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Brandon McLeod

FL 665 Sociolinguistic and Sociocultural Perspectives in Language


Dr. Burnett
1 June 2015
SLP 1

Unit 1
o Reflection
o Savannah Homecoming

At the start of the documentary, the two women in Savannah Homecoming had similar
concerns regarding their sense of place. Both women felt that where they were was not where
they belonged. Alice felt like she should return to her birthplace to give birth to her own child.
Flora, due to the harsh conditions in which she lived, was not sure if she should abandon the life
she had chosen to return to her birthplace. Both women felt the pull of duty when making their
decisions. Alice believed it necessary that her child be born in the place of her ancestors. Flora
did not want to give up the husband she loved. In these ways, the women were very similar.
There were differences, however.
Flora was born in the city and chose a life in the country. Then, unhappy with the
extremely difficult life and missing her family, she became conflicted over whether or not she
should leave her husband and the life she thought she wanted for the one that she gave up in
order to get married. She no longer knew where she belonged. It seems, however, that after her
trip to see her family, she realized that she had made the decision that was right for her after all.
She did not desire to stay in the city, but stated that she felt, even with the many hardships, like a
part of the culture that she had adopted.

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Alice, similarly, left her home for a life in a new culture. Unlike Flora, she chose a life in
the city over a life in the country. Though she claimed that she was raising her children in the
culture of their ancestors, there seemed to be some tension over exactly what that meant. For
example, her son was unable to respond in the language of his grandmother. Additionally, her
aunt jokingly insisted that she should have the baby out in nature on the family property, and not
in the hospital, if she really wanted to honor her culture. Lastly, she named the baby after a TV
character, with her mothers name as the middle name. It appears that Alice, though she still feels
rather connected to her family and birthplace, and she says she will raise her children in the ways
of her ancestors, is becoming more and more a part of the city culture. As with the name of her
child, the ancestral culture was taking the proverbial backseat to the new culture.
In the end, the way one honors their culture is highly personal. What is traditional and
required for one (Alices aunt, for example) may not be necessary for another. Furthermore, both
women had adapted and become part of new cultures. How they express themselves in those
communities is, in part, resultant from how they perceive those cultures as both insiders and
outsiders (in other words, their etic and emic perspectives).
o Iceberg Analogy
I think the iceberg analogy is an apt description of the easily observed culture practices
and the more implicit reasoning, beliefs, and standards that underlie those practices. It is quite
similar to Patrick Morans 5-point cultural model featuring the different dimensions of culture:
products, practices, perspectives, persons, and community (Moran, 2001, p. 36). The visible
manifestations of culture would be products, some practices, and some communities (race,
gender, religion). Practices can also fall into the implicit categories of culture, in so much that it
includes taboos (like the example taboo from the iceberg website). The same is true for

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communities, which may not be apparent to the casual observer (for instance, a member of a
secret society). Perspectives would be part of the under the water section of the iceberg.
Persons, as individuals, if staying with the iceberg analogy, would each be an iceberg, and
culture would be a cluster of icebergs. Perhaps a more fitting analogy, in this regard would be an
ant bed.
The top of an ant bed (the visible part) would be the same as in the iceberg analogy. The
part of the ant bed that is not visible (without digging), likewise, corresponds to the under water
portion of the iceberg. The main improvement in this model is the inclusion of ants (persons).
Each culture is made up of an innumerable amount of individuals that have their own
communities, practices, and products (analogous to drones, queens, and worker ants).
o Student Resources
I especially enjoyed the Internationalization at home video featuring Maria Luisa Sierra
Huedo. Having taught in a foreign language context (as opposed to my current second language
context) I can appreciate the need for developing programs to help students progress into being
global citizens, and, specifically within the foreign language context, aiding the students in their
acquisition of the language through a connection with the culture. It is not limited only to the
second/foreign language context, however. At my current university, there are numerous
programs to help develop interculturalism among the student bodyespecially for those who
cannot afford study abroad. There is a large international festival (about 20,000 attendees), which
allows the different international groups on campus to showcase their cultures in a friendly
atmosphere. This spring there was a Holi festival. There are international film events,
international coffee hour, language and culture clubs, and conversation partners.

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Other universities are taking an even more proactive approach. I remember looking into
Elon University, which, in addition to the kinds of programs listed above, hopes to have 100% of
the student body participate in study abroad (long-term and short-term) in the coming years. To
ensure that each student has this great opportunity, they are offering financial assistance for the
students who would not typically be able to pay for a study abroad opportunity.

