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Listen to the way people around you (family members, friends, colleagues) use language

to establish and maintain relationships. What are some of the linguistic strategies they use

to assert the power relations among them? Do they use different language with various

people according to the type of relationship they share? Write an essay in which you

describe these relationships using your notes as examples.

Look at the neighborhood where you live from a linguistic perspective. What languages

do your neighbors speak? What does that say about your community? Do their Englishes

reveal something about their social status, their values, and so on? Analyze the linguistic

makeup of your neighborhood with plenty of examples.

Sample Interview Questions

You can sometimes notice different Englishes just from visiting different places in the

United States. Did you ever notice that? If so, how was that experience?

What if you were to move to another part of the country, would you stay with your

current accent or would you adopt the accent of your new community? Why, or why not?

Do you have people in your family who have a particular way of using English? Why?

How is their English? How do you react to it?

Did you ever have the chance to go to another country where the main language was not

English? How was that experience?

Have you had any classmates or instructors who use a variety of English that‘s very

different than yours?

Would you say that people are surprised when they hear somebody with an accent? In

what way?

What would you think about his or her language if you had a L2 user for a friend?