Topic: Reading Response

Order Description According to resources to answer the questions. 1. What is “commodification of language”? 2. “Lip service on the fantasy line” (Hall 1995) and “Styling the worker” (Cameron 2000) share a few similar findings: 2.1 In the training manuals examined in the two studies, one linguistic strategy is recommended for both phone sex workers and call center workers. What is it? 2.2 One kind of linguistic style is commodified in both studies. What is it? 2.3 In both studies, speakers use the above style of language to perform what kind of labor? 3. The linguistic style that is commodified in these two studies was also found in another study we read recently. What is the study (article title and author)? 11/10/15 1 Reminder ¤ Pre-­‐announced test 5 on Tu. Nov. 17 by 9:15AM. ¤ Response Paper due on Th Nov. 19, by 9:15AM in D2L Dropbox. 1 Language, Gender and Political Economy Nov.10, 2015 Approaches Introduced ¤ Dominance approach ¤ Cultural difference (cross-­‐cultural) approach ¤ PracLce-­‐based approach ¤ Performing gender 3 Relationships between Language and Gender ¤ Language reflects gender (relaLons, orders, categories, idenLLes, peer cultures, etc.) ¤ Language indexes, constructs gender (idenLLes, categories, relaLons, etc.) 4 Language, Gender and Political Economy ¤ PoliLcal Economy? § Poli)cal: systems of power § Economy: various economies, or systems of exchange – financial, material, symbolic, interacLonal, cultural, etc. § Poli)cal economy involves resource allocaLon in the sense, for example, of control over goods. PoliLcal economy involves the generic economic processes of the producLon, distribuLon, and consumpLon of goods, including "non-­‐material" ones, and the paVerns and culture of power that control or influence these processes (Friedrich 1989:298). 5 Language and Political Economy ¤ Locate linguisLc pracLces in larger systems of power and economic processes ¤ View linguisLc skills/pracLces as providing access to valuable (material) resources differenLally distributed 6 11/10/15 2 Language and Political Economy ¤ Research quesLons: § Which linguisLc markets do speakers parLcipate in? § What is the value – symbolic, pracLcal, and economic – of the various linguisLc varieLes and language used within the community? § Which linguisLc varieLes or languages are legiLmated, i.e., taught in schools, used by the media, rewarded by various societal gatekeepers, etc.? § What sorts of resistance to legiLmated language exist within the community ? 7 Language and Political Economy ¤ Research quesLons conLnued § How is access to the varieLes of language used in the community unequally distributed? § How is this unequal access linked to membership in socio-­‐demographic groups? § How are linguisLc markets and parLcipaLon in them Led to larger system of power and dominance in such domains as economy, poliLcs, religion, and educaLon? 8 Case Study 1: “Peasant men can’t get wives: Language and sex roles in a bilingual community” ¤ Susan Gal 9 “Peasant men can’t get wives” ¤ What is the linguisLc and social situaLon in Oberwart, Austria in the 1970s? ¤ What are the symbolic meanings associated with the languages/codes in Oberwart? ¤ ImplicaLonal scale 10 “Peasant men can’t get wives” ¤ Language choice paVers found (Table 1, 2, 3) ¤ What are the three important factors in predicLng language choice and changes that were happening in Oberwart? ¤ Gender paVerns. Who are leading the change from Hungarian-­‐German bilingual to German dominant? And why? (Figure 1) ¤ Marriage paVerns can also indirectly affect the outcome of language shic in Oberwart. In what way? (Table 4) ¤ What does this study tell us about the relaLon between language choice/change, social change and gender? 11 Two cases of commodification of language ¤ CommodificaLon of language: LinguisLc pracLces or socially laden languages and dialects are produced and sold as commodiLes. ¤ What kind of linguisLc style, or language, is valued and commodified in the two cases, and in both cases, speakers use language to perform what kind of labor? 1. Lip service on the fantasy line (Hall 1995) 2. Call centers in the UK (Cameron 2000) 11/10/15 3 Empowerment? Devaluation? ¤ In each case, we can see that a parLcular language variety or linguisLc style creates economic benefit for the company and/or an individual. At the same Lme, certain linguisLc resource is devalued. What is devalued in each case? “Lip Service on the Fantasy Lines” (Hall 1995) ¤ If the fantasy industry consLtutes a type of linguisLc marketplace, what are the linguisLc resources that are valuable on such a market? ¤ In the training manual, in the secLon “Create different characters”, look at the different characters suggested by the manual on pp. 190-­‐1. What does it tell us about the fact that most women fantasy makers are able to create these characters through verbal messages? 14 “Lip Service on the Fantasy Lines” ¤ In Start a conversa2on (p.191), what is the general strategy to start a conversaLon as shown in the examples? ¤ As shown in (1), (2) and (3), what ideologies do fantasy-­‐line operators appropriate in their phone talk? ¤ How do the fantasy operators make their language marketable? ¤ What does this study tell us about the relaLon between language, gender, and power? 15 Styling the Worker (Cameron 2000) ¤ Customer service in the UK ¤ What did Cameron find? Training materials on ways of using language: “bear a striking resemblance to ways of speaking that are associated, in popular imaginaLon and also in some instances by empirical research, with women speakers” (p. 337) ¤ Using “expressive language” to perform what kind of labor? ¤ Devaluing “Women’s Language”? 16