The social dimension of the Southern Vowel Shift: Gender, age and class

The three most broadly recognized dialect areas of American Regional English are currently being re-defined by, in some cases, sweeping changes that alter the way vowels are being pronounced in the South, North and West. While research into the changes in urban Northern dialects has contributed a fairly broad picture of both the phonetic and social character of the Northern Cities Shift (NCS), the changes affecting the Southern region of the U.S. have received less attention, particularly in terms of social distribution and dissemination. This paper seeks to address the question of how successfully changes in the high and mid front and back vowels in the South are being disseminated throughout a local urban community and how these changes fit in with changes occurring in other American dialects. In addition, the paper weighs the attraction to local or national norms in determining the success and diffusion of each of the shifts relative to the social environment in which they are developing and attempts to relate the local social embedding of the shifts to their meaning in the larger national context.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

The Other Victims: First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis by Ina R. Friedman. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1990. 176 pages. Reviewed by Samuel Totten.     

'Tie, tied and tight': The expansion of /ai/ monophthongization in African-American and European-American speech in Memphis, Tennessee

This paper explores the distribution of /ai/ monophthongization in African-American and European-American speakers in Memphis, Tennessee. While often considered a feature characteristic of White Southern speech, /ai/ monophthongization has also been recorded in Black speech, both within and outside the South. However, expansion of glide-weakening to the less common pre-voiceless contexts has been considered unique to European-American dialects. Evidence of extensive glide-weakening in the African-American community in Memphis will be presented and compared to the degree and contexts of glide-weakening in the European-American community. The results will show that not only is /ai/ monophthongization a feature of Memphis speech generally, regardless of ethnicity, but that African-Americans in fact lead in glide-weakening in all contexts. The role of Southern identity in the expansion of /ai/ monophthongization is discussed as a critical component in the selection of features in both Black and White speech in the Memphis area.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Penelope Eckert and John R. Rickford (eds.), Style and Sociolinguistic Variation
Richard Watts and Peter Trudgill (eds), Alternative Histories of English
Shana Poplack (ed.), The English History of African American English
Urszula Clark, War Words: Language, History and the Disciplining of English
Beverley A. Lewin, Jonathan Fine and Lynne Young, Expository Discourse: A Genre–based Approach to Social Science Research Texts
Alexandra Georgakopoulou and Marianna Spanaki (eds.), A Reader in Greek Sociolinguistics – Studies in Modern Greek Language, Culture and Communication
Maya Khemlani David, The Sindhis of Malaysia: A Sociolinguistic Study
Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: John F. Sawyer and J. M. Y. Simpson (eds.), Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion Nikolas Coupland, Srikant Sarangi and Christopher N. Candlin (eds.), Sociolinguistics and Social Theory Ron Scollon, Mediated Discourse: The Nexus of Practice Richard Gwyn, Communicating Health and Illness Guus Extra and Durk Gorter, The Other Languages of Europe: Demographic, Sociolinguistic and Educational Perspectives Council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment Abdul Karim Bangura and Martin C. Muo, United States Congress and Bilingual Education Shelley Angelil–Carter, Stolen Language? Plagiarism in Writing Michael Toolan, Narrative: A Critical Linguistic Introduction Jacob L. Mey, Pragmatics: An Introduction     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed
Wolfram, Walt and Schilling-Estes, Natalie. American English
Yamada, Haru. Different Games, Different Rules: Why Americans and Japanese Misunderstand Each Other .
Singh, Rajendra. Lectures against Sociolinguistics .
Harvey, Keith and Shalom, Celia (eds.). Language and Desire: Encoding Sex, Romance and Intimacy .     

Book Reviews

Abstract

This paper explores the emergence of the social work profession in Western Australia from beginnings in the 1920s through to 1970 when the first local graduates gained employment. The authors illustrate how WA's history both connects with and diverges from patterns of the profession's development in more populous states, througt, the use of interviews conducted with pioneering social workers These oral histories illuminate how gender, class and other markings of privilege and power framed, and were framed by, the education, practice, sites of practice and career paths of social workers in the early years. Two interacting themes identified in this research were restricted employment possibilities for social workers in the State and a lack of locally available professional education until the mining boom of the sixties. The paper concludes by listing six lessons for current practitioners: the transcendent importance of reading contexts; identifying and developing relevant sites of practice; maintaining flexible boundaries of professional practice; being able to articulate a dynamic value base to drive practice; the importance of practitioners in shaping education, and continuing practitioner reflexivity.     

