1 Juliet Gurney Dr. Scott-Copses HONS-110-05 October 24, 2021 Normalizing Code-Switching Until All Languages are Equal The Mariam Webster Dictionary defines code-switching as “the switching from the linguistic system of one language or dialect to that of another”, but this is only one of many definitions. Good, bad, a form of discrimination, or even, a worthy attribute—code switching can mean different things to different people. “Should Writers Use They Own English?" and “3 Ways to Speak English” are two beautifully written, well defended, and incredibly inspiring essays that have conflicting views on this topic. Vershawn Young, the author of “Should Writers Use They Own English?”, is a highly educated, Black scholar who focuses on African-American studies. In this essay, he responds to an article that supports the imposition of code-switching onto students. Young strongly disagrees with the argument that code-switching to “standard” English is only to benefit children when he writes: “But dont nobody’s language, dialect, or style make them “vulnerable to preju- dice.” It’s ATTITUDES. It be the way folks with some power perceive other people’s language. Like the way some view, say, black English when used in school or at work. Black English dont make it own-self oppressed. It be negative views about other people usin they own language, like what Fish expressed in his NYT blog, that make it so.” (page 110). Gurney 2 Young insists that code-switching is, not only unhelpful, but harmful to anyone who’s first language is not “standard” English. He believes that forcing children to code-switch is a form of “internalized oppression” and “linguistic self-hate” (112)—and that it strips children, particularly Black kids, of their pride. Instead, he advocates for code-meshing which he defines as “from a linguistic perspective, is not translatin one dialect into another one. It’s blendin two or mo dialects, languages, or rhetorical forms into one sentence, one utterance, one paper.” (114). Examples of code-meshing are everywhere: our everyday speech, what you see on TV, and also, Young’s essay. In his writing he blends “standard” English with African-American dialect (Black English) as a way of advocating for code-meshing. Some would say that his composition is difficult to read, but it isn’t; dialectical differences are more common than not, and Young believes that people need to start accepting that fact. The spoken-word essay, “3 Ways to Speak English”, by Jamila Lyiscott is another powerful piece of writing that does not adhere to the rules of “standard” English. “I’m articulate”, Lyiscott emphasizes early on in her TED talk about the different ways to speak English (00:26). After decades of oppression that people of color have experienced, minorities like Jamila Lyiscott have had to defend almost everything they do and every choice they make—their languages and dialects are no exceptions. In her TED talk, Lyiscott makes a poetic speech about her experience of accepting all of her tongues. Lyiscott speaks three languages “One for each: Home, school, and friends” (02:28). She owns and embraces all of them by switching-up her language and rhetorical forms throughout her essay. Unlike Young’s view that code-switching strips pride from minorities, Jamila Lyiscott has actually found pride in her ability to do so. Similar to Young, she was forced to change the way she spoke by teachers and society, but since then, she has learned to make code-switching an Gurney 3 asset of herself. This is celebrated when she says “Yes, I have decided to treat all three of my languages as equals, because I am articulate” (01:10). Lyiscott’s essay is powerful in the way that it discusses difficult topics in order for the audience to see the discrimination that diverse dialects and the people who speak them have to endure. She clarifies that Black English is not a broken version of “standard” English but customized, and that “the reason [Black Americans] speak a composite version of [white] language, is because mines was raped away along with my history” (03:05). To people who believe that there is only one proper way to speak English, Lyiscott responds that she speaks more languages than they do: “So I may not always come before you with excellency of speech, but do not judge me by my language and assume that I’m too ignorant to teach. ‘Cause I speak three tongues” (02:18). Including details of linguistic oppression is a powerful choice in that it makes the audience understand why they should care about linguistic diversity and code-switching. And although she calls out the problems at hand and addresses them, Lyiscott assures us that: “Let there be no confusion, Let there be no hesitation, This is not a promotion of ignorance, This is a linguistic celebration” (03:48). Jamila Lyiscott’s TED talk ran for four minutes and eighteen seconds. That means, she had under five minutes to share her story and persuade the audience that all languages should be treated equally. I think everyone can recognize how ambitious of a goal that is, and yet she achieved it. There were no visual components or outside involvements, it was up to her and only her words to convince the viewers. Because of this, Lyiscott had to make every verse count and utilize both language and rhetoric in order to do so. The most influential choice was to include all three of her languages; she made this choice because it is assumed that non "standard" English speakers are uneducated, but by including Black English in an intellectual speech, Lyiscott Gurney 4 proves that that simply isn’t true. By using the three tongues equally, she makes them equal counterparts. Along with the use of dialectical diversity, there were rhetorical choices made within each language. One example of this is how Lyiscott utilizes complex, "standard" English terms such as “multifaceted oration” and “nonsensical racial disparity” (01:20/03:29); these phrases were used to develop Lyiscott’s theory, but they were also chosen to further fight the continuous battle of proving Lyiscott’s literacy. Since the intelligence of minorities has always been questioned, Jamila Lyiscott—a black female scholar—has to further prove herself with everything she says or writes; she does this by including advanced language. Another decision she makes is to include the grammatically in-correct, Black English phrase: “ya’ll-be-madd-going-to-the-store” (01:51). To the untrained eye, there seems to be no specific issue with that sentence; this is because people assume that “standard” English is the only form that has rules. Lyiscott clarifies that African-American dialect also has laws and that “that sentence is not following the law. Never does the word "madd" go before a present participle. That’s simply the principle of this English” (01:56). By including this segment, she is teaching the audience that, like all other languages, Black English has guidelines that one must follow in order to speak it properly. Although Young and Lyiscott have clashing opinions on code-switching, they both agree that people should be proud of all the languages they speak, not only “standard” English. Jamila Lyiscott truly treats her languages as equals and she demonstrates this by identifying as “a trilingual orator” (02:31). Because of the pride she has in her ability to code-switch, she has added another attribute of herself: Gurney 5 That’s why I put "tri-lingual" on my last job application. I can help to diversify your consumer market is all I wanted them to know, and when they call me for the interview I’ll be more than happy to show that I can say: “What’s good”, “Whatagwan”, And of course …“Hello” (03:57) In her TED talk, Lyiscott uses power, language, and rhetoric choices to create a powerful speech; with this speech, she persuades the audience, including myself, that all languages are equal and should be treated like so. She uses all three of her languages to support her argument, and does it well because she is ARTICULATE. Gurney 6 Work Cited “Code-Switching.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/code-switching. Lyiscott, Jamila. “3 Ways to Speak English.” TED, Feb. 2014, https://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english?language=en. Young, Vershawn Ashanti. “Should Writers Use They Own English?” Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 12, no. 1, 2010, pp. 110–117., https://doi.org/10.17077/2168-569x.1095.
