individuals’ speech, and on style shifting. Audience design and speaker design
approaches to stylistic variation are discussed, and the authors show how both
sets of design influence style choice and style shifting. A section on
“further considerations” concludes the chapter, with a key observation that
stylistic variation would be best studied by combining quantitative and
qualitative  approaches (p. 307).

Chapter 11, titled “The Application of Dialect Study”, is one which tackles
the question of the basis for engaging in dialect studies. Wolfram & Schilling
refer to three interesting principles—“error correction” and “debt incurred”,
by Labov (1982, pp. 172-173) and “linguistic gratuity”, by Wolfram (1993, p.
227)—as valid motivations for engaging in dialect studies as a social
commitment of (socio)linguists. The chapter identifies and discusses, in the
words of the authors, “different types of applications for research on dialect
testing” (p. 313).

The last chapter, 12, entitled “Dialect Awareness: Extending Application”, is
an extension of the previous chapter’s discussion on the application of
dialect study. It highlights the applicability of dialect study to reading and
writing, drawing the reader’s attention to how speakers’ spoken dialects
affect their reading achievement as well as their written language. What is
known as a “literary dialect” is explained, with Wolfram & Schilling citing
examples of dialects represented in literary works. Avenues for
dialectologists to engage in practical dialect awareness programs for the
benefit of host communities of linguistic researches are advanced and
encouraged by the authors.

EVALUATION

One basic goal of the authors is to further simplify, though “without
oversimplifying” (p. xiv), the discussions of the salient sociolinguistic and
dialectological issues surrounding dialects and language variation in the
United States, specifically, and beyond, generally, with the aim of
facilitating understanding of the issues even by persons with no background at
all in linguistics. In this regard, it is thus an upgrade on the previous
edition. This edition is more than just a latest edition of the two earlier
ones, as it is an improved and, in the authors’ words, a “thoroughly revised
and updated version” (p. xiii) made more comprehensive by featuring new,
separate sections on Jewish English and Asian American English, as well as a
whole separate chapter on language and ethnicity. Additionally, discussions
carried out in the previous editions have been expanded in this version
without additional complications even to the nonlinguist reader. Indeed, the
book’s rather simple language and style of presentation means it is an
invaluable text for readers from a wide range of backgrounds, since the flow
of discussion is relatively easier for the reader to follow. Where technical
terms are employed in the text, they are explained immediately, or else the
glossary of terms provided in the book offer help to the reader in that
regard. The interactive features (websites with text, audio files and video
vignettes which can be accessed by anyone with a smartphone by the Quick
Response (QR) code facility) especially make the book a reader-friendly
resource for anyone interested in learning about variation studies, dialects
and dialect issues, especially of dialects in the United States. Another
positive for the book is that it is not difficult to locate information in it
because the table of contents is detailed enough to lead the reader to the
right page(s), section(s) and even subsection(s), and the index makes for an
even more precise search for information.

Additionally, the book is quite suitable for scholars who have to teach
undergraduate (lower-, upper- and even graduate-level) students introductory
and semi-advanced courses in dialectology and sociolinguistics. (The book
would be of most benefit to the reader if augmented by other simple
sociolinguistics books such as Wardhaugh’s (2006) An Introduction to
Sociolinguistics.) Furthermore, the exercises that follow each discussion are
skillfully designed to aid readers in their attempt to understand the
discussion before they move on to other issues. That is why the discussions
are included at appropriate sections in an unobtrusive way within the
discussions and not at the end of the chapters.

However, the book may benefit from the inclusion of a more teacher-friendly
interface, both in the presentation style and in the web-based interactive
features provided. This is likely to benefit teachers who would like to use
the book in teaching courses in dialectology and sociolinguistics. So far, the
book appeals more to the learner-reader, even the independent student of
dialects and language variation.

Lastly, although of utmost importance, is the need to correct a mistake (the
omission of the pronoun “we”) on page 306 of the book. In line eight (under
10.5 “Further Considerations”), what reads as “Or do want to push things a bit
further …” ought to read, “Or do we want to push things a bit further …”.
Overall, though, the book is a very useful book for sociolinguists,
dialectologists, experts, students and even the lay public interested in
learning about dialects (and dialect issues) as well as language variation,
whether in terms of American English or any others, but especially American
English.

REFERENCES

Wardhaugh, Ronald. 2006. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 5th edn. Malden,
MA.: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Wolfram, Walt & Schilling, Natalie. 2015. American English: Dialects and
variation, 3rd edn. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley & Sons, Inc.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

I am an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian
Languages, University of Jos, Nigeria. My research interests include
investigating semantic, pragmatic and sociolinguistic issues in the mostly
uninvestigated indigenous languages of Plateau state, which is the host
community to my affiliate institution. I also delve comfortably into formal
and theoretical linguistic issues centering on the syntax of the languages of
Plateau state.





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