Definition and Examples of Diglossia (Sociolinguistics)

In sociolinguistics, diglossia is  a situation in which two distinct varieties of a language are spoken within the same speech community. Bilingual diglossia is a type of diglossia in which one language variety  is used for writing and another for speech. When people are bidialectal, they can use two dialects of the same language, based on their surroundings or different contexts where they use one or the other language variety.  The term  diglossia  (from the Greek for  speaking two languages) was first used in English by linguist Charles Ferguson in 1959. Diction Versus Diglossia Diglossia is more involved than just switching between levels of diction in the same language, such as going from slang or texting shortcuts to writing up a formal paper for a class or report for a business. Its more than being able to use a languages  vernacular. Diglossia, in a strict definition, is distinct in that the high version of a language isnt used for ordinary conversation and has no native speakers. Examples include the differences between standard and Egyptian Arabic; Greek; and Haitian Creole.   In the classic diglossic situation, two varieties of a language, such as standard French and Haitian  creole  French, exist alongside each other in a single society, explains author Robert Lane Greene. Each variety has its own fixed functions—one a high, prestigious variety, and one a low, or  colloquial, one. Using the wrong variety in the wrong situation would be socially inappropriate, almost on the level of delivering the BBCs nightly news in broad  Scots. He continues the explanation: Children learn the low variety as a native language; in diglossic cultures, it is the language of home, the family, the streets and marketplaces, friendship, and solidarity. By contrast, the high variety is spoken by few or none as a first language. It must be taught in school. The high variety is used for public speaking, formal lectures  and  higher education, television broadcasts, sermons, liturgies, and writing. (Often the low variety has no written form.) (You Are What You Speak. Delacorte, 2011) Author Ralph W. Fasold takes this last aspect a bit further, explaining that people are taught the high (H) level in school, studying its grammar and rules of usage, which they then apply to the low (L) level as well when speaking. However, he notes, In many diglossic communities, if speakers are asked, they will tell you L has no grammar, and that L speech is the result of the failure to follow the rules of H grammar (Introduction to Sociolinguistics: The Sociolinguistics of Society, Basil Blackwell, 1984). The high language also has more intense grammar—more inflections, tenses, and/or forms than the low version.   Neither is diglossia always as benign as a community that just  happens  to have two languages, one for law and one for chatting personally. Autor Ronald Wardhaugh, in An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, notes, It is used to assert  social  position and to keep people in their place, particularly those at the lower end of the social hierarchy (2006). Different Definition of Diglossia   Other definitions of diglossia dont require the social aspect to be present and just concentrate on the plurality, the different languages for different contexts. For example, Catalan (Barcelona) and Castillian (Spain as a whole) Spanish, dont have a social hierarchy to their usage but are regional. The versions of Spanish have enough overlap that they can be understood by speakers of each but are different languages. The same applies to  Swiss German and standard German; they are regional. In a bit wider definition of diglossia, it can also include  social dialects, even if the languages are not  completely separate, distinct languages. In the United States,  speakers of dialects such as Ebonics (African American Vernacular English, AAVE),  Chicano English  (ChE), and Vietnamese English (VE) also function in a diglossic environment. Some people argue that Ebonics has its own grammar and appears related in lineage to Creole languages spoken by enslaved people of the Deep South (African languages melding with English), but others disagree, saying that its not a separate language but just a dialect.   In this wider definition of diglossia,  the two languages can also borrow words from each other.

