Projects – Page 9 – Languaged Life

The Power of Bilingualism: Cultural Identification Amongst LA Bilinguals

Marnie Cavanaugh, Reese Gover, Ethan Lee, Elisa Marin, Eva Reyman

Did you know that Los Angeles is the second most bilingual city in the US? Intrigued by the relevance of this topic, we were interested in taking a deeper dive into how the bilingual experience in LA shapes cultural identification and belonging, focusing on bilingual Spanish speakers. Although bilingualism can allow someone to connect to a broader range of people, we hypothesized at the beginning of our research that English-Spanish bilinguals in LA may feel cultural isolation. Feeling too American to connect to Hispanic culture, but with the knowledge of the Spanish language, too Hispanic to fit into American mainstream culture. However, our research concluded that being bilingual does not hinder one’s ability to connect with multicultural communities. Rather, bilingualism enhances it. Bilingualism helps thousands in the LA area connect with their Hispanic culture through the use of Spanish and American mainstream culture through their knowledge of English. Speech communities become expanded through their understanding of two or more languages. Cultural identification does not have to mean choosing one culture over the other. Many bilingual individuals choose to identify cross-culturally. Bilingualism in the LA area seems to be a tool to form greater connections rather than a tool that inhibits one’s ability to understand their cultural identification.

Introduction and Background

Our project examines Spanish-English bilingualism within Los Angeles, specifically focusing on how speaking Spanish and English affects the size and strength of speakers’ speech communities. Our community of practice is Spanish-English bilinguals who primarily reside in Los Angeles. Among this population, we studied the narrative aspects of language and language in use, asking bilinguals to tell their own stories through a mix of semi-structured interviews and survey responses. Using these methods, we examined how Spanish-English bilinguals in L.A. utilize their knowledge of both languages to signal belonging in various speech communities and how their bilingualism affects the communities to which they belong. Our main questions are: What role does Spanish-English bilingualism play in the size of one’s speech community within Los Angeles? Does Spanish-English bilingualism lead to increased community, or does it cause feelings of isolation? We hypothesized that, though bilingualism may theoretically create larger speech communities, Spanish-English bilinguals in L.A. may feel isolated from English- and Spanish-speaking communities.

Bilingualism is a trait that most people in the world share (Schroeder et al. 2017). But much of the bilingual experience is yet to be discovered. Our focus on the development of cultural identity amongst Spanish-English bilinguals in Los Angeles fits within the knowledge gaps in previous research surrounding this topic.

Ana Sanchez-Munoz (2018) discusses Los Angeles as a bilingual, bicultural city, emphasizing the unique role that Spanish and English speakers play in creating their sociolinguistic environment. Her research examines language practices in educational settings, finding that English is more commonly spoken than Spanish, suggesting that Spanish-English bilinguals may assume different linguistic identities in formal (i.e., educational) and casual settings. Thus, we were inspired to obtain data on the languages that Spanish-English bilinguals utilize more often in different social environments.

Likewise, Norma Mendoza-Denton and Bryan James Gordon (2011) argue that Hispanic identity is mediated through language ideologies prioritizing English speakers over Spanish speakers. Bilinguals occupy a liminal space, where they’re privileged over non-English speakers, especially in professional settings, and pressured to fit within an English-majority society through linguistic assimilation (Mendoza-Denton & Gordon 2011). Their research provides a framework for us to formulate interview questions surrounding participants’ feelings of inclusion/exclusion within English- and Spanish-speaking communities.

Moreover, Carmen Silva-Corvolan (1986) observed 27 Spanish-English bilinguals in East L.A., researching the effects of linguistic contact between multiple languages. She found that where consistent language contact occurs, linguistic simplification often follows. This is important to consider not only to understand how bilinguals may have differing levels of fluency in different languages but also because the shifts in language unique to Los Angeles bilinguals suggest the formation of unique, bilingual-focused speech communities.

Research focusing on the cognitive and developmental aspects of bilingualism helped structure our survey and interview questions. Raluca Barac and Ellen Bialystok (2012) discuss the effects of bilingualism on cognitive ability. A survey of 104 bilingual and monolingual six-year-olds found that bilingual children performed better on cognitive tasks when they received instructions in their primary language (Barac & Bialystok 2012). The findings from this study suggest that Spanish-English bilinguals may feel more comfortable utilizing the language they learned first and thus participate more in the speech communities associated with their primary language.

This literature review provided us with a baseline of knowledge. It structured our methods, allowing us to explore the topic of cultural identification among Spanish-English bilinguals in Los Angeles in an informed, systematic manner. Our findings suggest that contrary to our hypothesis, speaking Spanish is integral to participants’ feelings of inclusion in both Spanish and English speech communities. The majority of participants reported feelings of belonging to both language communities. Additionally, many participants noted that bilingualism was a beneficial attribute in their personal and professional lives.

Methods

We used three different methods of data collection to provide our project with a well-rounded, comprehensive understanding of our topic. First, we utilized a review of relevant literature (noted above) to provide context and relevant information for our research. As well, the knowledge gaps we identified justified our research questions. Second, we used a 14-question survey incorporating True/False, Likert scale, and optional open-ended questions. The criteria for survey respondents were that they are Spanish-English bilinguals primarily residing in Los Angeles; responses were anonymous, though demographic data (age, gender, primary language) was collected. Finally, we utilized a 15-question, semi-structured interview to gain in-depth, qualitative data. Each group member conducted one interview, resulting in five interviews. Similarly to survey participants, interviewees were required to be Spanish-English bilinguals primarily residing in Los Angeles. Interviews lasted 20-30 minutes each. The observable elements of communication we studied included participants’ fluency in both languages, the speech communities they most identified with and participated in, and feelings of isolation or inclusion regarding speech communities.

Results and Analysis

We first surveyed Spanish-English bilingualism and received nineteen responses. The survey had twelve demographic, multiple choice, true/false, and Likert-scale type questions, as well as two optional open-ended questions, where respondents could expand on their previous answers. We received seven responses for these open-ended questions, which expanded on the question, “Do you ever feel isolated from one culture because you don’t know Spanish/English enough to feel included?” We also received eight responses expanding on the true/false statement, “Bilingualism helps me more than it hurts me.” The survey questions and responses are shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 below.

Figure 1: Responses to survey question: “Do you ever feel isolated from one culture because you don’t know Spanish/English enough to feel included?”

Figure 2: Responses to survey prompt: “Bilingualism helps me more than it hurts me”

Figure 3: Responses to survey question: “Which culture do you identify more with?”

After the survey, we each conducted one interview. Table 1 provides select quotes from each interview, along with the main themes that these quotes suggest. Out of five interviewees, two specifically mentioned feeling insecure speaking Spanish and fearing they would be made fun of for their speaking ability, one interviewee stated “[in Argentina] I don’t feel like I’m Hispanic enough”. The other two interviewees didn’t mention personal experiences of feeling isolated. Despite citing feelings of isolation, interviewees also spoke about how bilingualism is beneficial. Interviewees stated that their speech community is larger and their connection to their heritage increased due to their ability. Bilingualism was seen as a positive trait that they desired to pass on.

Table 1: Quotes from interviews with five Spanish-English bilinguals

Discussion and Conclusions

Throughout the study, we found our original hypothesis that Spanish-English bilinguals would feel isolated to be generally incorrect. Our interviewees claim that being bilingual has aided them in the way of social and professional opportunities, with one stating “I’ve had more educational opportunities since I do research in Spanish [at university]”. While two of our interviewees explicitly expressed insecurity about speaking Spanish, it was a general feeling among our interviewees that bilingualism made them feel included. Our interviewees see their bilingualism as a crucial part of their identity and a method for connecting with their heritage. Interviewees cited connection to culture as a main reason for wanting to pass on bilingualism. The data collected is useful for understanding the importance of language to Hispanic identity in Spanish-English bilinguals.

References

Ahearn, L. M. (2021). Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Wiley Blackwell.

Barac, R., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Bilingual Effects on Cognitive and Linguistic Development: Role of Language, Cultural Background, and Education. Child Development, 83(2), 413–422. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41416093

Mendoza-Denton, N., & Gordon, B. J. (2011). Language and Social Meaning in Bilingual Mexico and the United States. In The Handbook of Hispanic Sociolinguistics (pp. 553–578). Wiley-Blackwell. https://www.norma-mendoza-denton.com/_files/ugd/e4ef1f_932d492a6a7e4b73ba091db41ee046f3.pdf

Sanchez-Munoz, A. (2019). Bilingualism in California: The Case of Los Angeles. In Biculturalism and Spanish in Contact: Sociolinguistic Case Studies (pp. 51–68). Taylor & Francis/Routledge.

Schroeder, S. R., Lam, T. Q., & Marian, V. (2017). Linguistic Predictors of Cultural Identification in Bilinguals. Applied linguistics, 38(4), 463–488. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amv049

Silva-Corvalan, C. (1986). Bilingualism and Language Change: The Extension of Estar in Los Angeles Spanish. Language, 62(3), 587–608. https://doi.org/10.2307/415479

bilingualism, bilinguals, cultural identity, Los Angeles, speech community

Tongue-Tied Off a Tab: Can Linguistic Effects of LSD Reimagine How We Approach Mental Health Research?

Sociolinguistics

In our project, we investigated three linguistic variables – Disfluency/Stuttering, Figurative Language, and Introspection/Emotional Language – to explore their occurrence and patterns in speech, particularly under the influence of LSD. Disfluency manifests as disruptions or hesitations in speech, while stuttering involves involuntary sound repetition. Figurative language employs metaphors and analogies, and introspective/emotional language conveys inner thoughts and feelings. Through data analysis, we observed instances of disfluency, such as stuttering, unfinished sentences, and prolonged pauses, alongside examples of figurative language, like metaphoric expressions. Throughout the timeframe, introspective language emerged, reflecting individuals’ contemplation of existential questions and emotional experiences.

