Armistead 1 Scott Armistead Professor Hofmann English 1101 23 September 2013 Who am I? A childs first word is always special.

It is something that parents treasure forever. How does a child learn its first word? For most children, their first word is mom, dad, or some variation of those words. This is because parents continuously say mama or daddy to their babys. This repetition of these words leads babies to more quickly be able to speak them. This was the case for me. My first word was mommy. My mom continuously said mommy to me to try and make me say it back. Eventually I picked up on it and said mommy. My mom to this day will never let me forget this. She rubs it in my dads face as well. Unfortunately for her my twin brothers first word was dada about 2 days later than my first word. So he was able to get back at her. This brings up the question if the child actually knows what this word means. Do they understand that the word mommy actually refers to their mom? Rather they do or not is hard to decide on. Either way this is how most children begin speaking. While most people start learning to speak the same way, their way of speaking completely changes after that. Everyone speaks differently in this world. Some speak more differently than others, while some are closely related. There are several different factors that influences how people speak. Some of these factors include: race, location, social class, and family background. Where someone was raised or where he or she has primarily lived most of their lives greatly affects how they speak. For example, People in the southern United

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Comment [LH1]: I like this section. I appreciate the humor. Maybe you can open with this part. Also, since you mention your brother here, maybe you can transition into talking about your brother and you next. Combine with the other parts about your brother. Also, tell us more about you and him and your language and abilities. You and he are twins and were raised in the same environment, yet you are different. Can you talk about this more and think about what it tells you in terms of language, literacy, and identity?

Armistead 2 States sound completely different from people that live in NYC. They both speak the same language but in a different way. I was born and raised in North Carolina. People who have not met me before might assume that I have a southern accent. In reality, I do not have a thick southern accent like some might expect. I speak in a way that isnt really southern or northern in my opinion. Although, others have considered me to speak slightly more southern than northern. I think of myself more in the middle. Does this make the way I speak the correct way of speaking English? I think that there is no real correct way to speak the language. The way I speak English I find to be the most correct because I am the one speaking it. People tend to judge others that speak differently because of their location as dumb or uneducated. Everyone finds the way that they speak to be the most correct because they are biased. If you thought one way was better than the other then why not speak it that way? This is why people think their way of speaking is the best. It is thought that many people from the south are dumb because of how they speak. This isnt true at all. Theyre speech does not indicate their intelligence levels. When I was introducing myself to people at a convention in NYC, they would ask where I was from. When I said North Carolina, they said, Oh youre one of those southern boys. They said that I had a slightly different accent. They had classified the entire south based on language. When I asked them what they meant by southern boy, they told me that they thought all southern people were dumb. They thought that because of some of the people they have herd from the south that sound uneducated. I had to kindly correct them on their mistake and explain that not all southerners are dumb. This creates outrage for many other southerns. It shows the ignorance of some people and their understanding

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Comment [LH2]: Good thoughts here. How would you answer this question? Comment [LH3]: Is it always a negative judgment?

Comment [LH4]: Good personal example. Did they mean anything else by southern boy? What was your view of their speech?

Armistead 3 of others. I thought that they spoke very strange as well. It sounds strange to me because I dont usually hear it. I did not prefer the way that they spoke to how I speak. My language is very much affected by my family. My uncle speaks much more southern than my dad does. They were both born and raised in South Boston, Virginia. My uncle has lived there is whole life while my dad moved to North Carolina. This might explain why his dialect has changed slightly from my uncles. I notice that when I am with my parents I speak differently then when I am around my uncle. My dad does the same thing. We do it unconsciously. It is just natural to want to switch. I remember when my cousin got married. Her husband also speaks in a more southern way. They are also both from South Boston, Virginia. Many of the people at the wedding spoke that way. It made me feel like I was some kind of foreigner. Its almost like they speak an entirely different language. This gap in our use of the English language creates barriers. By trying to adapt to the way they are speaking, I am in a way breaking down the barriers. This forced me to change the way that I was speaking. I was saying phrases and pronouncing words in ways that I would never really do. This was a way for me to connect to the people that were there. It was a way of being similar. This is what is referred to as code switching. We move back and forth between two different dialects. Another example of this is the switching from southern to a New York accent. In a way we are trying to fit in. We want to all be the same. People like to stick out and be noticed, but when it comes to language many people are insecure. I had a friend who was from Great Britain. She had a strong British accent when she first came to the United States. She gained a lot of attention and she didnt like it. She made an extreme effort to switch to an American accent so she could fit in. She was able to switch to an American accent but can also switch back to her

