Activity6: Language in the United States

Where is the Speaker From?
It was fun quizzes! My results were one correct and one wrong in all areas except New England area. However, I just chose the answers by intuition because I am familiar with only Wisconsin English accent. From my experience, I think that English spoken by people from coast (East and West) has a weak accent and is easy to understand. I guess it is because many people had came from outside of seas, and to communicate with each other properly, they started to use a more standard English accent. I think a northern English accent is different from others. I remember when I came here, I took an English skill test. I listened to a tape, and found a speaker had a Wisconsin (or Minnesota) accent. I felt really weird, and it was hard to understand until I got used to it. I cannot explain how northern people speak differently from other areas, but according to the web site, they speak “o” sound differently. People from midland speak English with a strong accent. For me, they seem to speak without opening their mouth. When they speak, they do not open their mouth widely, so the pronunciation is not clear. Southern accent is easy to recognize than accents of other areas. Southern people are likely to speak slowly, and when they speak something, I do not understand what they say, and I can hear “Ura ura ura…”. These are my personal view and may be wrong.

Test Your Vowel Power
Does someone know where the speaker comes from according to her accent? Her sound was interesting. Her vowel sounds were close to “ ” sound. So, my answer of the first question was “black” (correct answer was “block”.) For the question five, I chose a completely wrong answer. The correct answer was “grade,” but my answer was “scribe.” I wondered where the “s” came from. I guess I misunderstood “seventh grade” to “scribe” because I thought it was one word instead of two spate word. If you have a chance, please talk to Japanese, and listen their “th” sound. When a Japanese English speaker says “think”, you might hear it as “sink” because Japanese does not have “th” sound. Thus, many Japanese pronounce “think” to “sink”. Like Japanese, if people who are not familiar with vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u), they cannot pronounce them correctly. The ability to learn a language, especially in terms of accent, is the highest at very young age (I believe age three), and after that, language learning speed is slow down, and in some languages, old people may never distinguish a difference between particular sounds.

Language is one of the crucial elements which represent a culture. Even within a same country, people have various accents. It is a part of their culture and there are no wrong or correct pronunciations. For example, the speaker of the test, Test Your Vowel Power, spoke English with a strong “ ” sound. My English is often mixed up “l” and “r” sounds. As an English native speaker, what do you think about your accent? Do you think accent could be different between male and female, or young people and elder people in the same area?

Activity5: Avowed and Ascribed Identities

Avowed Identities
Female, Daughter, Sister, Young, Student, positive person, a person who believes in oneself

① Ascribed Identity
② Who was responsible
③ Action to resist

① Hard Worker
② Friends
③ Don’t do my best, choose an easy way

① Optimistic
② Other people
③ Have a life plan

I got this result from what people said to me and/or how they treated me. Avowal identities sometimes agree with ascribed identities and vice versa. This is because you may think that you should be a person who is thought by others, or you may tell others who you are through your attitude, and people would agree with that image. On the other hand, when avowal identities and ascribed identities do not agree with each other, you may not be able to evaluate yourself correctly, or you may act to lead a wrong image of yourself, consciously or unconsciously.
My first ascribed identity is my friends think I am hard worker. This is partly true, because I study hard to get good grade. I had two part-time jobs to get what I want. However, I am lazy after exams and never open text books again. I had two part-time jobs but these were easy and boring, and I got nothing except money from those jobs. If I was a true hard worker, I would choose the job which is related to my dream job, or good paying job. For example, one of my friends worked at a cram school because her dream was to be a middle school English teacher. Another friend worked at night because it was better-paying job than a daytime one. Neither one of my jobs were like theirs. However, I went to private high school and college, and many my friends did not have to study hard or work hard. My high school had a university admission system by recommendation and students sometimes take only ten minutes interview to enter a university. For my friends, I was strange because I already got a ticket to go to a college, but I was still listening to lectures. When I became a college student, some of my friends never had a part-time job. They asked their parents for pocket money when they wanted something. They considered I was hard worker because I did not ask my parents, and earned money by myself. If I went to a public school, this ascribed identity might have been different.
Next, my ascribed identity is, I am an optimistic person. I think that is true. I believe bad things never happen to me, and even if it happened, I could learn something from that and it is good for me. However, I also believe the words “Chance never helps someone who does not ready” by French chemist Louis Pasteur. To take my life’s rosy view, I study to get a degree, and I got qualifications such as a secretary certificate, TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), driver’s license, and etc. I do not say I will get married to a rich guy! I wish I could though. Japan is an academic background-oriented society. When I become over 40 years of age and try to find a job, if I did not have a degree or at lease special skill or knowledge, it would have been very difficult to work as a full-time worker in Japan. I am not a person who says “Tomorrow is another day”. I prepare to be optimist. I got the idea, to prepare to be optimist, from my mother. My mother graduate high school and did not have any qualifications. She told me how hard life is and importance of preparation.
All in all, I think avowed identities and ascribed identities are both who I am. How much you said ascribed identities are only people’s image of you, and not who you are, your behavior and attitude are part of yourself. Thus, avowed identities and ascribed identities can be similar or not. Do people tend to have a same idea of you are, or not? (Avowed identities tend to equal ascribed identities, or not)

