Essentials of Cultural Anthropology A Toolkit for a Global Age 1st Edition Test Bank
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Chapter 04: Language
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Whereas many animals, such as dolphins and
great apes, communicate with each other through gestures and sounds, only human
language utilizes both sounds and gestures as well as a complex system of
|
a.
|
dance.
|
c.
|
warnings and alerts.
|
|
b.
|
symbols.
|
d.
|
chemical
information.
|
ANS:
B
DIF:
Easy
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Discuss how anthropologists define language, distinguishing between human use
of linguistic symbols and other forms of nonhuman
communication. MSC: Remembering
2. According to the text, studying the patterns
and importance of sounds as spoken by a group of people helps linguistic
anthropologists
|
a.
|
decipher meaning.
|
|
b.
|
identify how
emotions are conveyed through nonverbal communication.
|
|
c.
|
determine how long a
specific language has existed.
|
|
d.
|
understand the
elements and rules of a particular language.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Summarize how anthropologists study the rules and elements of language through
phonemes, morphemes, syntax, and
grammar.
MSC:
Understanding
3. Archaeological evidence that offers clues to
the origins of human language includes the
|
a.
|
fossilized brain
casts of Neanderthals that show the anatomical features for speech.
|
|
b.
|
existence of the
FOXP2 gene, which is also found in chimpanzees.
|
|
c.
|
careful study of
nonhuman primate sounds and gestures.
|
|
d.
|
discovery of
fossilized human remains that are almost 2.5 million years old.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Easy
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Describe how human language is thought to have originated, drawing on
archaeological and genetic
evidence.
MSC:
Remembering
4. We sometimes “signal” interest in someone
without the use of words, which is part of how we establish a relationship with
another person, possibly a lasting one. How would an anthropologist describe
our behavior?
|
a.
|
displacement
|
c.
|
kinesics
|
|
b.
|
morphology
|
d.
|
paralanguage
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Illustrate the role of paralanguage and kinesics in communication, and discuss
how electronic messages have attempted to pass along emotional information.
MSC:
Applying
5. Part of how we establish intimate
relationships with others stems from the words we use, but sometimes words
cannot convey everything. At such a time, we may unknowingly resort to a system
of body movements as well as a collection of noises and tone of voice in order
to fully convey our
|
a.
|
interest.
|
c.
|
emotions.
|
|
b.
|
sadness.
|
d.
|
enthusiasm.
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Illustrate the role of paralanguage and kinesics in communication, and discuss
how electronic messages have attempted to pass along emotional
information.
MSC:
Applying
6. Anthropologists refer to sounds that make a
critical difference in meaning within a language as
|
a.
|
paralanguage.
|
c.
|
phonemes.
|
|
b.
|
morphemes.
|
d.
|
grammar.
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Summarize how anthropologists study the rules and elements of language through
phonemes, morphemes, syntax, and
grammar.
MSC:
Remembering
7. The system of human communication based on a
set of symbols and signs with learned and shared meanings is called
|
a.
|
grammar.
|
c.
|
productivity.
|
|
b.
|
paralanguage.
|
d.
|
language.
|
ANS:
D
DIF:
Easy
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Discuss how anthropologists define language, distinguishing between human use
of linguistic symbols and other forms of nonhuman
communication. MSC: Remembering
8. Based on evidence from Benjamin Whorf’s
research with the Hopi, a Native American group in the southwestern United
States, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that
|
a.
|
the human brain is
hardwired for organizing language in a universal manner.
|
|
b.
|
thought is rooted in
language.
|
|
c.
|
language occurs
independently of thought.
|
|
d.
|
thought occurs
independently of language.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Moderate REF:
Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Differentiate between structuralist theories of language, such as the work of
Noam Chomsky, and the hypothesis proposed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf. |
Explain how ways of classifying information or expressing cultural ideas may
shape the way we think.
MSC:
Understanding
9. The ________ of any language refers to names,
ideas, and events that offer a kind of catalog of what is spoken and can be
compiled into something accessible to others.
|
a.
|
dialect
|
c.
|
lexicon
|
|
b.
|
grammar
|
d.
|
syntax
|
ANS:
C
DIF:
Easy
REF: Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Describe how the focal vocabulary of a particular group of people expresses
names, ideas, and categories that are unique to their way of life. | Discuss
how languages can evolve over time, and how changes show up in a language’s
lexicon. MSC: Remembering
10. Words that have what we might consider an
obvious meaning can often hold completely different meaning to others. The
word dead, for example, might
seem obvious to us, but signify an affliction to others, which demonstrates how
language is
|
a.
|
organized into
recognizable archives.
|
|
b.
|
connected to local
stories and cultural values.
|
|
c.
|
embedded into texts
and stories that are universal in nature.
|
|
d.
|
separate from the
local folklore.
