MEDIA FOR LANGUAGE AND CULTURE, FEBRUARY 6, 1966

The following bibliography has been cobbled together from bibliographies of others together with some entries of my own.

  1. Acquiring the Human Language "Playing the Language Game", Pt. 2 of The Human Language Series. New York: Ways of Knowing, Inc., 1995. [P118 .A23; 55 min. 1/2" VHS. "How do children acquire language--seemingly without being taught? Do they 'inherit grammar?'.."Do we learn langauge by imitating our parents? Linguists say no." Walpiri, Menya, and Yupik children. Lila Gleitman on French. Distributed by Transit Media, 22-D Hollywood Ave., hohokus, NJ 07423; Fax: 201-652-1973]
  2. American Tongues [1/2Ó; 57 min. PE2810.A43x, Center for New American Media]
  3. Ann Arbor [There's a movie about the Ann Arbor trial (the trial where several African-American children sued their school system for lx. discrimination in test design, placement, etc.). Interviews with Smitherman, Wolfram, Labov, the lawyers, the kids, their parents, the school system.]
  4. Baby Talk [P118 B23 X, Nova, BBC & the Open Univ.; 1984; video; 49 min.]
  5. BBC's Mosaic series [by J. Gumperz, available from John Twitchin, fax 071-431-1712 (England). Training & Video, 27a Langland Gardens, London NW3 6QE.]
  6. Bhaji on the Beach [a fascinating linguistic study of the Indian/Asian community in England - Leila Monaghan]
  7. Bilingual Education [Hispanic, LC3731 B543]
  8. Black on White [Historical approach to Black English. Martha Macri, UC Davis: "...a good intro to the rich influence of African language and culture, and a good discussion of creols, etc. The narrator is not aware of how some of what he says sounds to African Americans, but someone in the class usually comments on that, which in itself is valuable. It is not perfect, but can be used with good results."
  9. 1. Barbara LeMaster: "I use "Black on White" in my introductory linguistics class, and would recommend its use. The film considers African origins of speech found in southern regions of the U.S., brings in Dillard to talk about his conclusions regarding contact between African languages and English, lets the audience hear some Gullah language still in use today (also gives some examples of pidgin English in use in Africa today), shows how White Southerners use aspects of African American English, demonstrates the impact of the speech of jazz musicians on what is considered to be standard forms of English, looks at the linguistic motivation of "Porgy & Bess", and includes some examples of neighborhood rap (of various types). The film has a lot of good elements, and students seem to like it. There are problems with the film, however. 1) It is not clear from the film that all African Americans do not speak "Black English" 2) The film indicates that a diglossic situation exists within African American communities such that "Black English" is the low form and standard English is the high form. It does not suggest the possibility (and probability) that there are high and low forms of "Black English". 3) Most of the people in the film who are African American and who use "Black English" are either have a low income or are members of neighborhood "gangs". I use this film in conjunction with a paper written by Marcilena Morgan.... She points out that many estimates of African American English (AAE) speakers have been made on the basis of socioeconomic levels of African American people, not on the basis of a language census. This is an extremely important point, and works well with the film. She also talks about AAE as a counter language, and its status among African American people (which is not a uniform status among all people). If Marcy is on this list, perhaps she can tell you more about the paper, and any other work that she's done more recently."]
  10. Can Chimps Talk?
  11. Chan is Missing [commercial video with Chinese American speech varieties]
  12. Child language: Learning without teaching [1981 16 mm.; Davidson films]
  13. Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill [videorecording : public hearing, private pain / produced and written by Ofra Bikel ; a production of Ofra Bikel Productions, Corp. for Frontline. c1992. Video recordings for the hearing impaired. Thomas, Clarence, 1948- Hill, Anita. United States. Supreme Court. Sexual harrassment of women --United States. Judges --Selection and appointment --United States. 1 videocassette (ca. 55 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. VHS. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired. CALL # KF8745.T48 C52 - Videocassette]
  14. Consonants With Coyote; Navajo-English Shared Consonants [Blanding Indian Educational Curriculum; 1972; 16 mm.; 10 min.]
