Over the course of the semester I have learned quite a lot about language.

From how

language changes based on geographical or socioeconomic factors to why our choice

of words when talking to someone matters. The overarching idea that I got from this

class is that language matters.

In the beginning of the semester when we were first starting to talk about different

use of language it was really interesting to hear how much language changed based on

geography. It was also really interesting to talk about things like accents and how even

though someone may be from the same country or region they may say a word

differently or speak differently entirely. An example of this would be how people In

Utah say the word mountain like “mounnain” with a n instead of a t. Another thing we

talked about in the beginning of the semester was how language can change based on

the socioeconomic class on someone. An example of this can be found in the poor

African American community where Ebonics developed.

During the rest of the semester we talked a lot about how our use of language is very

important. By using specific words when we are speaking it can intentionally or

unintentionally imply something beyond what we are saying literally. One of my

favorite examples of this during my final project was when I was analyzing a proposed

bill that would require teenagers who did not get consent from their parents to go

plea before a judge, if the teenager was found to be too “immature” they would not be
able to receive an abortion. This implies so much about the teenager, that they are

mature enough to have the child but and have to raise it but they are not mature

enough to make the decision to abort it. So, because of this our choice of language

must be very careful so that we avoid these kinds of misunderstandings. Another thing

we talked a lot about is how we need to refer to transgendered people by their

preferred pronouns not only out of respect for them but because using words that

they don't want to be labeled by can be very harmful and demeaning to them. Another

example of how language can be a very harmful or demeaning to someo ne is in the

African American community, when referring to someone in the African American

community as a “colored person” it is incredibly demeaning and racist. A much better

term to use would be “ a person of color”.

Overall, I had a really good semester in this class , I learned so much more about

language than I thought I would. Seeing directly how our words can affect people also

changed my perspective on how I talk to others. Things like why it's so rude to not use

a transgendered person's preferred pronouns really changed how I approached those

sensitive issues. Also being able to use the things I learned to analyze language from

others showed me how to look for those specific words that people use that can

drastically change what they are saying.