Final Exam Quiz Questions Flashcards
What is Hypodescent?
A sociological concept; the practice of assigning a person of mixed-race heritage to a racial or social group that is considered subordinate.
Note: the “one-drop rule”.
Blumenbach attempted to divide humans into five categories by measuring ______.
Skull sizes (craniometry).
- Caucasian (White)
- Mongolian (Asian)
- Malayan (Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander)
- Ethiopian (African)
- American (Indigenous peoples of the Americas)
What are the five “races” under the current racial US taxonomy?
White, Black, Asian/ Pacific Islander (AAPI), Native American, Latinx
What does the following statement mean?: “Race and ethnicity are socially constructed categories.”
These concepts are not based on inherent, fixed biological differences but are created and defined by societies to categorize and organize people.
What is a phenotype?
Physical characteristics that can be measured.
ex. ) hair color, eye color, hair texture, height, etc.
How does DiAngelo define white fragility?
“…defensive or aggressive reactions [so many] white people have when [our] racial worldviews, positions, or advantages are questioned or challenged.”
Name one reason why language is useful in understanding race and ethnicity.
- A powerful tool for expressing and reinforcing cultural identity and group belonging.
- It helps individuals express their identity and connect with their heritage.
- Linguistic discrimination (e.g., accent bias or prejudice against non-dominant languages) often intersects with racial and ethnic discrimination, revealing how language and identity are interconnected.
What is injurious speech? Define and give an example.
Language that causes harm to individuals or groups, whether emotionally, psychologically, socially, or physically.
ex.) racial slurs, stereotypes, etc.
What is indexical bleaching?
The process by which a word or expression loses its original, specific cultural, social, or situational meanings (its indexicality) and becomes more neutral or generalized over time.
ex.) Replacing someone’s birth name with an English name, mispronouncing names or phrases intentionally, etc.
In what part of the U.S. was Mena’s 2024 study conducted?
Texas
Mena (2004) argues that changing the name Guadalupe to Gigi isn’t always an unmarked choice. How so?
The argument revolves around how names carry cultural, ethnic, and social identities. The choice to change a name like Guadalupe, which is deeply tied to Latinx culture and often associated with religious and cultural significance, to a name like Gigi can reflect a complex negotiation of identity.
This change may appear “marked” because:
- Cultural Erasure: Opting for Gigi could be seen as an attempt to assimilate into dominant cultural norms, possibly distancing oneself from Latinx heritage.
- Identity Shift: The choice might signal a desire to present oneself in a way that aligns with the perceived mainstream.
If a respondent answered “I’m a white boy!” to the question “What is your ethnicity?”, it is an example of a (circle one: unmarked, elaborated, ironic,
problematizing) response.
Ironic response: Instead of simply stating “white” or “caucasian,” the respondent adds “boy,” ironically (in place of a joke).
What is a performative speech act?
Type of speech act where the act of speaking itself performs an action- the statement doesn’t just convey information but enacts or accomplishes something in the world.
ex.) I apologize, I promise, etc.
Why is “I apologized” not a performative speech act?
The [d] indicates past tense.
According to Pavlenko 2002, World War I brought about hostile sentiments to one specific language group. Who were they?
German speakers.
In France, Britain, and the United States, speakers of German were often viewed with suspicion or hostility.
Leeman 2004 argues that the Census question asking whether household members speak a language other than English at home and how well they speak English privileges the English language over multilingualism. How so?
The Census question reinforces the dominance of English and implicitly marginalizes multilingualism by prioritizing English as the measure of linguistic success and overlooking the value of other languages.
- Focus on English Proficiency: positions English as the benchmark for assessing linguistic competence
- Marginalization of Non-English Languages: shifts the focus from cultural diversity and linguistic richness to the necessity of aligning with the dominant English-speaking culture.
- Framing of English as the Standard: emphasizes the ability to speak English well, which implies that proficiency in English is the default or ideal.
Give one example of a vocabulary item from a U.S. citizenship English test.
Presidents (George Washington), national holidays (Flag Day), the role of the Constitution, etc.
While multilingualism was more visible in the US before the 1800s, it changed between 1880 and 1924. Why?
Over 24 million immigrants arrived in America, and as a result, the dominant dialects became less distinct, giving way to the influence of a diverse range of new languages.
What is prosody?
Linguistic characteristics like rhythm, intonation, stress, and volume.
Lo 2021 opens with an incident of a USC professor using a Mandarin word that is hearable as a word in English. What is this word?
Racial slur (N-word)
What is a matched guise test?
A sociolinguistic experimental technique is used to determine an individual’s or community’s true feelings toward a specific language, dialect, or accent.
Method: A bilingual speaker reads the same passage in both standard English and a regional dialect. The listeners, who are unaware that it’s the same person, might rate the speaker differently based on the language variety, revealing societal attitudes toward those dialects or accents.
What is a linguistic example that achieves negative politeness?
- “I’m sorry to bother you, but…” (Apologizing/ expressing regret)
- “I don’t suppose you know where the scissors are, do you?” (Hedging)
- “Could you help me? It shouldn’t take long!” (Minimizing the imposition)
A researcher’s dilemma in which the presence of an observer unintentionally affects the phenomenon being observed is called an __________ _____________.
Observer’s Paradox
Rockquemore and Brunsma (2008) identified five identity types for people with one white parent and one black parent. They were Singular Black, Singular White, Border, Protean, and Transcendent. Choose one category and explain what it is.
- Singular Black: Individuals identify solely as Black, aligning with the traditional “one-drop rule” in the United States that historically categorized mixed-race individuals as Black.
- Singular White: Individuals identify solely as White, distancing themselves from their Black heritage and associating more closely with their White parent or community.
- Border: Individuals see themselves as belonging equally to both Black and White racial groups, embracing their mixed-race heritage without choosing one side.
- Protean: Individuals shift their racial identity depending on the social context, adapting to different environments or situations based on how they perceive others’ expectations or their sense of belonging.
- Transcendent: Individuals reject traditional racial categories altogether, identifying as simply human or focusing on aspects of identity unrelated to race.