Book Reviews

Sandra Lee McKay and Nancy H. Hornberger (eds). Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching.
David Crystal. The Cambridge Encylopaedia of the English Language.
W. Peter Robinson. Deceit, Delusion and Detection.
William F. Hanks. Language and Communicative Practices.
Elizabeth Couper–Kuhlen and Margaret Selting (eds). Prosody in Conversation: Interactive Studies.
Vivian de Klerk (ed.). Focus on South Africa.
M. Teresa Turell Julià (ed.). La Sociolingüística de la variació.
Michael Clyne. The German Language in a Changing Europe.
Jon F. Nussbaum and Justine Coupland (eds). Handbook of Communication and Aging Research.
David W. Green and others. Cognitive Science: an Introduction.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Susan Ehrlich, Representing Rape: Language and Sexual Consent
Deborah Cameron, Working with Spoken Discourse
Stefan Titscher, Michael Meyer, Ruth Wodak and Eva Vetter, Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis
Linda A. Wood and Rolf O. Kroger, Doing Discourse Analysis: Methods for Studying Action in Talk and Text
Srikant Sarangi and Celia Roberts (eds.), Talk, Work and Institutional Order: Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings
Ulrich Ammon (ed.), The Dominance of English as a Language of Science: Effects on Other Languages and Language Communities
Alexandra Jaffe, Ideologies in Action: Language Politics on Corsica
Niloofar Haeri, The Sociolinguistic Market of Cairo: Gender, Class and Education
Anita Y. K. Poon, Medium of Instruction in Hong Kong: Policy and Practice
Tariq Rahman, Language, Education and Culture
Dariusz Galasinski, The Language of Deception: A Discourse Analytical Study
Clifford Hill and Eric Larsen, Children and Reading Tests
Fern L. Johnson, Speaking Culturally: Language Diversity in the United States
Lucy Burke, Tony Crowley and Alan Girvin (eds.), The Routledge Language and Cultural Theory Reader     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed
Tannen, Deborah. The Argument Culture: Changing the Way We Argue and Debate .
Adger, Carolyn Temple; Christian, Donna; Taylor, Orlando (eds.) Making the Connection: Language and Academic Achievement among African American Students .
Shuy, Roger W. The Language of Confession, Interrogation, and Deception .
Hutchby, Ian and Wooffitt, Robin. Conversation Analysis .
Ainsworth-Vaughn, Nancy. Claiming Power in Doctor-Patient Talk .
Eco, Umberto. Serendipities: Language and Lunacy .
Beal, Joan. English Pronunciation in the Eighteenth Century: Thomas Spence's 'Grand Repository of the English Language' .
Habermas, Jürgen. On the Pragmatics of Communication .     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Barbara A. Fennell, A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach
Kevin McCafferty, Ethnicity and Language Change: English in (London)Derry, Northern Ireland
Pieter Muysken, Bilingual Speech: A Typology of Code-Mixing.
Ulrich Ammon (ed.), The Dominance of English as a Language of Science: Effects on Other Languages and Language Communities
Andrew Goatly, Critical Reading and Writing. An Introductory Coursebook
Ana Roca (ed.), Research on Spanish in the United States. Linguistic Issues and Challenges
Ishtla Singh, Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction     

Book Reviews

Rampton, Ben, Crossing: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents
Drechsel, Emanuel J., Mobilian Jargon: Linguistic and Sociohistorical Aspects of a Native American Pidgin
Hensel, Chase, Telling Our Selves: Ethnicity and Discourse in Southwestern Alaska
Silverman, David, Discourses of Counselling: HIV Counselling as Social Interaction
Goebl, Hans; Nelde, Peter H.; Starý, Zdeněk and Wölck, Wolfgang (eds), Kontaktlinguistik, Contact Linguistics, Linguistique de contact
Baxter, Leslie A. and Montgomery, Barbara M., Relating: Dialogues and Dialectics
Lanstyák, István and Szabómihály, Gizella, Magyar nyelvhasználat – iskola – kétnyelvüség [Hungarian language use, schools and bilingualism]
Zentella, Ana Celia, Growing up Bilingual: Puerto Rican Children in New York
Fairclough, Norman, Media Discourse     

Book Reviews and Book Notes

The purpose of this article is to empower those interested in teaching students powerful and engaging social studies. Through the lens of Supreme Court simulations, this article provides educators with a viable, classroom-tested lesson plan to bring Problem-Based Learning into their classrooms. The specific aim of the lesson is to provide students with an opportunity to engage in relevant and powerful civics education.     

