We all have a particular manner of speaking, but why is this? This week in 11th grade English we started talking about language and social relations, examining how we pick up different “social languages” and ways that we utilize them in our daily lives. Categories like social class, gender, race, culture, and social status all affect how we speak to varying degrees, resulting in differing perceptions by others and, sometimes, different opportunities afforded us.
In our discussion on Wednesday, we started talking about how gender influences language, which is always an interesting discussion! After looking at pronoun usage in English (which is decidedly male-oriented, especially with its lack of a third-person neutral pronoun, unlike more gender-neutral languages like Spanish), we started talking about how boys and girls fight differently. What a battle of words! Attached for your reading pleasure is at link to the article we started to examine. Can you relate?
Photo from http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpit – “Children play in community place sandbox”