Introduction
American Tongues is a sociolinguistic documentary produced and directed by Andrew Kolker and Louis Alvarez in 1988. This documentary examines the American English accents and dialects as well as perceptions thereof. Rich in regional color and humor, this hilarious film uses language prism to disclose our attitudes about how other individuals speak. From Black Louisiana teenagers to Boston Brahmins, from New York professionals to Texas cowboys, American Tongues bring about funny, perceptive, at times shocking, and continuously telling comments on the American English in entirely its diversity.
People have feelings/beliefs/attitudes about the language in general, language of the other individuals, and their language. Some people may feel ashamed when the others hear their language. They may also feel that national language is actually the best language for patriotism expression, the best opportunity at improving the future of their children, or the best way to become employed (Garrett, 37). Therefore, language attitudes are feelings that individuals have about the language varieties of the others or their own language diversity.
After watching the film, I identified various types of attitudes towards diverse regional English. One kind of attitude present in the film is Molly Ivins on prejudice against the southern accent. The other kind is the Northerner’s attitude to “Southern brogue,” the importance of darlin,’ and the attitude by the Yalie girl to the Southern accent of her boyfriend. Moreover, the Southerner and Northerners’ attitudes to /æ/- /ay/ variable are presented in the film. Another type of attitude that I identified in the American Tongues film is the attitude of a Southern woman to how they speak in North. Finally yet importantly, there is the attitude of Mike Hardin to New York accent. Actually, I was aware of some kinds of the above attitudes before I saw the movie.
As a Chinese international student, I have experienced some positive reactions from the people who are close to me to the way I speak English as somebody born outside U.S. and who English is the second language. In a number of occasions, these individuals have praised the way I have improved my English language. A number of my family members and fellow Chinese students have also experienced exceptional reactions to how they speak English in U.S. However, I have experienced some negative reactions to how I speak English in a number of occasions. These negative reactions were from numerous schoolmates who laughed at me after they heard me talking English on some occasions.
In the China where I grew up, there are various diverse regional accents due to the high number of foreigners present. Some foreigners normally feel ashamed when others hear them speaking Chinese. Some of the non-Chinese individuals who I have associated with believe that they can only understand a single language at time. It is worrying to note that most of them fear speaking the Chinese language because of the negative attitudes that my fellow Chinese hold towards their accent. This situation is similar to the one that I saw in the movie because all of them are negative attitudes. However, I think this situation is not similar to the one in present-day America. Because the present day America contains a high number of foreigners, many Americans do not show negative attitudes to the accent of these foreigners. Back in my country, I experienced various accents and a number of Chinese nationals who demonstrated their negatives attitudes to these accents through some behaviors such as avoiding them.
Works cited
Garrett, Peter. Attitudes to Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Alvarez, Louis, and Andrew Kolker. "csuf_player." University Extended Education, California State University, Fullerton. N.P., 1988. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://distance-ed.fullerton.edu/bbpresentations/barbara_erickson/american_tongues/player.html>.