|
ANS:
B
DIF:
Difficult REF: Can
Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Describe how the focal vocabulary of a particular group of people expresses
names, ideas, and categories that are unique to their way of life. | Discuss
how languages can evolve over time, and how changes show up in a language’s
lexicon. MSC: Understanding
11. In part because the Hopi language has verb tenses
that differ from those of English, Benjamin Whorf’s linguistic research
suggested that the Hopi people of Arizona have
|
a.
|
a worldview where
past and present represent lived reality and the future is hypothetical.
|
|
b.
|
been able to retain
their cultural traditions.
|
|
c.
|
a worldview that
keeps past and present as entirely separate concepts.
|
|
d.
|
the same conceptual
idea of time as everyone else with a different worldview.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Moderate
REF: Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Differentiate between structuralist theories of language, such as the work of
Noam Chomsky, and the hypothesis proposed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf. |
Explain how ways of classifying information or expressing cultural ideas may
shape the way we think.
MSC:
Understanding
12. Linguistic anthropologists would label new
words that have emerged during the digital age, such as mouse, modem, download,
and e-mail, as part of our
generation’s ________ vocabulary.
|
a.
|
cultural
|
c.
|
emotional
|
|
b.
|
focal
|
d.
|
tonal
|
ANS:
B
DIF:
Easy
REF: Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Describe how the focal vocabulary of a particular group of people expresses
names, ideas, and categories that are unique to their way of life. | Discuss
how languages can evolve over time, and how changes show up in a language’s
lexicon. MSC: Remembering
13. Anthropologist Laura Bohannan discovered in
her attempt to translate a classic text from English literature that
|
a.
|
an underlying
universal grammar that all humans share facilitated her work.
|
|
b.
|
it is
straightforward to translate stories across different languages.
|
|
c.
|
accurate translation
of Shakespeare is best accomplished through sign language.
|
|
d.
|
the meaning of the
story became lost as the original meanings of the English words could not be
easily translated.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Moderate
REF: Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Explain how the challenges in translating Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a Nigerian
village illustrate the power of language to shape how we think about the
world.
MSC: Understanding
14. To investigate the focal vocabulary of a
language in a particular community, a linguistic anthropologist might
|
a.
|
search for genetic
evidence for the origin of syntax and grammar.
|
|
b.
|
try to discover
words that offer sophisticated ways to describe local cultural realities.
|
|
c.
|
set up experiments
that show how that community uses language differently.
|
|
d.
|
focus on the
dialects that are present within the group.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Moderate
REF: Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ: Describe
how the focal vocabulary of a particular group of people expresses names,
ideas, and categories that are unique to their way of life. | Discuss how
languages can evolve over time, and how changes show up in a language’s
lexicon. MSC: Applying
15. The phrase “drop the ball,” which is often
used by men in sports situations, mirrors Robin Lakoff’s work in gender and
language and allows complex communication about human actions that is
|
a.
|
applicable in a wide
range of scenarios.
|
|
b.
|
applicable in very
limited scenarios.
|
|
c.
|
so culturally
specific as to be meaningless.
|
|
d.
|
representative of
the way men and women “think differently” about life.
|
ANS:
B
DIF:
Difficult REF: Can
Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Describe how the focal vocabulary of a particular group of people expresses
names, ideas, and categories that are unique to their way of life. | Discuss
how languages can evolve over time, and how changes show up in a language’s
lexicon. MSC: Understanding
16. Anthropologists who emphasize how culture,
society, and a person’s social position are what shapes language are best
described as engaged in the study of
|
a.
|
cultural
preservation.
|
c.
|
psychological
anthropology.
|
|
b.
|
sociolinguistics.
|
d.
|
social Darwinism.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Discuss how cultural categories and systems of power shape language, and
language shapes culture.
MSC: Remembering
17. Terms like the “N-word,” as the text suggests,
carry a wide range of meaning. In a similar way, use of the term “queer” has
taken on many different shades of meaning over the past decade. The use of such
terms illustrates the ways in which
|
a.
|
similar groups of
people share the struggle to overcome derogatory meaning in language.
|
|
b.
|
different social
groups are able to control the use of specific terms.
|
|
c.
|
language and power
are distinct.
|
|
d.
|
language and power
intersect.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Discuss how cultural categories and systems of power shape language, and
language shapes culture. MSC:
Applying
18. Deborah Tannen’s research into the ways that
boys and girls speak demonstrates that
|
a.
|
they are using a
form of cross-cultural communication.
|
|
b.
|
differences are
primarily based on biology, not processes of socialization.
|
|
c.
|
they have nearly
identical communication strategies.
|
|
d.
|
the best way to
understand gender and language is through the “dominance” model.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Distinguish between two main approaches that explain different patterns of
language use by women and men by explaining the “difference” and “dominance”
models of gendered speech.
MSC:
Understanding
19. Gender differences in communication often give
rise to stereotypes. One common one in the United States suggests that women
never seem to stop talking. This contradicts the research showing that men
|
a.
|
are better able to
use language to their advantage.
|
|
b.
|
adopt linguistic
strategies that help them maintain conversational dominance.
|
|
c.
|
are often reluctant
to speak up in mixed-gender settings.
|
|
d.
|
adopt linguistic
strategies that focus on letting women participate in conversation.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Distinguish between two main approaches that explain different patterns of
language use by women and men by explaining the “difference” and “dominance”
models of gendered speech.
