Some ideas to keep in mind for your various projects


  1. Ask yourself the following question: Why do they use (a) language (other than English)?

      When you think about preparing the print-medium project, it might be helpful to keep in mind the following things. One is that advertisers depend on our associating certain kinds of language with certain other notions, such as romance, sexuality, power, prestige, gender; and perhaps also the opposite of these. They need to catch our attention as we flip through a magazine, and to do so, they choose images that will intrigue and interest us, and hold our attention long enough to read the ad, or at least register what the product is. That is, they rely on stereotypes that we may have, preconceived notions that are part fact, part fancy, part misinformation.

      1. Certain languages are stereotypically associated more with romance, sex, glamour etc. than others. French and Italian are, Zulu and German (or many others you can name) are not.

      2. Certain languages may often (or always) be paired with a member of the same gender (i.e. when you see French, do you usually also see a woman or a man? When you see/hear German, is it a man or woman?)

      3. Certain languages may (be used to) invoke masculinity, machismo, power, influence, etc. (Russian? German? Arabic?)

      4. Certain languages (or their use) may be linked with notions of high quality, prestige, exclusivity, or products that evoke these notions. Some writers (see your coursepak readings) refer to this as "hedonic value."

  2. Also ask yourself also the following questions:

    1. What would the ad (cartoon, movie, etc. ) be like if they didn't use this language?

      1. What would be less effective about a print medium item (ad, cartoon, movie, etc.) if you changed one element: change the language, change the gender of the persons, their "race", their ethnicity; clothe them (if they are depicted unclothed), change the type of product e.g. from expensive wine to cheap rot-gut. Then see whether your reaction is different, whether you would find the product less interesting etc.

      2. Try asking some of your friends about these issues; make up a little questionnaire, and then ask them what would their reaction be if the language were not standard English but non-standard (e.g. African-American, southern, working-class) language; or not French but Urdu; not Italian but Polish; whether it would be different if a man were depicted half-dressed, draped across the product instead of a woman; whether it would be different if the model were non-white instead of white; if the product were a 12 horsepower 4 cylinder cheap French car (such as the sturdy deux chevaux ) instead of an expensive French car; if the product were French's mustard instead of Grey Poupon, etc. etc. (Why do you think that American mustard is called French's mustard ?)

      3. Always focus on the language issue, though; how is that language paired with race/gender/culture/prestige/power/wealth/sexuality, and what stereotypes does that depend on and evoke? If it's a cartoon, they're probably poking fun at some language or dialect (or someone's use of it ); substitute another language for it, and see if it's still as amusing. Change one variable at a time. Why, in Disney's Lady and the Tramp is the `romantic restaurant' an Italian one, with Tony and his friend singing in Italian-accented English about amore ? Why doesn't Tramp choose Chinese?

    2. Check also about the following:
      1. The amount of language used, and the content expressed in that language:
        1. Does the movie, ad (cartoon etc.) give us just a taste of a language, such as the name of the product, a word tossed in here and there?

        2. Does the ad (etc.) rely on our understanding content in the language used? Or does it flatter us by tacitly assuming that we are of such great intellect, taste, breeding, sophistication etc. that we understand this language?

        3. What is the difference between these kinds of usage?

      2. Are there other uses of language that can be graded along a scale, i.e. more vs. less? headline vs. footnote?

      3. If it's not a foreign language issue, are there instances of style shift, register shift, code-shifting? Why is this done? Is the use of this shift plausible and natural? Done to shock or amuse us? Engage our sympathy? Solicit our solidarity? Appeal to a particular age-group?

    3. Summary: Focus on the basic question of the sociology of language, namely, who speaks what to whom, when, where, why and how?

      haroldfs@ccat.sas.upenn.edu, last modified 11/16/98