  15. Cross-Cultural Communication in Diverse Settings [60 min., 1992/#JN167 $149; Insight Media, 2162 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, 212-721-6316; "how attitudes, beliefs, values, and world views influence the success of communication...cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication...greeting sequences in different cultures"]
  16. Crosstalk [BBC 1982; 1/2 inch video]
  17. Daughters of the Dust [examples of Gullah use--the book about the making of the movie has a full transcript videorecording / a film by Julie Dash ; presented by American Playhouse Theatrical Films Geechee Girls Production. New York, NY : Kino International, c1991. 1 videocassette (113 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Videocassette release of the 1991 motion picture. Written and directed by Julie Dash ; produced by Julie Dash and Arthur Jafa. Cora Lee Day, Barbara-O, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Tommy Hicks, Kaycee Moore, Alva Rodgers. Summary: A large African-American family prepares to move north at the dawn of the 20th century. CALL #: PN 1997 .D313343 VIDEO ASU Libraries Catalog]
  18. Discovering the Human Language "Colorless Green Ideas" Pt. 1 of The Human Language Series. New York: Ways of Knowing, Inc., 1995. [P106 .D57; 55 min. 1/2" VHS. Chomskyan view of syntax, universal grammar. "Walpiri, an Australian language, works the same way as Latin." Distributed by Transit Media, 22-D Hollywood Ave., hohokus, NJ 07423; Fax: 201-652-1973]
  19. Discovering Psychology: Interpersonal Communication in Children [BF341.D48x]
  20. Discovering Psychology: Language Acquisition (BF341.D48x)
  21. Do the Right Thing [terrific for talking about grammatical and cultural differences among AAVE speakers--Italian English, S. Asian English]
  22. English Language: Patterns Of Usage (The) [Coronet films; 10 min. 1968; 16 mm.]
  23. Exploring Language: Thinking, Writing, Communication--Communities of Speech [29 min., 1981/#JN225 $209; Insight Media, 2162 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, 212-721-6316; "debating the validity of a standard American English, sociolinguist Walt Wolfram and professor Deborah Tannen examine American dialects". (The tape is now distributed by Audio Visual Services, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (800) 826-0132. There is an interesting segment with Deborah Tannen who discusses actors' recreations of disagreements between a husband and wife and between two close male friends.--GBP)]
  24. Exploring Language: Thinking, Writing, Communication--Men, Women, and Language [29 min., 1981/#JN228 $209; Insight Media, 2162 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, 212-721-6316; "describes the female tendency to use weakening language such as non-specific adjectives and tag questions, explores developmental differences and sex-role differentiation, and considers men's greater reliance on right-brain processing. It also differentiates between male and female body language, including sitting and use of personal space" (The tape is now distributed by Audio Visual Services, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (800) 826-0132.--GBP]
  25. Faces of Culture: Language and Communications [dry]
  26. Fire in the Mirror [I like to use Anne Deveare Smith's "Fire in the Mirror", the film version of her performance piece about the Crown Heights riots in summer of '91. She plays all the parts and does interesting things with dialects, some exaggerated, and it's interesting to discuss with students their reactions to the way she uses language. It's also nice for showing how very similar kinds of symbols are mobilized by both sides of the conflict-- examples "blood", "chosen peoply people" [sic], "history of oppression", and how their gripes are more with the city (or as much with the city gov.) as with each other. Karen Frojen]
  27. First Signs Of Washoe (The) [Nova, WGBH 1976]
  28. Gender and Communication: She Talks, He Talks [22 min., 1994/#JN257 $139; Insight Media, 2162 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, 212-721-6316; "explores the different ways in which men and women converseand considers factors that may have created those differences...why males place more emphasis on the literal meaning of words than females, the different motivations each has for asking questions, and women's use of weakening speech patterns such as upward inflections and disclaimers"]
  29. History Of Writing (The) [British Information Service; 1950; out of print]
  30. The Human Language Evolves "With and Without Words", Pt. 3 of The Human Language Series. New York: Ways of Knowing, Inc., 1995. [P116 .H8; 55 min. 1/2" VHS. Paul Ekman on facial expressions; Deborah Tannen on gender; David McNeill on gestures (analogical, while speech is digital); how "human larynx 'fell,' alowing us to create syllables, with new vowels that no other animal can utter." Distributed by Transit Media, 22-D Hollywood Ave., hohokus, NJ 07423; Fax: 201-652-1973]
  31. Human Voice (The): Exploring Vocal Paralanguage. [P95.5 H84; 1/2" videotape; University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning, 2000 Center Street, Fourth Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, ph. 510-642-0460, fax: 510-643-9271. This is a fairly systematic and interesting non-technical introduction to paralanguage. It touches on biographic clues in voices, paralanguage identities, legal issues, dialects, accents, emotion, rhetoric (Martin Luther King), sarcasm, motherese and fatherese, lying, dysfluency (stuttering), surferspeak and "Gayspeak". Comes with summary booklet.]