MSC:
Understanding
20. Consider a used car salesperson. This
individual must be highly skilled at using words to persuade people to part
with a chunk of money. This illustrates the way that linguistic skills as a
form of cultural capital
|
a.
|
are not needed to
make a good living.
|
|
b.
|
are often used to
cheat others out of their money.
|
|
c.
|
can be converted
into monetary gain.
|
|
d.
|
are a useful tool
for car sales but not for financial careers.
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Difficult
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Relate the idea of cultural capital gained from mastery of a prestige language
to the concept of code switching between linguistic styles or
dialects. MSC:
Applying
21. A nonstandard variation of a language is
referred to as a
|
a.
|
prestige language.
|
c.
|
dialect.
|
|
b.
|
type of
displacement.
|
d.
|
morpheme.
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Relate the idea of cultural capital gained from mastery of a prestige language
to the concept of code switching between linguistic styles or
dialects. MSC:
Remembering
22. When individuals speak in a manner that does
not conform to what is known as “Standard English,” there is often an implicit
association with
|
a.
|
educational
attainment.
|
c.
|
country of origin.
|
|
b.
|
status and prestige.
|
d.
|
race or class.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Define the importance of historical
linguistics.
MSC: Understanding
23. In their study of “Spoken Soul,” Rickford and
Rickford concluded that
|
a.
|
the English language
has more than twenty known dialects.
|
|
b.
|
all African
Americans are very adept at code switching.
|
|
c.
|
this linguistic
variant is gradually fading from use.
|
|
d.
|
this linguistic
variant is in wide use by African Americans in a range of settings.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Easy
REF: How Do
Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Define the importance of historical
linguistics.
MSC: Remembering
24. Efforts to enforce the use of “Standard
English” in a school setting frequently evoke major controversy, and the
erosion of what many perceive as “national identity” is touted as one major
reason why “Standard English” should be the norm. When “Ebonics” was introduced
in Oakland Schools, it sought to
|
a.
|
help African
American children succeed in school.
|
|
b.
|
introduce a new
federal policy that allowed the teaching of nonstandard English.
|
|
c.
|
replace Standard
English with Black English in the school district.
|
|
d.
|
certify teachers as
proficient in Black English.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Relate the idea of cultural capital gained from mastery of a prestige language
to the concept of code switching between linguistic styles or
dialects. MSC:
Understanding
25. Language continuum is defined as
|
a.
|
a nonstandard
variation of a language that is particular to a specific region.
|
|
b.
|
the study of the
development of language over time, including its changes and variations.
|
|
c.
|
alternating back and
forth between more than one linguistic variant, depending on the context.
|
|
d.
|
the idea that
variation in languages appears gradually over distance between places.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Discuss how cultural categories and systems of power shape language, and
language shapes culture.
MSC: Remembering
26. In 2009, newly elected president Barack Obama
visited a famous eatery in Washington, D.C.; after paying his tab, he was asked
by the cashier if he wanted his change. The president’s reply was, “Nah, we
straight.” The president was using a form of
|
a.
|
dialect.
|
c.
|
code switching.
|
|
b.
|
cultural capital.
|
d.
|
English vernacular.
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Describe how dialects or variations of American English, such as Black English,
reflect broader issues of socioeconomic class, education, and
race.
MSC:
Understanding
27. Sociolinguistics is defined as the study of
|
a.
|
the intersection
between language and systems of power such as race, class, and age.
|
|
b.
|
the development of
language over time, including its changes and variations.
|
|
c.
|
how social behavior
is created by language.
|
|
d.
|
the variation in
languages between places.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Describe how dialects or variations of American English, such as Black English,
reflect broader issues of socioeconomic class, education, and
race.
MSC:
Remembering
28. A historical linguist would be most likely to
study
|
a.
|
a nonstandard
variation of a language that is particular to a specific region.
|
|
b.
|
the development of
language over time, including its changes and variations.
|
|
c.
|
the way that
linguistic variants alternate back and forth depending on the context.
|
|
d.
|
the way that
variation in language appears gradually over distance between places.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Discuss how cultural categories and systems of power shape language, and
language shapes culture.
MSC: Understanding
29. Dialect is defined as a nonstandard variation
of a language that
|
a.
|
is particular to a
specific region.
|
|
b.
|
varies over time.
|
|
c.
|
depends on context.
|
|
d.
|
depends on the
distance between places.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Describe how dialects or variations of American English, such as Black English,
reflect broader issues of socioeconomic class, education, and
race.
