Linguicism by Ashlee Ferraris Natalie Nguyen Ryan Tyson

Linguicism by Ashlee Ferraris, Natalie Nguyen, Ryan Tyson, and Alex Wysok

Anticipatory Set We all know each other’s names, but do we know the stories of our names? ● Group activity ● How important is language in our society?

Activity #1 In groups, create a dramatic skit addressing this following questions: ● What does a smart person sound like? ● What does an unintelligent person sound like? ● What does a villain sound like? ● What does a hero sound like?

Activity #2 Discuss and reflect as a whole class: ● What patterns do you notice in the way each group described its person? ● How important is language in determining someone’s intelligence? ● Where do we get our perceptions about intelligence and language? ● What if someone doesn’t speak a language “correctly? ” Does that mean they are not smart? ● What about accents? What does it mean to an accent?

What do you think linguicism means?

Exploring Linguicism

Linguistic Profiling Discuss in groups: ● What type of discrimination did the people on the video suffer? ● How do you think the person feels? ● Why does he have to change his accent? ● In what ways is linguistic profiling harmful?

Linguistic Discrimination Discuss in groups: ● Can you tell a person’s race by the sound of their voice? ● Have you ever experienced discrimination based on the sound of your voice?

Linguicism in Media Discuss in groups: ● What television shows can you think of that perpetuate linguistic stereotypes? ● What do these stereotypes do to the people who are being stereotyped?

Application Now it’s your turn! In groups, come up with a definition about linguicism based on all the information you have learned. ● Create a skit that combats linguicism ● Or, talk about how you would personally go about combating linguicism