Sept 10: Reading Affinity Maps & Interviews by

Instructions

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 06:08:55 UTC

Step 1. AFFINITY MAP (a) 10 min - Based on two assigned readings, write down at least 3 ideas per reading (one idea per "sticky note") that triggered your attention/interest and helped define some issues and myths of nativism. (b) In groups of two, read through all of the notes and start re-arranging those sticky notes in clusters of your choice + name those clusters. You may come up with two-three clusters. For example, in Cluster # 1, both sticky notes agree that nativism is a cultural embedded concept. Friedman claims…(c) In 10 minutes, let's reflect how you categorized them into clusters and expand the claim by one of the assigned authors.

Maria Sticky Note # 1

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 06:10:06 UTC

"The myth is a common sense (stakeholders over a language to appeal to the ‘truth’ about the language" - Davies

Maria Sticky Note # 2

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 06:11:00 UTC

Paikeday (1985) - employment discrimination - native speakership excludes categories of people who aren’t speak it as native speakers

Cluster - Control and Discriminatory Policies

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 06:13:33 UTC

From this cluster, the reader may generate the idea of what may be in the root of discriminatory policies with language (looking into educational; zoning; public space policies/laws to determine those norms). For instance, Friedman claims that nativism can be traced to certain laws that regulated immigration and perceptions towards the labor market in the 19th century. For instance, I learned that Chinatown most was mostly built up by men who came along in the 18th century. Their families or wives were prohibited to enter the US.

Yas note #1

2024-09-10 15:21:34 UTC

Nativism is often linked to what a group of people may perceive as a national security threat and/or fear of labor competition

Alexis Sticky Note #1

2024-09-10 15:22:31 UTC

In Friedman's reading I think it was interesting how he touched on the fact that the United States does not have an official language. Some Americans have even attempted to learn other languages as it could give them a better chance in the workplace which seems to benefit nativists.

Anastasija Sticky Note #1

2024-09-10 15:22:59 UTC

"much of the world’s verbal communication takes place by means of languages which are not the users’ mother tongue, but their second, third or nth language, acquired one way or another and used when appropriate" -Davies

Caden Sticky Note #1

cshaffe6 — 2024-09-10 15:23:05 UTC

From Friedman, I thought that it was interesting that people who were considered non-native to the U.S had to live through discrimination and then later showed that same discrimination to others coming in.

Yas note #2

2024-09-10 15:23:15 UTC

A new air of political nativism exists in the context of undocumented immigrants and anti-terrorist rhetoric - often to the detriment of the modern influx of immigrants.

Piper Note 1

2024-09-10 15:23:26 UTC

To Friedman, nativism is a political ideology that prioritizes the interests of native-born citizens over those of immigrants.

Alexis Note #2

2024-09-10 15:23:33 UTC

Nativism for so long has been linked to security scares and even intense labor market competition. This influences the way Americans perceive outsiders.

Yas note #3

2024-09-10 15:24:52 UTC

Nativism also emerged due to a fear of foreign “subversives,” ie foreign influence and involvement in the US - politically, socially, and terrorism-y.

Alexis Note #3

2024-09-10 15:25:06 UTC

The country has made great strides to protect nativism which includes their culture and language. But with recent strong political figures having very strong beliefs, we may start to see another decline on the acceptation and adaption of other cultures.

Piper Note 1

2024-09-10 15:26:10 UTC

To Friedman, nativism is a political ideology that prioritizes the interests of native-born citizens over those of immigrants.

Yas note #4

2024-09-10 15:26:11 UTC

The aspect of a native speaker is extremely subjective given that it is also individual - we all learn and speak our native languages based on where we grew up, who we speak with, etc.

Anastasija Sticky Note #2

2024-09-10 15:26:40 UTC

"...being a native speaker is a social construct, a choice of identity and a membership determined as much by attitude and symbolically as by language ability and knowledge" -Davies

Alexis Note #4

2024-09-10 15:26:58 UTC

"They are stakeholders of the language , they control its maintenance and shape its direction"- Davies

Yas note #5

2024-09-10 15:27:18 UTC

Given that the native speaker is so subjective, it is a near-impossible ideal to strive towards when learning a second language. There is almost no universal way to define the term, so there is also no way to reach it.

Caden Sticky Note #2

cshaffe6 — 2024-09-10 15:27:39 UTC

From Friedman, The interest of native-born citizens and the idea of nativism leads to things like the 1920s immigration acts and the reincarnation of the KKK.

Piper note 2

2024-09-10 15:28:08 UTC

A significant theme in Friedman’s thoughts is the relationship between economic conditions and nativism. He argues that economic downturns or shifts in the labor market contribute to fears about immigrants taking jobs/resources.