Our findings revealed a notable increase in all three linguistic variables among LSD-exposed individuals compared to controls. This heightened occurrence suggests a potential influence of LSD on speech patterns, with introspective and figurative language showing significant upticks. Notably, the use of introspective language during LSD exposure may hold implications for therapeutic practices, particularly in trauma-focused therapy and emotional exploration. Leveraging LSD’s capacity to facilitate uninhibited self-expression, therapists could effectively navigate sensitive topics and evoke relevant memories, potentially enhancing treatment outcomes for individuals struggling with emotional trauma.

The linguistic effects of LSD present promising avenues for advancing mental health research and therapeutic interventions. By harnessing the potential of psychedelics like LSD within therapeutic contexts, we may redefine approaches to trauma resolution and personal growth. With further exploration and integration of these findings into clinical practice, we anticipate transformative changes in mental health treatment paradigms, offering hope for individuals across diverse communities.

Introduction and Background

Can psychedelics really be used as a medical treatment? This is a question that has puzzled the minds of researchers since the late 1900s. It has been long known that LSD impacts cognitive function (Wießner et. al, 2023). As such, researchers were interested to see if LSD could impact language usage. One study has observed that people under the influence of LSD have increased usage of emotional language and metaphorical speech (Bryła, 2022). Additionally, another study has seen that there is an increase in disfluency and incoherent speech when people talk under the influence of LSD (Sanz et. al, 2021). Although there has been interest in using psychedelic drugs such as LSD as an alternative way to treat people with mental disorders, there has not been much research on how exactly LSD affects communication.

Our research aims to elucidate how LSD impacts communication by examining the patterns of speech of people under the influence of LSD and comparing it to the normal speech of people who are not under the influence of any psychedelics. We hypothesize that LSD will cause an increase in disfluency, such as disruptions stuttering, and figurative language use. Our research contributes to the psychedelic research field by studying specific linguistic variables that have not yet been studied in the context of LSD and other psychedelics. LSD is an illegal drug, making it difficult for researchers to legally obtain and study it under ethical conditions. It is important to fully understand the effects of LSD before using it as an approved medical treatment.

Methods

For our methods, all subjects in this project design are adults between the ages of 21 and 30 years old, and they all identify as frequent LSD users. Under the influence of LSD, we observed patterns of disfluency, stuttering, emotional/introspective language, and figurative language use. We gathered data from two primary sources. The first source was a public YouTube video titled, “Adam and Quentin’s ENTIRE Live Acid Trip | Bicycle Day Special”. The video was posted on April 21st, 2021, and went on for 5.5 hours. The participants in this video, Adam and Quentin, both spent the first 10 minutes of the video sober. We observed their speech patterns and behavior during this time as the control. After 10 minutes had passed, both took 250ug of LSD and felt the effects about 45 minutes later. Our second source consisted of 4 anonymous volunteers who took 150µg of LSD each. For the control, their sober speech and behavior were observed and recorded for about 30 minutes before taking the LSD. On average each volunteer felt the effects take hold about 1 hour after consumption and the effects wore off after about 4.5 hours. All 4 participants experienced this trip together and were recorded with oral and written consent. Due to confidentiality agreements as well as ethical and safety measures for our volunteers, their names were omitted from this project and the recording was converted into a transcript.

Results and Analysis

Figure 1: Comparing rates of disfluency, introspective / emotional language, and figurative language between volunteers who had taken LSD and the control group

Figure 2: Rates of disfluency among volunteers who had taken LSD

Figure 3: Rates of introspective / emotional language among volunteers who had taken LSD

Figure 4: Rates of figurative language among volunteers who had taken LSD

In our project, we studied three linguistic variables: Disfluency/Stuttering, Figurative Language, and Introspection/Emotional Language. Disfluency is discontinued speech or lowered quality and unfinished sentences. Stuttering is the involuntary repetition of sound. Figurative language is talking about one kind of thing, in terms of another. Introspection/Emotional language is speech conveying one’s inner thoughts and consciousness. Some quoted examples of disfluency from our data are: stuttering – “to-together?”, unfinished sentences – “I don’t know how, like…”, long pauses, and many “uhh”’s. Examples of figurative language from our data: “in the back of your head”, “in the back of your mind”, and “Like, as soon as our soul leaves our body, the vultures swoop in. Humans are basically, like, vultures, you know?”. Lastly, a few examples of introspective language from our data are: “What do you think is gonna happen when you die?”, and “Like I feel like, I believe in like, reincarnation a little bit…”.

We can see from our results that disfluency had the highest frequency among all of our volunteers. The rate of disfluency was about 2-3 times more frequent than both figurative language and introspection, except for volunteer two, who had much less disfluency than the rest of the volunteers. Figurative language occurred the least, except for volunteer three. Though it only occurred slightly less than introspection/emotional language. Compared to our control data, all three of our variables were higher when participants had taken LSD. The most shocking difference was that of disfluency, which remains pretty low in our control data, and is extremely high (comparatively) in all of our volunteers once they had taken LSD.

Discussion and Conclusion

When beginning our research, we set out to find evidence that consumption of LSD had an impact on speech patterns. We assessed the variables of stuttering/disfluency, introspective/emotional speech, and the use of figurative language; across all modalities of our data collection, we found that there was an increased occurrence of all three variables.

One particularly important implication of this research is related to the subjects’ increase in the use of introspective and figurative language when under the influence of LSD. With the growing field of psychedelic-assisted therapy projected to double its global market value in the next four years, we believe it is important to steer this research in the direction of enhancing current protocols for talk therapy. LSD’s ability to invoke upon the user an uninhibited, vocalized train of thought, with a particular emphasis on sharing emotional memories, could prove to be extremely useful in therapeutic settings where there are feelings of shame around discussing certain events. Therapists who center their treatment on trauma-resolution and shifting a patient’s overall perspective on life may find LSD useful for broaching sensitive topics and eliciting relevant memories.

The linguistic effects of LSD demonstrate great potential for reimagining the scope of mental health research and how to treat individuals for which traditional therapeutic interventions have not been successful. We believe that, with further research into this field, large-scale changes can be implemented that will impact the lives of individuals across many different communities.

References

Bryła, M. (2022). What Conceptual Metaphors Appear in Texts on Psychedelics and Medicine? Corpus-Based Cognitive Study. Respectus Philologicus, 42(47), 154-166. https://doi.org/10.15388/RESPECTUS.2022.42.47.115

Krebs, T. S., & Johansen, P.-Ø. (2013). Over 30 million psychedelic users in the United States. F1000Research, 2, 98. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.2-98.v1

Sanz, C., Pallavicini, C., Carrillo, F., Zamberlan, F., Sigman, M., Mota, N., Copelli, M., Ribeiro, S., Nutt, D., Carhart-Harris, R., & Tagliazucchi, E. (2021). The entropic tongue: Disorganization of natural language under LSD. Consciousness and Cognition, 87, 103070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2020.103070

Wießner, I., Falchi, M., Daldegan-Bueno, D., Palhano-Fontes, F., Olivieri, R., Feilding, A., B. Araujo, D., Ribeiro, S., Bezerra Mota, N., & Tófoli, L. F. (2023). LSD and language: Decreased structural connectivity, increased semantic similarity, changed vocabulary in healthy individuals. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 68, 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.12.013

disfluency, figurative language, introspection, LSD, mental health, stuttering

The Experiences of Non-Native English Speakers at UCLA

Sociolinguistics

Christina Oghlian, Cia Evangelio, Nina Esteghlal, Rikuto Kawada, Yuka Tanaka

As a native speaker of a language, we never really stop to think about the experiences and challenges of those who are not native speakers. It is especially difficult for those who are studying in a foreign country where almost everyone is fluent in a different language than them. We decided to research what challenges international students face in order to gain a greater understanding of their experiences as non-native English speakers at an American university. In addition, we want to use the results of our findings to understand what resources are available for international students who are not English-proficient.

We conducted our research by interviewing 10 international students attending UCLA, 5 of which were male and 5 of which were female, about their English academic proficiency levels and their experiences in various social settings as non-native speakers. By creating more spaces where international students can meet one another or consult with fluent English speakers about difficulties they might have with the language, educational institutions can help their international students feel more safe and comfortable in both academic and social settings.

Introduction

Think about yourself living in other countries where people do not speak your native language. What would you feel, and what difficulties would you face? This curiosity makes us want to study how each international student struggles to live in other countries. We focus on the linguistic, social, and mental challenges that international students face during their study abroad experiences. Our research question is: “How does international students’ English proficiency affect their personal life to be fulfilling while they are studying abroad, and what are the difficulties for international students to achieve their ideal life in new countries?” We hypothesize that international students with higher proficiency in speaking English have more opportunities to socialize in groups. On the other hand, international students who have lower English proficiency will face more difficulties in socialization and having an awareness of their speaking English, increasing their anxieties while they are speaking English to native speakers.

Background

International students face new challenges in a new country. There can be many reasons and situations, such as the language barrier, socialization, and mental condition. Those challenges have a huge negative impact on international students in terms of their studying or speaking English. Many international students are willing to enhance their speaking skills and engage in new social interactions, such as engaging in conversation, making new friends, and so on, in the new countries they go to (Bernhard and Gregory, 2017). Depending on the individual international students, there are differences in these achievements to be different because their English proficiency will be affected.

The linguistic barrier can make people feel they are not in the conversation while people are speaking English because they cannot understand and speak out while people are using English. This can make international students feel socially excluded because of the differences in their English ability (Hilt, 2016). In addition, linguistic barriers are affecting not only the social life of international students but also their mental awareness of their English ability in many ways. While international students feel they are not good enough at speaking English, it can affect their feelings of anxiety (Idrissi, 2022). Moreover, the linguistic barrier can also affect international students’ confidence in speaking (Iris and Lopez, 2014). Therefore, English proficiency has a huge impact on the interactions with international students, their social lives, and their awareness of anxiety.