MSC:
Remembering
30. According to the textbook, human languages are
being
|
a.
|
lost only outside
the United States.
|
|
b.
|
lost at a rate of
three per day.
|
|
c.
|
created at a rate
faster than they are being lost.
|
|
d.
|
lost at a rate of
one every ten days.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Easy
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Discuss the social implications of losing one language every ten days, and
describe how the disappearance of languages can lead to loss of diverse ways of
understanding the world. | Describe which languages are spoken most widely
around the world. MSC:
Remembering
31. The work of the Summer Institute of
Linguistics presents a challenge to anthropology due to its work being
|
a.
|
both a means of
proselytizing and a means of translating bible texts at a low cost.
|
|
b.
|
both a means of
proselytizing and a means of capturing data that might otherwise be lost.
|
|
c.
|
a means of embedding
a specific religious belief into a digital format.
|
|
d.
|
a means of
maintaining secrecy about the institute’s motives.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Moderate
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Outline strategies that linguistic anthropologists and others have employed to
help preserve languages that are at risk of becoming
extinct.
MSC: Understanding
32. The efforts to preserve the Native American
Lakota language, spoken by about fifty thousand people in the United States,
has led to
|
a.
|
a well-updated
language and cultural knowledge base.
|
|
b.
|
the widespread
adoption of Lakota terms in many parts of the country.
|
|
c.
|
the integration of
social media into the preservation effort.
|
|
d.
|
the loss of Lakota
cultural capital due to online piracy.
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Moderate
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Discuss ways in which digital technology may be used to help preserve
endangered languages, such as in the case of the North American Lakota
language.
MSC:
Understanding
33. Chinese, spoken by about 1.2 million people,
is the most common native language in the world. At the same time, many Chinese
students are sent abroad to English-speaking countries to learn English. This
may be in part because
|
a.
|
the Chinese
government seeks to develop more Chinese language universities and technology
centers.
|
|
b.
|
English is spoken by
nearly 95 percent of the world’s population.
|
|
c.
|
English is the
dominant spoken language worldwide and is central in education and
technology.
|
|
d.
|
global media like
radio and television is extremely difficult to accomplish with written
Chinese.
|
ANS:
C
DIF: Moderate
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Discuss the social implications of losing one language every ten days, and
describe how the disappearance of languages can lead to loss of diverse ways of
understanding the world. | Describe which languages are spoken most widely
around the world.
MSC:
Understanding
34. Just as information technology is helping to
preserve some languages such as Lakota, it also can endanger a language. This
might be because
|
a.
|
of the refusal of
global media to translate their content into many different languages.
|
|
b.
|
of the declining
power of colonialism.
|
|
c.
|
the increasing cost
of information technology means that smaller populations cannot access
digital content.
|
|
d.
|
of the increasing
global connection brought on by information technology.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Difficult
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Evaluate how uneven development and lack of access to information and
communication technologies divides people into digital haves and
have-nots. MSC: Understanding
35. According to the textbook, the government of
________ has struggled to monitor and censor highly decentralized information
that publicizes worker strikes, oppressive working conditions, and local
government corruption.
|
a.
|
Taiwan
|
c.
|
Myanmar
|
|
b.
|
China
|
d.
|
the Philippines
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Predict how new forms of digital activism are emerging from social media, and
how these changes could shape new speech
communities.
MSC: Remembering
36. How might an anthropologist refer to people
born after 1980 regarding their abilities to navigate Web sites, wikis, and
blogs, and to send text messages?
|
a.
|
as digital natives
|
c.
|
as digital linguists
|
|
b.
|
as digital
entrepreneurs
|
d.
|
as digital anthropologists
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Contrast the technological proficiency of different populations, and assess how
facility with smartphones, tablets, and web-based technologies influences
education.
MSC: Remembering
37. “Digital native” might be understood by an
anthropologist as
|
a.
|
someone who supports
social struggles for worker rights and democracy aided by social media,
mobile phones, and electronic communication.
|
|
b.
|
anyone born after
1980, who has spent his or her life using devices like smartphones and
laptops.
|
|
c.
|
the era defined by the
proliferation of high-speed communication technologies, social networking,
and personal computing.
|
|
d.
|
any generation that
uses technology, but in a process more akin to learning a new culture or
language.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Evaluate how uneven development and lack of access to information and
communication technologies divides people into digital haves and
have-nots. MSC: Analyzing
38. One major characteristic of language that is
not easily conveyed in digital communications is emotion, and this is due
largely to the absence of
|
a.
|
a sufficient number
of emoticons.
|
|
b.
|
paralanguage.
|
|
c.
|
a concise, universal
lexicon of emoticons.
|
|
d.
|
a system of symbols
that describes body movement.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Evaluate how uneven development and lack of access to information and
communication technologies divides people into digital haves and
have-nots. MSC: Understanding
39. Words such as mouse, download, and e-mail are all a kind of
|
a.
|
paralanguage.
|
c.
|
kinesics.
|
|
b.
|
digital grammar.
|
d.
|
focal vocabulary.
|
ANS:
D
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Evaluate how uneven development and lack of access to information and
communication technologies divides people into digital haves and
have-nots. MSC: Understanding
40. The recent turmoil in the Middle East, what
some have termed the Arab Spring,
was driven in part by the extensive use of social media and has led to the
creation of a new kind of
|
a.
|
sociolinguistics.
|
c.
|
lexicon.
|
|
b.
|
reality.
|
d.
|
syntax.
|
ANS: C
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Predict how new forms of digital activism are emerging from social media, and
how these changes could shape new speech
communities.
