The research project will require you to investigate some domain of social interaction in which a language variety, accent, or speech style is important to marking belonging (to a group or community) or difference (between groups or communities). You will need to locate data you can analyze in which (some aspect of) language and identity are being linked (whether explicitly commented on or implicitly). This can be material you find online, whether social media, news media, or even artistic/entertainment media, or data you collect through interviews or observations/recordings you do. You will also do some library research to locate academic sources that discuss your case or some phenomenon of language and identity related to it. Write a research paper analyzing your material according to theoretical concepts and methods prominent in Linguistic/Identity anthropology. Your research paper should be organized to make an argument (= thesis) about how language and identity are working in your case. The paper should be clearly organized to take the reader through your findings, your connections to the literature, the prominent Linguistic anthropology concepts, and how you think your material addresses your research question. Explain how you chose (or collected) your data—that is, your methods. The significance of your material for understanding (some aspect of) language and its relationship to identity should be clearly conveyed.
Research Question
How can one, as an individual, navigate the boundary, ensuring respectful engagement with linguistic diversity and remaining genuinely appreciative rather than appropriative, particularly in light of Awkwafina’s use of a ‘blaccent’ and adoption of AAVE linguistic features?
Last Completed Projects
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