Unit 2
o Reflection
o Mainstream America

Being the kind of person who is attracted to other cultures, and who has worked to
cultivate a global mindset, I find it very difficult to empathize with those like the elderly white
man in the video. I understand well the roots of his fears and intolerance. I was, after all, raised
in the Deep South. My parents can easily recall race riots (my father was in high school during
integration). It is not uncommon to hear people talk about the neighborhood going downhill.
Like some others of their generation, exposure has helped my parents become more open-minded
and accepting of other cultures. It was not so long ago, that I heard my father echoing the
negative sentiments about their neighborhood. When they bought the house (which my
grandfather built), they had no idea that it would be a transition neighborhood. Now, they are
one of the few white families, and the area is full of Black, Latino/Latina, and Asian residents.
For what was probably the first time in their lives, they have a Black family living next door.
Additionally, there is a Vietnamese family that attends their church. These influences have truly
helped my parents become more open to other cultures and communities. My mother will now
only get her nails done at the Vietnamese familys businesseven though they do a terrible job.
Additionally, the father next door is a bank branch manager, which was the same as my fathers
position before he retired almost ten years ago. In many ways, now that these people are allowed

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more equality, the majority community (my parents included) is viewing them as equals. The
kind of talk about the neighborhood going down no longer exists in my parents household. They
still want to sell the house, but it has nothing to do with the phenomenon of white flight. They
only want to live closer to my sister and their grandchildren (in another city). Like the city in the
documentary, many U.S. cities are transitioning to being multiethnic, multicultural places
where tolerance is not a vague virtue regarding people from another place, but a practice that is
necessary for daily life.
o Three Lists of American Values
The lists were interesting in many ways, especially how certain values were perceived
half a century ago versus more recently. Ones that particularly stuck out to me were the ideas of
self-help and egalitarianism. It is often said in the U.S. that people must pull themselves up
by their own bootstraps, but equality of opportunity (which was on one of the lists) is something
that does not, and did not, exist. In past decades, minorities were (and many still are)
discriminated against in employment. Indeed, The American Dream, the ability to make
something of yourself through hard work is much more fantasy than reality. The Economic
Policy Institute reported, University of California at Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez
estimates that between 2009 and 2012, the top 1 percent captured 95 percent of total income
growth (Sommeiller and Price, 2015). With 99% of the population dividing up the remaining
5% of income growth (and most of that going to the top 10%), The American Dream is not so
much a fable of how one can make it, but a fairy tale. Similarly, in Hsus list, it was stated that
men and women are equal, but even in 2015, women make significantly less than men for the
same position with the same qualifications (even with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act).
o Tribal Wives

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Though the woman was only within the community for one month, which is a very short
time, she seemed to really start to feel and embrace (and was embraced by) her surrogate culture.
The experience would be wholly different, however, if she intended to stay within the culture for
much longer (or for life). Since it was only one month, it was, in many ways, like a vacation. The
end was always within sight. If she had difficulties, she knew it would be over in about 4 weeks
or less. Additionally, the (likely British) camera crew could have provided some sort of cultural
reassurance during tough times. In the end, I feel like these sorts of intercultural experiences are
beneficial for all involved. No, it is not full immersion or acculturation, but it fosters
understanding and acceptance in both the host culture and the guest.
o What the World Values
The most interesting thing about this chart was the clusters. English-speaking countries
were clustered together, as were Protestant European and Catholic European countries. It is
interesting because it suggests something about those countries cultures that groups them
together in a much broader way than income seemed to.
o Stand Up Planet
I was unable to get the Stand Up Planet link to work. So, I went to the Stand Up Planet
website, but I did not know which chapter I was supposed to watch. In the end, I watched
chapters 1, 2, and 4. The first chapter contained the introduction to the show and the first comic,
and American with Haitian and Jamaican descent. Chapter two featured a South African comic,
who talked a lot about the post-apartheid changes that he experienced as a child. I especially
enjoyed, in chapter four, the Indian comic Aditis analysis of the differences between U.S. and
Indian cities planning and concepts of personal space. It is interesting to see the difference and
similarities in joke material for the people from the various countries. One thing struck me,