The New Career Path for Headmasters - Then and Now

The route to the headmasters office has changed. Once upon a time, the headmaster, often referred to as the head of a school, was almost certainly somebody with teaching and administrative experience. Better yet, he or she was an alumnus or an alumna - an old boy or an old girl, well connected and respected within the community. However, in an increasingly competitive marketplace with higher expectations placed on schools, the profile of the head of school is changing. To be sure, its a gradual change. But its a change nonetheless, and its occurring because the challenges facing a head of school these days require experiences and skill sets not usually found in a person who is first and foremost an educator. The Way It Used to Be For years, the way to the top of the private school organization chart was through the hallowed halls of academe. You graduated from college with a degree in your subject. You were engaged as a teacher, coached your team sport, kept your nose clean, married acceptably, raised some children of your own, became dean of students, and after 15 or 20 years you were in the running for head of school. Most of the time that worked just fine. You knew the drill, understood the clientele, accepted the curriculum, made a few changes, tweaked the faculty appointments ever so slightly, steered clear of controversy, and magically, there you were: receiving a nice check and being put out to pasture after 20 years or so as head of school. The Way It Is Now Life got complicated in 90s, however. Years ago, it used to be that the head could run his school simply by looking out his office window and observing what was going on. A periodic look in at the faculty lounge and an occasional meeting with alumni and parents to raise some money - it all was pretty straightforward. Even a bit dull. Not any more. The head of a private school in the new millennium has to have the executive ability of Fortune 1000 executive, the diplomatic skills of Ban Ki-moon and the vision of Bill Gates. S/he has to deal with substance abuse. S/he has to be politically correct. His graduates have to get into the right colleges. He has to raise millions for this project and that. He has to sort through legal issues which would numb the mind of a Philadelphia lawyer. He needs the diplomatic skills of an ambassador to deal with parents. His technology infrastructure costs a fortune and doesnt seem to have improved teaching at all. On top of all this, his admissions department now has to compete for students with several other schools which years ago could hardly be considered the competition if they existed at all. CEO vs Educator Many people first acknowledged this shift in  the summer of 2002, when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City surprised the masses by  appointing a lawyer/executive with no formal educational administrative training as Chancellor of the New York City schools. As CEO of the Bertelsmann, Inc. media conglomerate, Joel I. Klein brought vast business experience to that most complicated of assignments. His appointment served as a wake up call to the educational establishment as a whole that new and imaginative approaches to school administration are needed. This was only the first step in what soon became a rapidly changing environment.   Private schools shifted from viewing themselves solely as academic institutions to operating under dual roles: schools and businesses. The academic side of operations continues to grow and flourish with the changing times, often faster than the business side of these elite institutions. However, heads have begun to acknowledge the need for augmented admission offices to recruit students, development offices to raise money to support school operations, and business offices to better manage the daily financial needs of schools and their communities. The need for strong marketing and communications has also become apparent, and continues to grow rapidly, with schools employing large offices of skilled professionals working to develop new target audience.   The new heads role isnt to simply ensure that everything plugs along in terms of day to day tasks. But rather, the new head is responsible for leading a powerful group of professionals who are working to ensure that the school thrives in difficult and at times, downright volatile market conditions. While the head isnt expected to know how to do everything, he or she is expected to provide clear and concise goals and strategic vision.   The biggest, and often hardest change for many to swallow is the need to  see families as customers and not only as parents of students with malleable minds which need solid training, nurturing and direction for success in later life.  Ã‚   Characteristics to Look for Choosing the right head is critical part of moving your school successfully through changing circumstances and financial tough times. Given the large number of constituencies within a school community you will need to find a strategic leader and consensus builder. A good head listens well. S/he understands the widely differing needs of parents, faculty and students, yet demands the partnership and cooperation of all three groups to accomplish his educational goals. S/he is a skilled sales person who has a solid grip on the facts and can articulate them convincingly. Whether s/he is raising money, speaking at a seminar in his area of expertise or addressing a faculty meeting, s/he represents and sells the school to everybody s/he encounters. A good head is a leader and an exemplar. His vision is clear and well thought out. His moral values are above reproach. A good head manages effectively. S/he delegates to others and holds them accountable. A good head doesnt have to prove himself. He knows what is required and accomplishes it. Hire a Search Firm The reality is that to find this person, you may have to spend some money and hire a search firm to identify suitable candidates. Appoint a search committee which can include trustees as well as representatives from your school community such as a student, a faculty member and an administrator. The search committee will vet the applicants and present a candidate for the board of trustees approval. Hiring a new headmaster is a process. It takes time. If you do it right, you have charted a path for success. Get it wrong and the results could be just the opposite.