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Comment [LH5]: Again, good personal example. Elaborate. How do you explain that two brothers would sound so different? Where are they from? Where is your cousin and the husband from? Spend some time on detail and interpret what your examples show.

Comment [LH6]: Can you give any specifics?

Comment [LH7]: Is this true? Do some people like being distinguished by their speech?

Armistead 4 British accent and uses it at home. It is the natural human way to want to fit in. We all crave to be connected to other humans. We try to find as many similarities as we can to connect to others. This could be a main reason we are so critical of others that we dont think speak correctly. One of the biggest factors that can influence the way we speak and identify ourselves is our race. There are differences in the way that different races speak. It can be because of their heritage or a dialect that they all use. A great example of this is Ebonics. This refers to the way that some black people speak. It is viewed as a dumbed down version of English by many of the rest of the United States.. With many words being put in the base root of the word. Many refer to people that speak this way as lazy. They dont take the time to learn how to speak correctly or dont care about speaking correctly. Maybe this is just a way that black people choose to communicate in certain cases. People need to realize that many of the black people that speak in Ebonics also use code switching to speak differently to different groups of people. White people also have their own way of speaking. Many white people speak in a way that is viewed as proper. While there are many white people that speak in a dumbed down way. These people are referred to as red necks. They are thought to be dumber because of the simplicity and different uses of their words. This is not true, just as people that use Ebonics are not dumb. It is a different way of communicating. It is true that some of these people need to make the effort the change some of their speaking habits. It is very important to display that one has intelligence. Many companies would immediately write someone off that spoke in Ebonics or a deep southern accent. They want people will behave in a very professional

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Armistead 5 way. This way their company will be more intelligent and better viewed by their customers. My speech has been influenced by many of these factors. Family and friends strongly influences how I speak. My home language and the language I use with my friends is not too much different, but there is a slight difference. It is not what most people would expect. At home I speak in a more relaxed way. I might not say everything in the most proper way of English. Unlike most however, I speak very properly with my friends. I try to form every sentence correctly and pronounce all of my words the best that I can. I do this because I want my friends to view me as more intelligent. It is very important to me to be accepted by my friends and portray that I am someone knowledgeable that they can come to. I like helping people. It makes me feel good. I need to be able to speak what is viewed as proper so that people will want my help. My speech needs to convey a since of trust. This allows others to want to be able to talk to me and ask for my help. I view myself as being in a similar situation as the author of My Pen Writes in Blue and White, Vincent Cremona. My parents both speak very differently in their lines of work. My dad is the CEO and owner of his company. He speaks blue collar to his customers and employees. He is very relaxed and friendly. He will refer to people as buddy including customers. He believes in creating a friendly relationship with customers in order to make them want to repeat business with him. This is more uncharacteristic of a CEO, but it is just the way my dad is. He is more professional than he would be at home, but he would not be considered a typical CEO. My mom is completely different. She is the director of strategic accounts for the Budd Group. She is

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Comment [LH8]: Would this be different if you spoke with friends as you do with family?

Comment [LH9]: A CEO is usually considered a white collar position. How does ownership of the company play into this?

