Danielle Etter
Apling 623 Wk 4 – Peñalosa
Language Varieties and Their Significance
In this paper author Fernando Peñalosa examines the different definitions and explanations for
the various sections and subsections that are used to categorize languages and their varieties. Through
the process of explaining various categories and sub-categories, Peñalosa comes across a few problems
drawing finite lines between them.
Problems in Categorizing
As noted in the article, by placing one group’s language into the category ‘dialect’ they seem to
be deemed non-standard or sub-standard by linguists and sociologists versus the ‘standard’ language
used by another group. Peñalosa combats this by giving the term ‘variety.’
The term ‘variety’ serves as a “nonjudgmental and nonemotional technical term in order to avoid
such judgmental ad emotion-laden concepts such as language, dialect, standard, etc...” and that there is
need of such a vague yet all-inclusive term because “what is or is not a language and how it is to be
classified may represent major emotional, political and ideological issues” (Peñalosa, p. 82).
Possessing Multiple Categories in your Repertoire
Nida (1975) broke down languages into three types: international, national and ethnic or regional.
For most regions, groups use either two or three languages: a regional/ethnic language plus an
international language and an optional national language that can be used for specific purposes. Regions
that utilize only one language are usually those that have an international language as their native
language. For example, France, Germany and the United States all have one major standard language
that they use, with little emphasis placed on learning another language within society.
It’s easy to conclude that this is the reality because those nations who happen to be ‘lucky
enough’ to possess an international language as their native language feel no need to add to their
linguistic repertoire as their native language is sufficient enough to communicate with a large percentage
of the world. If, however, a Kenyan, for example, wanted to talk to anyone that was not a native of
Kenya, it is imperative that he speak another, more wide-spread language because it’s unlikely any
person he encounters outside of Kenya would speak his local language.
In her book, “Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective” Ofelia Garcia
repeats over and over again that bilingualism is the norm in the world’s population and monolingualism
is the nonstandard. In a little over 200 countries there were a total of 6,809 languages listed in 2000
(Grimes and Grimes, 2000). This means that a majority of the people of the world are not only bilingual,
but also multilingual.
How do such languages continue to exist with such a limited number of people to speak them? A
language ceases to exist, or be maintained, explains Peñalosa, when it no longer serves a function. In the
same vein, varieties of languages also continue to exist as they are deemed necessary by the speakers of
that language. Registers are just as diverse in fulfilling needs within social contexts, so each language
and some varieties have multiple registers to maneuver through when speaking. Peñalosa cited Halliday
(1968) saying that language learners often get confused when learning a new language because they are
unable to recognize the differences between various registers and this can be carried further to conclude
that varieties of a language are also confusing, where learners can say a correct word from either a
different register or language variety in the wrong social context.
Right and Wrong Varieties
Peñalosa talks a little bit about the politics behind the categories that varieties fall into. A
language becomes a standard language through political backing after the region where it originates
develops dominance (politically, economically and/or culturally) over the other regions of that area. By
becoming known as superior or ‘more correct’ the other regional varieties are put down as ‘dialects’ and
inferior. This is of course criticized due to the dichotomy that results; when calling something ‘standard’
others become ‘non-standard’ which Peñalosa suggests could be fixed by using the terms academic
versus popular. In my opinion by naming the standard form ‘academic’ it still creates the persistent
dichotomy, which seems to say the ‘popular’ varieties are not suitable to be used in academic settings.
The varieties that exist between and among languages are the result of an ever-moving society
where people have intragroup and intergroup contact with different linguistic varieties. Ease of
communication is the key motivator for linguistic hegemony, yet group solidarity and ideology allow for
extensive linguistic repertoires among differing groups. Geographical, economical and social class
differences maintain the degree of separation between linguistic styles and varieties. As non-standard
variety-speaking groups gain social and economic status either their variety becomes more standardized
or they switch over to a more standardized variety.
Conclusion
Varieties of a language exist because social barriers exist. Whether as a result of hostility
between groups or just from one society clinging to its culture, language is an essential part of each
society’s identity and any attempt to categorize a language as anything other than a language is offensive
to that society. The term ‘variety’ is non-offensive to a large degree, but categorizing languages into
‘languages and their varieties’ still places the ‘variety’ at a lower, lesser position compared to the
‘standard’ languages.
Questions for Discussion
1. How much of a role do politics and ideology play in naming what is a language versus what is a
variety?
(Chinese is considered one language and while there are many varieties that are mutually
unintelligible to the speakers, the varieties are spoken within one nation and thus are considered
one language. Swedish, Danish and Norwegian are largely mutually intelligible but are
considered separate languages.)
2. Are there any TV commercials or other forms of consumer media that use non-standard varieties
in the United States? There are commercials in Spanish occasionally in Michigan, but I don’t
remember ever seeing a commercial with African Americans speaking AAVE, even though I live
less than an hour from Detroit. Why do you think this is the case?
3. Some young students in your mixed culture classroom ask why Mexican and Chinese immigrant
students are seemingly having an easier time ‘learning English’ than the African American
students in your class who were born and raised in America and should ‘speak American.’ How
do you explain, if you do?