MSC: Applying
41. At present, almost 85 percent, or 5.5 billion
people, lack meaningful access to a digital communication network. This
reflects
|
a.
|
increasing successes
by computer hackers to shut down global media.
|
|
b.
|
the efforts of
foreign powers to prevent access to online materials.
|
|
c.
|
the minimal
investment in technological infrastructure made by the Chinese government.
|
|
d.
|
the tendency of
globalization to increase the effects of uneven development.
|
ANS: D
DIF: Moderate
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Evaluate how uneven development and lack of access to information and
communication technologies divides people into digital haves and
have-nots. MSC: Understanding
42. Anthropologists have shown that chimpanzees
and other nonhuman primates are able to communicate about things and events
that are not in the present. This is on par with the human aspect of language
that allows for
|
a.
|
displacement.
|
c.
|
complexity.
|
|
b.
|
productivity.
|
d.
|
innovation.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Discuss how anthropologists define language, distinguishing between human use
of linguistic symbols and other forms of nonhuman
communication. MSC:
Understanding
43. Humpback whales have been shown to communicate
with remarkable complexity and have distinctly different types of tunes and
accents that differ across different pods. Akin to human musical abilities,
this might suggest that whales may indeed include what in their communications?
|
a.
|
symbols
|
c.
|
body movements
|
|
b.
|
paralanguage
|
d.
|
grammar
|
ANS:
A
DIF:
Difficult REF: What
Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Illustrate the role of paralanguage and kinesics in communication, and discuss
how electronic messages have attempted to pass along emotional
information.
MSC:
Applying
44. American women are far more likely than men to
distinguish between colors like teal and turquoise, or magenta and purple. This
is an example of
|
a.
|
a biological
difference between men and women.
|
|
b.
|
a focal vocabulary
that exists within American culture.
|
|
c.
|
a paralanguage that
differentiates female culture from the dominant male culture.
|
|
d.
|
linguistic
productivity and displacement.
|
ANS:
B
DIF:
Easy
REF: Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Describe how the focal vocabulary of a particular group of people expresses
names, ideas, and categories that are unique to their way of life. | Discuss
how languages can evolve over time, and how changes show up in a language’s
lexicon. MSC: Remembering
45. Noam Chomsky’s research proposes that
|
a.
|
all humans share a
similar ability to learn language based on the way that our brains are
hardwired.
|
|
b.
|
human brains are
genetically hardwired to learn specific languages.
|
|
c.
|
different languages
create different ways of thinking.
|
|
d.
|
a language’s grammar
is derived from the culture in which it develops.
|
ANS:
A
DIF:
Easy
REF: Can Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Differentiate between structuralist theories of language, such as the work of
Noam Chomsky, and the hypothesis proposed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf. |
Explain how ways of classifying information or expressing cultural ideas may
shape the way we think.
MSC: Remembering
46. Linguistic anthropologists have discovered
that the languages spoken in Europe such as Latin, English, German, and Greek
are derived from an earlier language they call
|
a.
|
Proto-Indo-European.
|
c.
|
Pan Archaic
European.
|
|
b.
|
premodern European.
|
d.
|
Proto-Germanic.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Describe the concept of speech communities. | Define the importance of
historical linguistics.
MSC: Remembering
47. In 1996, the Oakland School District proposed
|
a.
|
supporting Spanish
or “Spanglish” speakers as if they were learning Standard English as a second
language in school.
|
|
b.
|
supporting Black
English, or Ebonics, speakers as if they were learning Standard English as a
second language in school.
|
|
c.
|
teaching Ebonics as
a second language alongside Spanish and French.
|
|
d.
|
creating a bilingual
curriculum in which Spanish and English would be mixed freely.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Explain how treatment of nonstandard speakers reflects patterns of social
stratification.
MSC: Remembering
48. The Summer Institute of Linguistics
|
a.
|
is a secular
institution with the mission of preserving indigenous religious practices.
|
|
b.
|
sends missionaries
into the field to create written versions of indigenous languages with the
goal of disseminating the Christian Bible in those languages.
|
|
c.
|
has attempted to
wipe out indigenous languages and replace them with English.
|
|
d.
|
is a religious
institution with the mission of putting an English bible into the hands of
native speakers.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Easy
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Outline strategies that linguistic anthropologists and others have employed to
help preserve languages that are at risk of becoming
extinct.