Methods

For our research study, we aim to interview 10 international UCLA students between the ages of 18-25. Out of the 10 international students, we will specifically interview 5 males and 5 females. Our research will examine how these international students face difficulties when they are speaking English to a native English speaker. Before the interview, the students will complete a Google form asking a couple of questions about their demographics, including identity, where they are from, previous schools they have attended, and for how long they have been attending UCLA. After completing the Google form, each participant will be notified with a follow-up interview and be asked questions based on their familiarity with English. The interviews will take approximately 30 minutes, and we will ask questions related to their knowledge of English, such as, “How comfortable are you speaking English”, “What is the most complicated part about speaking the English language”, “ How comfortable are you when slang is being used in conversation”, and “What linguistic features do you pay attention to when speaking with native speakers”. Based on the interview answers, we will analyze them to see what international students struggle with and which areas of linguistics they have difficulty understanding the most. We especially want to understand how international students have a difficult time with their English ability in social situations and mental interaction.

Results and Analysis

The results that we have found are quite intriguing. We conducted a total of nine interviews and created graphs to represent our findings. As represented on the charts, the demographic of our participants is a majority of Japanese participants followed by Indian, South Korean, and Armenian, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Demographics of Participants within the Study

A large majority of the participants were exposed to English in high school– whether that be that they went to an international school or they had an integrative English course as represented through Figure 2.

Figure 2: Percentage of Participants who were exposed to English in High School

While conducting our research, we realized it was only fair that we separate international students from what was shown in Figure 2. Out of those international students that were exposed to English in high school, Figure 3 represents what they found the most difficult when participating in conversation with native English speakers.

Figure 3: What International Students with strong English proficiency struggle with

On the other hand, Figure 4 shows what international students that have lesser English proficiency struggle with. Interestingly, both international students with strong English proficiency and students with lower English proficiency are most conscious about pronunciation.

Figure 4: What International Students with lesser English proficiency struggle with

The results show that the international students that have a strong English-speaking background are most likely to feel comfortable speaking English to individuals, and group settings however, international students with no English background feel less comfortable. International students have more difficulty grasping English morphological and syntactic structures due to the complicated grammatical structures that are used in academic settings. The use of slang terms and pop culture usually in social and school settings often would give international students confusion. Most international students mentioned how they struggled understanding slang terms and pop culture and that they are still learning.

Discussion and Conclusions

Previous studies have shown that the ability to speak English is highly related to one’s involvement with the surrounding environment in which he or she grew up. The results show that international students who received an academic English education before entering university are almost as confident and comfortable with their English skills as native English speakers, whereas international students who did not receive much English education before entering university are a little more hesitant to speak English. As our research indicates, they may feel anxious or difficult to speak depending on their proficiency in English and may feel that they do not belong in that group.

Moreover, our study allows us to speculate that difficulties in grasping specific and unique syntactic structures, such as pop culture references, may have an impact on the minds and bodies of international students. While it is difficult to draw conclusions, this phenomenon may be true for many international students who did not receive much English education before college. Proficiency in English is a necessary skill for international students to adapt to social life, but confusion often arises when slang and pop culture references are mixed in. Therefore, it could be argued that international students hang out with other international students to avoid being excluded because of differences in fluency or proficiency that they do not possess compared to native English speakers. This research can be applied to various university communication settings to help understand how to properly engage with international students and what type of environment is most effective for language learning.

References

Alkhammash, R. (2022). Processing figurative language: Evidence from native and non-native speakers of English. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1057662–1057662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.105766

Drljaca Margic, B. (2017). Communication courtesy or condescension? Linguistic accommodation of native to non-native speakers of English. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 6(1), 29–55. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2017-0006

Halic, O., Greenberg, K. H., & Paulus, T. M. (2009). Language and Academic Identity: A study of the experiences of Non-Native English speaking international students. International Education, 38(2), 73–93.

Hilt, L. T. (2016). Education without a shared language: Dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in Norwegian introductory classes for newly arrived minority language students. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(6), 585–601. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2016.1223179

Idrissi, O. (2022). Anxiety as a psychological barrier to students’ speaking fluency: IELTS as a case study. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 5(12), 111–120. https://doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2022.5.12.14

Jessen, A., Festman, J., Boxell, O., & Felser, C. (2017). Native and Non-native Speakers’ Brain Responses to Filled Indirect Object Gaps. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 46(5), 1319–1338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-017-9496-9

Lopez, I. Y., & Bui, N. H. (2014). Acculturation and linguistic factors on international students’ self-esteem and language confidence. Journal of International Students, 4(4), 314–329. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v4i4.451

Streitwieser, B. T., & Light, G. J. (2017). Student conceptions of international experience in the study abroad context. Higher Education, 75(3), 471–487. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-017-0150-0

Yu, X., & Peters, B. (2019). Let All Voices Be Heard!: Exploring International Students’ Communication Challenges in the Internationalized Classroom. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 8(1), 107–116. https://doi.org/10.32674/jise.v8i1.1080

Cross-referencing relevant info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na04NxGZuKU

English, International Students, language barriers, language proficiency, social integration

All Jokes Aside – Indexing Gender and Race in Stand-Up Comedy

Sociolinguistics

Ammi Lane-Volz, Cate Dark, Ava Kaiser, Grace Shoemaker, Alex Farfan

As playful and harmless as something titled “comedy” can seem, the political and cultural implications of what is deemed funny are not insignificant. From stand-up performance to jokes around the water cooler, comedy is used as a tool to socially bond, establish hierarchy, critique global affairs, and index identity. Our project set out to explore how stand-up comedians index their identities through mimicry, contrast, and slurs, specifically focusing on how they index themselves as part of versus separate from gendered and racial groups. We studied the specials of ten stand-up comedians from the Netflix series The Standups to see if they more often tended to align their identities through references to their own demographics (in-group indexing) or through references to outside groups (out-group indexing). We found several patterns that emerged, including higher instances of non-white comedians mentioning their race (three times more often), 60% of which consisted of in-group indexing. We also found the opposite to be true for gender, with men referencing gender almost twice as often as the female comedians, 55% of which consisted of out-group indexing. These patterns invite several follow-up questions on the different tactics comedians use when writing their sets and how their choices might be influenced by their place in society and membership of different social majority or minority groups.

Introduction and Background

Comedy holds significant cultural influence, serving both as a mirror reflecting societal norms and as a tool for challenging them. We identified a notable gap in research relating to how stand-up comedians utilize their demographic backgrounds. A study done on representations of race and gender within Comedy Central programming found that although the channel has made an effort to expand its brand by employing more female and racially diverse comedians, the type of jokes found within these skits reinforce power dynamics and white heteronormative masculinity (Marx 2016). Another study on stand-up comedy and cultural spread argued that stand-up comedians are able to reinforce and/or challenge existing cultural stereotypes through their sets, both within the comedic monologues themselves and in the audience’s minds (Yus 2002). Based on this research, it is evident that a comedian’s own demographic information, specifically gender and race, can play a role in the creation or reinforcement of stereotypes in comedy. Yet none of these studies discuss the ways in which comedians index their own demographics. To fill this gap, we wanted to answer the question of how comedians navigate indexing their identities by looking at the frequency of in-group versus out-group demographic references and how these references connect to broader social contexts.

Methods

For our analysis, we chose to look at ten thirty-minute stand-up specials from seasons two and three of the Netflix series The Standups. Each episode of this show focuses on a different stand-up comedian. Comedians from this show are of moderate acclaim, meaning their sets are polished (i.e. representative of a “standard” professional stand-up comedian) but the researchers and the general public may not know the comedians by name. Choosing specials from this show allowed for some standardization of the audience and venue, and provided us with a broader view of multiple professional stand-up comedians than just analyzing one or two longer specials.

Each researcher looked at two randomly chosen specials and noted each time that a comedian mentioned their own identity demographic (race, gender, sexuality, political affiliation, class, and age) and each time they made a comparison to another demographic. These comparisons included strategies like direct comparison or mimicry of another demographic’s accent or physical mannerisms. We also noted each time a comedian said a slur related to their own identity demographic and each time they said a slur related to a different demographic. Based on our preliminary data, we decided to whittle down our focus from the six demographic categories mentioned above to just race and gender. Within these categories, we split them into white vs. marginalized racial identity and men vs. women, respectively. It is also important to note that our sample was evenly split in terms of gender (five men, five women) and race (five white comedians, five comedians of color).

Data and Analysis

Using the data we collected for each comedian, we generated the following figures that summarize our findings:

Figure 1: Total Number of References Made by Each Comedian to Their Own Demographics

Figure 2: Total Number of Comparisons Made by Each Comedian to Another Demographic

As seen in Figure 1 and Figure 2, comedians tend to reference and compare their gender and race significantly more than age, class, sexuality, or political affiliation. Using this information, we were able to narrow our analysis to focus on this key demographic data.

Figure 3: Total Number of Male Vs. Females References to Gender

Figure 3 demonstrates that male comedians were much more likely to reference gender to index their identities, with comparison to another gender being the most common reference type.

Figure 4: Total Number of White Vs. Racial Minority References to Race

Figure 4 indicates that racial minority comedians referenced race about three times more than white comedians, with references to their own race being the most common reference type.

Figure 5: Average Intersectional (Race and Gender) References to Gender

Figure 5 indicates that white men were about two times more likely to reference gender than any other demographic combination.

Figure 6: Average Intersectional (Race and Gender) References to Race

Figure 6 shows that minority men were three times more likely to reference their own race than any other combination of race and gender.

Figure 7: Total Number of Slurs Related to Comedian’s Own Demographic

Figure 8: Total Number of Slurs Unrelated to Comedian’s Own Demographics

Figure 7 shows the large majority of self-referential demographic slurs were race-related, as Black comedians tended to use the n-word multiple times in their sets. Figure 8 shows that out-group related demographic slurs were slurs related to gender and other demographics; none were race-related.

Raw Data

anthroling comedy data

Discussion

Based on our data and outside research, the frequency with which comedians index their race and gender within their sets may be linked to a few different social phenomena.

