LING 320
Speech communities always exhibit consensus regarding the meaning and value of symbols that they use. True or False
False
The majority of the world's languages are unendangered and not facing threat of extinction in this century. True or False
False
One of Rosch's contributions to the color studies was to show that color perception is: a) strongly determined by language constraints b) hierarchically governed c) a perceptual universal d) culture-specific
c) a perceptual universal
Which of the following is/are challenge(s) for a biologically-based definition of race? a) No agreement on how many differences needed to constitute a distinct race b) Variant/traits may vary in frequency, but they are not exclusive to any one population c) There is more internal variation within a "race" as opposed to among "races" d) All of the above
d) All of the above
According to Jane Hill, mock Spanish essentially consists of explicitly racist statements and hate speech. True or False
False
According to Morgan, being in a particular physical location is a key defining property of what it means to be a member of a speech community. True or False
False
According to the color hierarchy proposed by Berlin & Kay (1969), if a language has a basic color term for "green" it will also necessarily have a basic color term for "blue." True or False
False
Bell (1984)'s notion of audience design emphasizes social relations to the exclusion of linguistic forms. True or False
False
Creoles don't have the full status of "language" as languages like English and French. True or False
False
Even if children are not acquiring the language, a language is unendangered as long as there is a large number of adult speakers. True or False
False
Ideologies are inherently negative and only (re)produce social inequalities. True or False
False
In Gumperz's original formulation of "speech community," he assumed that members of a particular community must all speak the same way. True or False
False
Knowledge of shared norms, ways of doing, and values guarantees one's membership in a particular speech community. True or False
False
Although analogizing endangered languages to endangered species can increase awareness of language endangerment, scholars like Shaylih Muehlmann and Deborah Cameron caution that this can have unitended negative consequences such as further marginalization and promotion of monoglot ideology. True or False
True
Assimilationist policies such as those exemplified in U.S. boarding schools were informed in part by racist ideologies formerly accepted within anthropology, though they are rejected today. True or False
True
Considering the ways that languages across the globe encode gender grammatically, there is no one-to-one mapping of grammatical gender and social gender onto each other. However, speakers of a given language may perceive a connection between the two. True or False
True
In Morgan's sense of "speech community," a speech community can be comprised of members who share certain styles of speaking even though they do not speak the same language. True or False
True
Knowledge of shared norms, ways of doing, and values is part of what it means to be a member of a speech community. True or False
True
Migration leading to greater linguistic diversity is an example of centrifugal force (in a Bakhtinian sense). True or False
True
One reason that code-switching is of interest to linguistic anthropologists is that it can index social meanings and relationships. True or False
True
The idea that "in language, two negatives equal a positive, which means that double negatives are ungrammatical" is not supported by empirical evidence from languages spoken across the globe. True or False
True
When a pidgin becomes acquired as a first language, it becomes a creole. True or False
True
Which of the following are NOT a property of pidgins? (choose all that apply) a) A pidgin is mutually intelligible with its source languages b) Pidgins tend to have considerable inter-speaker variation c) The socioeconomically dominant language is usually the source of the phonological and morphosyntactic elements of a pidgin d) Pidgins are usually rich in morphology
a) A pidgin is mutually intelligible with its source languages c) The socioeconomically dominant language is usually the source of the phonological and morphosyntactic elements of a pidgin d) Pidgins are usually rich in morphology
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is a hypothesis about the relation between language and which other elements? a) culture b) thought c) gender d) grammar
a) culture b) thought
Which of the following is central to the notion of performance as developed by Bauman? a) the presence of an audience (which can even be the performer themself) b) the audience as a passive recipient c) the absence of poetic function d) inattention to how something is said, signed, sung, acted, etc.