MSC: Remembering
49. Worldwide, the language most widely spoken by
native speakers is
|
a.
|
Hindi.
|
c.
|
Arabic.
|
|
b.
|
Chinese.
|
d.
|
English.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Easy
REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Discuss the social implications of losing one language every ten days, and
describe how the disappearance of languages can lead to loss of diverse ways of
understanding the world. | Describe which languages are spoken most widely
around the world.
MSC:
Remembering
50. Changes in the immigration laws in Arizona
have also given rise to changes in the way students are educated, often placing
restrictions on the language that can be used in the classroom. This suggests
that language, in addition to being a system of symbols, is also a
|
a.
|
system where social behavior
is monitored.
|
|
b.
|
system where social
norms are established and enforced.
|
|
c.
|
collection of key
rules that make language vibrant.
|
|
d.
|
platform in which
politicians are better able to help immigrants.
|
ANS:
B
DIF: Moderate
REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Contrast the technological proficiency of digital natives with digital
immigrants, and assess how facility with smartphones, tablets, and web-based
technologies influences education.
MSC: Analyzing
51. Because few children grow up learning to speak
the Lakota language, efforts have been made to preserve language samples and
artifacts in tribal areas. These efforts include
|
a.
|
a participatory
social media platform built by LiveandTell.
|
|
b.
|
replacing Standard
English with the Lakota language in local schools.
|
|
c.
|
translation of the
Christian Bible into the Lakota language by the Summer Institute of
Linguistics.
|
|
d.
|
legislation making
the Lakota language the official language in tribal areas.
|
ANS:
A
DIF: Easy
REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Discuss ways in which digital technology may be used to help preserve endangered
languages, such as in the case of the North American Lakota
language.
MSC:
Remembering
ESSAY
1. What types of evidence have anthropologists
drawn on to approximate when humans first began to use language? Using
examples, analyze how genetic and archaeological information have been used to
determine when the human capacity for speech evolved. How did language enhance
the ability of humans to survive and adapt to inhospitable environments?
ANS:
Students may discuss
the cognitive and anatomical changes that were necessary for human language and
offer approximate data for when language may have evolved. In terms of genetic
evidence, they should discuss research that suggests how the FOXP2 gene
variants play a role in activating or inactivating speech capacity. They should
discuss how archaeologists have shown that the skulls of Neanderthals indicate
an increased capacity for language between 35,000 and 120,000 years ago.
Students should note that evidence of art, tool making, and other technologies
suggests that language was required to pass information across generations, and
then offer a rationale for how language facilitated knowledge transmission.
DIF:
Moderate REF: What Is
Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Describe how human language is thought to have originated, drawing on
archaeological and genetic
evidence.
MSC:
Understanding
2. Although analyzing what is spoken and written
is very important for linguistic anthropologists, the way that people convey
messages through gestures, facial expressions, and postures is equally crucial
in understanding human communication. Discuss how anthropologists can decipher
the meaning of communication through examining paralanguage and what is
indicated through body language. Illustrate how body language is not universal
but rather depends on cultural context, and use examples to show how emotional
information is communicated.
ANS:
Students should define
paralanguage by discussing how noises such as laughs, cries, and yells
communicate messages beyond formally spoken words. They may also discuss the
definition of kinesics and use examples of nods, bows, handshakes, and other
forms of bodily communication. They should discuss how the same gesture, such
as the “okay” sign in North America, can be considered rude in other places, or
use similar examples. Students should provide examples of how people
communicate emotions to one another. This can be accomplished by discussing how
difficult it can be to communicate emotion or sarcasm through e-mails or other
digital communication, and may also touch on the role of so-called emoticons.
DIF:
Difficult REF: What
Is Language and Where Does It Come From?
OBJ:
Illustrate the role of paralanguage and kinesics in communication, and discuss
how electronic messages have attempted to pass along emotional
information.
MSC:
Applying
3. Laura Bohannon’s work in West Africa among the
Tiv led her to try and explain Shakespeare’s Hamlet to members of a small village. The text
tells us that her attempts were met with significant challenges due simply to
the different meanings carried by words. The concept of the dead among the Tiv,
for example, made no sense to them because they do not have any concept of a
ghost. They interpreted this part of the play as Hamlet being beset by
witchcraft. Consider that in the play, Hamlet first sees the ghost of his dead
father, who relates the details of his death at the hands of Hamlet’s
father-in-law. Hamlet then feigns mental illness in his quest for revenge,
something that might easily be considered being “beset by witchcraft.” If
language does shape our reality, explain how Bohannon’s discovery, despite the
similarity in meaning in these ways, is so confounding to the village elders.
How does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis relate to Bohannon’s work in this context?
Can you offer other examples of how the way people think may or may not be
affected by their native languages?
ANS:
Students should
discuss how the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis basically means that different cultures
interpret the world differently and that particular languages shape the way
speakers think. They can distinguish the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis from the
structuralist theories of Noam Chomsky or other linguists that take a more
universalist approach. Students may explain how one group might consider the
concept of the dead to be a type of witchcraft as well as the idea of mental
illness and how it might be interpreted in different cultures.