The finding that white men are more likely to index their gender identity in their comedic routines may suggest that male comedians feel compelled to incorporate their gender identity into their comedy routines, or that they find this to be more socially acceptable than women. This could reflect broader gender expectations where men are often encouraged to assert their masculinity or draw attention to their gender in public spaces (McVittie et al., 2017). Racial minority comedians’ tendency to reference their minority status could indicate a desire to confront stereotypes, draw attention to racial issues, or establish a unique comedic identity. This could stem from personal experiences of marginalization or a sense of responsibility to address racial dynamics in their performances (Sullivan et al., 2021). Additionally, the observation that power dominant demographics (white, men) more commonly used comparison than their marginalized counterparts could imply that those in positions of power feel more comfortable using comparison as a comedic tool. This could be because they have greater societal latitude to freely express themselves without fear of repercussions (Tobore, 2023). By using comparison, minority comedians risk reinforcing existing power dynamics and societal hierarchies where masculinity and whiteness are considered the norm. For a minority comedian, refraining from such comparisons can be a way to affirm their own racial or cultural identity without centering whiteness as a point of reference. Finally, the fact that gendered slurs were employed by out-group comedians, while race based slurs were only used by in-group racial minority comedians suggests a greater societal awareness or sensitivity towards racial issues than gender issues. This may stem from a recognition of the historical and ongoing harm caused by racial slurs (Wilson, 2020). Overall, our findings underscore how the comedy stage becomes a microcosm for broader societal interactions and power relations. The act of indexing one’s identity in comedy can serve as a means of negotiating power, identity, and belonging within a societal context that is stratified along lines of race, gender, and sexuality.

In general, comedy does not merely reflect the social order but actively participates in its construction and perpetuation. The comedian’s role in creating a “social contract” with the audience, wherein their narratives and identities are validated, highlights the performative aspect of social identity and the power of narrative in shaping reality. The audience is also not merely a passive receiver of comedy; they have agency in choosing where to laugh and where not to laugh. They are then an active participant in the co-creation of the comedic experience and, by extension, the social norms and power dynamics it reinforces or challenges.

Conclusion

This research underscores the potential of comedy as a site of social commentary and critique. While comedy can perpetuate stereotypes and power imbalances, it also holds the potential for subversion. Comedians who are aware of the power dynamics at play in their performances can use humor to challenge societal norms, question stereotypes, and imagine new ways of being.

In framing our findings within the broader context of power relations, language, and agency, we contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of comedy in society. This opens up important discussions about the responsibilities of comedians and audiences alike in shaping the social discourse through humor. It also suggests avenues for further research into how comedy can be used as a tool for social change, by both reinforcing and challenging the status quo.

References

Marx, N. (2016). Expanding the brand: Race, gender, and the post-politics of representation on Comedy Central. Television & New Media, 17(3), 272–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476415577212

Miller, T. (Producer). (2017-2021). The Standups [TV Series]. Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80175685

McVittie, C., Hepworth, J., & Goodall, K. (2017). Masculinities and health. The Psychology of Gender and Health, 119–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-803864-2.00004-3

Sullivan, J. N., Eberhardt, J. L., & Roberts, S. O. (2021). Conversations about race in black and white US families: Before and after George Floyd’s death. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(38). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106366118

Tobore, T. O. (2023). On power and its corrupting effects: The effects of power on human behavior and the limits of Accountability Systems. Communicative & Integrative Biology, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/19420889.2023.2246793

Wilson, C. (2020, October 4). N-word: The troubled history of the racial slur. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-53749800

Yus, Francisco. (2002). Stand-up comedy and cultural spread: The case of sex roles. Babel A.F.I.A.L.. special issue on humour studies. 245-294. https://personal.ua.es/francisco.yus/site/Afial.pdf

Comedy, gender, identity, indexing, power dynamics, Race, slurs

Spanglish – The Art of Code-Switching

Bilingualism

Devan, Jessica Jary, Malia Salgado, Mao Mao, Valeria Carreon

In Hispanic neighborhoods, “Spanglish”— a linguistic practice that combines Spanish and English—has gained popularity as a way to communicate, even if some people do not realize that it involves code-switching. While the Chicanx and Latinx community is made up of people from a wide range of backgrounds, most of them are Spanish-English bilingual. In this research project, our group sought to investigate that when they are being interviewed, whether the Spanglish bilingual individuals would tend to code-switch, or rely heavily on one specific language while still understanding the other. We chose this research focus because we believe that studying the connection between the mixing of languages and the topic of conversation, as well as finding how often speakers code-switch, can help other Spanish-English bilingual speakers learn the semantics behind each individual code switch, thus breaking language barriers. We hypothesized that because of the participants’ daily reliance on both English and Spanish, code-switching via Spanglish would be prevalent in the interviews we conducted.

Methods

In order to test our hypothesis, we decided to interview five to ten individuals who are able to understand English and Spanish and speak both languages to varying degrees of fluency. Our interviews consisted of ten questions, five were asked in English and the other five were asked in Spanish. The participants were interviewed individually in various environments and locations, and through various methods including questionnaires, phone interviews, recorded disputes, and gossip interviews. The age range of our participants is from 18 to 55. All of them come from Mexican households and are either first or second-generation immigrants, but all described themselves as bilinguals and having spent the majority of their lives in the United States. Our younger interviewees have all lived in the United States for their entire lives and have learned Spanish from the older generations, whereas the older interviewees all immigrated to the United States in search of a better future, and they picked up English after their immigration. Nevertheless, our research is able to determine that members of this community code-switch and employ Spanish in their everyday lives, despite the fact that these participants come from very diverse origins. For the interviews that were specifically on ages 18-25, we noticed a more noticeable code-switching when answering the question. For our tables below we witness that younger interviewees felt more comfortable jumping in between languages. They use more words like “pues” “ósea” “si” “no”. Another example we can look at is this dialogue that was said during the interview by a 19-year-old.

Question: “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”

Answer : “ Social media marketing, algo asi”

Question: “What was your favorite childhood meal?”

Answer: “Rice and beans, revueltos?”

Question: “Cual es tu vacación ideal?”

Answer: “ Tropical area in a small town and like an ocean front house, view”

Question: “La mejor fiesta que haz tenido?”

Answer: “When I was eighteen”

Figure 1: Uses of Spanish, English, and Spanglish among interviewees

Whilst interviewing our older interviewees between the ages of 35-55, we noticed that these individuals tended to try to stick to speaking one language whilst answering the questions. 3 out of 4 of the interviewees in this category that we interviewed chose to answer all questions in English even though their native language is Spanish. As a result of Spanish being their dominant language whilst answering the 10 questions, these interviewees struggled quite a bit while trying to come up with English responses. Even though they were struggling, these 3 individuals stuck to answering in English even though they understood they could answer questions in Spanish, which we can see in the example below.

(During the beginning of an interview, she started speaking English and stated “My name is” before proceeding to tell me she would much rather speak en Español/ in Spanish. Additionally, she usually answered the questions I asked in English in the same language) :

First question

Question: What did you want to be when you grew up?

Answer: “Nurse”

Question: “Why did you want to be a nurse?”

Answer: “Because I like it. Take care of the kids.”

Second question

Answer: “Chile rellenos, rice, and beans”

Question: “Why do you like rice and beans? What do you like about them?”

Answer: “Because my mother show me how to make it when I was little kid.”

Third question

Answer: “My plan for tomorrow. Work. I have to work.”

Fourth question

Answer: “Aliens– That’s not real. I don’t believe in that.”

Fifth question

Answer: “Sunday– When i’m not working I go to the church with my sister sometime.”

Question: “Do you like going to church?”

Answer: “Yea”

With this, we concluded, and observed distinct dynamics in the nature of conversation for interviewees, which prompted us to make adjustments throughout the process. Notably, individuals aged 30 and above, primarily parents or older adults, approached the interviews with a more formal tone. They consistently responded in the language the question was initially posed, even if English presented some challenges for them. However, the interactions with friends and close family members, ranging from 18 to 25 years old, established a more relaxed atmosphere. This rise in comfort level led to much more frequent code-switching for the older adults, as they seamlessly shifted between the two languages. Recognizing that a strict question-and-answer format might yield more formal responses, we decided to incorporate recorded conversations on various topics. Subsequently, our findings indicated that the frequency of code-switching was less influenced by the relationship dynamics and more by the nature of the conversation topic. This discovery led us to uncover numerous instances of code-switching in these recorded discussions.

Discussion and Conclusions

Overall, our research successfully validated our hypothesis through multiple avenues of investigation. Notably, we demonstrated that Spanish-English bilingual speakers transition between codes more often than they may think. Moreover, a pattern surfaced during our research: participants tended to match the language used in the responses in formal interviews that were organized around predetermined questions. Nevertheless, in more relaxed conversational contexts, this pattern did not continue. Instead, participants were able to switch between languages with ease in familiar settings, even mixing vocabulary from both linguistic domains. This highlights the profound interacting influence of Hispanic culture and American culture on the Spanglish bilingual speakers, and showcases the intricate dynamics of living with two languages daily. It further underscores the evolution of Spanglish as a unique linguistic bridge, allowing us to forge a connection between both languages. Moreover, it emphasizes the significant presence of the Spanglish-speaking community, providing a touching connection to their ancestral roots while fostering a sense of closeness to the newly found home.

bilinguals, Code-Switching, Spanglish

Navigating New Worlds: The Role of English Proficiency in the Social Integration of Chinese International Students at UCLA

Sociolinguistics

Rista White, Yue Yu (Elena), Nadia Ruiz, Brianna Sobrero, Ruby Jimenez

The present study investigated whether Chinese international students (CIS) attending the University of California, Los Angeles, with high self-reported English proficiency, experience easier social integration and comfortably form more friendships with domestic students. CISs comprise the largest group of international students at UCLA, and this considerable demographic experiences various unique sociolinguistic challenges while adjusting to American university life. To answer this question, we analyzed 13 questionnaire responses that we received from individuals who identified as CISs attending UCLA. Subsequently, four respondents agreed to interviews where we learned more about their personal experiences. The findings show that greater self-reported English competence among UCLA CISs positively correlates with easier social integration and a wider variety of friendships. Given the growing population and trend of international study, these findings are helpful for the university and student organizations to consider when creating programs to improve the experience of CISs attending UCLA.

