Transcript African American Series

African American
Communication
COM 370/372
John R. Baldwin
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klxGFA
nY4nI
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G43J6wfFbY
• Hooked on Ebonics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj3qeM
Ns7h4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EvR3_
S23KM
3/31/2016
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2
Some Key Points
• Communication interacts with
history, cultural values, and
surrounding contexts
• Some of what we find about African
American identities and
communication may apply to other
identities
• Cultural values and communication
styles “guide but do not dictate”
identities of individuals, with many
in a group not holding to these
values and styles
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3
http://eriklerouge.blogspot.com/2009/11/mix-black-population-of-usa.html
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4
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/44289999/US-Black-or-African-American-Population-by-State-Percent
5
Some questions
• Is there such a thing as “Black”
communication?
– If so, what is it?
– What are some possible
limitations of thinking in terms of
“Black” communication?
– Why does it exist?
• Deficit hypothesis
• Difference hypothesis
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6
Limits on “Racial”
Generalizations
• More difference
within than between:
Different ways of
living out blackness
(etc.)
• Ethnicity or
ethnicities
• The role of social
economic status
(S. Hall, 1992; Asante, 1987;
Halbserstadt, 1985)
Houston & Wood
• “Race” as a social and political
construction.
• “Although mythical and
arbitrary,” “race” has real
impact
• “Disparate opportunities and
status”  Standpoint
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• Standpoint theory
– Different knowledges of the
world, all incomplete
– Some groups have “better”
knowledge than others
• Subordinate must know dominant
• Dominant doesn’t want to know..
– It is worth our while to
understand the perspectives of
disadvantaged groups…
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9
• “Class” as culture?
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10
Historical Contexts
• What are some key historical
contexts that have influenced
African American values and
communication style?
– Slavery
• Western Africa
• Central Africa
– Institutional racism
• Segregation (de facto & de jure)
• Jim Crow laws
• Discrimination (continued)
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11
Social Institutions:
How do these institutions shape
African American experience?
• Church
• Family
Connections to Heritage
• Africanisms
• Afrocentrism
Cultural artifacts
• Music
• Dance, etc.
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12
Racial Differences in
Communication
• A deeper look:
Values
• Some African
American Values
–
–
–
–
Community
Authenticity
Personal Expression
Goal accomplishment
(mutual social
support)
– Acceptance/Equality
(Johnson, 2002; Hecht, Ribeau, &
Jackson, 2003)
Questions on themes
• How do you see these played
out in African American
culture?
• How might they lead to
miscommunication when used
with Whites?
• How do they relate to historical,
social, economic contexts of
Blacks in America?
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14
Influence on all of
American Culture
“The more that cross-over
occurs, the more every
person who is not African
American becomes
increasingly African
American; this is the course
of cultures in contact”
(Johnson, 1992, p. 121)
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15
AAVE
•
•
•
•
•
What is it?
Why be aware of it?
Who uses it?
Is it growing or receding?
Why does it exist?
– “Deficiency” hypothesis
– “Community” hypothesis
– “Resistance” hypothesis
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16
Discourse Patterns
• Phonology (sounds) (pp. 141ff)
– L-lessness: /toe/ v. /told/
– R-lessness: /fot/ v. /fort/
– Weakening of final consonants:
/res/ v. /rest/
– Substitution of voiceless /th/:
/dere/ v. /there/
– -ang/-ing substitution
– /-ks/ substitution for /-sk/: axxe
– /gon/ for ‘going to’: /she was gon
go home/
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17
Discourse Patterns
• Semantic:
– Crossovers
– Different feeling based on speaker?
• Syntactic (grammatical structure):
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– Habitual “be/bees”
– Remote time “been”
– Absence of “be” copula
– “Done” constructions
– Unmarked plurality
– Unmarked past tense
– Zero 3rd-person singular: She run…
– Multiple negation
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18
Modes of (Pragmatic)
Discourse
• Indirection (form of criticism)
• Emphatic language routines:
Woofin’, signifying, braggadocio
• The “dozens,” dissin’, talking trash
• Call response (sermonic form)
• Tonal semantics
• Narrative story style (experience as logic)
• Rap (and “rappin’”)
• Women’s discourse
• Dissimulation
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19
Implications
• Have you seen any of these
forms reflected in your own
conversations with those of
different races?
• How might some of the issues
surrounding African American
values and communication
relate to other marginalized
groups in America?
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20
Racial Differences in
Communication
• Race > Black/White
• Some cultural
differences
–
–
–
–
–
Conflict styles
Directness (Kochman)
Eye contact
Space & touch
Questions (Shuter)
What happens in “intercultural” interaction?
• Disconnect in values and,
thus, in communication
• Attribution (based on own
view)
• A model of conflict in the
workplace
• Adjusting. . . And
misadjusting!
• Code-Switching
• Hyperexplanation
(Gallois et al., 2005; Waters, 1992)
Communication Accommodation Theory
Accommodation:
• Convergence
• Divergence
• Maintenance
Channels
• V/NV/Paralanguage
Factors
• Goals
• Social structure
• Abilities
• Norms
Communication Accommodation Theory
Accommodation:
• Adaptors
• Expressiveness
• Interruptions
• Smiles
Attributions?
(Booth-Butterfield & Jordan,
)
1990; Houston, 2003
Research: Results & Implications
(Booth-Butterfield & Jordan, 1989)
Results: Behaviors by Race & Group Composition
Homogenous
Heterogeneous
Black
White
Black
White
Smiling
46.7
25.78
28.7
47.33
Adaptors
6.6
9.89
5.3
9.11
Interrupt
5.4
1.78
2.3
1.55
Expressive
11.86
8.86
10.43
9.22
Luster
25
Co-Cultural Theory: IR Comm & Power
Separation
Accommodation
Assimilation
Nonassertive
•Avoiding
•Maintaining
interpersonal barriers
•Increasing visibility
•Dispelling
stereotypes
•Emphasizing
commonalities
•Averting controversy
Assertive
•Intragroup
networking
•Exemplifying
strengths
•Using liaisons
•Educating others
•Extensive
preparation
•Overcompensating
Aggressive
•Attacking
•Sabotaging
•Confronting
•Gaining advantage
•Mirroring
•Strategic Distancing
M. P. Orbe, M. P. (1998) Constructing co-cultural theory: An
explication of culture, power, and communication. Thousand
Oaks: Sage.
Co-Cultural Theory: IR Comm &
Power
• Six “universal influences”
– Preferred outcomes (identity
goals)
– Communication orientation
– Field of experience
– Situational context
– Perceived costs and rewards
– Abilities
M. P. Orbe, M. P. (1998) Constructing co-cultural theory: An
explication of culture, power, and communication. Thousand
Oaks: Sage.