Naomi Nagy
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Linguistics at U of T

Response & Analysis Combo: Giving back (HW_A&R3)

Wolfram, Reaser & Vaughn 2008
Operationalizing Linguistic Gratuity: From Principle to Practice

Complete Parts A-D on your own. Start early, because you will need to work with a partner on Part E, and it will take some time.

Answers to Parts A-D should be brief. Consider the instructions for the previous response assignments (HW_R1 , HW_R2 ) to work out appropriate lengths.

Part A: Skim/Scan

  1. As discussed in tutorials, the academic article is a genre with its own established conventions and structures. Considering what you know about the components of an academic and sociolinguistics paper, answer the following questions:
    1. List three structural components that this article shares with all research papers.
    2. List one major way that this article differs from a research paper.
  2. Answer one of the following questions. Quote a relavant sentence from the article and briefly explain why you found it relevant.
    • Is there a sentence in the Abstract or Introduction that you find particularly interesting?
    • What did you find to be the most useful/informative sentence in the Abstract or Introduction of this paper?
    • Was there a sentence in the Abstract or Introduction that you found hard to understand?

Part B: Content extension

  1. As we have seen in other articles for this course, the term “vernacular” can carry specialized meanings. Focusing on the following quotation from Wolfram et al., explain what the term means this time.
    When the vernacular language norms of the community stand in opposition to those of mainstream, Standard English varieties, an immediate ideological conflict is brought to the forefront (p. 1122).
  2. In a short paragraph, discuss the principle of linguistic gratuity by answering the following questions:
    1. How would you define the principle of linguistic gratuity in your own words?
    2. Give two examples of applying this principle that were discussed and/or illustrated in class.
    3. Are you aware of other applications of this principle? That is, have you seen this principle applied?

Part C: AAVE Stressed bin - the data

This part of the assignment is designed to get you thinking about how to talk about standard and nonstandard English, and what it means to “describe” language use, with non-linguists. The goal is to look at the data below closely, come up with descriptive rules that explain the distribution of the feature in question, and find a way to explain it to a non-linguist audience such as high school students.

African-American Vernacular English stressed bin

AAVE stressed bin [bɪn] is a marker of remote past tense; it’s used to indicate that an event occurred at some time in the not-too-recent past.

This temporal marker is something Standard English (SE) lacks. It has been identified by linguists as one of the characteristic aspectual markers that distinguish AAVE from other English varieties.

While there is a historical connection between SE been and AAVE stressed bin, they’re quite different now. Stressed bin can be used in lots of places where SE been can’t.

First data set - this illustrates a range of aspects that are possible with bin

  1. I bin started my homework, so quit asking me
    (I started my homework a long time ago)
  2. I bin running
    (I have long been in the habit of running)
  3. Grandma bin sick
    (Grandma has been sick for a long time and she still is)

Second data set - this illustrates some additional restrictions on the use of bin

  1. * I bin seen that movie a long time ago
    * (I saw that movie a long time ago)
  2. * I bin asked her about that three weeks ago
    * (I asked her about that three weeks ago)

  3. * Bin she a doctor?
    * (Has she been a doctor for a long time?)
  4. * She bin a doctor, binn’t she?
    * (She has been a doctor for a long time, hasn’t she?)
  5. * Does she bin a doctor?
    * (Has she been a doctor for a long time?)

Part D: The context in which AAVE Stressed bin appears - Your analysis

  1. Given the grammatical rules we just learned, would the following sentences be acceptable?
  1. I bin ate my lunch.
  2. The kids bin outside for five minutes.
  3. Bin Jamie and Sam dating?
  4. I bin understood the question, I just didn’t know the answer.

Part E: Describing the grammatical pattern to non-linguists

You should have completed Parts A-D, including writing responses to Questions 1-5, on your own. This final part is group work. Please work in groups of 2 - 4 students. Be sure that all documents your responses to Questions 6 and 7 have the names of all group members.

  1. Before continuing, compare your predictions (Part D) with one of your group members. Make sure you come to an agreement about which are acceptable sentences. Report your results.
  2. Put together a handout or poster that explains:
    • The difference between prescriptive and descriptive approaches to language
    • The rules that account for how AAVE Stressed bin is used
    • Why it matters
    Your handout or poster should be aimed at high school students.
    Please note that you should not print out handouts or posters, but rather submit a PDF via Quercus. Its filename should include the last name of all group members.

    NOTE: If you would like, you may create a set of data from some other non-standard variety (even another language!) to use in your handout or poster. However, you must submit the data set to the professor at least 1 week before this assignment is due, and receive her approval to use it in place of the data given here.

 Return to syllabus || Updated Oct. 6, 2020

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