  32. In Search of the First Human Language [NOVA; Interviews with Joseph Greenberg, Merritt Ruhlen, and critics.]
  33. Interpersonal Perception Task (The) [BF 323.S63 157x; 1/2" videotape; University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning, 2000 Center Street, Fourth Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, ph. 510-642-0460, fax: 510-643-9271. This tape presents 30 brief scenes of people conversing and it asks such questions as "Who is the child of the two adults" and "What is the relationship between the man and the woman". The correct answers are provided in the accompanying booklet.]
  34. Into the Unknown [U of Mich; Ken Pike's lg. demonstrations; 16 mm.]
  35. Language and Communication [P35.L25; 30 min, 1/2in]
  36. Language [neurophysiology, QP355.2 L3 (CCCC), pt. 7? of The Mind, PBS video]
  37. Language, Signs, and Symbols: How Man Communicates [P90.L3 pt.1,2 (HCC A/V)]
  38. Languages at Work [teaching foreign languages]
  39. Laughter: The Navajo Way (in Navajo and English) Volume One, by Alan Wilson with Gene Dennison, "native informant" [PM 2007 W543 audio cassette and book; published by The University of New Mexico, Gallup Branch, Gallup, NM; This is an excellent set, very useful in the classroom. A serious student could learn a lot of Navajo from this book and tape. For every humorous story, there is a Navajo text, an English text, an explanation, a phrase analysis, and a vocabulary. The tape is clear and follows the book closely. The transcriptions appear to be phonemic. They are good, but not perfect.--Gary Palmer]
  40. Letter to Brezhnev [PN1997.85 .L47x, 1/2" video, 1984, 93 min., women in Liverpool]
  41. Looking for the Words [teaching dysfunctional speakers]
  42. Meaning and Language [P325.F47x ; sound cassette]
  43. Mind and Language [BF 455 L26]
  44. Mother Tongue (The) [Germanic-to-English transformations over time]
  45. Native South American Discourse [PM5027.N38 1986, edited by Joel Sherzer and Greg Urban, text, sound cassette. This is complex material that requires some preparation by instructor prior to use in class.]
  46. Navajo Coyote Tales : From Legend To Film [1. 16 mm. 1 film reel (18 min.) : sd., col. $27.00. INVENTORY NO: 10683(2) COLLECTION: American Indian Studies Center (AIS)]
  47. Normal speech articulation [U. of Iowa 1965; 16 mm.]
  48. Oprah, Standard and Black English [Oprah did a segment on Black English--should it, or shouldn't it, be used. Invited speakers were linguists Geneva Smitherman and Thomas Kochman, a Black speech therapist who trained Black managers in the use of Standard English, and some of her clients. A very lively debate--great for stimulating classroom discussions. Available from HARPO productions (Oprah backwards). The show "Standard and Black English" aired Novermber 19, 1987. Transcripts are available through Journal Graphics, Inc. 267 Broadway, New York, NY 10007. In order to receive a tape, her legal department must be contacted. Once permission is given (about 6 months) you must pay $50.00 I think the transcript is more useful than the tape at this point. -- Marcyliena (Morgan)]
  49. Out Of The Mouths Of Babes [16mm. Canadian Broadcasting 1976]
  50. Pygmy Chimps, Star Students [Explorer]
  51. Rap City Rhapsody [PBS documentary on rap]
  52. "Rodney King" case, The [videorecording, what the jury saw in CA v. Powell / Courtroom Television Network ; producers, Peter Aronson, Kristin Jeanette-Meyers ; director, Dominic Palumbo. Oak Forest, Ill. : MPI Home Video, c1992. Police --California --Los Angeles --Complaints against. , Rodney --Trials, litigation, etc. Evidence (Law) --California. Criminal procedure --California. Powell, Laurence M. --Trials, litigation, etc. Trials (Assault and battery) --California --Los Angeles. 1 videocassette (116 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 1/2 in. VHS Hi-fi. CALL # HV7993 .R63x - Videocassette]
  53. Secret Of The Wild Child (The).[800-255-9424; distributer: WGBH, P. O. Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407, U.S.A., Phone: 802 862 8881 (ask for the ordering department), Fax No.: 804 864 9846; PBS, NOVA series.]
