Diversity Week Forum highlights language, dialect

As part of NC State’s annual Diversity Education Week, the North Carolina Language and Life Project hosted the “Language Variation: The Forgotten Dimension of Diversity” to inform students about the importance of understanding language diversity. The forum was held in Withers Hall on Tuesday.

Dialects are highly patterned, intricate and systematic varieties of a language, said Stephany Dunstan, assistant director at the Office of Assessment. 

Language isn’t usually part of the discussion on diversity, though it indicates race, gender, sex, sexual orientation and age, according to Audrey Jaeger, a professor of higher education.

Language often serves as a proxy for other forms of discrimination that are illegal, Dunstan said. 

“Discrimination based on language variation is so commonly accepted, so widely perceived as appropriate, that it must be seen as the last back door to discrimination. And the door stands wide open,” said Rosina Lippi-Green, author of English with an Accent.

Everyone who speaks a language speaks some dialect of that language.

“Howl with an accent” is the new motto and tagline of the North Carolina Language and Life Project.

“It’s the Wolfpack and we want to make sure that everyone can use their own voice and that they will be treated with respect,” Dunstan said. 

Every student who comes from the 100 North Carolina Counties, 53 States in the United States and 119 countries represented at NC State add to the diversity of the linguistic lexicon, Dunstan said. 

“We want everyone who’s part of the Wolfpack community to feel like they can be comfortable to embrace their dialect and dialects of others and howl with an accent,” Dunstan said. Dialect isn’t just how someone pronounces words or accent but also grammar and vocabulary, for example whether you call it a shopping cart, buggy, grocery cart or trolley.

According to Dunstan, people in media often use accents to indicate characters level of education or intelligence or sophistication. Associating dialects with certain characteristics has become culturally reinforced in movies and TV shows.

There is a common myth that there is a single standard dialect of English which is considered “correct” and which everyone should strive to speak. We should regard all these varieties as equal, because scientifically they are,” Dunstan said.

There are significant scientific, social, historical, educational, and personal benefits from studying dialects, according to Dunstan.

Language diversity affects your academic and social experience, and the way you feel around your campus is influenced by how people react to your speech. People stop asking and answering questions when somebody laughs at them, Dunstan said. Guiding principles for the linguistic diversity program include creating an inclusive environment and recognizing the distinctions between language differences and language deficits while getting to know those with whom you interact with.

The North Carolina Language and Life project is also staffing a State Fair booth as a part of its service-learning and public outreach. 

If students want to know more about language or their accents, they are encouraged to contact the program to be directed to additional resources for education on linguistics, peer ambassadors, co-directors and archived digital resources, Dunstan said.

“The language diversity program is unique to NC State, it’s an innovative program, it’s the first and only of its kind in the United States in higher education,” Dunstan said. “That’s something we’re proud of that NC State is a forerunner in embracing this type of diversity which is important in all of our lives.”