ERIC Number: EJ1414142
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1345-8353
EISSN: EISSN-2671-938X
Symbolic Use of Language as a Means to Demonstrate Accommodation
Sang-Gu Kang
Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, v25 n2 p45-58 2021
This paper reports on how a prominent American football player, Joe Burrow, from the state of Ohio adopts the Cajun English spelling system used in Louisiana, a southern state in the U.S., in a symbolic and innovative way during his short stay there when he relocated to Louisiana from Ohio for the final two years of his college career. In previous studies of language attitudes toward English dialects in the U.S., Michiganders evaluated the English used in the Great Lakes area (including Ohio) as the best variety while judging the English spoken in the South (including Louisiana) as the worst. Although Burrow may not carry such language attitude, it is implicitly demonstrated in media coverage related to his college football career. Despite the harsh folk evaluation and rather negative portrait from the media of the Southern U.S. English, Burrow's accommodation to the Cajun English spelling was a means to express his gratitude to the state of Louisiana and resonated through the U.S. in various ways.
Descriptors: Language Attitudes, Language Usage, Language Variation, Spelling, Geographic Regions, Folk Culture, Athletes, Dialects, Mass Media, Team Sports
Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics. Cheongji National University of Education. Main Bldg #506, 2065 Cheongnam-ro, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do 28690, Korea. e-mail: paaljournal@gmail.com; Web site: http://paal.kr/html/sub04_01.asp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ohio; Louisiana
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A