a) the presence of an audience (which can even be the performer themself)
Bordieu's concept of habitus refers to: a) ways that individuals are predisposed to act, think, and speak/sign b) the mutual exclusivity of power and freedom c) social structures that predetermine our linguistic choices d) ways that we use language independent of what precedes us
a) ways that individuals are predisposed to act, think, and speak/sign
One John Rickford's reasons for studying Rachel Jeantel's language use was to: a) show how AAVE is characterized by poor grammar b) counter popular claims about how bad Jeantel's language and grammar is c) show that Jeantel's language was unsystematic and unlike any other varieties of English d) target a unique example of language in U.S. court cases that has no similarity to other cases involving vernaculars
b) counter popular claims about how bad Jeantel's language and grammar is
"The socially mediated capacity to act" is a definition of __________. a) hegemony b) power c) agency d) practice theory
c) agency
A situation where more than one language is spoken in a community with unequal status and (typically) in distinct domains is: a) heteroglossia b) code-switching c) multilingualism d) diglossia
d) diglossia
Language socialization is a process that speakers are always explicitly aware of. True or False
False
Linguistic Anthropologists uniformly consider gender to be dichotomous/binary. True or False
False
Linguistic Anthropology differs from other approaches to language because it focuses on abstract knowledge of idealized speakers independent of real-world use. True or False
False
Linguistic anthropologists and other scholars have emphasized the social foundations of race because they argue that race does not exist. True or False
False
Linguistic anthropologists' definition of performance is identical to linguistic performance in the Chomskyan sense. True or False
False
Schools in the United States have a long tradition of promoting multilingualism. True or False
False
The role of children in language socialization is completely passive. True or False
False
There are native speakers of many pidgins. True or False
False
Which of the following are things that can either cause or contribute to language death and endangerment? Select all that apply. a) genocide b) language policies c) assimilation d) natural disasters
a) genocide b) language policies c) assimilation d) natural disasters
Which of the following are true about English? (select all that apply) a) standardized spelling is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of English b) it used to have a "free(r)" word order c) it's former rich case system is now completely absent d) the "Standard" variety spoken today preserves the best features
a) standardized spelling is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of English b) it used to have a "free(r)" word order
Words and phrases often "point to" things and objects as well as social and contextual elements. This is known as: a) practice b) language ideologies c) indexicality d) multifunctionality
c) indexicality
Which of the following statements holds for number marking in Yucatec Mayan? a) Yucatec Mayan patterns like English with respect to unitization and pluralization b) Yucatec Mayan requires overt plural marking for nouns that are animate c) Yucatec Mayan patterns like English with respect to classification of objects d) Yucatec Mayan requires numeral classifiers but not overt plural marking
d) Yucatec Mayan requires numeral classifiers but not overt plural marking
Research in language socialization has demonstrated that: a) the use of Child Directed Speech in a community relates directly to a child's ability to acquire language b) parents speaking to children directly is a uniform feature of children's acquisition profiles c) across the globe, parents interact with young children in universal ways that transcend cultural and environmental differences d) across the globe, parents interact with young children in diverse ways based on aspects such as ideologies and language practices that are specific to a particular community
d) across the globe, parents interact with young children in diverse ways based on aspects such as ideologies and language practices that are specific to a particular community
One result from Lucy's study on Yucatec Maya and English is that: a) Yucatec speakers typically classify objects based on substance whereas English speakers typically classify based on shape b) Yucatec speakers typically classify objects based on shape whereas English speakers typically classify based on substance c) Yucatec speakers are consistent in their classification of objects, but English speakers exhibit high variability d) Yucatec speakers and English speakers exhibit no significant differences in the way that they classify objects
