Chapter 31 Exercises: Language, Dialect, and the Politics of How You Sound
Exercise 1: Identifying Dialect Features
Read the following passage, written in a representation of Appalachian English. Identify and list every feature that differs from Standard American English. For each feature, classify it as a vocabulary difference, a pronunciation difference, or a grammar difference. Then, using information from Chapter 31, explain the historical origin of at least three of the features you identified.
"I was a-setting on the porch of an evening, and I seen Daddy coming up the holler. He looked plumb tuckered out. I hollered, 'You look like you been drug through a knothole!' He said, 'I might could use some supper.' So I fixed him some cornbread and soup beans and he eat the whole pot. I reckon he was hungry. He said he'd been a-working all day in the far field yonder and liketa fell off the tractor twice. I told him he might should rest tomorrow, but he allowed as how he couldn't afford to."
a) List at least eight features that differ from Standard American English.
b) Classify each as vocabulary, pronunciation, or grammar.
c) For at least three features, explain their historical origin (Scots-Irish, northern English, archaic English, etc.).
d) Now "translate" the passage into Standard American English. What, if anything, is lost in the translation? Are there any meanings or nuances in the original that the standard version cannot capture as efficiently?
Exercise 2: The Elizabethan English Myth — Evaluating the Claim
The claim that Appalachian English is "Elizabethan English" has been repeated in popular media for decades. Chapter 31 argues that this claim is "flattering but inaccurate."
a) In your own words, explain what the Elizabethan English claim asserts and why it is appealing.
b) Identify at least two things that are TRUE about the relationship between Appalachian English and earlier forms of English. What features has the dialect genuinely preserved?
c) Identify at least two reasons why the claim, in its strong form, is INACCURATE. Why is "Elizabethan English" an oversimplification?
d) The chapter argues that the Elizabethan English myth, however well-intentioned, can be "a different kind of condescension." What does this mean? How can an attempt to validate Appalachian speech end up undermining it?
Exercise 3: Double Modal Analysis
Double modals ("might could," "might should," "might would") are a feature of Appalachian English that Standard American English does not permit.
a) For each of the following sentences, explain the meaning of the double modal. What nuance does the double modal add that a single modal would not?
- "I might could help you with that."
- "You might should talk to a doctor about that cough."
- "He might would come to the party if you asked him nice."
- "They might can get it done by Friday."
b) Attempt to express the same meaning in Standard American English without using a double modal. How many words does the Standard American English version require compared to the Appalachian English version?
c) What does the existence of double modals tell us about the expressive capacity of Appalachian English? Is a dialect that can express subtle distinctions of possibility, politeness, and tentativeness with a single two-word construction "inferior" to a dialect that requires a longer circumlocution?
Exercise 4: Accent and Judgment — A Self-Experiment
This exercise asks you to examine your own reactions to different accents.
a) Watch or listen to recordings of people speaking in the following accents (available through YouTube, dialect archives, or the Speech Accent Archive at accent.gmu.edu):
- Standard American English (Midwestern or national broadcast English)
- Appalachian English
- African American Vernacular English
- Boston English
- Southern Coastal English (e.g., Charleston or Savannah)
- British Received Pronunciation
b) For each accent, write a brief, honest description of your initial impression. What assumptions did you make about the speaker's intelligence, education, social class, trustworthiness, and competence? Be honest — the point of this exercise is to surface unconscious biases, not to demonstrate that you do not have them.
c) Now compare your responses. Were your judgments consistent? Did you rate some accents more favorably than others? If so, what determined the ranking?
d) Write a 300-word reflection on what this exercise reveals about how accent functions as a social marker. Did the exercise change how you think about your own reactions to different accents?
Exercise 5: The Educational System and Dialect
Chapter 31 describes the damage done by teachers who told Appalachian children that their speech was "wrong."
a) Describe the difference between teaching Standard American English as an ADDITION to a child's linguistic repertoire and teaching it as a CORRECTION of the child's existing speech. Why does this distinction matter?
b) Design a one-week lesson plan for a fifth-grade class in an Appalachian school that teaches Standard American English writing skills while also affirming the legitimacy of students' home dialect. What activities would you include? How would you talk about the difference between "school English" and "home English" without devaluing either?
c) The chapter describes a child who was told by her teacher that she "talked like a hillbilly and needed to learn to talk right." Write a 200-word letter to that teacher, explaining what current linguistic science says about Appalachian English and suggesting a more constructive approach.