Introduction and Background

Recognizing that international students may face more struggles than ordinary American university students is important. International students come to a foreign country on a student visa or permit to pursue education, and the US has many such students (Sin et al., 2021). Our research investigates the relationship between English proficiency and social interactions and the impact of language barriers on CIS’s ability to communicate effectively with peers at UCLA. By understanding these aspects, we hope to shed light on the diverse struggles of CISs and provide insights into how English proficiency can affect their sense of culture and belonging in a foreign country.

Each year, the number of CISs in the United States increases as more students from China come to the U.S. to pursue higher education. These students often find themselves encountering a common barrier: English proficiency. Despite the significant role of English proficiency in social integration, this correlation is often overlooked. Several studies have researched second-language acquisition among international students and how it affects their academic and personal lives in the United States. However, few studies specifically study the direct correlation between proficiency in English as a second language and socialization in American universities, despite its significant influence on academic performance and social integration. Limited proficiency in the host language diminishes students’ satisfaction by impeding their ability to communicate, socialize, and comprehend lectures in academic settings (Campbell & Li, 2008, as cited in Wilczewski & Alon, 2023).

Studies also emphasize that international students are frequently prevented from mingling with American peers because of their limited exposure to American culture and language, leading them to primarily socialize with fellow international students (Liu & Dong, 2019; Moglen, 2017, as cited in Garrison & Chang-Tran, 2023). International students tend to predominantly socialize with peers from their own cultural backgrounds while rarely engaging with domestic individuals or students from different cultural backgrounds, largely due to language barriers (Wang & Zhou, 2021).

In his TedTalk, Miga Xie (2020), recounted that he was told by his mother to stay away from other Chinese children. She believed that the way to get the most out of American education and improve spoken English was by minimizing contact with those of similar backgrounds. Miga explains that he eventually overcame the feeling of assimilating into American student culture and avoiding his culture. Xie understands that most CIS feel more comfortable around people with the same background. Still, because of the unique guidance received from his mother, he suggests that CISs should value their diversity and use it to engage in cross-cultural conversations rather than feeling obligated to socialize exclusively with people who look like them or fully assimilate into American culture.

These studies and stories collectively demonstrate the importance of second-language proficiency in facilitating social interaction with domestic students, as insufficient proficiency often leads international students to socialize within their own international student community. Higher levels of second-language proficiency facilitate more extensive and smoother socialization experiences. While the body of existing studies reinforces our hypothesis, our research narrows its focus to UCLA as the setting and English as the specific second language, with a particular emphasis on CIS. Our study addresses a significant gap in the literature by examining the relationship between English proficiency levels and socialization in American universities.

Methods

We followed a mixed-method research design. Specifically, we utilized the facilitation approach, a process involving two research methods, using one strategy to expand on the results of another strategy (Young, 2015). Beginning with a quantitative method, we created a questionnaire on Google Forms with four sections, two of which were close-ended, to acquire data concerning CIS’s self-reported English proficiency and social connections relating to a sense of belonging. We shared the questionnaire in a group chat for CIS attending UCLA on WeChat, a dominant Chinese messaging application. After receiving 13 responses, we emailed all respondents to schedule an interview, and only four agreed. So, to take a more engaging approach, we followed up with the four people to perform semi-structured interviews. We divided our twelve open-ended interview questions into four sections: Experiences with English and Social Integration, Challenges and Strategies, Social Networks and Sense of Belonging, and Institutional Support and Suggestions.

Data Analysis and Results

Through our close-ended survey responses, the results of one of our questions stood out to us (Figure 1). Most respondents, eight to be exact, said yes to having faced challenges making friends due to language barriers. The eight responses add value to our research, confirming the plausibility of a correlation between English language proficiency and social integration.

Fig. 1: Question 11 of Section 4, Social Connections and Sense of Belonging in our Google Form questionnaire

Interviews were recorded with participant consent. The interview transcripts were then analyzed using an interpretive analysis approach. This style of interview deconstruction consists of multiple read-throughs of interview transcripts (Hatch, 2002). The first read-throughs emphasized looking for major themes and were carried out individually. We searched for patterns and relationships within these themes on the second read-through. Then, insights were shared with other research group members, and a comparative approach was adopted. Finally, we describe emerging patterns across interviews in short sentences and connect them to supportive excerpts. This left us with bite-sized takeaways supported by evidence that we can easily connect to the preexisting sociolinguistic literature on international students.

The three emerging themes are shown in Figure 2. Theme 1: higher self-reported English proficiency corresponded with having more non-Chinese international student friends. Theme 2: most interviewees wished they had more resources on campus. Lastly, in theme 3, students reported some adversity/awkward situations due to their English proficiency.

Fig. 2: Flow chart created to organize themes

Discussion and Conclusions

Three main themes emerged after evaluating the data collected by the survey and interviews. The first theme was that participants with a higher self-reported English proficiency tended to correspond with their response to having more non-Chinese international student friends. Implying that the participants felt that having a more proficient level of English helped them establish connections with non-Chinese individuals. Secondly, most, if not all, interviewees explained they wished there were more resources for them on campus. Some of these resources included the possibility of a mentor or a CIS club. This suggests that there is ample opportunity for UCLA to offer greater support to its international Chinese students and help international students create their own programs based on their needs. The final theme was that all the students reported some adversity or awkward situations resulting from their English proficiency.

While analyzing the data gathered from this study, we kept some important details in mind to help us understand our collection and conclusions. Our survey and interviews were based on self-reported proficiency levels rather than an actual language test, meaning the results are based more on a self-reported confidence level in their proficiency.

While attempting to conduct our interviews to gather more data, we found ourselves with a few limitations. One limitation was the lack of preliminary survey respondents who were willing to participate in a secondary interview. Our goal was to conduct five interviews. We secured three easily, but the other two were more difficult. Another limitation was the time available to explore our research question. With greater time, we could have spent more time collecting and examining more data.

In closing, after we analyzed the personal experiences of CIS at UCLA, we have been able to gather a better understanding of the relationship between English proficiency and the ease of social integration. We completed our research with the takeaway that there is a connection between language proficiency and socialization. Slang and cultural references are common difficulties, even with high fluency, and most people have created ideas on how to improve the international student experience. With future research, larger data samples could reveal more about these connections and other insights. Through the lens of these personal stories, we are not just uncovering challenges but also paving the way for a future where every student’s voice is heard.

References

Garrison, Y., Park, S., Yeung, C. W., Li, Z., Ho, Y. C. S., & Chang-Tran, J. (2023). The social class worldviews of Chinese international students in the United States. Journal of International Students, 13(1), 40-58.

Hatch, J. A. (2002). Doing Qualitative Research in Education Settings: Analyzing Qualitative
Data. (pp, 185-224). State University of New York Press.

Sin, C., Tavares, O., Aguiar, J., Biscaia, R., & Amaral, A. (2021). International students in Portuguese higher education: who are they and what are their choices? Studies in Higher Education, 47(7), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.1916907

Wang, P. & Zhou, G. (2021). A Study Of Chinese International Student Dropout: Acculturation Experiences And Challenges In A Pre-University English Language Improvement Program. McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l’éducation de McGill, 56(1), 52–70. https://doi.org/10.7202/1087048ar

Wilczewski, M., & Alon, I. (2023). Language and communication in international students’ adaptation: a bibliometric and content analysis review. Higher Education, 85(6), 1235–1256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00888-8

Xie, M. (2020, February). (Don’t) Talk to the Chinese Kids: My Journey with Diversity. and Inclusion [Video]. TEDxEmory. https://www.ted.com/talks/miga_xie_don_t_talk_to_the_chinese_kids_my_journey_with_diversity_and_inclusion?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Young, T. J. (2015). Questionnaires and Surveys. Research Methods in Intercultural Communication, 163–180. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119166283.ch11

English, International Students, language proficiency, social integration

Going Greek?

Sociolinguistics

Jasmin Lopez, Samantha Solowitz, Max Orroth, Esther Lin, anonymous author

Collegiate Greek life has been around for centuries, fraternities first being established in 1775 followed by sororities in 1851, giving both men and women the opportunity to become a member of an exclusive association promising brotherhood and sisterhood to all who join. The mysterious and vague identity of these fraternities and sororities became a tradition, with members specifically using terms and/or slang that make sense only to those involved. The purpose of our blog is to recognize the meaning behind Greek life slang, and how this particular lexicon represents a departure from formal language. We delve into the nuances of Greek life, from its rich history and recruitment process to understanding its cultural shift in linguistic trends and social dynamics. Through the use of online videos and fieldwork, we explored how Greek life slang terms develop a strong sense of social acquisition for those directly involved while simultaneously maintaining a form of mystery for those who are not.

Background

Pictured: A faux wedding, strangers kissing, the crowd going crazy. Credit: Max Orroth

As I (Max) walked into the Phi Kappa Psi house on a Tuesday night for a frat wedding (a faux wedding, two fraternities/sororities come together to host their chosen couple), a brother greeted me: “Hey welcome bro, tonights gonna be so ferda.” I didn’t understand what he meant by this at all, specifically ferda, and when I asked what the word meant I never got a straight answer. It was clear at this moment, to me and the brothers of Phi Psi, that I was an outsider. I did not understand their secret slang, and for the rest of the night, I felt like a toddler asking what words everyone seemed to know meant.

The example above showcases an ingroup outgroup dynamic. Through this experience, we sought to understand the slang evoked in the Greek life college setting, towards a cultural shift in linguistic and social status. Through the use of online videos and fieldwork, we explored how Greek life slang acquisition is used to communicate valuable insight into fraternities and sororities. This project draws on two main questions; How does Greek slang separate members of Greek life from the broader collegiate community? And, How do Greek organizations undergo a socialization process through linguistic genres?