DIF:
Difficult REF: Can
Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Differentiate between structuralist theories of language, such as the work of
Noam Chomsky, and the hypothesis proposed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf. |
Explain how ways of classifying information or expressing cultural ideas may
shape the way we think.
MSC: Analyzing
4. What can linguistic anthropologists learn from
studying the focal vocabulary of a social group? Why would words that show a
particular sophistication and that describe unique cultural realities of a
group of people be useful to investigate? Discuss one example of how the focal
vocabulary of a language has changed or may change in the future, and discuss
how men and women may have different vocabularies on particular topics.
ANS:
The focal vocabulary
is composed of words and phrases for objects or phenomena unique to a region or
culture. Examples usually touch on classes of objects for which there are a
subtle and vast array of names, such as words for potatoes in the Andes,
precipitation among the Inuit, or cattle among the Nuer. The textbook also
discusses how color and sports vocabularies are instances of gendered
vocabulary. Students may discuss the term lexicon as the wider range of words available in
a language.
DIF:
Moderate REF: Can
Language Shape Our Ways of Thinking?
OBJ:
Describe how the focal vocabulary of a particular group of people expresses
names, ideas, and categories that are unique to their way of life. | Discuss
how languages can evolve over time, and how changes show in up in a language’s
lexicon.
MSC: Analyzing
5. While anthropologists have gone to lengths to
show that languages are linguistically equal, languages often exist in a
hierarchical manner within a given place. Compare how language and power
intersect by discussing how nonprestige languages may be marginalized, such as
in the case of Spanish speakers in the United States. How are boundaries
between language policed, and what happens when speakers “code switch” in
different cultural contexts?
ANS:
Correct responses
should discuss how language variation intersects with hierarchies of race in
the United States. Students may discuss the definition of prestige language,
dialects, and code switching in their answers. Though English and Spanish are
interwoven with families and friends, in more public, official contexts, the
boundaries are more rigid.
DIF:
Difficult
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Compare and contrast how Black English represents a variation from American
Standard English. | Explain how treatment of nonstandard speakers reflects
patterns of social stratification.
MSC: Analyzing
6. According to your textbook, a particular
language variation is associated with wealth, success, education, and power.
These language variations with elevated status are known as prestige languages.
Using the concepts of cultural capital and prestige language, discuss two
examples of how nonstandard variations of languages can be linked to particular
positions with a culture. How are linguistic standards established or
reinforced? Explain why it has been said that a dialect is a language without a
navy or an army.
ANS:
Students should
explain the concept of a prestige language by using examples that could include
Standard English, French, Mandarin, or others. They should define cultural
capital as linguistic assets that can be converted to financial capital such as
wages and benefits. Students should explain how educational institutions,
government, media, and religious organizations reinforce linguistic standards.
Finally, they should attempt to explain the idea that dialects are language
variations that do not have a formal government or jurisdiction in the same way
that official languages do.
DIF:
Difficult
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Relate the idea of cultural capital gained from mastery of a prestige language
to the concept of code switching between linguistic styles or
dialects. MSC:
Analyzing
7. Linguistic anthropologists have shown that
languages are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. Many argue that efforts
should be made to preserve these endangered languages by documenting their
lexicon and grammar. Why are anthropologists interested in preserving
languages? Do you agree with these efforts? Why or why not? Which types of
knowledge are embedded in language that might make them worthwhile to preserve?
What are some of the techniques or strategies that have been used to either
preserve or revitalize less-prominent languages? Discuss two examples where
anthropologists have been involved in preserving endangered languages, and
reflect on how information technology may be used in language revitalization.
ANS:
Students should make a
clear argument that explains why anthropologists have been interested in
combating language loss and revitalizing endangered languages. They should
explain that losing languages implies the loss of unique cultural knowledge of
plants, animals, and the environment in which these groups live. They may offer
evidence from the work of David Harrison, the Summer Institute of Linguistics,
or among the Lakota, but they should discuss how social media and/or
information technology is being used to preserve endangered languages. Students
should also provide a rationale for why we should or should not attempt to save
languages that are at risk of extinction.
DIF:
Difficult REF: What
Are the Effects of Globalization on Language?
OBJ:
Outline strategies that linguistic anthropologists and others have employed to
help preserve languages that are at risk of becoming
extinct.
MSC: Analyzing
8. The effort to introduce Ebonics, which is a
formalization of Black English, into the Oakland Unified School District in
1996 was met with considerable resistance. Critics predicted the erosion of
Standard English and corresponding loss of national identity. As a nation of
immigrants, the idea of a national identity has been part of how Americans cope
with the influx of immigrants, and the willingness and ability to adopt the
language of the United States has figured into this process. African American
schoolchildren in the Oakland School District were struggling to succeed in
school when Ebonics was introduced, which was one of the reasons for the
Ebonics effort. Discuss why critics might have felt that Black English posed a
threat to both identity and why it might or might not have contributed to
changes in outcome for children, black and white. What is Ebonics, and why did
it matter to speakers and critics alike? What role did identity play in this
controversy? What were some of the other factors that drove both the
controversy and the outcome?
