Do you speak American?

The Resource Do you speak American?

Label

Do you speak American?

Statement of responsibility

producer & director, William Cran ; writers, William Cran & Robert MacNeil ; producer, Christopher Buchanan ; a MacNeil/Lehrer & Paladin InVision Production with Thirteen/WNET New York in association with KLRU Austin, Texas

Language

eng

Summary

Examines sociolinguistic questions and the dynamic state of American English, a language rich in regional variety, strong in global impact, and steeped in cultural controversy. Episode one discusses linguistic dialect zones, the tension between prescriptivism and descriptivism, the impact of dialect on grapholect, the northern cities vowel shift, the roots of African-American English, minority linguistic profiling, biases against nonstandard speech, and the general perception of the U.S. Midland dialect as "normal American." Looks at hip-hop street talk, IM slang, Pittsburghese, and Gullah and Geechee. Episode two reviews Southern dialects and accents and the influences of French and Spanish on American English. Examines regional differences in vernacular, the steady displacement of Southern coastal dialect by inland dialect, the accents of JFK and LBJ, and the Texas border town of El Cenizo, where Spanish is the official language. Episode three looks at Spanglish, Chicano, Ebonics, and "Surfer Dude." Discusses the implications of voice-activation technology, opinions on the role of Spanish in the U.S., why teens create their own language, gay self-empowerment by redefining discriminatory terms, the oo-fronting sound shift, and whether technology will reinforce or weaken racial and regional stereotypes

Cataloging source

VA@

Characteristic

videorecording

Credits note

Cameraman, Allan Palmer ; editor, Joe Frost ; composer, Paul Foss

Language note

Close-captioned
With optional English subtitles

PerformerNote

Reporter: Robert MacNeil

Runtime

171

Technique

live action

Context

Context of Do you speak American?

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Do you speak American?

Resource Information

The work Do you speak American? represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bates College. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Moving Image, Visual Materials.

Context

Work of

Do you speak American? Resource Information The work Do you speak American? represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bates College. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Moving Image, Visual Materials.

Context

Work of

Do you speak American?

Resource Information

The work Do you speak American? represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bates College. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Moving Image, Visual Materials.