  54. Signs of the Apes, Songs of the Whales [QL 776 S55]
  55. Social Interaction in Diverse Settings [60 min., 1992/#JN236 $139; Insight Media, 2162 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, 212-721-6316; "defines the terms culture, cultural scene, propriospect, idiolect, and aggregation. The concepts of event familiarity (the amount of general knowledge individuals bring to a specific cultural scene) and understanding (the ability to interpret acultural scene and respond appropriately) are also described."]
  56. Story of English (The) [PE1075.S83x, 1-5]
  57. Talk to the Animals [CBS News, 60 minutes; CRM film distributors; 16 mm.; 14 min.]
  58. Tannen, Deborah ["Finally, there's a PBS video of Deborah Tannen talking about her language and gender stuff--also good for starting class discussion."]
  59. Transitions: Destruction of a Mother Tongue [PM2341.T73x; Blackfeet; 30 min; 1/2 in.; explains role of boarding school, government, church in suppressing language; concepts discussed include cultural shame, influence of language deterioration on kinship; interspersed with beautifully dramatic and clear Blackfoot speech, translated with subtitles.]
  60. Weekend Edition, Sunday, October 9, 1994 [Leanne Hinton, UC Berkeley, helped design Master Apprentice Program in California Indian languages "designed to help people learn how to make the language part of their daily life". Material of interest begins near end of side 3 and continues into side 4. Story by Matt Binder. Tribes: Yolumni, Karuk, Hupa, Ahashamen.]
  61. What Do You Mean? [29 min., 1993/#JN294 $189; Insight Media, 2162 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, 212-721-6316; "focuses on problems surrounding male/female communication. Interspersing discussions, role playing, and peer interviews, students explore concerns over such issues as flirting, body language, sex, love, and anger."]
  62. Winged Words: The Anatomy of Slang [tape]
  63. Words, Names And Books [UCLA Office of Instructional Development {distributor}, 1977. (First Images of the New World.) SUMMARY: Discusses the problems the New World explorers faced in naming objects they had never seen. Explains how they either invented new names or borrowed those already in use by the native population. 3/4 in. 1 videocassette (Umatic) (30 min.) : sd., col. $30.00.]
  64. World of Gestures: Culture and Nonverbal Communication. [P117.W67; 1/2" videotape; University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning, 2000 Center Street, Fourth Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, ph. 510-642-0460, fax: 510-643-9271. This is an interesting survey of gestures using students from Peru, Japan, Iran, Mexico, Ethiopia and other countries as demonstrators. Comes with summary booklet.]
  65. Yeah, You Right [PE3101.L8 443x, 28 minutes. This video is a linguistic tour of the dialects of New Orleans, such as the Yats (the people who sound like they're from Brooklyn), uptown talk, and local versions of AAVE, and explores the social ramifications of the dialect differences (a force for cultural cohesion and social stratification). Produced by Center for New American Media, directed by Louis Alvarez. Made in 1984. Louisiana Humanities Resource Center, USL Box 40396, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70504, (318) 231-6781, (318) 231-6822, film library 318-482-6781 -- Shana Walton]
  66. Yes Ma'am: Household Domestic Workers in New Orleans [One terrific film for classes is "Yes Ma'am: household domestic workers in New Orleans." The film was made by a person who lived in uptown New Orleans and was able to get access to upper class (or upper middle class people) and interview both them and the women who worked as maids in their houses -- together and apart -- so you get lots of undercurrents of class and race issues. He also filmed some things like birthday parties that employers throw for maids. I think the style/register shifting is fascinating to listen to. The way the maids talk to the interviewer, to their employers, to the children of the employers. The way the employers talk to the interviewers vs. the maids. After watching it once, a group of us in a linganth class decided to code the tape for register shifts. It was a great exercise and really brought home the cultural context and markings included in almost every word the people uttered. Produced by VNV Communic, directed by Gary Goldman. Made in 1979. Louisiana Humanities Resource Center, USL Box 40396, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70504, (318) 231-6781, (318) 231-6822, film library 318-482-6781 -- Shana Walton; available from Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th St., New York, NY 10016, (212) 808-4980, September, 1995 -- Gary Palmer]