User:ArushiBhatia321/Prestige (sociolinguistics)

Edits to Intro
The presence of prestige dialects is caused by the correlation between the prestige of a group of people and the language that they use vs. the language or variety that is regarded as more prestigious in that community. The level of prestige a group has can also influence whether the language that they speak is considered a dialect/variety (which implies that it is somewhat subordinate) or its own separate language.

Social class is correlated with what language is considered more prestigious, and studies in different communities have shown that sometimes members of a lower social class attempt to emulate the language of individuals in higher social classes to avoid how their natural language would construct their identity. The relationship between language and identity construction influences the language used by different genders.

Sociolinguistic prestige is especially visible in situations where two or more distinct languages are in use, and in diverse, socially stratified urban areas, in which there are likely to be speakers of different languages and/or dialects interacting frequently. The results of language contact depends on the power relationship between the interacting languages.

Edits to Standard Varieties and Covert Prestige
Linguist Rosina Lippi-Green believes that this belief in a standard language defends and rationalizes the preservation of the social order, since it equates "nonstandard" or "substandard" language with "nonstandard or substandard human beings

Edits to Gender and Covert Prestige
Though women use prestige dialects more frequently than do men, the same gender preference for prestige languages does not seem to exist. A study of diglossic societies by John Angle and Sharlene Hesse-Biber showed that the poorer men were more likely to speak the prestige language than were poorer women, even though women were more particularly "drawn to the language of the rich." One explanation put forth for this is that poorer men are more likely to have the means of acquiring a second language than poorer women as a result of having "greater exposure" and "greater economic motivation."

Adding Walt Wolfram Documentary
Wolfram further emphasizes this in his PBS documentary "Do You Speak American?", and explains how there is a very clear hierarchy in which "modern American English" is at the top, and African-American Vernacular English is at the bottom, because AAVE has never been considered as a “standard” English for academic purposes.

Role of Education System (adding this paragraph)
The education system is one of the primary emphasizers of the idea of a "standard" way of speaking. For example, Wolfram's documentary also shows how speakers of AAVE are often corrected by teachers since it is marked, and deviates from what has been deemed the "standard." Criticism of AAVE in schools by teachers not only insults the students that speak AAVE, but those insults also puts the people who taught these students how to speak in a subordinate position. In schools around the world that teach English, speaking "proper" English is emphasized, even if other varieties are still equally valid and able to communicate the same ideas. In a school in Mumbai, India, there is a large emphasis placed on speaking "good English." Thus, proficiency is not determined by ability to convey ideas, but rather the grammatical adherence of the speaker to the rules used in the "standard" English variety, and speaking English that way. By nature, this is a very prescriptivist way of teaching a language, and "suggest[s] that children who do not speak *SAE will find acceptance and validation in the schools." This not only perpetuates the idea of a "correct" way of speaking in the classroom, but this subordination extends well outside of the classroom.

Added paragraph about prestige in Spain (Latinx speakers)
An example of this was also observed in a study in Madrid, Spain, where Latinx Spanish-speakers noticed that certain features of their Spanish were evaluated negatively by local speakers. Spanish spoken in Latin American countries have linguistic differences from the way many locals in Madrid speak. Their use of Latin American Spanish is associated with “symbolic and monetary capital (such as social class and ethnicity).” The study asserted that “To be accepted, therefore, the speakers have to “correct” these “errors” and “adapt” to the local variety of Spanish, which is considered the model to follow. In other words, to be acknowledged as full participants in their respective communities, these participants have to sound like locals.” Thus, there is an association between how Latinx individuals in Spain are viewed as a lower prestige group in comparison to local Spaniards due to prescribed social class and ethnicity, and the way that Latin American Spanish is acknowledged.

Chun article
In a study by Elaine Chun, it was noted that even though the use of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is not viewed as the standard in many American schools, and thus is often corrected by teachers, there are some instances where non-African Americans use AAVE to construct their identity in a particular way and enjoy covert prestige in the African American speech community. The study pointed out that "mainstream uses of AAVE 'slang' are especially prevalent in social circles that desire to create and project a heterosexual masculinity," and included examples of a Korean-American student using AAVE to gain recognition/acceptance in the African American speech community. This underscores that the relative status of language varies according to audience.

Prestige in media
Many films and TV shows (especially children's TV shows) use different language varieties for different characters, which constructs their identity in particular ways. For example, in the Disney movie Aladdin, the main "good characters" (Aladdin, Jasmine, and Jasmine's father) have American accents, whereas the villains all have heavy Arab accents. This can have negative implications, as this is especially seen in many children's TV shows/movies, and by perpetuating this idea early on, it can result in the formation of stereotypes and biases.