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Jonathan DeNicola

Professor Daymon M. Smith

Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology

11 December 2017

Talking About Talking

I have spent a majority of my adult life trying to understand myself and the people I have

encountered, both directly and indirectly, through the study of psychology. Specifically, I have

tried to gain this understanding through language because it is how people share experiences.

However, during this fall semester, I have been introduced to a dramatically different approach

from the field of linguistic anthropology. With the addition of my own experience, important

concepts of linguistic anthropology can be demonstrated from its formation in American,

patterns from communication, the relationship between language and socialization, and cultures

effects on language.

Context for My Personal Examples

The expression of my current language and culture begins shortly after I started

elementary school. From speculations by my parents, teachers, and poor performance in my

academics, I was tested and diagnosed with attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD)

with impairment in reading. Despite being enrolled into a special reading class to treate the
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disorder, I continued to struggle in school for every semester until I graduated. However, after

high school, I became obsessed with gaining a larger vocabulary and standardized speech.

During my time in college, discovered the computational theory of mind, and used it to

try and understand the relationship between language and thought. The growth I experience

during these periods were immeasurable. Many questions were still unanswered, however, which

led me to taking introduction to linguistic anthropology. The new perspective and complex ideas

have become a valuable addition to my knowledge, and will influence my approach to language

for the rest of my life.

Brief Introduction

Linguistic anthropology is one of four disciplines developed in the field of anthropology.

Though he was not the founder, Franz Boas is credited for reshaping and defining this a uniquely

American approach to the field of anthropology. Boas had rejected the view of his predecessors,

whos focus was on genetic classification. Instead, he based his research on a systematic study

of their grammatical structures by using the native language of the people on wanted to study

(Duranti 9). Boas approach became the foundation of the study of linguistic anthropology,

influencing many students and the growth of the field, to this day.

Culture and Language Development

The first shift in my perspective happened from learning about the complexity of the

structure of language and how it is used. For example, Judith T. Irvines writings on the topic of
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formality and informality in communication describes the implicit and explicit rules of language,

including pitch, contour, meter, loudness, and speed of talk (Irvine 174). This can be observed

in any store in a mall. Employee: Welcome to Hot Topic? Just to let you know, T-shirts are by

one, get one free! The employee will usually sound like they are faking excitement as they

recited this speech.

This employee is demonstrating the 4 aspects of formality. First, formality has an

increased code (rule) structure that they are following in the sound of the words they are

producing. Second, has code consistency, which can even in other stores within the mall. Three,

formality invokes a positional identity when this is heard. Even if the person was not visually

present, their position as an employee would still be created. Conversely, if a friend mimicked

the code structure, it could be interpreted reflexively as strange or a trope. 4, from formality,

there is an emergence of a central focus. From the employees code structure, the focus of the

employee presents or them trying sell something would emerge from the people that could hear

it. (Irvine 174-177)

Formality can be demonstrated from the experiences I have had, teaching at Davis High

School. I teach competitive marching percussion. This genre of music has created its own

register to clearly and efficiently communicate instructions. An example of my speech within the

frame of rehearsals is as follows: Jon: Woods only. Play the check of the left hand, from D to

E. I speak much louder, slower, and lower in pitch, so that I can be sure that I am understood.

When I use this increased code structure, I invoke the positional identity of a teacher, instead of

simply another person in the room. There are different levels of code consistency depending on if

the section I teach is with the entire band. I prefer a far more relaxed teaching style, so there is

usually code inconsistency when my section is just with me, versus code consistency when we
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are with the entire band. Lastly, when I use this code structure, the emerging central focus

becomes my instruction, and the rehearsal.

Sociolinguistic Acquisition

Another valuable concept I learned about from linguistic anthropology was in how

language and culture are acquired, as well as the implications they have in the future. In contrast

to psychologys mechanical descriptions language development, the anthropologic perspective

demonstrates how the process of acquiring language and the process of acquiring sociocultural

knowledge are intimately tied (Ochs and Schieffelin 319)

In the writings on Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three Developmental

Stories and Their Implications Elinor Ochs and Bambi B. Schieffelin study caregiver styles of

speech from White middle-class, Kalulim, and Samoan people. Contrary to what previous

theories had described, the authors found that performed style of speech was not universally.

