Florida College Speech Communities Discussion

this is the first one

In Paul Roberts’ “Speech Communities”, he bridges the ways of how speech can differ from one group to another. When looking at speech in different countries and even states, you’ll notice the different dialects/ accents. Even if you are residing in the same state you’ll notice different slangs. For example, the way Pittsburgh and Philadelphia citizens talk is similar but different at the same time. With age comes the way people talk. When babies speak we look at it as gibberish but other babies seem to understand one another. The way parents talk to their children can also affect their speech. If the parent is constantly talking to them like they’re a baby then that person will grow up talking that way and vice versa. For social class, there’s a stereotype that details that people more on the rich side talk properly, while those on the poor side don’t. Those stereotypes aren’t necessarily true. Roberts’ means it differs on what role it plays. Depending on the environment there can be better opportunities for that person. Each community has its pros and cons even the extremely sophisticated wealthy ones. After reading Paul Roberts’ statements I completely agree and relate to what he said.

this is the second one

Speech communities come in many different shapes and sizes. Different people from different generations speak differently. If you look at a community with older age people you will find that their speech may be completely different from a community with younger age people. Over the course of many generations, how people speak has evolved. The difference in age is not the only way speech communities form. You can go to any major city in the US and you will see many examples of speech communities. Neighborhoods that house people from a different country of origin may not speak English as their first language. They will most likely speak their native language or the language that is mostly used around them. Now within that community, the factor of age once again plays a role. Social class also plays a role. People who are in a higher social class may have a better education in contrast to people in the lower social class that may be less educated. Things like slang and the overall vocabulary may be different. Now, if you look at the big picture. There are many ways a speech community can be broken up into smaller speech communities. Each community has its own variation of age, country of origin, and social class. Regarding Roberts’ provocative question, I am not sure what he means by that. In my opinion, all speech communities are the same. The communities develop their own speaking style that helps communicate with each other. There is no “best” speech community, as long as the people within the community are able to community clearly and effectively then I do not see a problem.