a) Yucatec speakers typically classify objects based on substance whereas English speakers typically classify based on shape
Consider the question below from a speaker of Swahili, paying particular attention to the bold/italicized words. huakuona a-ki-ni-buy-i-a beer siku hioy? didn't.you.know 3sg-PROG-1sg-buy-BEN-INdiC beer that day 'Didn't you know he was buying beer for me that day?' This is an example of: a) codeswitching b) language ideology c) wh-question formation d) literacy practice
a) codeswitching
According to Morgan, one difference between a "speech community" and a "community of practice" is that: a) communities of practice emphasize practice over social relations b) the notion of a single language is central to communities of practice c) communities of practice only involve the shared production of non-linguistic practices d) communities of practice often exist to because of a specific purpose or function
a) communities of practice emphasize practice over social relations
Which of the following statements is most accurate from a descriptive standpoint? a) everyone speaks a dialect and everyone has an accent b) some dialects are more rule-governed than others c) people who are uneducated speak with an accent while people who are educated do not d) everyone speaks a dialect, but only some people have an accent
a) everyone speaks a dialect and everyone has an accent
Mary Bucholtz' critique of the traditional conceptualization of speech community was based in part on which of the following factors: a) fixed notions of identity b) relying too much on participants' understanding of their practices c) the role of language as too central d) overemphasizing social engagement e) avoidance of marginalized members
a) fixed notions of identity c) the role of language as too central e) avoidance of marginalized members
Which of the following definitions most closely aligns with the view of "speech community" that Morgan advocates? a) groups that participate in and negotiate shared practices and knowledges in a social context b) groups that speak the same language or use a single linguistic system c) groups that are under the same governing power d) groups that are part of the dominant culture and use the same linguistic system
a) groups that participate in and negotiate shared practices and knowledges in a social context
Which of the following is not true of the dialect of English known as African American Vernacular English? a) in terms of grammatical features, it's essentially a subtraction from "standard" English b) it is functionally and expressively rich c) it is systematic and rule-governed d) it has rich grammatical & discursive features that "standard" English does not have
a) in terms of grammatical features, it's essentially a subtraction from "standard" English
Which of the following is a reason that Morgan critiques Bloomfield's notion of "speech community"? a) it assumed homogeneity, monolingualism, and was closely-connected to identity vis-a-vis the nation-state b) it took speech community as central to linguistic analysis c) it relied too heavily on the notion of regular interaction d) it put too much emphasis on social norms without attending to the importance of historical heritage
a) it assumed homogeneity, monolingualism, and was closely-connected to identity vis-a-vis the nation-state
Which of the following statements highlights why Austin's Speech Act Theory was such an important development? a) it treats utterances as actions b) it treats utterances in a way that makes context irrelevant c) it treats utterances as solely expressing propositional content d) it treats utterances as purely cognitive
a) it treats utterances as actions
Valerie Switzler provides multiple reasons why she considers language & language revitalization to be vital in her community. Which of the following are among the reasons she mentions? Select all that apply. a) language as a source of knowledge & spirituality b) language as a vehicle for stigmatizing non-speakers c) language as central to communal & individual Wasco identity d) language as key to sovereignty & self-determination
a) language as a source of knowledge & spirituality c) language as central to communal & individual Wasco identity d) language as key to sovereignty & self-determination
When Valerie Switzler discussed her experience apprenticing under her grandmothers, she noted that "they taught us things that only the language could convey." This statement is an expression of which of the following concepts that we discussed in this class? a) linguistic relativity b) globalization c) diglossia d) styleshifting
a) linguistic relativity
One of the points that Smokey McKinney advocates for language revitalization is having the language in context, and he uses the memiki 'butterfly' example to illustrate this. Which of the following is in line with Smokey's sense of language in context? a) one-to-one translations are not sufficient to understand the Potawatomi language b) languages like Potawatomi cannot and should not be available on the internet
