Episode 08: "What Does It Mean To Sound Black?" - A Conversation About Sociolinguistics w/ Dr. Nicole Holliday

Summary: What does it mean to sound black? What roles do language and dialect play in racial stereotyping and prejudice? How do we de-stigmatize African American English (AAE)? Today, we examine these and other questions in our interview with Dr. Nicole Holliday—assistant professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College. In this interview, we discuss the difference between Standard English and AAE (23:26), the origin and politics of “Ebonics” and its use in the classroom (26:47), the structure of AAE (34:45), the perception of AAE as a cultural deficit (36:45), the relationship between dialect and socioeconomic status (41:11), race and how politicians use language and dialect to connect with voters (45:55), how language and tone of voice can contribute to negative stereotyping and interactions (49:45), and how to remove the stigma associated with AAE and regional dialects (56:00).   Other Topics Include: 00:30 - Catch up with Ty and Daphne 10:00 - Code-Switch Game w/ Ty and Daphne 17:30 - Introduction of Topic 20:00 - What does it mean to study linguistics? 33:00 - How do you capture language in a research study? 51:54 - Role of Language in Sandra Bland Case 1:03:54 - Diversity in the field of Linguistics 1:09:00 - Ty and Daphne reflect on the interview   Resources: Oakland Ebonics Controversy - http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/403/403%20mne/ebonics.pdf AAE/Ebonics Jeopardy - https://jeopardylabs.com/play/ebonics2 “Sandra Bland: Talking While Black” article by Nicole Holliday and colleagues  - http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20746 “Language and Linguistics on Trial: Hearing Rachel Jeantel” article  - https://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/Rickford_92_4.pdf  How to reach Dr. Nicole Holliday - @MixedLinguist (twitter) and https://nicolerholliday.wordpress.com