Subject: wolfram and schilling - estes : american english

wolfram , walt and schilling - estes , natalie . ( 1998 ) . american english . oxford , u . k . : blackwell . isbn 0-631 - 20846 - 5 ( hardcover ) . rrp : us $ 59 . 95 ( hardcover ) 16 . 99 / us $ 29 . 95 the rich phonology of american " accents " is appreciated and instantly identifiable by non - american speakers of english worldwide , through television , radio and now ( perhaps ) through the internet . however , the perceived homogeneity of the american way of speaking as something uniquely " american " by these speakers of english , lies in stark contrast to the diversity of american english which is the domestic reality . in this exciting revision of wolfram 's classic " dialects and american english " , wolfram and schilling - estes not only attempt to provide a detailed account of the geographical and sociocultural distribution of certain kinds of american english , through distinct dialects , grammar , and usage , but also attempt to dispel a number of urban ( and not-so - urban ) myths common among native american english speakers . the book begins by contrasting the popular definition of " dialects " and their relative social desirability ( or otherwise ) , as perceived by native speakers who often feel they do not speak a dialect , with technical definitions from linguistics in the context of the so-called " desirability-deficit " debate . the work of schilling - estes in documenting the ocracoke english of north carolina , in particular , places her in a unique position to comment on language variation and the social issues involved in linguistic minorities ( especially in attempting to dispel myths regarding social desirability and dialects ) . the second chapter contrasts linguistic and sociohistorical explanations of the processes by which different dialects arise in languages , and more generally , why languages change over time . whilst the latter explanation sees languages and dialects as arising from the interaction of social and historical conditions , such as migration , settlement , and language contact , the former view sees languages as dynamical systems which have an inherent capacity and impetus to change , which arises from their structure . although some linguists are not directly concerned with sociohistorical factors in language change , the authors successfully integrate both viewpoints by examining general processes such as grammaticalization in the context of specific examples ( such as the new york city vernacular ) . however , those interested solely in a comprehensive review of distinctive american grammar , independent of social factors , should look elsewhere - this book is not a taxonomic ( and nor should it be ) . however , the third chapter which discusses levels of dialect should be useful for understanding the strata of dialects in contemporary american speech . the fourth chapter provides a historical overview of the development of american dialects , from elizabethan influences and pre-revolutionary dialects , to the rise of the west coast and twentieth century accents . this chapter successfully uses geographical diagrams and maps not only to demonstrate localised changes in distinctive dialect features ( such as r-lessness and r-fulness ) that have occurred throughout the history of the united states , but also to demonstrate the flow and influence of dialects during settlement of the interior , and how these changes are related to issues such as language contact and language borrowing from native americans . chapter 5 continues this process by developing examples of regional dialects and variations from many areas of the united states . chapters 6 and 7 develop the idea of dialects beyond regional and geographical differences to encompass dialect change and differences based on social class , ethnicity and gender . these chapters consider key issues such as the patterning of social difference in language in the context of specific examples , such as african american vernacular english ( aave ) . it is interesting to note in this example that even though at least eight distinctive grammatical features distinguish aave from the anglo american dialect , there is variation within each group sufficient to make comparisons difficult for linguists . a more general case is examined with respect to interactions of three or more languages , as is the case in robeson county nc , where native americans constitute 40 % of the county population , where their accent is clearly dominant . chapters 8 and 9 moves away from group analysis of dialects and language to questions of individual language use and style , and the social distribution of these usages . theories of style shifting , such as the attention to speech model , speech accommodation theory and the audience design model are reviewed , and research methods for understanding individual speech acts within paradigms that focus on group-based methods are discussed ( including corpus methods ) . group - exclusive dialect features and dialect patterning are discussed in the context of research methods such as implicational arrays to relate specific grammatical features of different dialects . the book concludes with discussions of the relevance of an understanding of accents and dialects to applied linguistics , an issue which is clearly important historically with the " desirability-deficit " debate and in contemporary education of english as a second language . in particular , the use of standardized tests which are based around the recognition of standard english usage and grammar are criticized for being unrealistic ( as well as violating assumptions of content validity ) . one solution might be to use a dialect consistency or achievement measure , and / or developing culturally and linguistically-appropriate testing situations which do not make assumptions about a language learner 's accent and / or social demographics . as the authors recognise , these kinds of aims are very difficult to implement , but certainly recognising the systematic biases in language testing , and encouraging dialect awareness in schools , is a first step . wolfram and schilling - estes explicitly accommodate pedagogical usage of this book , by introducing key concepts in capitals , and including an exercise for students with each new section in the text . at the conclusion of each chapter , there is a very useful " further reading " section which will also be useful to students , as will the glossary of common linguistic terms at the end of the book . a skeletal phonetics chart is accompanied by an appendix of socially-diagnostic structures , which will be useful for those working in clinical linguistics . the only criticism which could be levelled at the teaching material in the book is that no solutions are provided for the exercises , so perhaps the development of a separate teacher 's guide ( especially for foreign or tesol instructors ) might be an appropriate future inclusion to this otherwise impressive account of american english . reviewed by : paul a . watters , department of computing , school of mathematics , physics , computing and electronics , macquarie university nsw 2109 , australia . tel . : + 61 - 2-9850 - 9541 ; fax : + 61 - 2-9850 - 9551 ; e - mail : pwatters @ mpce . mq . edu . au . paul a . watters is a research officer at macquarie university in australia , and is currently working on computational representations of semantics in models of language and speech production , and is working on regional issues of language usage ( especially " on-line " language use ) . he is an associate editor of the south pacific journal of psychology .