Armistead 6 more white collard. She speaks in a very professional manner to everyone in the company. It doesnt matter if you are the President or a janitor, She will refer to you as sir or mam. She will speak in a way that is very well put together and displays professionalism. My parents are divorced, so instead of getting both of these different ways of communicating at the same time, they are separated. I spend half the time with each of my parents. I have grown accustom to switching the way that I speak to match how my parents speak. This has created an interesting mix of two different ways of speaking for me. When Im not with either of my parents I have a mix of these two and can switch between it based on the situation. I am respectful yet playful at the same time. I was only 8 years old when my parents decided to get a divorce. I cant really remember all that much from when they were married. All I can remember is when they told me they were taking a time out from each other. They neglected to tell me that it was a permanent time out. This separation in my parents aloud me to see both of them separately. This is what attributes to my mix of their two styles. When parents are together they tend to mix themselves and sound and act similar. When they are separated, they dont have the influences of each other to influence how they speak. Therefore I grew to have two different ways of speaking. At my moms house I am more proper with her and joke less than I do with my dad. My brother is the same way. He too will act a bit more formal with my mom than he will with my dad. It isnt a very severe difference, but it is noticeable. My brothers speech is very similar to mine in some ways and different in others. He tends to lean more towards my moms way of speaking. I tend to speak and act ore like my dad. Which is odd because I look more like my mom and he looks more like

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Comment [LH10]:

Armistead 7 my dad. We are similar because of how we both switch with are parents and of course we sound very similar in our dialect. A persons way of communicating is highly influenced by their social class. I come from a family that is considered to be pretty well off. My family doesnt really struggle with money. This has affected my language in huge ways. People that tend to have a higher social class speak in a very proper way. I tend to speak in a way that is thought of as proper in certain instances. People that are from a lower social class tend to speak in a way that is thought to be dumber. I have experienced this myself. When I am around people that are from a lower social class they do not speak with fluency. They tend to misuse words or dont use words that are needed in their sentences. While I am around people from a higher class, they speak very clearly and always in a proper way. I have a twin brother and our language is very similar, but has some differences. He speaks with a higher vocabulary than I do. He has always loved writing and reading. It comes very natural to him. He took AP English in his junior and senior years in high school. When we were in middle school together we often had to write papers on the same subject. In the 7th grade we both had to write about George Washington. It was a 6page research paper and we had one week to write it. We both started at the same time yet he finished in almost half the time I did. Not only was he able to write the paper much faster than me, but he also received a higher grade on it. He is able to quickly come up with ideas that he can quickly turn into fluent sentences. I have always wanted to be able to write like he is. A major factor that might attribute to this is his extreme work ethic. He works harder than most people and for extended periods. His language might reflect than and probably shows why he talks more like my mom.

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Comment [LH11]: You make a lot of points about the influence of your family. Thats great. It might be worthwhile to spend more time on the influence of the divorce on your speech. How old were you? Can you give examples on how you speak differently in the two environments? What about your brothers speech?

Armistead 8 My language along with everyone elses is constantly evolving. We gain inspiration from how others speak. We might not notice when we are drawing from others language and slowly our own dialect can change. Just as my friend from Great Britain has changed the way we speak, others do the same. There is still always that hint of your old dialect and you cant get rid of it. The most important thing to realize is that there isnt a correct way to speak the language. There is only a majority opinion on what is acceptable. The majority still differs on what is the perfect way to speak the language. That is because there is none. My language is drawn from my environment just as everyone elses is. We should embrace the way we speak, and accept others for the way they speak.

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Your narrative ends abruptly. As you work on revising, you will likely move some paragraphs around. That might lead you to a natural ending or give you some ideas for how you can end. The stronger parts of your narrative tend to be when you are personal, rather than making generalizations about people and their use of language and telling the reader the truths about language. Try to give more detail in your own experiences, and then make your own generalizations about LLI. To help develop this, you might ask your mother and father and brother their views on your family dialect/speech and how they see you within the family. Remember to explain what the revisions are youve made (use comment boxes).

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