Activity4: History

I took a Quiz and I simply thought it was difficult because I have never thought famous people’s ethnicities. I found a White male group is the easiest for me to come up with and a White female group followed it. Next groups were Hispanic groups and Asian groups. Then, Middle East male group came up easily. I found difficulties for Black groups before 1800s. Any Middle East female name came up with my mind. All male groups were easier to be acknowledged than female groups. These results show “Who tell the histories”. I suppose histories of the United States are made by White Americans. First, America is based on European cultures and most of early immigrants were from European countries. Next, from the historical point of view, people had an idea of white supremacy. African immigrants were definitely in America when the United States was established, however, they never showed up a surface of the American history until they fought to get their freedoms. Third, the American culture’s main stream is white American culture. Thus, the minorities such as Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Asian histories were tended to be ignored. For example, the successive presidents of the United States used Bible at their public speeches. In the Unites States, many people believe Christianity, but there are also people who believe Islam, Buddhist, Jewry, and other religions. It clearly shows the fact that majorities ignore minorities. Then, what does it mean one of the quotes in the Declaration of Independence “All men are created by equal”? It is a contradiction in American history.
Gender affects histories. In American history, less number of women’s name appeared than men’s. It is because woman’s right was just established in the United States. It was hard for ordinal women to stand up and to do something against less women’s right, except for those who had political powers before the women’s liberation movement.
It was difficult to think about historical figures whose ethnicity were Middle East and who were female. I think their cultures deeply connected with this. For example, in some cultures in the Middle East areas, women hide their faces and bodies for religious reasons. Also, people who adapt this culture think women must not show their faces to other people. If you believe in and adapt this culture, it might be difficult to leave your name in the history because you believe that showing up in public is a shame.
We have to remember that histories were always created by authorities. Often, they controlled information and hid the information which was not beneficial for them, and told civilians wrong or changed information or sometimes erased the fact from the history books.
History tells the truth but sometimes does not. Many histories were controlled by its ruler, and it happened all over the world.
I was not educated on American history or ethnic history. If you were, how was that, and what did you learn from them? Also, if you belonged to a minority group, what would you want to tell majority of people?

Activity3: My Ethnicity

My ethnicity is Japanese and my culture influences who I am. First of all, I will talk little bit about Japan and then I will discuss how my ethnic background influences me and what ethnical factors let people know my ethnicity by my way of communication.
Japan is an island country and is located in East Asia. More than 98 percent of the people in Japan are Japanese and most of them speak only Japanese. When people speak to an elder person or a person you meet for the first time, people usually use polite Japanese and bow instead of shaking their hands. Also, Japanese tend to pay less attention to religions. For example, people go to a temple or shrine on New Year’s Day, but also celebrate Christmas. Japanese culture is influenced by other Asian countries such as China, and Korea, and many Asian countries, including Japan, have an immense amount of respect for elder people and to show this respect, people use polite Japanese and never address them a without prefix.
Now that I am in America I can see how my ethnic background affects me more clearly. First, I keep a distance to people more than Americans do. In my culture, people do not shake hands except on business occasions and stand a little more far apart than Americans do. So, I sometimes feel uncomfortable when people give me their hand to shake or come close to me. Next, many American students look rude towards their teachers. In a classroom, students sit in their chairs loosely and chew gum and drink. Moreover, sometimes they call a teacher by their first name. If students do these things in Japan, teachers would tell them to leave a class or give them a F. Also, Americans might think I am an unsociable person. However, it looks strange to me to say ‘Hi’ to someone I do not know and use big hand gestures and change their facial expressions a lot. Now that I am used to it, I have found I was judging American people based on my cultural background. I thought I am not a stereotyped person, however, actually I was and my culture influenced me more than I was expected.
Next, people are aware of my ethnicity most when they hear me talk or observe my behaviors. First, Japanese tend to avoid being direct. For example, when you talk to someone and you cannot hear their voice very much, you would say “Your phone may be far.” It means same as “Speak louder”, but Japanese say that your phone’s bad and ask others to understand what they think without the words. When I talk to my American friend, sometimes this difference of speaking really exposes how different our two cultures are. Additionally, I was not familiar with ladies entering the door first because traditionally, men go first in my culture. One day, I was with my friend. He opened a door for me, but I thought he would go first, and of course he thought I would go first. Then we both were standing in front of the door for 30 seconds. Meeting a person who has different ethnical background makes a cultural difference clear.
In my opinion, the influence of ethnic background affects you more than you think, especially, when you are in different culture. If you have had an experience to face culture differences, what was it, and how did it affect you?

