Doctoral Dissertation Research: Emergent dialect style: vowel realization and discursive identity construction in D.C. Latinos

在Natalie Schilling博士的指导下，Amelia Tseng女士将调查华盛顿，华盛顿特区第一代和第二代拉丁美洲人之间语言，身份和方言发展的相互关系。通过对美国其他地区拉丁美洲人方言特征的可变模式进行定量社会语言学分析，定性分析说话人如何使用这些特征来传达特定的社会和身份意义。该项目是至关重要的，因为它（1）提高我们的知识，如何不断增长和多样化的拉丁美洲人口使用语言来塑造新的身份在美国的背景下;（2）增加我们的理解新兴的语言品种作为合法的语言系统与重要的文化协会，而不是“不完美的”学习英语;（3）从长远来看，有助于改善对拉丁美洲人和其他少数民族的语言歧视。此外，虽然拉丁裔英语在美国其他地区也得到了一定程度的研究，但在美国首都，尽管拉丁裔人口不断增长，但拉丁裔英语的研究却不足。数据将通过不同社会背景下的对话访谈和参与者自我录音来收集。方言的特点将在可能的相关性与社会因素（例如，移民一代，性别，教育，取向拉丁美洲人的身份），以及如何以及在哪里发生在话语方面进行调查。例如，一个较低的、带背景的/ae/发音与拉丁英语相关联（例如，“can”不会提升到“kay-un”，但可能接近“con”）。初步研究表明，当说话者谈论拉丁美洲文化时，这一特征的使用频率较高，但当他们希望听起来权威时，使用频率较低。 这表明，虽然拉丁美洲人在华盛顿特区可能是内在的贬损态度对拉丁美洲英语（ES），他们仍然保留了积极的意义上，他们独特的文化和语言遗产。通过阐明移民背景下的方言发展和身份建构，本研究的结果将有助于证明拉丁裔英语的语言有效性和社会重要性，并由此延伸到所有人群的文化合法性，无论是“本土”的美国，移民、多数人或少数人。

Under the direction of Dr. Natalie Schilling, Ms. Amelia Tseng will investigate the interrelationship of language, identity, and dialect development among first- and second- generation Latinos in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area through quantitative sociolinguistic analysis of the variable patterning of dialect features found to be associated with Latino speakers in other U.S. locations, and qualitative analysis of how speakers use these features to convey particular social and identity meanings in ongoing conversation. The project is of vital importance in that it (1) enhances our knowledge of how a growing and diverse Latino population uses language to shape new identities in the U.S. context; (2) increases our understanding of emergent language varieties as legitimate language systems with important cultural associations rather than 'imperfect' learner English; and (3) in the long run helps ameliorate linguistic discrimination against Latinos and other minority groups. In addition, although Latino English has been studied to an extent in other U.S. locations, it is understudied in the nation's capital, despite its growing Latino population.Data will be collected using conversational interviews and participant self-recordings in varied social contexts. Dialect features will be investigated in terms of possible correlation with social factors (for example, immigrant generation, gender, education, orientation to Latino identity), and how and where they occur in discourse. For example, a lower, backed /ae/ pronunciation is variably associated with Latino English (e.g. 'can' does not raise to "kay-un," but may approach "con"). Pilot studies suggest that this feature is used with higher frequency when speakers talk about Latino culture, but with lower frequency when they wish to sound authoritative. This indicates that although Latinos in D.C. may be internalizing derogatory attitudes toward Latino English(es), they nonetheless retain a positive sense of their unique cultural and linguistic heritage. By shedding light on dialect development and identity construction in an immigration context, the results of this study will help to demonstrate the linguistic validity and social importance of Latino English, and, by extension, the cultural legitimacy of all groups of people, whether 'native' to the U.S., immigrant, majority, or minority.