Introduction to Greek Life

The origins of Greek culture can be identified in the late 18th century when the initial Greek-letter societies were founded (Harding, 1972). Greek life is a conduit for lifelong friendships, countless parties to attend, and the opportunity to live in a mansion with 20-50 peers (Jones, 1976). However, the daily lives of some “brothers” and “sisters” are widely known to be exclusionary, insular, and with roots in the secretive masonic lodges (Dymchuk, 2020). The groups are segmented into fraternities for men and sororities for women. Like most groups, Greek life holds its own set of slang terms, and priori language is only understood within the community. Slang is not an official language, but is characterized by familiar coloring (Izmaylova et al., 2017). Familiar coloring refers to certain words being associated with a specific group, used to linguistically signal identity and ingroup status. More specific to the linguistic environment we studied, college slang amongst undergraduates pulls from both broad lexicons as well as university and context-specific slang (Hummon, 1994). We hypothesize that at its core, greek life slang represents a departure from formal language, often characterized by its genre. This departure of informality is developed through sociocultural language acquisition (Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984). The social functions of slang are manifold. Firstly, it serves as a marker of group identity, fostering a sense of camaraderie among those who share a common slang lexicon (Bucholtz, 2012). The slang lexicons used by sorority members and fraternities alike use phrases, symbols, and handshakes only known to collegiate Greek members, differing from the common use of slang found by nonmembers.

Ready to embark on a Greek life journey?

We were not! This is why our methods are participant observation and visual anthropology. We examined how the words and phrases are used in context and how they deviate from mainstream slang through visual anthropology (Abasi & Taylor, 2007).

Methods

For our methods, we used TikTok and YouTube videos; which involve heavy use of acronyms, Greek letter symbols, and code language.

Picture is Lauren Norris via YouTube, 2023

Some popular accounts on TikTok were @makeupbymckenna and @emmaortiz24.

@makeupbymckenna’s TikTok videos titled “GRWM” (get ready with me) displayed a full day of the “Last rush week ever.” While @emmaortiz24 showcases a “GRWM” with Penn State recruitment trips. “Day in the Life” were mostly made by women in sororities representing “PNM”, “PIE PIE”, “DLAM”, “Olemiss”, etc. In the introduction to one of the TikTok videos, a girl is doing her makeup to get ready for sorority recruitment as a “TriDelt” and talking about the amount of “PNMs” that are going to be at their “house.” She advises those who will be participating in the recruitment process to make intentional relationships with other “PNMs” from their “pledge class” or “active number.” In a similar video, a girl advises her audience to let their “Pie Pie” know if they are going to be late to an event.

The YouTube videos we looked at were videos about “rushing” which is the recruitment process for joining a sorority. The picture above is Lauren Norris, talking extensively about her experience of being “dropped” from sorority Pi Beta Phi. This was a contrast from the TikTok videos which seem to be an audience for sisters “in” the sorority. Whereas, Lauren talks about her experience of being “out” of the organization.

Although the videos were meant to be informative, the slang used in the videos made it difficult to understand the symbolic meaning of words such as rush, dropped, sisters, and acronyms. Our research results in a complex web of terminology that defines, unites, and separates members of Greek life from the broader collegiate community.

Results

Here is a compiled list of the common slang terms used in Greek culture:

Additional Resource: Greek Life Glossary – Montclair University

Analysis

New members of Greek organizations seem to undergo a rapid socialization process to become competent members of their respective communities. In videos such as “GRMW(Get Ready with me)” or “Day in the life,” the general public may recognize the language used within the videos but certain keywords would not be understood unless one had previous knowledge of them. These videos demonstrate that a majority of the slang used are English words or acronyms that may seem out of context to those unfamiliar with Greek life and possibly even completely change their meaning (Nardyuzhev et al, 2017), solidifying the barrier between those within the community and those outside it. Our analysis of Greek life slang reveals a rich and complex language system that serves multiple functions: it cements the bonds between members, upholds traditions, and sets the community apart from the broader campus, and society.

Conclusion

Throughout this study, we analyzed Greek life culture through their unique sociolinguistic and cultural acquisition. This research has provided a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted dynamics within Greek life, encompassing indexical slang, language social acquisition, online communities, and symbolic vocabulary. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the group was able to integrate sociolinguistics, visual anthropology, and analysis, to uncover the intricate interplay between language, identity, and rituals within Greek organizations. Through research into archetypes and codes that generate sense, our findings determine that symbols did not hold the ultimate meaning, but rather offered a vast array of interpretation possibilities; they served as a gnoseological key, a means of self-learning and learning about “philosophical knowledge,” and a medium for the development of the adept’s gnoseological qualities. To an outgroup member, this translates into a form of social acquisition during the initiation process, a crest or secret message is revealed as a rite of passage, only to be mentioned among the membership for exclusive purposes. Greek organizations separate ideology from each other by ascribing symbolic meaning to their group organization. Hence the various phrases, symbols, and handshakes are showcased in varied TikToks, YouTube, and the Greek wedding ritual. This socialization process is enacted by active members, who are assigned the task of formal recruitment. This process entails acts of initiation that signal the acquisition of the group’s values, pledges, and ultimately the group’s acceptance.

References

Bucholtz, M. (2012). Word Up: Social Meanings of Slang in California Youth Culture. eScholarship, University of California.

Dymchuk, A. (2020). Masonic symbolism in the context of philosophical anthropology searches. Skhid, 1(165), 60–66. https://doi.org/10.21847/1728-9343.2020.1(165).197068

Harding, Thomas S. (1972), College Literary Societies: Their Contribution to Higher Education in the United States, 1815–1876, New York, New York: privately published

Hummon, D. M. (1994). College Slang Revisited: Language, Culture, and Undergraduate Life. The Journal of Higher Education, 65(1), 75–98. https://doi.org/10.2307/2943878doi.org/10.2307/2943878

Izmaylova, G.R., Zamaletdinova, G.R., & Zholshayeva, M.S. (2017). Linguistic and social features of slang. International Journal of Scientific Study, 5(6), 75-78.

Jones, B. M. (1976). The American fraternity. In Paper presented at the meeting of the National Interfraternity Conference, Williamsburg, VA.

Ochs, E., & Schieffelin, B. B. (1984). Language acquisition and socialization: Three developmental stories and their implications. In R. A. Shweder & R.A. LeVine (Eds.), Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion. CUP, pp. 276-320.

Nardyuzhev, V. I., Nardyuzhev, I. V., Marfina, V. E., & Kurinin, I. N. (2017). AMERICAN SLANG: DIACHRONIC ANALYSIS. RUDN Journal Of Informatization In Education, 14(4), 399-405. doi: 10.22363/2312-8631-2017-14-4-399-405

college students, fraternities, Greek life, Slang, social media, sororities

Hebrew and Armenian as Case Studies of Language Endangerment and Rejuvenation

Sociolinguistics

Alex Muck, Armine Mkrtchyan, Gagik Hovhannisyan, Fiona Choi, Sara Ohannessian

Language endangerment is an important yet relatively unknown threat in our world today. As the world continues to become more globalized, languages not spoken by the majority run the risk of dying out due to people adopting languages that are more widely spoken. This study focuses on how the speakers of minority languages, such as Hebrew and Armenian, view their language and its relation to their culture to assess the risk these languages face of being replaced or going extinct. Evidence was gathered from one-on-one interviews with native speakers of the language. These interviews shed light on the central themes surrounding the usage of these languages, primarily that they are important anchors for diasporic communities to connect more closely with their heritage, rather than just being used for communication. Based on our findings, we tried to understand how languages that face endangerment may be preserved so that the cultures that rely on them do not suffer from their loss.

Introduction and Background

Language endangerment and language shift are concepts that grow increasingly important to understand as our world grows increasingly globalized (Bradley, 2023). Language endangerment is generally defined as a reduction in the usage of a language. This phenomenon can have many causes, such as language shift, which is when a new language is adopted to be used instead of a native language (Tsunoda, 2006). Two languages that are of particular interest to our own experiences and cultures are Hebrew and Armenian, both of which face language endangerment today. Through our data collection, we seek to answer: What factors contribute to the endangerment of languages or can cause them to shift to usage of other languages? How has historical and socio-political change impacted the status of these languages? What can be done now to ensure languages are preserved for the future?

Methods

Our data was gathered through 20-30 minute, one-on-one interviews conducted with either Hebrew or Armenian speakers. Our questions focused on assessing: the individual’s proficiency with the language; how they learned the language; the contexts in which they use the language; their familial and cultural background in relation to the language; their personal views about the language and what it means to them; and their thoughts on transmitting the language to future generations.

Results and Analysis

Armenian

The Armenian language serves as a vital channel for preserving and transmitting the rich cultural heritage of the Armenian community. This is especially important for a globally dispersed diaspora aiming to retain a unified cultural identity despite physical distances. The language is a symbol of resistance and survival, reflecting the community’s determination to keep their culture vibrant across generations and geographies.

Context of Language Use

The use of the language is mostly confined to the home and events such as weddings or family functions. Respondents mentioned how they had no other choice but to speak Armenian in cultural settings, emphasizing its role in maintaining cultural and familial bonds. There are specific contexts, such as speaking with grandparents or in public settings, where the language is exclusively used. Because most speakers are immigrants from the Armenian Diaspora who only speak Armenian, they constantly influence those around them with the language’s use.

Family Background and Historical Influence

The Armenian language is an ancestral language passed down through generations. One respondent noted that her family’s history of moving from country to country has heavily influenced her relationship with the language. She blends English grammar and vocabulary from Arabic and Farsi into her Armenian, reflecting her birthplace and family heritage. The Armenian Genocide deeply influences their connection with the language, underlining the importance of its preservation as a symbol of survival. “They tried to eliminate us, we have to keep going,” a respondent stated.

Religious & Cultural Impact

The connection between the language and cultural heritage is seen as inseparable, with the language being a vital component of Armenian culture. For many, the language holds personal significance as a rare and important aspect of their identity, emphasizing the need to keep their ancestors’ language alive. It connects them to their heritage and makes them “feel more Armenian.” Respondents participate in cultural practices associated with the language, like attending Armenian church gatherings and celebrating traditional holidays, further strengthening their cultural ties. As expressed in one interview, “without the language, you can’t have the culture.”

Language Transmission and Revitalization Efforts

Respondents are determined to teach their future children Armenian as a vital part of their heritage, involving them in cultural activities and education. The drive to preserve the Armenian language spans across ages and immigration statuses among the Diaspora, highlighting a unified effort to maintain their culture and language against a backdrop of historical challenges. This emphasizes the critical role of language in upholding cultural identity.