Essay on Multiple Voices in Morrisons Song of Solomon

The Significance of Multiple Voices in Morrisons Song of Solomon Of the various manifestations of voice that participate in the interplay of voices in Song of Solomon, I would like to name three - the narrative voice, the signifying voice, and the responsive voice - each of which is dialogized within itself and in relation to the others. In the opening scene of the novel, the third-person omniscient narrative voice [emphasis added] informs us that at the time of day that Mr. Smith plans to fly from the roof of Mercy Hospital, word-of-mouth news just lumbered along (3). This phrase not only encodes the black vernacular but also immediately directs the readers attention to the cultural, communicative process by†¦show more content†¦Thus, their act of negation is simultaneously a critique of racist politics and an affirmation of their ability to resist these politics through the power of the word, through their collective voice. All of this information prepares the reader for the significance of Milkmans birth at the hospital that had previously had a whites-only policy. To read this phrase dialogically then, is to hear it in the context of the heteroglossic historical, cultural, and political voices that create it.27 The narrative voice creates distance at the same time that it is infused with the same everyda y language - the vernacular - that it foregrounds through the voices of the characters in the crowd. But within this crowd is Pilate, who is initially introduced as the woman who suddenly burst into song (5). Her voice not only disrupts the gaze of the crowd at the spectacle of Mr. Smith, who is poised for flight, but also introduces her as an alternative narrative voice, whose story in the song prompts the crowd to listen as though it were the helpful and defining piano music in a silent movie (6). At this early point in the novel, however, the reader has no way of knowing that this song will become the narrative thread of the novel. It is only near the end of theShow MoreRelated Essay on Flight in Song of Solomon1579 Words   |  7 PagesTheme of Flight in Song of Solomon    Clearly, the significant silences and the stunning absences throughout Morrisons texts become profoundly political as well as stylistically crucial. Morrison describes her own work as containing holes and spaces so the reader can come into it (Tate 125), testament to her rejection of theories that privilege j the author over the reader. Morrison disdains such hierarchies in which the reader as participant in the text is ignored: My writing expects, demandsRead MoreToni Morrison and Historical Memory5014 Words   |  21 Pagesliterature for African-Americans that enables them to remember their history from slavery to the present. Toni Morrison has been called Americas national author and is often compared with great dominant culture authors such as William Faulkner. Morrisons fiction is valued not only for its entertainment, but through her works, she has presented African-Americans a literature in which their own heritage and history are truthfully disclosed. However, Morrison does not record factual history instead

Trans Atlantic Trade free essay sample

The route went from Europe to Africa, Africa to the New World, and then the New World to Europe again. This route was used for slave trade with Africa and was used for centuries. Africans allowed this trade of slaves because the people being sent away were their rivals. Tribes that participated in the trading used their war captives as the people they traded; it was a win-win situation in their eyes. They were able to get their enemy males farther away and get luxury goods out of the deal. This trade between Europe and Africa took place all throughout the 1 5th to 1 9th centuries. Over time the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade had an enormous negative affect for Africa allowing a demographic toll in its States, left the country unstable politically/economically and socially different.Africa was left in much confusion and was very vulnerable in the centuries to come. Africa faced a demographic toll as many as sixteen million total Africans were transported to the New World over time. We will write a custom essay sample on Trans Atlantic Trade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But the shocking facts are how it grew so rapidly in the matter of five centuries. In the 15th through the 16th centuries a total of two thousand slaves were transported, then is the 1 7th century twenty thousand, in the 18th century was the height of the amount of people being transported at the amount of fifty five thousand.As time went and the products coming from the New World were being enjoyed and had a higher demand causing a demand for more slaves. Out of the sixteen million Africans transported only twenty-five percent of them died in the middle assuage, which is approximately two million of Africans died. Losing so many people lead to a demographic disaster in Africa and hurt Africa greatly. As Walter Rodney states The decisiveness of the short period of colonialism and its negative consequences for Africa spring mainly from the fact that Africa lost power.Power is the ultimate determinant in human society, being basic to the relations within any group and between groups. It implies the ability to defend ones interests and if necessary to impose ones wil l by any means available. In relations between peoples, the question of power determines invulnerability in bargaining, the extent to which a people survive as a physical and cultural entity. When one society finds itself forced to relinquish power entirely to another society that in itself is a form of underdevelopment. 1 Africa was left with a demographic toll that would leave them to struggle to stay modernized even to this day. Africa having lost millions of people then had to face social changes. They had to reconstruct their relations and traditional values. They developed a regression as whole societies were destroyed, communities relocated away from slave trade routes, and racism began. Europeans looked down at Africans from the beginning by the way they looked. They thought their skin was black because they worked in the sun all day and the sun made peoples skin darker so they deserve the hard labor intensive work. The Europeans saw the slaves as UN- human and just property. This is the beginning of what we call racism. Africa was politically becoming decentralized and leadership rigid. Violence breaks out all over Africa as the majority of the Africans that were traded were the reductive fourteen to thirty-five men and Europe demands more. Even the economy suffered!The economy was hindered since Africa pulled back from trading and had to focus all energy to hide and defend themselves from the Europeans.