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however, and that was that both featured comics came from former British colonies and both
were fluent in English. In these regards, they have some connection with the English speaking
community whom they are addressing. I wonder how the shows would have been performed if
the comics did not speak English. Would they translate the jokes first? Would they have a
translator or supertitles? Even if they are translated in words, would the humor translate?
o What Kids Eat for Breakfast Around the World
I think one of the best lessons that U.S. parents can learn from this is that children can
and will eat whatever is normal for them. It does not have to be sugary cereal for children to
want to eat it. Finding healthy breakfast food is something that is very difficult for me in the
U.S. My wife and I have settled on shredded wheat, served in non-fat Greek yogurt, with fresh
fruit, nuts, and chia seeds served on top.
o American Kids Eat Breakfasts from Around the World
In this video, I was happy to see that the children chosen reflected a lot of the ethnic
diversity in the United States. Even though they were all from the U.S., and they had different
cultural backgrounds, they shared common experiences, tastes, and preferences. One reason for
this is that they appear to be of very similar socio-economic origins as well as geographic origin.
These similarities, in many ways, prevailed over the visible differences in ethnic background.
This video would have been quite different if they had children from all of the major regions of
the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii).
o Australians Taste American Junk Food
I could not get this one to work in Blackboard so I searched Google for it. I could not find
one with the exact same title as the one in BB, but I was able to find one called Australians
React To American Junk Food. Given that they are virtually identical, I think it is a safe

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substitute. The Australians in the video had very similar tastes to many people within the U.S.
However, I think it is beneficial to point out that Australia and the U.S. are very similar countries
and the people in the video were heterogeneous. Additionally, even if they do not have
Butterfingers or the other candies specifically, they do have very similar junk food in Australia,
so it is not such a shocking difference. Moreover, one of the participants stated that Butterfingers
would be good on McFlurries, another U.S. junk food.
o Eastern versus Western Behaviors in Pictographs
This website reminds me a lot of those guidebook suggestions. If I remember correctly,
there was a mention of this problem in the Chaika text. While these travel guidelines can be
useful for helping travelers or new expats from committing faux pas, they should be taken with
a grain of salt. It is easy to see something like this and stereotype all Chinese (or any country
for that matter) people as being this certain way or that way, when the people of that country
often come from incredibly diverse ethnic backgrounds. Prior to the Khans, China was a
disconnected group of different ethnic cultures with their own languages, food ways, and culture
practices. Even incredibly heterogeneous countries like Japan came from various smaller groups
being absorbed by a larger (or stronger) military power (e.g. the Ainu and the Okinawans).
o Stereotypes; The French and Americans
I always find lists like this to be a bit counterproductive. Americans, French, or whoever
is lumped together in a group. It removes the individual from the equation. Additionally, the U.S.
has over 300 million people whose families came from all over the world in addition to the
Native Americans. France, similarly, is incredibly diverse. Though I fundamentally disagree with
the broad brush strokes used to describe the cultures, they are still interesting to read. I was
intrigued by the French Be good, versus the U.S. Have fun. I have often felt the same way

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regarding the Japanese Do your best, versus the U.S. Good luck. Good luck implies that it is
out of ones own control. Do your best, implies that you must work hard (the literal translation of
ganbatte is an instruction to persevere).
o World Wise Schools Lesson Plans
These lesson plans are quite interesting. I love how so many of them are catered to
incorporate the cultural backgrounds of the students. It is an important aspect of teaching that is
sometimes neglected. This is especially true in ESL. Given the importance of learning out to
survive culturally within the U.S., teachers are often required to use materials that push U.S.
culture, without really providing relatable material for the students to study. Yes, it is important
for new immigrants to learn about Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, but it is also important
for them to realize that they do not have to abandon their birth culture in order to be and
American, and the materials used in class (if at all possible) should reflect that truth.
o CARLA Resources on Teaching about Culture
I really enjoyed reading the Simulations and Exercises available on the CARLA website.
Developing empathy is an important part of understanding another culture. These games and
role-playing exercises really help the students to be much more sensible when encountering other
cultures. The activities give the students a better understanding of what life is like for people in
other parts of the world. I am reminded of an exercise on racism in a university classroom that I
watched for a class. One of the students could not accept the concept that, even though she had
not personally done any overtly racists acts (according to her), she had not benefitted from the
racism of others.