a) one-to-one translations are not sufficient to understand the Potawatomi language
The following sentence was heard (by me) on the news and comes from a teacher in Kansas City. It's not something that anymore you blink an eye at. If you type this sentence into Grammarly, an app that promises to help you produce "mistake-free writing," Grammarly's Grammar Checker flags it as containing an "inappropriate colloqualism." Now consider another example spoken by a friend of mine who is a middle-aged man from Chicago: They don't be buying nothing. Grammarly's Grammar Checker flags this as containing "incorrect verb forms." Which approach to grammar do these examples suggest that Grammarly is emulating? a) prescriptive b) descriptive
a) prescriptive
Which of the following is/are part of style? (select all that apply) a) social distinctiveness b) indexicality c) linguistic distinctiveness d) predetermined structures e) creativity
a) social distinctiveness b) indexicality c) linguistic distinctiveness e) creativity
Smokey McKinney introduces the concept of "music" in his discussion of Potawatomi & language revitalization. What does he mean by this? a) that knowledge of the language runs deep inside speakers b) that Potawatomi makes extensive use of intonational patterns that give the language a distinct "musical" tone c) that integrating Potawatomi music into language revitalization programs has been central to Potawatomi revitalization efforts
a) that knowledge of the language runs deep inside speakers
Which of the following would a linguistic anthropologist most likely be interested in? a) ways that linguistic forms/structures take on meaning in local contexts b) rules governing phrase structure c) abstract representations of sounds in a speaker's mind d) the grammatical properties of Proto-Indo-European
a) ways that linguistic forms/structures take on meaning in local contexts
In her research on acquisitionWestern Samoan, Ochs found that Western Samoan children acquire the ergative marker later than children who speak other ergative languages because of: a) ways that social relationships influence the use of ergative markers in Western Samoan communities b) the low frequency of use of ergative markers by all adults in Western Samoan communities c) the high frequency of use of ergative markers by adult female speakers compared to adult male speakers d) greater complexity in the Western Samoan grammatical system, which leads to more difficulty in learning
a) ways that social relationships influence the use of ergative markers in Western Samoan communities
Based on their analysis of Rachel Jeantel's language and responses to it, John Rickford and colleauges argue that: a) white jurors' perceptions of her credibility and intelligibility were shaped by biases toward her "nonstandard" language use b) the racial composition of the jury did not play a role in considering her testimony c) white jurors discredited her testimony simply because they could not understand her, but there was no bias present d) there was no evidence for linguistic profiling based on her speech
a) white jurors' perceptions of her credibility and intelligibility were shaped by biases toward her "nonstandard" language use
Rickford and McNair-Knox's (1994) study showed that which of the following can trigger styleshifting? (select all that apply) a) who someone is talking to b) what someone is talking about c) how someone feels at a particular time d) sound cues given by an interlocutor
a) who someone is talking to b) what someone is talking about
Which of the following is true from a descriptive approach? a) Sentences like I don't want nothing should not be used b) Double negatives are systematically used in some varieties of English c) The sentence Who did he give the flowers to? is worse than To whom did he give the flowers?
b) Double negatives are systematically used in some varieties of English
In the United States, various institutions help reinforce the ideas that there is a variety of English that is quote "standard," and that it is "better" than other varieties. Which of the following concepts we've discussed in class best relate to these phenomena? (select all that apply) a) Linguistic relativity b) Language ideology c) Power d) Prescriptivism e) Linguistic competence
b) Language ideology c) Power d) Prescriptivism
Which of the following are associated with monoglot ideology? a) promotes multilingualism b) beliefs about which language forms are "proper" and "correct" c) related to notions of national identity d) common in English-speaking countries
b) beliefs about which language forms are "proper" and "correct" c) related to notions of national identity d) common in English-speaking countries
