Bilingual Mind: Understanding How The Brain Speaks Two Languages: a response

Jeffrey Kluger explores scientific reasoning behind bilingualism, explaining its many benefits and few disadvantages. He focuses on the importance childhood development and education, while providing research proving its advantages later on in life. Kluger states that bilinguals "seemed to show a greater facility with skills that relied on interpreting symbolic representations, such math or music."

Code switching is explored in Kluger text's taking a different stance on its importance to the one discussed in class. Kluger believes "that this is a short-term disadvantage of bilingualism", while I believe it does not interrupt the flow of a conversation, except the interchange of languages, as it keeps the same structure of conversation. In both cases though, bilingualism is seen as an advantage as it opens up doors for more communication through different cultures. 

You Say Up, I Say Yesterday: a response

Joan O'C. Hamilton presents a rather interesting idea on how culture affects language. She explains while one language may not be descriptive, another needs to describe to be able to fully explain the event/action/person/etc. This need to describe may also affect the way different cultures perceive how things happen. A cognitive scientist, Boroditsky, believes "these influences may provide insight to a given culture's conception of time, space, colour or even justice". However, a bilingual individual would perceive the event/action/person "regardless of the conventions of verb forms used".

Hamilton's text connects to our class discussion on Bilingualism and how it relates to identity and culture. However, the opinion that one may "switch" identities while speaking different language is not shared with Hamilton. "Some of the biggest debates in the study of the mind - nature versus nurture". Boroditsky focuses on the idea that culture affects our way of describing things, similarly to concepts we have studied in class. 

Yorkshire named top twang as Brummie brogue comes bottom: a response

David Batty's approach on how accents within a language can change one's perception of a person allows for an interesting, modern point of view. His message essentially expresses how accents, particularly in England, allow someone to determine another's intelligence. In fact, "dialect and perceived intelligence found that people who said nothing at all were regarded as more intelligent than those with a Brummie accent". This whole assumption relates to the area which the accent originates from and its socioeconomic status. Wealthier individuals usually invest in higher education and those were deemed to have more "intelligent" accents. As university education becomes the norm, this assumption of accents can become distorted as those with a "Brummie accent" may in fact be subject to the same education as those with a Yorkshire accent. 

This article takes a similar approach to Bill Bryson's Good English and Bad, as it differentiates English dialects due to one's level of education. Those who have better opportunities for education are more aware of grammatical rules allowing them to adapt a "better", more proper English. On the flip side, Batty seems to believe that accents and education evolve along with the "proper" ways of speech, while Bryson's take is that "The best forms of speech will, in time, establish themselves". Interestingly, both authors take different stances at the evolution of a proper way of speaking. 

Good English and Bad: A response

Given all the anomalies in the English Language, what is the author suggesting about standards of usage? How does his discussion make you feel about your own lapses in grammar? 

In response to the questions above, Bill Bryson's main argument is the abnormalities of the English language and the ignorance of rules implicated by those of Latin. Although certain rules have kept certain from the Latin language, it is inevitable that variations surface due to the evolution of human behaviour, or technology, etc. Bryson quotes, "The best forms of speech will, in time, establish themselves". In terms of my own lapses in grammar, I feel less guilty due to the underlying reality of the English language: a lack of stultifying authority.

The Mother Tongue

Amy Tan's essay on the issues of non-native English speakers has allowed me to understand the English language from a different perspective than which I would as a native English speaker. Although there are stereotypes within Mother Tongue English dialects and accents, the stereotypes of non-native English speakers seem to usually be introduced with a negative connotation. Particularly in the essay at hand, where Amy's ethnicity affects how native English speakers view her capabilities, as well as the almost immediate assumptions native English speakers create when in conversation with a non-native English speaker. 

Midway through the text Tan explains how she realised how her ethnicity limited her in a native English-speaking culture. "I think my mother's English had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well." The unfortunate and perhaps subconscious stereotype a native English speaker may associate to a non-native English speaker, or in Tan's case, her Asian ethnicity could have evidently affected her career path. Since Asians can be associated with Mathematics, Tan was somewhat forced to follow this social "rule", therefore doing nothing to improve her English speaking skills. This evidently creates a cycle for those in similar situations, continuing the "Broken English". 

Another negative connotation Tan has proved in her essay is the assumptions made by native English speakers to those who speak "Broken English".  Tan's mother had "long realised the limitations of her English" due to her incorrect use of grammar, obvious to native English speakers. This unfortunate reality for non-native English speakers can be due to the socioeconomic or a hierarchy of assumptions made by native English speakers. Perhaps native English speakers deem certain non-native English speakers unfit for their attention, a situation proved by Tan later on during her essay where her mother was unable to receive certain information due to her inability to communicate her message or feelings to the English speaking individual, however as soon as Tan explains her mother's point in less "broken English" she is given the right to the information. Non-natives definitely have to work twice as hard to earn the same respect as a native speaker.

All in all, non-native speakers are made to cross extra steps to be able earn the same respect as a native speaker in most languages, not excluding the English language. And as a result, these different cultures can be made to follow certain stereotypes in an predominantly English-language culture in order to follow the rules of society.

A Good Name

If I were to google my first name, Gabrielle, the French origins of this name would be the first thing I see as well as the meaning it: Woman of God. Although Gabrielle is significant in  many religious contexts (ex. Christianity, Islam, Hebrew), this name was given to me without any religious implications. In fact, the reason why this name was chosen is due to my French roots, and because my Mom's favourite TV show character at the time name was Gabby. I guess the characteristics of this TV character were some she aspired for me to be. Cute, funny, intelligent... Lol. Gabrielle is also a name that is easily pronounced in both English & French, and can be considered gender fluid. 

My middle name was passed down by my great grandmother who's first name was Louise. This name is again easy to pronounce in both my mother tongue's, and sounds nice with my first and last name. Although a Francophone and Anglophone name, the origin of the name Louise is in fact Germanic, although the history has no relevance to why this name was chosen for me. 

The literal meaning of my French last name is "name for someone who lived by a road". The name Lavoie was passed down by my father which is tradition in Canada. If my parents had chosen to use my mother's last name, Ward, my full name would not have sounded as nice and fluid. 

When I was younger, I paid little attention to my name and how I identified with it. However, as a young teenager, I began to want to change my name. For a while, I went by "Gabriella Ruby Lavoie", probably as a way of trying to disconnect from my family. As I've grown older though, I have identified much more for my name due to it's connection to the French language and I feel it is quite elegant. There is in fact an alliteration in Gabrielle Louise Lavoie, with the letter "L". These names were therefore chosen specifically to create this flow. 

My first blog post!

Hey guys. It’s Gabby here and welcome to my very first blog post. I can’t wait to start exploring Language and Literature and sharing my opinions on here!

Before that begins, I think it’s important to share a little about myself too. First off, I love being around a camera. Whenever I’ve got one with me, there are at least fifty photos taken. I spend a lot of my free time watching videos and hope to begin making my own videos soon. I really care about my personal blog and blogging as well, which is why I am really excited for the future of this blog. I really hope to continue this expression of language throughout DP and potentially continue it after high school.

In terms of language, I feel like I have a unique standpoint seeing as I’ve had the opportunity to experience many different languages while travelling. Not only have I learned many words in multiple languages, listened to and watched other cultures communicate, but I’ve also noticed the many different ways people use languages in different countries. This seems important while studying language in order to understand the way something is communicated. Or perhaps how something isn’t communicated, by language barriers for example, which is something I have experience many times while living in an expat country and going to an International school. I guess it’s part of the fun of communicating.

Until next time,

Gabby