Chapter 4 Student Activities

A Texting Activity

Texting is an interesting subject for sociolinguistic analysis. Our thoughts about “text speak” are largely determined by age. Older people often describe it as “sloppy” language. Younger people are far less likely to judge their peers harshly for using “txtng” shorthand. Go through your texting inbox and see how efficient your friends actually are in their texting as compared with your parents or some other older person who may text you from time to time. What do you observe as similar and different in the ways younger and older people text? Can you explain the differences?

A Thought Activity: Gendered Pronouns

In this chapter, we state that in America English we only have two gendered pronouns (he/him and she/her), though in recent years, people have used a diversity of pronouns to express differing or fluid gender identities (e.g. they or zee). The resistance to these pronouns may be accounted for through the popular misconception that language (and culture) is and should be stable. How do these additional pronouns complicate the structure of our language? What might they tell us about sociolinguistic expressions of gender or the social implications of language? Are there other examples of language’s entwinement with social identities that you can think of?

A Thought Activity: Thinking About College Student Slang

It is clear that one of the ways new vocabulary enters the mainstream is from the language of young people, especially trend-setting people in movies, music videos, books, magazines, and even blogs or comic books. What distinctive words do you and your friends use that your parents, professors, and administrators do not likely understand? Consider how these terms entered your personal vocabulary. Is it likely that older people may someday use these terms? Remember, you are young today; will you continue to use these terms as you grow older? When you retire, will you and your peers still use these terms as the baby boomer generation (and many others) still use the term cool, which arose in the 1960s?