The Language of Communication in the U.S.

      Autobiographical Paper Name Institution Date     Linguistic journey Even as English is the language of communication in the U.S. the question of whether there is a standard version of American English is one that elicits different responses. People are a product of where they have lived and their experience. It is no surprise that there are regional variations in the way people pronounces words and even use the phrase. In my linguistic journey I sought to understand the phenomenon of accent in American English. While people are likely to identify foreign accented English, they are also curious where they hear unfamiliar English accents. People are exposed to specific accents through the media and films, and there are various variations that largely been isolated that outsiders face difficulties understanding when the speakers mean.  There is also overrepresentation of certain accents in popular and mass media, while films can expose people to the less known accents and even slang as actors and actresses do not always use formal English.  According to Lippi-Green (2012 p. 31) analyzing data and the use of language provides insights into how language use changes, where even stereotyping can influence these changes. Race and age are factors that also influence how speakers use certain words, since people  are exposed to different pronunciations  depending on the surroundings (Lippi-Green, 2012).  The way people value linguistic capital also differs as the more educated people focus on formal and Standard English, which are the more prestigious varieties. What is common in mass media and academia is more prestigious, while discrimination results in the   accents and language styles being placed in a hierarchy where what is considered a “neutral accent” is one that does not identify one with a particular region, but also occupies a privileged position.  Listeners tend to understand accented speech when motivated socially and psychologically (Lippi-Green, 2012). The notion that some accents are better  than others also mean there are negative perceptions about the other variables, that depending on the context speakers may try a more neutral accent  when this is a necessity.  People make meaning in conversations depending on the language use, and accent is one aspect that people judge subconsciously. Yet language use also explains our identity because the varieties explain what people have been exposed to.  Learning experience  While first learning English I had not realized how there were many varieties and subvarieties of spoken English. While both the U.S. and China are vast countries, there are many other languages in China other than Mandarin and Cantonese, and the regional differences are huge especially in the interior and regions bordering central Asian countries.  As the main language in the U.S. is an English one would assume that the differences are few as what am I exposed to as an English as a foreign /second language learner is the more prestigious Standard English. This is the variety of English that is common in formal settings and the workplace. While written English ca...