We frequently hear critics argue that U.S. students can’t write well and that there is a “literacy crisis” in the U.S. What is the origin of these discourses? What do they have to do with immigration, national security, and economics? How does the notion that Americans can’t write drive the national push to test writing? Here we explore the history of writing and testing in the U.S., the “science” and technology of testing approaches, and how the rhetoric of assessment impacts the lives of Americans today.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

CSI Pittsburgh

I know we have moved on from dialects, but I have been meaning to post this for a while and know all the Pittsburgh people will really like this

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2 comments:

Eddie said...

What's interesting is that the dialect that this skit is poking fun at is the dialect that many WDVE listeners speak, especially older listeners. Some older listeners that I know love these skits– they don't feel like they're being fun of, they feel like they're part of the joke. Dialect is powerful, but it's not always the mark of shame or alienation that we've discussed it as. It can also be an important part of someone's identity, a part that they are very proud of.

March 27, 2011 at 2:35 PM
Jessica said...

The funny thing about this video is that those who aren't from Pittsburgh probably think that the dialect is being super exaggerated. However, this is how a lot of people from Pittsburgh really sound. Even though I don't speak with much of a Pittsburghese accent, a lot of my family does, and when Kyle mentioned that after doing some research he found out that Pittsburghese is the only dialect to belong to a specific city, rather than region, I became really proud of it. It's something that makes Pittsburgh and it's people unique. It also gives me a new appreciation for others with accents who refuse to get rid of them. I think that, for some people, their accent or dialect truly is a part of who they are and it helps them form their identity, which is perhaps why they refuse to drop them.

March 28, 2011 at 6:25 PM

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