Activity2: observation

When people communicate, verbal communication is necessary to tell other people what you think and what you believe. However, nonverbal communication can tell us what people think more directly than verbal communication sometimes.
I observed a couple at a restaurant. They must have been around 20 years old and they were eating lunch together. The man wore a red cap and a gray sweat shirt, and was shaking his legs the entire time, crossing and uncrossing his legs constantly. Also, he hid his mouth with his hands when he talked. The woman wore a blue parka and jeans, and was playing with her hair with her finger and shaking her left leg. Both of them leaned forward and had a calm voice. Sometimes I could see their smiles and the air around them was peaceful. When they were leaving the table, the man stood up first and went out. However, I never saw them touch each other.
I read some nonverbal communication from their behavior and voices. First, they might have just started seeing each other a few weeks or a month ago, because they were shaking their legs and this showed tenseness or stress. Moreover, the man was hiding his mouth when he talked to her. This meant he wanted to hide something, perhaps his thoughts. Also, he was not relaxed. In addition, the woman was playing with her hair with her finger and it was one of her grooming behaviors. She tried to show him her beauty through this action. The most important part is they were leaning forward. This obviously showed they were interested in the conversation or each other. I put together these elements and guessed they were seeing each other only for a few weeks.
From this observation, I found that nonverbal communication is more obvious than verbal communication, and we can assume peoples’ feeling from nonverbal cues such as eye contact, body movements, voice tone, and distance. For example, the couple was eating lunch together, and sometimes I could see their smiles. However, their body language, such as hiding his mouth with his hands while talking, and their shaking legs showed slight tenseness. The man might have thought if he touched her hand now, she could have been surprised, and perhaps hate him. The woman might have thought does he really think she is pretty or enjoy staying with her. You cannot see these thoughts but you can feel what they think through nonverbal cues. The meanings of nonverbal communication depend on a user’s culture, age, gender, and other various factors. Additionally, nonverbal communication can not only make verbal communication more clear and effective, but also change the meaning of verbal communication. Moreover, surprisingly, most people use nonverbal cues unconsciously, and I think this is one of the interesting parts of communication.
While I observed the couple, I believe they were more than friends. I knew that from their behavior. Then, how would people’s nonverbal communication (eye contact, body movements, voice tone, and space between them) change if they are friends, coworkers, or family? Please share your idea with me.

Activity1: Far and Away

“Far and Away” The storyline is about a lower class man (Joseph) who wanted his own his land. He later met an upper class woman (Shannon) who wanted to escape from the old-fashioned society. They went to America. When they arrived, they faced huge differences between Ireland and America. This movie shows both advantages and disadvantages of immigration.
Joseph was born a farmer’s son. His father had always said to him “without land, man is nothing”, and Joseph decided to have his own land someday. After his father had died, he met Shannon and she told him that his dream will come true in America. America was a wonderful place for Joseph because America gave him everything he wants. He could earn good money as a fighter, wear nice suits, and buy new hats. He had it all whereas in Ireland he had nothing. However, one day he lost a fight and he lost his every wealth. Joseph and Shannon tried hard to find job and place to stay, but they could not. In a scene, one man said he does not hire Irish. In this movie, why the man did not hire Irish was not mentioned. However, in reality, not only Irish but also many immigrants from other countries faced this problem. It happened because of cultural, racial, ethnical, and language differences. In my opinion, it is natural thing because people feel more comfortable when they are in similar or same environment which he or she familiar with than another environment. It is also the employers. They tend to hire a person who has same or similar background as them. Therefore, it is hard for immigrants to find a good job. This movie first showed about 20 years ago and the American society and people’s idea were changed. However, still many immigrants suffer from this disadvantage.
For Shannon, she lost every fortune soon after she got to America and she had to live in a dirty place, and work hard at a processed chicken factory. These were completely different from her home, and the real image of America broke down her good image of America and depressed her. Also, when she was working at the factory, her boss said to her ‘work hard,’ and Shannon took a defiant attitude. Finally, she stopped rebelling against her boss to keep working at the factory. However, it was natural reaction for her because when she was in Ireland, she was a person who gave an order, and was not ordered. In addition, she was born in rich landlord family and was in an upper class. Nobody spoke to her in a rude way. This showed that when you are in new place, your principle does not work anymore and you have to follow the new society principle to live and fit in a new place. This is clearly true because now, many Americans cannot speak the language which was spoken by their ancestors. For example, a person who has roots in Italy cannot speak Italian. Their ancestors who immigrated to America spoke English to fit in the American culture.
In the ending, Joseph got his own land and love of Shannon.
Immigration is significant issue for America. This movie was good to know the history of immigration, however, I believe this is only a part of American immigration history and immigrants had more difficulties to live in America.

Two Truths and a Lie

Guess!
1, I can speak Chinese fluently.
2, I love American food and gain 7lb since I came here.
3, My family have dogs and they always wear clothes.


There are hints......
I am an international student from Japan and last semester was my first semester in the States.