Exercise 6: Code-Switching Diary
For one week, keep a diary of your own code-switching behavior (everyone code-switches to some degree, even if they do not speak a stigmatized dialect).
a) Each day, note at least one situation in which you adjusted how you talked based on who you were talking to. Did you use different vocabulary with friends vs. professors? Different levels of formality with family vs. employers? Different tones with peers vs. authority figures?
b) For each code-switch you record, note: What triggered the switch? Was it conscious or automatic? How did it feel?
c) At the end of the week, write a 500-word reflection on your code-switching experience. How does your experience compare to the Appalachian code-switching described in Case Study 2? What are the similarities? What are the differences?
Exercise 7: Linguistic Discrimination in Media
This exercise asks you to analyze how Appalachian speech is represented in popular media.
a) Find three examples of Appalachian accents in film, television, or other media. (Suggestions: Justified, The Beverly Hillbillies, Deliverance, Ozark, Hillbilly Elegy, Winter's Bone, Coal Miner's Daughter.)
b) For each example, describe: What type of character speaks with an Appalachian accent? (Hero? Villain? Comic relief? Victim?) How is the accent presented — as natural, as exotic, as humorous, as threatening?
c) Can you find an example of an Appalachian accent in popular media that is presented neutrally — neither mocked nor exoticized? If so, describe it. If not, what does the absence of neutral representation tell you?
d) Compare the media treatment of Appalachian accents to the media treatment of other regional accents (Boston, New York, Southern). Is the treatment comparable, or do Appalachian accents receive a distinctive kind of treatment? Explain.
Exercise 8: Whose Story Is Missing?
Chapter 31 focuses primarily on white Appalachian English, acknowledging but not fully exploring the linguistic contributions of other groups.
a) Research the relationship between African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Appalachian English. What features do they share? How have the two dialects influenced each other in the mountains?
b) Research the linguistic impact of immigrant communities in the Appalachian coalfields. How did Italian, Hungarian, Polish, and other immigrant languages interact with Appalachian English? Are there traces of these languages in local vocabulary or pronunciation?
c) Research the linguistic situation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina. What is the status of the Cherokee language today? How do Cherokee communities relate to the Appalachian English spoken around them?
d) Write a 500-word reflection on what a more complete linguistic history of Appalachia — one that included all these communities — would look like. What stories would it tell that Chapter 31's focus on white Appalachian English does not?
Exercise 9: Discussion Questions
Discuss the following in small groups or as a full class:
a) Chapter 31 argues that linguistic discrimination against Appalachian speakers is "the last socially acceptable prejudice." Do you agree? Are there other forms of prejudice that are still socially acceptable? How do they compare?
b) Is it fair to expect Appalachian speakers to code-switch in professional settings? Or does the expectation of code-switching represent a form of discrimination that should be challenged? What would a professional world without accent-based discrimination look like?
c) The Elizabethan English myth is described as "a different kind of condescension" — an attempt to validate Appalachian speech by connecting it to a prestigious literary past. Can you think of other examples where an attempt to compliment a marginalized group ends up being condescending? What makes the difference between genuine respect and well-intentioned condescension?
d) Dialect leveling is reducing the distinctiveness of Appalachian English. Is this a loss that should be mourned and resisted, or is it a natural process that should be accepted? Who gets to decide?
e) The chapter ends by stating that the stigma attached to Appalachian English "tells you about the listener's prejudices, not the speaker's abilities." How would American professional culture need to change for this insight to be taken seriously?
Exercise 10: Community History Portfolio — Cultural Portrait (Language and Dialect)
Complete Chapter 31's Checkpoint of your Community History Portfolio as described at the end of the chapter. Your submission should include:
- Documentation of dialect features characteristic of your selected county
- Evidence of language attitudes (shame, pride, or both)
- Analysis of the educational system's relationship to local speech
- Description of linguistic change over time
- A primary source (recorded speech or written account) with a 200-word analysis
Due date: as specified by your instructor. This checkpoint will be incorporated into your final portfolio at the end of the semester.