Additionally, they state that social expectations, values, beliefs, and individual priority are

imbedded into language and acquired through the caregiver, social group, and childs use of

language.

Cultural Impact on Language

With this, the implications of what is acquired can have major impacts in a person life.

Susan U. Philips observed the evidence of this in classroom settings with the Warm Spring

Indians. The Warm Spring Indians are brought up on a reservation, with the traditions and
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language of their heritage. After their first six grades in school, they are then sent to the local

town, which is predominately White. In Philips research, she observed that when the Indian

students could volunteer to speak, were asked to respond, or had the opportunity to be in a

leadership position, they became hesitant, quiet, and distant. Conversely, when they were in their

home environment, she discovered that they learned by observation, which of course includes

listening; supervised participation; and private, self-initiated self-testing. (338) From these

aspects of their culture, the ways that they were taught in the local towns school forced them to

fail at being socially competent (Philips 330-339).

During early childhood, my social environment started in my mothers family and

friends, and my older brother and I were raised by whomever was available. We moved many

times to different states and cities around the east coast before eventually moving to Colorado

when I was four years old. As I alluded to before, my language acquisition and socialization

seemed incompatible within the community I lived in. In addition to this, I also believe that my

diagnosis is required in the explanation of the events of my history.

When learning about this topic in this class, I immediately connected my experiences to

the problems of social competency in the education of the Warm Spring Indian students. The

way I produced thoughts and language was different than the I was learning from. Though I

knew the same language and could perform it to my friends and family, the structure in which I

was expected to participate in caused social incompetence. To further demonstrate the

application of this concept, when I graduated from high school, I was able to position myself into

a structure that I could learn from.

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Reflection

This class has given me a great deal to think about. Looking back on the class, I am

painfully aware that I was studying it as though it was a philosophy class, making the few

assignments impossible to do well on. The cause of this initially came from something that will

be useful in my future. I want to do research that can lead to understanding what gives human

beings the ability to have and recall their experiences. I also want to research how this came into

existence. I have had a growing suspicion in how psychology claimed to be able to explain so

much, in the absence of this knowledge. I also am easily enamored when it comes to information

in psychology and feared that I could blind myself to new and exciting experience. This class has

given me access to logical ways that I can guard myself from enticing ideas. Additionally, I was

shown how psychology had already fooled me into believing in what could easily be called

magic.

In thinking about my future, this class has made me reevaluate my thoughts about

psychology, and in turn, my thoughts about my goals. I recognize that my basic knowledge about

linguistic anthropology should not change what I have planned in my future. I will need to think

about what I have learned and how it applies to my knowledge for some time. If my future did

change however, I would likely keep it within the field of psychology. Even if I could only use it

as philosophy, it has made my life and my experience better in its understanding.

Lastly, I am still hesitant to attribute too much to the value of culture. I understand that a

persons culture can make many claims about an individual, especially when it comes to identity.

However, the amount of variation I see in an individuals own thoughts is way more than I will

ever understand. When trying to study groups, communities, societies, culture, etc I feel that

there is just too much data to be accurate.

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Works Cited

Duranti, Alessandro, editor. Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader. 2nd ed,. Blackwell publishing,

2011

Philips, Susan U. Participation Structures and Communicative Competence: Warm Springs

Children in Community and Classroom Work on LA:R. Duranti, pp. 329-63.

Ochs, Elinor, and Schieffelin, Bambi B. Language Acquisition and Socialization: three

Developmental Stories and Their Implications Work on LA:R. Duranti, pp. 296-328.

Irvine, Judith T. Formality and Informality in Communicative Events Work on LA:R.

Duranti, pp. 172-87.