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English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States
Since its original publication in 1997, English with an Accent has inspired generations of scholars to investigate linguistic discrimination, social categorization, social structures, and power. This new edition is an attempt to retain the spirit of the original while enriching and expanding it to reflect the greater understanding of linguistic discrimination that it has helped create.
This third edition has been substantially reworked to
An updated concept of social categories, how they are constructed in interaction, and how they can be invoked and perceived through linguistic cues or language ideologies
Refreshed accounts of the countless social and structural factors that go into linguistic discrimination
Expanded attention to specific linguistic structures, language groups, and social domains that go beyond those provided in earlier editions
New dedicated chapter on American Sign Language and its history of discrimination
QR codes linking to external media, stories, and other forms of engagement beyond the text
A revamped website with additional material English with an Accent remains a book that forces us to acknowledge and understand the ways language is used as an excuse for discrimination. The book will help readers to better understand issues of cross-cultural communication, to develop strategies for successful interactions across social difference, to recognize patterns of language that reflect implicit bias, and to gain awareness of how mistaken beliefs about language create and nurture prejudice and discrimination.
This third edition has been substantially reworked to
An updated concept of social categories, how they are constructed in interaction, and how they can be invoked and perceived through linguistic cues or language ideologies
Refreshed accounts of the countless social and structural factors that go into linguistic discrimination
Expanded attention to specific linguistic structures, language groups, and social domains that go beyond those provided in earlier editions
New dedicated chapter on American Sign Language and its history of discrimination
QR codes linking to external media, stories, and other forms of engagement beyond the text
A revamped website with additional material English with an Accent remains a book that forces us to acknowledge and understand the ways language is used as an excuse for discrimination. The book will help readers to better understand issues of cross-cultural communication, to develop strategies for successful interactions across social difference, to recognize patterns of language that reflect implicit bias, and to gain awareness of how mistaken beliefs about language create and nurture prejudice and discrimination.
- GenresNonfiction
370 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2022
7 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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January 12, 2024
Looking back at receipts I realize it took me a year--A YEAR--to finish this 325 page book, but given the number of highlights, bookmarks, and notes involved I'm not surprised. I've discovered so many things that I kinda knew but didn't have a name for, and was introduced to many more concepts that were new and, to me, revelatory. I used to be a stickler for 'correct' English, but the more I learned in my amateur reading of linguistics the less I believed that such a thing exists. This text, written by linguists for a popular audience, has helped me move from understanding language as a collection of rules that divides us into 'good' and 'bad' users to exploring the myriad variations and nuances of the Englishes spoken in the US and around the world. There's ample introduction to basic linguistic concepts, so even a novice can follow easily. There are chapters on how syntax indexes ethnicity, the wild and wonderful mix of rhotic and non-rhotic varieties of English spoken in the US, how ASL and English do and don't overlap, the grammar rules of AAVE, and, overall, how normalizing the fiction of 'Standard American English' harms most populations and reinforces white privilege. I think I might have to reread to retain a quarter of this stuff, but it will be a pleasure to do so. Highly recommended if you're a language nerd interested in social justice or regional differences.
Displaying 1 of 1 review