Even though English is rapidly spreading around the world as a "lingua franca", there has also been an increase in the spread of regional languages. This has been caused by the increase in regional communication, informal market interaction, and migration. By communicating with someone in his native tongue, one can make the conversation more intimate. You are able to connect to the native person in way that makes him a lot more comfortable than if you are both speaking English; especially if English is neither of your native languages. There have also been countries who have created government-led efforts to increase the use of regional language. An example of this is the French-language conferences, schools, and media that is funded by the government in France in an effort to promote common French culture. There are also organizations that use language to connect people. Examples of this are the Muslim organizations that use Arabic to connect Muslims worldwide. Another reason for the rise of regional languages is the effort to fight against the effects of globalization. Though globalization allows for people to interact around the world, a negative effect of globalization is the loss of cultural identity. For some areas the rise of English means the decrease in their native language. Often times English is taught in school to be the “proper” language to use when doing business or when you want to sound sophisticated, so children are growing up thinking that it is wrong to use their native language. This causes the younger generations to grow up rejecting their culture. Because of this, there has been increasing efforts to emphasize the importance of regional languages and the restoration of native cultures. The rise in regional languages has made it more important for students who speak English natively to learn other languages. Students should pick a language that is spoken most frequently in the field they want to go into. For example if a student plans on going to African in the future for anything, French, Arabic, or Swahili should be one of the languages he decides to learn.
Jason Perry’s article about “talking black” and “talking white” was completely correct. Assuming that an entire race talks one way is ignorant and perpetuates stereotypes that holds white people to a higher standard. And what’s worse about that is that black people are the ones who use these phrases most often. When you say that talking the right way is the “white way”, what you are really saying is that black people don’t have the capacity to be educated or to do things the right way. You’re setting a low standard for your own people. There is no way that the race can see progress if we can’t believe in ourselves.
The way that someone talks should not and does not depend on his/her race. It always has and always will depend on where that person grew up and the environment that he/she is around most often. If a white child grows up in a mostly black urban area, of course he will mostly use African American Vernacular English. It does not mean that he is trying to be black and it does not make him any less white. It is just what he is used to and it is how he communicates with the people he sees the most often. Just as AAVE has different lexicons and semantics as Standard American English, so does White Vernacular English. If you want to be technical, “talking white” is just as different from SAE as “talking black” is. There are certain words and phrases that are only used in WVE just like there are words and phrases only used in AAVE. No matter what race a person is, no one really uses Standard American English all of the time. Another reason why talking white or black makes no sense is the fact that the standard is always changing. Both AAVE and WVE contribute to changes made to Standard American English every year. Words and phrases are added to the standard every year. Therefore no matter what dialect you use, as long as the message received, it is correct. |