Hebrew

As a product of tragedies in the past, diasporas, and immigration movements, there has unfortunately been a steady decline in the ability to speak Hebrew. Traditions and culture, however, remain as prevalent and important aspects of identity for Jewish individuals. Through celebrating religious holidays and ceremonial milestones, such as Yom Kippur and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, a sense of community and cultural pride grounds individuals. Revitalization efforts for the language are a priority to continue being a connecting force for generations ahead.

Context of Language Use

Hebrew is a language that is mostly restricted to religious and ceremonial situations outside of native Orthodox individuals. Interviewees revealed that the decrease in Hebrew usage can be attributed to the language not being used in most everyday conversational respects, at least for most Jewish Americans. The limited use and context in which the language is spoken decreases the incentive to learn.

Family Background and Historical Influence

Jews have been a group disproportionally discriminated against, with devastating genocide efforts that resulted in an exponential loss of population. Considering the historical tragedies, their shared language and culture became more impactful, serving as a form of resistance to their oppressors while honoring their losses. In addition, a growing disconnect between elders results from declined spoken language. Most older family members solely speak Hebrew so communication is unfortunately challenging.

Religious and Cultural Impact

The motivation to learn Hebrew stems from the religious and cultural impact. Jewish culture, religion, and language are largely intertwined. One individual who grew up with Hebrew as her first language and self-identified as ethnically Jewish was very involved with her culture and religion and she even holds classes at the nearby Hillel teaching others how to speak and write. On the other hand, another individual who self-identified as Jewish American and strictly culturally Jewish also felt very involved in a religious sense. However, she felt disconnected and lacked a sense of belonging compared to the native speaker.

Language Transmission & Revitalization Efforts

There exists a strong motivation to pass the language down to future generations to restore a shared sense of community and heritage. Orthodox and generational Jewish Americans alike expressed the need to enact efforts to preserve the language and enrich their children with strong cultural affinity. Examples of these efforts include a push to pivot the language for more daily usage to produce greater motivation to learn or to have children formally educated through Jewish schools to both augment their appreciation for the language and build a like-minded community as well.

Discussions and Conclusions

The findings from our research on the endangered languages of Hebrew and Armenian contribute to our existing understanding of the larger phenomenon of language endangerment and revitalization. Despite facing histories of erasure like the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, both languages have survived and serve as crucial channels for preserving cultural heritage and identity. Speakers of Hebrew and Armenian perceive language preservation as an imperative responsibility because it serves as a link to ancestral roots. This shared commitment underscores the importance of language as a conduit for transmitting cultural traditions and values to future generations. Although this project recognizes the endangered state of these languages, we made a conscious effort to avoid unintentional consequences of universal ownership, hyperbolic valorization, and enumeration that are so common with language preservation research (Hill, 2002).

To deepen our understanding of language endangerment and shift, we plan to broaden our research scope by conducting additional interviews with individuals from diverse age groups to explore whether the observed patterns in language usage and vitality persist across different generations. Moreover, examining how attitudes and language transmission practices vary among age groups will provide valuable insights into formulating targeted preservation strategies. This future direction aligns with our goal of understanding the many factors influencing language endangerment and finding effective measures to preserve linguistic diversity for future generations.

References

Bradley, D. (2023). Language Endangerment: What it is, how to measure it and how to act. In Derhemi, E., & Moseley, C. (Eds.), Endangered Languages in the 21st Century (1st ed.) 130–136. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003260288.

Hill, J. H. (2002). “Expert Rhetorics” in Advocacy for Endangered Languages: Who Is Listening, and What Do They Hear? Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 12(2), 119–133. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43104007.

Tsunoda, T. (2006). Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization. Knowledge Unlatched (KU). http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31654.

cultural identity, language endangerment, language shift

Analyzing Miscommunication and Preferences in Face-to-Face vs. Texting Among College Students

Sociolinguistics

Adam Bouaricha, Emily Haddad, Ryan Kimura, Usuhe Maston, Natalia Adomaitis

Reportedly, 97% of young adults aged 18 to 24 are actively engaged in texting (Smith, 2011). Central to our inquiry is exploring how college students adeptly navigate misunderstandings and mend communication breakdowns within their text-based interactions with peers, friends, and romantic partners. Speciﬁcally focusing on the demographic of college students aged 18 to 22, our study delves into the myriad factors contributing to miscommunication within this cohort. Using a comprehensive mixed-method approach, we integrate surveys with picture-based evidence for enhanced analysis. Drawing upon the framework of multimodal conversational analysis, our research endeavors to unravel the intricacies of repair mechanisms, encompassing trouble sources, repair initiation, and ensuing solutions in text-based interactions. Analysis of our diverse sample of college students unveils that critical trouble sources, such as the absence of tone and social cues, substantially inﬂuence the occurrence of misunderstandings. Participants demonstrate a keen awareness of communication breakdowns, prompting proactive engagement in repair solutions to rectify discrepancies. Through rigorous thematic analysis of survey responses, we discern prevalent patterns and adaptive strategies individuals employ to navigate the complexities of miscommunication within text-based interactions. Ultimately, this study enriches our understanding of the nuanced challenges inherent in digital communication practices among college students, contributing valuable insights to the broader discourse on eﬀective communication in the digital age.

Introduction and Background

The main problem we wanted to investigate was what factors contribute to miscommunication in our target population of college students ages 18-22, since texting (computer mediated communication) is so prevalent in our observed demographic. Our project design observed whether college students preferred texting or live conversations (face-to-face) as a means of communication. While somewhat scarce, previous research on this topic has allowed us to form a basic understanding of miscommunication over text. Studies have shown that the lack of cues, ubiquity, and brevity of interactions during CMC provide a disadvantage compared to FTF communication. Previously, students have felt that texting has both its advantages and disadvantages, and did not indicate a strong preference for CMC or FTF (Kelly et al 2012). Another study found that emojis can serve as speech acts. Emojis possess meaning and intent behind their usage, but their ambiguity over CMC is where miscommunication arises. It was shown that senders and receivers of texts both signiﬁcantly overestimate the eﬀectiveness of an emoji in conveying meaning, which can lead to miscommunication (Holtgraves 2024). Our research aims to ﬁll the gap left by previous research, especially because much of the research on this topic is over ten years old. We also hope to narrow the scope of such a topic, focusing on a more speciﬁc group (college students), rather than a wider range of demographics. Similarly, many studies emphasize emojis and their ability to perform speech acts (Holtgraves 2024). While we do not deny the role emojis play in communication or miscommunication, we also observed the use of acronyms and slang, as well as the lack of FTF multimodal communication such as tone, gesture, and facial expression. Our paper builds on prior research to answer why online miscommunication occurs and whether CMC or FTF is preferred amongst college students ages 18-22 when communicating.

Methods

The method we used to analyze the results of our data was multimodal conversational analysis. One of the factors we mainly focused on was repair. Three components involved in analyzing repair in our data are: 1. The trouble source, or what’s causing the miscommunication, 2. Repair initiation, how the problem is being addressed, and 3. Repair solution, how do the participants solve the problem (Hoey & Kendrick, 2017). In observing instances of miscommunication from our observed community of college students ages 18-22, trouble sources such as lack of tone, social cues, body language, and other multimodal factors, contributed to miscommunication over text or as one respondent stated, “ a common issue between me and my partner is that I’m a blunt texter (no punctuation or emojis) and he’s the opposite. So my texts make him feel like I’m upset at him when in reality I’m just trying to respond as quickly as possible” (anonymous participant). While further analyzing our responses from the Google Form we sent to our participants, repair initiation typically occurred when the people involved in the conversation realized a mishap occurred. Repair solutions transpired as senders and receivers addressed what was miscommunicated and what was actually intended. As in Figure 1, an apology was used and deemed honest because one person admitted the error and explained the problem. Here is another example from our data where these three components of repair can be observed in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Example from our data of using repair in conversational analysis as researched (Hoey & Kendrick, 2017).

Results and Analysis

Figure 2: Responses to survey question: “How much would you say you prefer texting over in-person interaction?”

Figure 3: Responses to survey question: “How much of a frequent texter are you?”

Our sample population ﬁt our target population, with over 50% of participants being upperclassmen with all having a variety of majors encompassing STEM, the humanities, and social sciences. Figure 2 shows that 52.6% of respondents claimed that they preferred CMC over face-to-face interaction, and ﬁgure 3 shows that 42.1% text a little frequently, with 3-5 text conversations occurring a day. All but 2 respondents had listed English as their primary language, at 89% of the responses, the two outliers had put Spanish as their primary language; however, all the examples we received from participants were wholly in English. Participants were prompted to provide an example, either as a screenshot of a CMC conversation or to type out an example. The following question asked respondents to identify the miscommunication, which allowed us to better analyze and understand how they occurred. The majority of participants listed that they were close to their communication partner in their provided example, with 57.8% of respondents identifying their partner as either a friend, signiﬁcant other, or family member. However, despite this closeness and increased familiarity much of the self-identiﬁed reasons for miscommunication arose from a lack of tone, or being too blunt while writing. Some wrote that their communication “[felt] like [it] had sass”, that their blunt texting style makes their signiﬁcant other believe that they’re “upset at him”, and one respondent wrote that “I can never tell if they’re being sarcastic or genuine”. Other than lack of tone, the second most common misunderstanding was simply one party not being familiar with a word/phrase/acronym being used by their conversation partner.

Discussion and Conclusions

As we examine our results, we can conclude that, based on the demonstrated sample size (initially inﬂuenced by previously conducted studies citing technological relevance in eﬀective age groups (Hemmer, Heidi 2009), there is a noticeable preference for in-person, face-to-face communication over computer-mediated conversation. As we had begun to hypothesize how the signiﬁcance of multimodality comes into play in regard to the interpretation of language through CMC, contextual research, in addition to our data, has allowed us to develop a means of identifying the conditions that allow for the total utility multimodal communication, or a lack thereof within the identiﬁed samples. We attempt to examine the aspect of repair within our use of multimodal conversation analysis; recognizing the lack of physical indicators that help to form comprehendible, precise conversations within CMC, followed up with the identiﬁcation of said misinterpretation of communication acknowledged by both parties, and ﬁnally, resolution of both parties being reached upon clariﬁcation. When examining the submitted data from a phenomenological lens, we identify the occurrence of these criteria from an individual yet quantiﬁed perspective.

