https://www.air.org/resource/essa-and-native-american-alaska-native-and-native-hawaiian-students – Source discussing the Every Student Succeeds Act and the effect of boarding schools on the loss of Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Alaskans

I am currently in a Native American religions course this semester and, in our discussions, we briefly talked about Native Hawaiian religions, the culture, and language. There are many similarities of treatment of the Native Hawaiian and Native American cultures and languages by the United States. Many Native Americans and Native Hawaiians were sent to boarding schools to learn English and were greatly discouraged from speaking their native language. Consequently, many Native tribes and Native Hawaiians have lost their language or are just beginning to recover and relearn their language.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1heOSvI2SdkRKEOcCvYDM4SIwoWW7K_L6TKIsxSOHc2k/edit

This reading offered interesting insights into explicit and implicit use of communication. Furthermore, it discussed the ways that indirect communication styles are often misunderstood or viewed as less effective and why these assumptions may be incorrect or unfair.

Discussion Questions:

How are communication styles established?

Are more direct communication styles in women rewarded the same way they are rewarded for men? Why or why not?

In considering Tannen’s discussion on how people in subordinate positions often default to indirect communication when speaking with authority: are women predisposed to take on more indirect communication styles (especially when communicating with men) because of the long-standing effects of sexism?

1. The language varieties used in the film(s) are mostly General and Regional. The main characters, Woody and Buzz, reflect a more general accent while
more minor characters such as Jessie, Mrs & Mr. Potato Head, etc. reflect a more regional accent. Some of the characters language varieties do reflect the actor’s voices and help to distinguish the characters.

2. The film takes place in a stereotypical suburban neighborhood and reflects a general american culture (use of “pizza parlors” and birthday parties). There are several prominent actors who play main characters and reflect a general american accent.

3. Yes, language and accent does seem to be used to build character and reflect behaviors. Toys who are main characters and are generally “good” seem to reflect a more general american accent while the villains, such as Zerg and the Prospector in Toy Story 2 reflect stronger accents or language variety.
The Potato Head characters are both louder, have accents associated with New York, and their actors are both Jewish. Additionally, the prospector’s accent in Toy Story 2 is more regionally american and in the beginning, to appear more friendly, utilizes more simple language associated with his rural background.

4. Like Lippi-Green found, minor characters and villains seemed to have accents or language tendencies that were associated with more variety while the main characters simply shared the linguistic tendencies of their actors and reflected a more acceptable, “general” American accent.

3:20 – He discusses media and the language used to teach us about the world. Financial gain shapes the way companies produce media and, therefore, the ways media influences the “conversation” based on what they view as profitable.

 

TW: discussion of sexism, racism, mention of suicide/self harm (13:00 minutes, end at 13:30)