2. INSTRODUCTION
"In the United States of
America (or England, or
India, or Australia),they
speak English."
Although this statement is true, it is only a half truth, and understanding
the other half of the truth is essential for any language arts teacher.
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3. 3
like any other living language, something that varies considerably depending on
one's regional background, social class and network, ethnicity, gender, age, and
style, to name only the most salient dimensions.
Understanding and recognizing such variation is essential for
language arts and second and foreign language teachers.
4. “
The study of regional dialects
- varieties of a language
which are spoken in different
geographical areas -
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REGIONAL VARIATION
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Dialect maps and isoglosses
Reed (1977, p. 99; drawing on data in Kurath,
1949, Fig. 125) did for the northeastern variants
of cottage cheese in the United States
The lines separating the areas in which each
variant is used (Dutch cheese, pot cheese and
smearcase) are called isoglosses
7. the isoglosses separate the
northern dialect area, in
which pail, faucet, skunk, and
merry Christmas! are used,
from the Midland and South
dialect areas, in which bucket,
spicket, polecat, and
Christmas gift! are used,
respectively.
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8. Figure 4 further separates the
North, Midland, and South
dialect areas of the eastern
United States, and their
subdivisions, without
indicating the specific
features upon which the
divisions are based.
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9. PHONOLOGICAL ISOGLOSSE
dialects can be
distinguished by their
phonological features or
pronunciations too
It shows the distribution
of postvocalic /r/
the pronunciation of /r/
after a vowel,
In England (B), it is
prestigious to "drop your
r's"; in New York City (A),
it is not.
.
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10. COMBINATIONS OF FEATURES
Pronunciation: The /r/ is
pronounced gutturally
Lexis: The numerals septante
and nonante correspond to
French soixante-dix ("seventy")
quatre-vingts ("eighty")
Syntax: Avoir is followed by an
adjective
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Why do regional dialects arise?
Geography
• the dialects of the two
separated populations will,
over time, drift apart
Other
Factors
• political boundaries,
settlement patterns, migration
and immigration routes,
territorial conquest, and
language contact.
12. CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS AND EXERCISES INVOLVING
REGIONAL DIALECTS
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Viewing and discussing films which discuss or exemplify
regional dialect differences
for English dialect differences worldwide), investigating
dialect differences in the classroom and the
surrounding community
noting regional variants encountered in literature or in
travel to other regions.
Interesting
Classroom
Exercises