Alexis Note #5

2024-09-10 15:28:37 UTC

Davies refers to the native concept as one rich in ambiguity

Caden Sticky Note #3

cshaffe6 — 2024-09-10 15:28:44 UTC

Political and economic fears drive nativism- Friedmans

Anastasija Sticky Note #3

2024-09-10 15:29:05 UTC

"...Hymes (1970) proposed the term communicative competence in order to point to the learned knowledge of cultural norms which is crucial to language use. The position taken up by communicative competence is that knowing what to say is never enough; it is also necessary to know how to say it" -Davies

Yas note #6

2024-09-10 15:29:43 UTC

Chomsky argues that the distinction between a native and non-native speaker is pointless, and instead claims that everyone is a native speaker of the language that has “grown” in their mind.

Alexis Note #6

2024-09-10 15:31:53 UTC

While we focus on English as a formal language, there is still several ways to say different things. Our cultural language can influence or structure and how we perceive language.

Piper note 3

2024-09-10 15:32:50 UTC

Friedman also explores how nativism affects the feeling of identity. Nativist rhetoric often tries to define who is considered "American" and who is not, enforcing a vision of national identity that privileges certain groups over others. This can lead to a more exclusionary conception of what it means to "belong."

Anastasija Sticky Note #4

2024-09-10 15:32:51 UTC

"Since the United States is largely populated by people who came here from Africa, Asia, and Europe— of course, most who came from Africa were kidnapped and brought involuntarily— it should seem odd for

Americans to disparage “aliens”" -Friedman

Caden Sticky Note #4

cshaffe6 — 2024-09-10 15:32:52 UTC

From Davies, "Linguist have long given a special place to the native speaker as the only true and reliable source of language data.

nativism as connected to security, safety, immigration, labor market

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 15:34:33 UTC

Caden Sticky Note #5

cshaffe6 — 2024-09-10 15:34:40 UTC

From Davies, "the question of what are the "languages" or "dialects" attained, and what is the difference between "native" and "non-native" is just pointless.

Anastasija Sticky Note #5

2024-09-10 15:34:47 UTC

"While avoiding the southern states with slave labor and agricultural economies, the new immigrants spread throughout the Northern states" -Friedman

Caden Sticky Note #6

cshaffe6 — 2024-09-10 15:37:03 UTC

Native speaker is both the arbiter of a grammar and somehow the models for grammar. It needs to be idealized by the native speakers to be seen as right.

Piper note 4

2024-09-10 15:37:48 UTC

Davies discusses how the idea of the "native speaker" has been central when it comes to traditional linguistic theories. This concept is associated with nativism in the sense that native speakers possess some sort of superior understanding of their language compared to non-native speakers.

Anastasija Sticky Note #6

2024-09-10 15:39:17 UTC

"Sen. Samuel Pomeroy, a Kansas Republican, agreed and pragmatically warned that denying equal rights to the Chinese would threaten the rights of all: “If you deny citizenship to a large class, you have a dangerous element..." -Friedman

Piper note 5

2024-09-10 15:40:02 UTC

Davies also emphasizes that the idea of a "native speaker" is more myth than reality. He suggests that the concept is based on idealized/unrealistic notions of linguistic perfection. In reality, language use is diverse and influenced by many different factors beyond nativity.

Cluster - Native Speaking Language

2024-09-10 15:42:44 UTC

From this cluster, it goes through the understatements of the background behind the "native speaker" and the myths of what a "native speaker" is.

Cluster - Nativism and Fear

2024-09-10 15:44:41 UTC

In a lot of these, nativism seems to rise following fear of some kind - of terrorism, of labor competition, of foreign influence, of foreign subversion, etc. This can involve protecting what is seen as the American way of life, polarizing politics, fears of safety, or avoiding growing competition for labor and success.

Cluster - arbitrary; control over grammar, communication rules

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 15:46:23 UTC

This cluster may help see the agent who created those rules - grammar rules; communication rules and they are used as gatekeepers. However, Davies makes it super interesting to claim that it is not about being native to a language but obtaining metalinguistic knowledge of grammar.

But then how to regulate educational outcomes? It may be more about preparing the system but not speakers

Cluster - Agency with Perpetuating Those Myths/Stories

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 15:49:11 UTC

Stories and myths that may perpetuate those rules/regulations.

There are agents that choose to perpetuate those rules/perceptions.

Cluster- Language

2024-09-10 15:49:29 UTC

There are several ways to articulate the English language. This may look different across different cultures but it does not mean they are "wrong".

Cluster - History Regarding Nativism

2024-09-10 15:51:03 UTC

From this cluster, it goes through the history behind nativism and what many people have gone through regarding discrimination over the years.

Cluster Completences

mprikhod — 2024-09-10 15:54:03 UTC

I believe this cluster may bring some ideas into the issue of competencies - what knowledge and skills are there to dismantle/not perpetuate those myths and narratives/not to follow norms

Where do those competencies start? Davies did bring up pragmatic competence - awareness of how things work in a community not in a country