Friday, September 8, 2023 10am to 11am
About this Event
Join the psychological science department for the Psychological Science Colloquium. Dr. Sarah Hercula, associate professor of English and technical communication, will present a lecture titled "Examining the functions and effects of prescriptive language attitudes as portrayed in modern television dialogue."
Abstract: This study investigates the role of television dialogue in shaping viewers’ language ideologies, particularly those rooted in prescriptivism, linguistic prejudice, monoglossic assumptions, and other uninformed (mis)understandings of language. It is important to understand the root of such language ideologies, as they lead to the enactment of linguistic discrimination, which has real, devastating effects in the lives of those who speak non-overtly prestigious languages, dialects, and accents (Lippi-Green 2012). Adding to existing research on the study of language in television (cf. Richardson 2010, Fagersten 2016, and Bednarek 2018), this project examines the functions and effects of television dialogue shaped by prejudicial and biased views of language.
This study includes a data set of over 100 scenes from modern (2000 or newer) television shows of various genres and ratings, including, among others, The Big Bang Theory, The West Wing, The Good Place, and The Walking Dead. Using a mixed-methods approach, including critical discourse analysis and quantitative analysis, the clips have been transcribed and analyzed to discover trends in how certain accents, dialects, languages, and their speakers are portrayed in scenes involving linguistic bias. Using Bednarek’s (2018:37) “functional approach to television series (FATS)” as a guiding framework, I investigate how and to what effect language bias is used within television dialogue and explore trends regarding the involved characters’/actors’ gender, race/ethnicity, age, and other social factors. Overall, this study seeks to offer a better understanding of how we are socialized into biased, harmful, and unprincipled language ideologies, particularly through the television we consume. In gaining this understanding, we can develop better approaches to target and dismantle linguistic prejudice and discrimination.
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