Book Reviews and Book Notes

In this article we identify opportunities for students to use timelines and textbooks to meet standards. Through the use of timelines, textbooks, and selected activities, upper elementary and middle school students are able to (1) be engaged in content area reading and writings; (2) understand large themes in social studies including time, continuity, and changes; and (3) participate in the inquiry process.     

From State Care to Independence

Abstract

Historically, insufficient resources and assistance have been provided to young people leaving state care. Care leavers have been found to experience significant health, social and educational deficits including homelessness, disproportionate involvement in juvenile crime and prostitution, poor social supports, and early parenthood. The U.S. and Australia share a roughly common political language and system and have often exchanged ideas, agendas, and policies for government. This paper finds that whilst there are some minor differences in the respective legislative frameworks and responses, the similarities are far greater. Both countries have failed to provide the range of in-care, transitional, and post-care supports and services required to ensure improved outcomes for care leavers.     

Science,Invention and Society

Social studies teacher educators highlight the importance of oral stories and histories in the social studies classroom, leading social studies learners to seek multiple perspectives and encourage historical thinking in the classroom. However, preservice teachers are given few opportunities to internalize this idea. In this article, the author examines the collection of oral stories and creation of performances in a social studies methods course. The process involves preservice teachers conducting oral history interviews, choosing material to explore, creating and performing stories, and sharing their representations with peers. As preservice teachers become storytellers of someone's history, they are made aware of their own subjectivity.     

The Reproductive Context of Cohabitation in the United States: Recent Change and Variation in Contraceptive Use

Drawing on data from 2 waves of the National Survey of Family Growth (N = 11,065), the current research addressed 2 overarching questions about the reproductive context of cohabitation in the United States. First, did patterns of contraceptive use among cohabitors change during the last 2 decades of the 20th century? Second, did patterns of contraceptive use among cohabiting women tend to vary by education or race/ethnicity? Results point to a growing resemblance between never‐married cohabiting women and those in first marriages in the likelihood of using a “very effective” contraceptive method and suggest that cohabitation is most “marriage like” with respect to reproductive behavior among the least educated.     

A Caution on Comparisons

Abstract

The family is the foundation of our society. By learning about family life in other countries, we learn about our own lives and we realize that we all belong to one big family—the family of mankind. … [Studying families of the world] could help us to get closer to people in distant countries and support the knowledge that “we are one.” — Liv Ullmann, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador     

‘So God Made a Farmer’: The US Agrarian Imaginary and the Lived Assemblages of Settlement and Empire

ABSTRACT

In support of the National FFA Organization (formerly, the Future Farmers of America), Ram Trucks declared 2013 the ‘Year of the Farmer.’ Their commemorative Super Bowl commercial featured radio broadcaster Paul Harvey’s iconic 1978 speech, ‘So God Made a Farmer.’ This essay interrogates Harvey’s speech and its aestheticization and reception during Super Bowl XLVII in order to trace how U.S. settler colonialism is embodied and recognized, particularly in relation to narratives of the ‘secularization’ of the United States and U.S. political life. It argues that the resolutely Christian visions of social life and selfhood, modes of ethics, and place-making within the nostalgic speech and commercial continue to order and naturalize the interface between heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, and U.S. settler colonialism. It also argues that although such religiose forms of relationality are reproduced and amplified in the spectatorship of the Super Bowl, they are imbued with ostensibly secular national and imperial meaning, and thus obfuscated as such. This essay ultimately argues that such religiose invocations of proper relationality – as a node of racialization and the production of power – can shuttle between religious and secular contexts while continuing to encode and reproduce formations of U.S. settler colonialism and imperialism.     

美国与沙特准联盟外交的理论与实证研究

二战结束以来,美国与沙特特殊关系的构建主要依靠准联盟外交,这类外交具有合作载体的非正式性、解决任务的选择性、合作手段的灵活性和战略指向的模糊性等特点。美沙准联盟外交的形成具有国际层面、国家层面和单元内部层面三重原因,双方的安全共同体和利益共同体意识强化了准联盟外交。“9·11”事件后,美国在海湾地区由依靠沙特转向依靠海合会其他成员,其准联盟外交战略呈现多元化趋势;沙特则积极利用欧盟、俄罗斯、中国和印度等来平衡美国的影响力。美沙各自外交战略的调整使美沙准联盟暗藏危机。