New York English and Southern American English

One dialect of English that is often discriminated against is the New York Dialect of English—in particular the R-less variety of New York English that we talked about last lecture. In fact the example I gave above, of Dr. Cramden’s speech, is an example of R-less New York. Many speakers of R-less New York English even view it themselves as one of the “worst” sounding dialects of English and a sign of lower intelligence.

Why is this? Probably because it is a working class dialect most often used by people with a lower socioeconomic status, sometimes used by people who have less formal education, and also more importantly, because it is so different from Standard American English. It is for exactly these same reasons that the Southern dialects of North American English are also looked down upon. People who speak these dialects are considered less intelligent as well—no doubt about it.

I should not have to go into a long and detailed explanation about how the dialect of a language that someone uses has nothing to do with their intelligence. You should know that already. However, the problem is an interesting one. In fact, millions of dollars are spent in the U.S. alone, to pay for “voice” lessons, so that a person can change their accent, pronunciation, and dialect to make it more “standard.” I have assigned a committee paper by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association stating that dialectical differences should not be considered a pathology, that is an abnormal understanding of English, and that if someone wants to learn Standard English, their original first dialect should be respected.

A really good example of this is the current president of the United States of America, George W. Bush. George Bush speaks with a very thick Texas accent and to some extent a southern dialect. While many people consider people of this dialect to be less intelligent than speakers of standard English, the dialect is also more associated with the “common man, ” that is the working class. What makes this even more interesting is that George Bush is not from Texas, he is originally from the East Coast, an area that has an entirely different sounding dialect and accent of English, and he moved permanently to Texas in 1998—about a year or two before the 2000 presidential elections. He also adopted the Texas accent—it is not real, or rather, it is a creation he uses to seem like one of the guys, like a regular person—and many people think it is one of the reasons he was elected. It is also one of the reasons that many other people in America and abroad think George W. Bush is stupid. His accent makes people perceive him both as a “regular guy” and as less intelligent because of its association with the working class and less well educated people. George Bush has also made a number of English mistakes in his speeches, also adding to people assuming he is not very intelligent.

Now, I think George W. Bush is stupid, but for policy reasons, not the way he speaks, so I am not guilty of discrimination based on language.

Interestingly, taking on the accent of the common people happens very often in politics. Even in Britain, some people have adopted the Estuary English accent as a means of " blending in", appearing to be more working class, or more of a" a common man" —For example, Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, has been heard to adopt the accent at times in TV interviews. And, as some Australian scientists have found out researching the Queen's anniversary speeches, even she has shifted her accent slightly towards what is called Estuary. So much for the queen’s English.

LINGUICISM

Linguicism is a form of prejudice, an " -ism" along the lines of racism, ageism or sexism. Linguicism involves making judgments about one's wealth, education, social status, and other traits based on his or her use of language. Parts of language which may go into this consideration are accents, the size of vocabulary (whether the person uses complex and varied words), and sentence structure or syntax.

Linguicism is a form of prejudice which is often more subconscious than other forms, possibly because not much attention has been raised about it; it is not a cultural taboo like racism and sexism are today. Furthermore, it is not clear that it is logically unjustifiable or morally reprehensible to draw inferences about a person's education partly based on their linguistic proficiency.

For example, in some parts of the United States, a person who has a thick Mexican accent and uses only simple English words may be thought of as poor, poorly educated, and possibly an illegal immigrant by many of the people who meet them. However, if the same person has a diluted accent or no noticeable accent at all and can use a variety of words in complex sentences, they are likely to be perceived as more successful, better educated, and a legitimate citizen.