Orienting to agency is important in linguistic anthropology because: (select all that apply) a) agency should always be seen as resistance b) different societies use diverse linguistic forms and structures to encode agency c) it is important to come up with a single, universal understanding of agency that holds across all societies d) it protects against overemphasizing the role of abstract social structures e) different societies may conceptualize agency in distinct ways
b) different societies use diverse linguistic forms and structures to encode agency d) it protects against overemphasizing the role of abstract social structures e) different societies may conceptualize agency in distinct ways
According to Hill (2008), racism is by and large produced through: a) language use by racist individuals b) everyday talk that unintentionally reinforces racist stereotypes c) everyday talk that intentionally reinforces racist stereotypes d) overt racist slurs
b) everyday talk that unintentionally reinforces racist stereotypes
Which of the following are properties of mock Spanish? Select all that apply. a) always overt and intentional mocking b) exaggerating Spanish sounds, such as trilled [r] c) parody d) pejorative use of Spanish words e) exaggerated English pronunciation f) indirect indexicality
b) exaggerating Spanish sounds, such as trilled [r] c) parody d) pejorative use of Spanish words e) exaggerated English pronunciation f) indirect indexicality
According Penny Eckert & Sally-McConnell Ginet (2001), which of the following are central characteristics of the concept of gender? (select all that apply) a) gender is predetermined b) gender is learned c) gender is something we do d) gender is collaborative e) gender is something we have
b) gender is learned c) gender is something we do d) gender is collaborative
What were some of the significant contributions that Gumperz introduced to the concept of "speech community"? (select all that apply) a) it emphasized the importance of attending to broad language systems and the boundaries between them b) it conceptualized speech community as a social construct c) it incorporated beliefs, attitudes, and knowledges about/toward languages and language varieties d) it emphasized the psychological and cognitive aspects of members in speech communities
b) it conceptualized speech community as a social construct c) it incorporated beliefs, attitudes, and knowledges about/toward languages and language varieties
Ahearn mentions the following quote from linguist Roman Jakobson: "Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey." Recall from lecture that we discussed two "expressions" of Linguistic Relativity, based on possible relationships between language-thought-culture. Jakobson's statement is most compatible with: a) linguistic determinism b) linguistic relativism
b) linguistic relativism
Imagine that you are at a café and you'd like to order a cup of green tea. Consider the following sentences in English, which are all ways to convey your order: 1. I'd love a cup of green tea. 2. Give me a cup of green tea. 3. Could I have a cup of green tea? These are all ways to perform a request, but they differ in _____________. a) perlocutionary force b) locutionary force c) illocutionary force
b) locutionary force
Which of the following best illustrates movement from doxa into the universe of discourse? a) continued disagreement about whether irregardless is "really a word" then eventually including irregardless in dictionaries b) moving away from formerly taken-for-granted strictly binary gender pronouns (she/her/hers vs. he/him/his) to a system including more diverse gender and gender-neutral pronouns (e.g., xe/xer/xers, sie/hir/hirs, zie/zir/zirs, singlular & referential they/them/their) c) English in general as formerly having a free(r) word order but not now relying heavily upon a fairly rigid Subject-Verb-Object word order d) the ongoing debate about whether to pronounce gif with a "hard g" or a "soft g"
b) moving away from formerly taken-for-granted strictly binary gender pronouns (she/her/hers vs. he/him/his) to a system including more diverse gender and gender-neutral pronouns (e.g., xe/xer/xers, sie/hir/hirs, zie/zir/zirs, singlular & referential they/them/their)
Why does Ahearn mention the "English Only" movement in her chapter "Language Death and Revitalization"? a) even though English is a global language, it is actually in danger of dying out in this century b) some argue that this movement has borrowed/appropriated the rhetoric of language revitalization to claim that English needs to be the official language of the U.S.
b) some argue that this movement has borrowed/appropriated the rhetoric of language revitalization to claim that English needs to be the official language of the U.S.