ANS:
Students should be
able to discuss the origins of Black English and why it may have entered into
widespread use according to one or more different theories about slave life.
Students should be aware of the Rickford and Rickford work that documents
“Spoken Soul” and how its use and presence is an integral part of African
American identity in a wide range of different social areas of American life.
DIF:
Difficult
REF: How
Do Systems of Power Intersect with Language and Communication?
OBJ:
Describe how dialects or variations of American English, such as Black English,
reflect broader issues of socioeconomic class, education, and
race.
MSC:
Analyzing
9. According to the textbook, the development of
social media technologies such as Facebook and YouTube and ubiquitous access to
information networks through smartphones have transformed digital activism.
Discuss how digital activism has taken place in recent years by comparing
democratic protests that have taken place in China to the events of the Arab
Spring or the Occupy movement in the United States. How have activists
challenged authorities in government and corporations by using novel methods?
ANS:
Students should
clearly outline how digital communication has made social activism shift into
more decentralized and dynamic forms. They may explain how massive investments
in infrastructure have provided the underlying platform for communication, as
well as how difficult it has become to monitor and censor activists using
examples from China or the Middle East. They should use concrete examples to
offer evidence in support of their argument, such as how text messages and
Twitter have been used in organizing campaigns or how social networks connect
activists in different regions or countries.
DIF:
Difficult REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Predict how new forms of digital activism are emerging from social media, and
how these changes could shape new speech
communities.
MSC: Analyzing
10. What do linguistic anthropologists think about
how women and men use language in different ways? What are the two models that
explain why language is used in gendered ways, and what are examples that
illustrate their hypotheses? Which one of these two models is more compelling
to you, and why?
ANS:
Students should
thoroughly discuss the difference and dominance models of gender and language.
Whereas Deborah Tannen’s work is representative of the difference model, others
propose that men use language in different ways because of their tendency to
monopolize conversations, especially in public spaces. Students should discuss
evidence that Tannen uses to show how girls and boys grow up in what
essentially are different linguistic worlds marked by differences in the size
of the groups with which they interact and the activities in which they engage.
Students should clearly argue for one model or the other, drawing on their own
understanding of gendered language, or the examples of focal vocabulary around
color or sports offered in the textbook.
DIF:
Difficult REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Distinguish between two main approaches that explain different patterns of
language use by women and men by explaining the “difference” and “dominance”
models of gendered speech.
MSC: Analyzing
11. According to your textbook, preserving
endangered languages is an important goal of linguistic anthropologists.
Discuss the potentially ambiguous role that information technology and the
digital divide may play in language preservation. Using examples from the text,
assess the potential benefits that may accrue as members of less prominent languages
gain access to community technology and cross over the “digital divide.”
Consider how the tendency of prominent languages to crowd out speakers of
lesser-spoken languages may be accelerated with increased cultural contact and
exposure to global languages. How is the digital divide related to issues of
language extinction?
ANS:
Students will have to
link two topics of the text: the effects of globalization on language diversity
and trends in the digital age. Students should use examples such as the
strategies of David Harrison or the Lakota tribe in trying to preserve native
languages. However, it is important for students to discuss the role played by
education and information technology, which are most often conducted in
prestige or global languages such as English. While it might be straightforward
that the tools of information technology can be used for language preservation,
a case can also be made that they have a destabilizing effect on languages.
Students could make a case that uneven development has actually unintentionally
helped some speakers of lesser-known languages retain their speaking abilities.
Since this is a complex question, correct answers may vary.
DIF:
Difficult REF: How
Is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Evaluate how uneven development and lack of access to information and
communication technologies divides people into digital haves and
have-nots. MSC: Evaluating
12. The text discusses code switching, an action
in which the speaker uses different linguistic variations according to
differing cultural contexts. The example in the text is a note from a student
to the author of the text, and the example is deconstructed. Discuss how, in
this example, the appearance of some of the linguistic properties has been
changed by the use of technology. What are some of the ways that language
variation can emerge as the result of different technology use? How do these
“shifts,” which often originate as the result of the properties of the tool
itself (smartphone, laptop, and other digital devices) change not just language
use and style but also the cultural context and, by extension, the
opportunities for code switching?
ANS:
Students should first
discuss what code switching is, drawing on the example in the text. Students
should be able to notice that the development of different codes is highly
context dependent, can take many forms, and includes various digital formats
such as e-mail and Facebook postings. In the example in the text, a number of the
code switching techniques revolve not just around the student’s personal
narrative and place in the larger society but are also the partial result of
the ability to access and use devices that facilitate and often demand
shorthand, such as “how r u” and “i am lost n not sure wht.”
DIF:
Difficult REF: How
is the Digital Age Changing the Way People Communicate?
OBJ:
Discuss how cultural categories and systems of power shape language, and
language shapes culture.
MSC: Analyzing
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