o Simulating Culture Shock

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Environment
For the simulating culture shock activity, I decided to attend the second annual Southeast
Asian Street Food Festival. The festival featured foods from countries like Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia (specifically the ethnic minority Bunong), and Thailand. It was a youth-run event in
order to raise funds for the Southeast Asian Coalition Youth Program. In addition to the food,
there was a silent auction, a raffle, informational booths on how to become a citizen and how to
register to vote, and performances on a stage. The performances featured traditional and modern
songs, dance, and fashion from Burma, Cambodia, Hmong ethnic group, Nepal, Montagnard
people, and Vietnam. It also featured a pho eating contest.
The reason I chose to attend this even is because, while I have had the popular
Vietnamese dishes pho and bun, and the Thai dish pad thai, I have never had Laotian or Bunong
food. Vietnamese and Thai food is popular in my hometown, Mobile. However, I had never even
met anyone from Laos or Bunong until last year. I did not know what to expect in terms of the
food. Additionally, I have never witnessed an eating contest. I thought it would be a good
experience in order to be able to try new foods, and also to witness things I had never seen.
Reactions
I am pretty open when it comes to trying new foods. I am willing to try most things
(though I draw the line at anything close to being on the endangered species list, like whale). I
was hoping that the foods at the festival would be new, exciting, and, perhaps, challenging for
me to eat. What I found, however, was that most of the food was what many would call
American friendly. This is not really surprising. After all, the event was to raise money. If they
want to maximize the amount of money raised, then they need to have food that a lot of people
are willing to eat. As such, it featured a lot of chicken and beef dishes (with no discernable

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ingredients that usually make those in the U.S. uncomfortable, like tripe). I did get to try things I
had never had.
I had Lao sticky rice that was cooked and served inside a piece of bamboo. The rice had
some sort of bean inside and what looked like small pieces of chicken. The most interesting thing
about the food was that it was served inside the bamboo. This proposed an interesting challenge
to me. I was not given instructions on how to get to the food inside, since it was still a solid piece
with only a small opening on one end. After looking around at what the more familiar diners
were doing, I squeezed the bamboo until it cracked down the sides. I was then able to peel back
half of it quite easily and use the remaining half as a dish.
I also tried Bunong stew. It was mostly eggplant with small pieces of pork inside. I was
told that traditionally, this dish is also prepared inside bamboo and cooked over a fire.
Unfortunately, because of ease and lack of bamboo availability, they used a regular pot. The dish
was good, but not exciting, and certainly not scary to eat.
There were really two things that made me uncomfortable or disappointed feeling. The
first was that my own expectations had not been met, not just in regards to the food, but also
regarding the performances on the stage. Since this program was organized and run by the youth,
the performances were all youth from the coalition. I was hoping to see interesting displays of
traditional clothing, dance, and music. What I got was an odd mixture of traditional and U.S.
culture. There were some traditional dances performed (mostly by the youngest participants), but
most of the performances were culturally blended. Many of these children had been born in the
U.S. and attend public school. Because of this, they have the same interests as most regular teens
in the U.S. Most of the boys were hip-hop style clothing, with some small traditional garment
added on as a sort of accent. Many of the dances, too, were performed to dub-step songs written

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by American artists. I felt quite sad that their ancestral cultures were taking a backseat to U.S.
style and culture.
The other instance where I was uncomfortable was the pho eating contest. I had never
witnessed an eating contest, but I already had fairly strong feelings on the subject. It seems crazy
to me to glorify excessive eating and unhealthy eating habits. I realize that pho is significantly
healthier than the hotdogs used in American eating contests, but the amount of food they
consumed, and in such a short time, was staggering to me. The winner finished five pounds of
pho in 2 minutes and 36 seconds. That was about 2 pounds of food per minute. What made it
even more depressing to me was that the nickname he gave to the M.C. was Fatty. He was an
overweight young man (probably about twenty-two years old), and I do understand the method
of claiming something so that you control the problem or insecurity, but it made me feel bad
watching him. Only one other contestant finished before the seven-minute mark. He seemed
happy to have won, and he got a trophy, but it made me think about the kind of lesson that
teaches to small children. He was being rewarded and praised for his unhealthy habits. I really
had a tough time being okay even watching the contest.
Conclusions
I thought that I was going to this event with an open mind, but I repeatedly found myself
at odds with the culture I encountered. Instead, I went to the event with my own prejudices and
expectations thoroughly planted in the back of my mind. It is so easy for an outsider to go to an
event like this and think, Thats not how they should be doing this. All that type of mentality
does, however, is attempt to force our own worldviews on others. In a very real way, the type of
dress by the teens was better expression of their culture than what I expected to see. They were
not just Bunong, Laos, or Hmong. They were also American. I doubt that it is possible to fully

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overcome our expectations of what our own and others cultures should be. I think, too, that it
takes diligence, self-awareness, and reflection to realize our prejudices and to work to diminish
them.
References
Moran, P. (2001). Teaching culture: Perspective in practice. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Sommeiller E. and Price, M. (2015). The increasingly unequal states of America. Economic
Policy Institute. Retrieved from
http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/

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