One of the ways communicative competence plays out in speech communities is in the choice to use different language varieties. Which of the following statements is most aligned with Morgan's overall discussion of such code-switching? a) speakers switch between languages and language varieties because they are making choices based on overt knowledge of grammatical relations and their meanings b) using different languages and language varieties can index different identities and ideologies in ways that are not fixed c) within a specific speech community, each language or language variety has a fixed meaning that it communicates d) each distinct language or language variety necessarily indexes distinct, non-overlapping meanings
b) using different languages and language varieties can index different identities and ideologies in ways that are not fixed
Consider the following excerpt from a speech that President Barack Obama gave: Obama: Y'all know about okey-doke, right? [Pause] Crowd: Yeahhh! Yes! [Laughter] Obama: It's the same old stuff! Crowd: Yeahhh! This illustrates: a) use of conscious, prescriptive rules b) a speech style that constructs a strong difference between speaker and audience c) a "call and response" style that enables interaction and audience participation d) use of parallelism for rhetorical effect
c) a "call and response" style that enables interaction and audience participation
Butler's development of performativity understands gender to: a) index a pre-discursive gendered self b) express stable identities c) be created through discourse d) be flexible, but biologically-based
c) be created through discourse
Labov's study of language variation in New York demonstrated that: a) [r] pronunciation was random across speech communities b) shared ideologies play little to no role in the formation of a speech community c) language ideologies are important in speech communities d) [r] pronunciation was consistent across all speakers in 1960s New York
c) language ideologies are important in speech communities
Spitulnik's work on language in Zambia shows that: a) the concept of speech community does not hold in multilingual nation-states b) ethnicity emerges as the strongest factor in defining a speech community c) media can facilitate the formation of a speech community d) geographic region emerges as the strongest factor in defining a speech community
c) media can facilitate the formation of a speech community
Which of the following contributed to the success of Maori kohanga reo? Select all that apply. a) the adoption of a "Maori only" stance by the New Zealand government b) strong support from multinational institutions c) strong community support d) integration of cultural knowledge & values
c) strong community support d) integration of cultural knowledge & values
One reason that pidgins and creoles are of interest to linguistic anthropologists is because: a) they showcase the role of ideology in language creation b) they are manifestations of ideal language c) they show that language creation is both a cultural and a cognitive process d) they are artificial languages
c) they show that language creation is both a cultural and a cognitive process
Which of the following is an aim of linguistic anthropological research? a) assigning value judgements to different linguistic practices & structures b) using one's own cultural system as a lens for interpreting other cultures c) understanding how ideologies shape interactions and linguistic choices d) understanding the nature of language independent of social contexts
c) understanding how ideologies shape interactions and linguistic choices
In Bucholtz's (1999) study of Bay City teenagers, she shows that: a) white students avoid AAVE features in constructing whiteness b) white studies use "female" sounding speech to critique masculinity c) white students use AAVE features in their speech style to project "coolness"
c) white students use AAVE features in their speech style to project "coolness"
In linguistic anthropology, the concept of performance gets at: a) the capacity of the abstract language system b) the ways in which utterances are referential c) imperfect ways the abstract language system is put to use d) how language use has an aesthetic dimension
d) how language use has an aesthetic dimension
Judith Butler's conceptualization of performativity emphasizes: a) how linguistic practices index pre-existing, stable identities b) how linguistic practices have universal meaning c) how linguistic practices express traditional meaning d) how linguistic practices are a part of identity formation
d) how linguistic practices are a part of identity formation
In Homegirls, Norma Mendoza-Denton argues that /I/-raising: a) is most common only among Sureñas just like there are many markers of identity that distinguish Sureñas and Norteñas b) is most common among those who are not core members of either the Sureñas or the Norteñas c) does not vary from one community of practice to another d) is most common among both Sureñas and Norteñas as a marker of broder Latina identity
d) is most common among both Sureñas and Norteñas as a marker of broder Latina identity
Based on an analysis of "Japanese women's language," Miyako Inoue argues that: a) ideologies have a minor role in the linguistic practices of Japanese women b) Japanese women's conversational styles are less cooperative than that of U.S. women c) language canonically indexes pre-existing realities d) language can create the thing that it indexes
d) language can create the thing that it indexes
Which of the following is an example of a language ideology? a) that Modern English typically exhibits Subject-Verb-Object word order b) that some varieties of English allow for multiple modals c) that English used to have a rich Case system d) that Standard American English is more proper and more grammatical than other varieties of English
d) that Standard American English is more proper and more grammatical than other varieties of English
Ochs (1992) article "Indexing gender" discusses interactional styles among U.S. white middle-class communities and Western Samoan communities, showing that: a) language directly indexes gender b) certain features of languages exclusively index gender c) gendered ways of speaking index the same identities cross-culturally d) the same linguistic practice can indirectly index different identities across societies
d) the same linguistic practice can indirectly index different identities across societies