References

Hemmer, Heidi (2009) “Impact of Text Messaging on Communication,” Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 9, Article 5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1058 Available at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol9/iss1/5

Hoey, E.M., & Kendrick, K.H. (2017). Conversational Analysis. Research Methods in Psycholinguistics and the Neurobiology of Language https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2328034_8/component/ﬁle_3513001/content

Holtgraves, T. (2024). Emoji, Speech Acts, and Perceived Communicative Success. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 43(1), 83-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X231200450

Kelly, L., Keaten, J. A., Becker, B., Cole, J., Littleford, L., & Rothe, B. (2012). “It’s the american lifestyle! ”: An investigation of text messaging by college students. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 13(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/17459435.2012.719203

Smith, A. (2011). How Americans Use Text Messaging. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech; Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/09/19/how-americans-use-text-messag ing/.

CMC, college students, miscommunication, texting

Exploring Hegemonic Language: Its Impact on Insults in Media, Rap Battles, and Lyricism

Sociolinguistics

Isabella Chaves, Amee Davis, Amanda Layfield, Anna Lytz, Nina Grilli

This study delves into the investigation of the intersection of gendered language, hegemonic masculinity, homophobia, and social class structures found in hip-hop lyrics. Inspired by the insights of linguistic anthropologist H. Samy Alim, we explore the manifestation of “lyrical freedom” as both oppressive and liberating within the genre. Our research analyzes data from live rap battles and pre-recorded songs which allows us to understand the strategic use of language used to dominate one’s opponent. We highlight examples such as 21 Savage’s controversial lyricism in the “XXL Freshmen Cypher ” and A$AP Rocky’s use of homophobia and classism in rap battles. Our research ultimately displays how the word choice and phrases used within these examples are misogynistic and homophobic, a routinely found element in hip-hop culture. We too discovered an emergence of classist language in these spaces. Through this interdisciplinary approach, we aimed to evaluate the complex interplay between linguistic expression, cultural identity, and social power dynamics within the hip-hop community.

Introduction and Background

Linguistic Anthropologist H. Samy Alim once stated, “Lyrical freedom is both oppressive and liberating” (Alim, 2023). Our research is inspired by Alim, whose work is centered on lyrical analysis with a specific focus on Black language and hip-hop culture. More specifically, we are inspired by his work on the cis-heteropatriarchy¹. Our research centers around the use of words and phrases in hip-hop and their role in perpetuating oppressive language.

Our study employed a multifaceted approach to investigate the effects of hegemonic language² in hip-hop culture. Firstly, we conducted an in-depth examination of impromptu rap battles, where we observed live performances to analyze the spontaneous use of language. This allowed us to capture the raw, unfiltered expressions of rappers in real-time settings, providing valuable insights into the prevalence and nature of hegemonic language. Secondly, we undertook a comprehensive analysis of contrived lyrics from pre-recorded hip-hop songs. By scrutinizing the choices made by rappers in their lyrics, we aimed to understand the patterns and trends in the use of misogynistic and homophobic language. Specifically, we focused on prominent examples such as the “XXL Freshman Cypher,” a renowned platform for emerging rap talents, to gather insights into the stylistic variations prevalent in hip-hop culture.

Within the landscape of hip-hop culture, one notable phenomenon is the cipher—a gathering where rappers engage in spontaneous performances over a shared beat, surrounded by other rappers. The cipher produces a unique call-and-response environment. The setting of ciphers as a performance both enables and protects rappers in perpetuating oppressive remarks, specifically sexism and homophobia. Sexism in lyricism is a rather common phenomenon used to be successful in the hip-hop community and involves “putting one’s opponent into a female passive role,” (Dundes et al. 1970). Our team proceeded to investigate different data sets of lyrics, both improvised and pre-recorded, to see how sexism and homophobia are weaponized.

Methods

In examining impromptu rap battles and contrived lyrics, we conducted a thorough literature review to contextualize our research findings. We synthesized insights from diverse sources, such as studies by linguistic anthropologists such as H. Samy Alim. His work on hip-hop cultures and language politics informed our theoretical framework. For instance, Alim’s study, “Global linguistic flows: Hip hop cultures, youth identities, and the politics of language” (2009), provided valuable perspectives on the cultural dynamics found within hip-hop language. Our data from impromptu rap battles, contrived lyrics, and scholarly literature, seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of the impact of hegemonic language in hip-hop culture.

Results and Analysis

First, the research focused on oppressive language within impromptu rap battles by analyzing, “XXL Freshmen Cypher”. These performances are notorious for hosting up-and-coming rappers to display their talent. In 2016, 21 Savage took to his part and freestyled, “Pulled up on your bitch, she suck my dick, and then you kiss her,” to which Lil Uzi Vert immediately reacts with “Goddamn” (XXL, 2016, 02:43). 21 Savage’s line appears to be a homophobic diss, mocking the woman’s partner for “technically” kissing 21 Savage’s genitals. The swift positive reactions from other rappers allowed 21 Savage to continue his verse, albeit without revisiting the subject of homophobia and inadvertently perpetuating misogyny.

Denzel Curry, Lil Yacthy, and Lil Uzi Vert’s reactions to 21 Savage’s line (XXL, 2016, 02:44).

Through further exploration of homophobic and misogynistic word use, this example provides us insight into the strategies used to be successful in a hip-hop battle: “Okay, let’s start out with Deray, ‘cause he’s gay. Fuck that. Let’s talk about his dreads. He got those on eBay” (D-Wreck, et. al., 2013, 16:51). We can see how Rocky utilizes strategies such as homophobia and classism to make his opponent inferior. A line as simple as “let’s start out with Deray, ‘cause he’s gay,” elicits a positive response from the audience highlighting the success of using oppressive language. Homophobia is consistently weaponized to put one into a superior position thus insinuating that being gay is inferior. Rocky’s comment regarding Deray getting his dreads on eBay also suggests an element of classism. It seems that buying a potentially second-hand or cheaper item is framed with negative connotations. Another lyrical device used in rap battles is the assimilation with expensive items and its association with dominance. Overall, we can see in this example how A$AP Rocky attempts to emasculate his opponent and reinforce his status through homophobic and classist language.

It is apparent that these themes are used in lyrical hip-hop just as often as in rap battles. Moreover, their use is employed purposefully in both cases: to boost their status as well as put others down. For example, a lyric from Lil Wayne’s aptly named “Gonorrhea” reads “Life’s a bitch, naw, better yet a dumb broad” (Wayne, L, 2010, 00:55). This line demonstrates misogynistic language, taking a common phrase and using it to demean women by stating, “dumb broad”. This is but one instance of a common pattern in hip hop in which word choice is key in the development and maintenance of an idea of one’s “higher status”. Ultimately, this device and use of gendered language found within lyrics about contracting a venereal disease from a woman is used to reinforce the notion that Lil Wayne is better than the peripheral women in his life.

Discussion and Conclusion

The prevalent use of oppressive language within hip-hop songs and impromptu freestyle battles suggests how artists can establish a sense of dominance through oppressive language. The language not only embodies a quest for victory but upholds existing power structures. In cases where gendered and homophobic language is weaponized, we are able to see the reinforcement of the cis-heteropatriarchy—functioning to frame femininity and homosexuality as non-normative behavior. With those who use hegemonic and oppressive language in these spaces generally being cisgender straight men, achieving dominance can be seen as authenticating one’s masculinity. Therefore, through our sample of data, we are able to see themes such as misogyny, homophobia, and classism present in hip-hop culture. These themes ultimately manifest in oppressive ways through the use of hegemonic language which uphold notions of existing hierarchies.

Footnotes

¹ An ideological system that naturalizes normative views of what it means to ‘look’ and ‘act’ like a ‘straight’ man and marginalizes women, femininity, and all gender non-conforming bodies that challenge the gender binary, i.e., how cis-heteropatriarchal structures are formed and maintained (Alim 2018).

² An umbrella term meant to encompass language that frames another individual as inferior, while reinforcing the others status in a social context e.g. sexist, homophobic, and classist language.

References

Alim, H. S., Ibrahim, A., & Pennycook, A. (2009). That’s All Concept; It’s Nothing Real: Reality and Lyrical Meaning in Rap. Global linguistic flows: Hip hop cultures, youth identities, and the politics of language. (pp. 195-212). Routledge.

Alim, H. S., Lee, J., Carris, L. M., & Williams, Q. E. (2018). Linguistic creativity and the production of cisheteropatriarchy: A comparative analysis of improvised rap battles in Los Angeles and Cape Town. Language Sciences, 65, 58–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2017.02.004

Dundes, A., Leach, J. W., & Özkök, B. (1970). The Strategy of Turkish Boys’ Verbal Dueling Rhymes. The Journal of American Folklore, 83(329), 325–349. https://doi.org/10.2307/538809

D-Wreck, DJ. Hodges, M. (Producers). (2013). A$AP Rocky [Video]. PlutoTV. https://pluto.tv/en/on-demand/series/5d4c7f8a93192d923dce9f0b/season/5/episode/5d4c7 f8d93192d923dce9f9d?utm_medium=textsearch&utm_source=google

Kearny, Christine. “Guns and Drugs? Some Rappers Inflate Hustler Image.” Reuters, June 5, 2009. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-rap-image/guns-and-drugs-some-rappers-inflate- hustler-image-idUKTRE55404G20090605.

Wayne, L. (2010). Gonorrhea [Song]. On I Am Not A Human Being [Album]. Cash Money Records Inc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBQwlYWcUBc

XXL. (2016, July 6). Kodak Black, 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty & Denzel Curry’s 2016 XXL Freshmen Cypher [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_IbIMUbh-k

hegemonic language, hip-hop, homophobia, music