Linguistic discrimination Linguistic discrimination is the unfair

Linguistic discrimination

Linguistic discrimination is the unfair treatment of an individual based solely on their use of language. This use of language may include the individual’s native language or other characteristics of the person’s speech, such as an accent, the size of vocabulary, and syntax. It may also involve a person’s ability or inability to use one language instead of another; for example, one who speaks Occitan in France will probably be treated differently from one who speaks French. Based on a difference in use of language, a person may automatically form judgments about another person’s wealth, education, social status, character or other traits. These perceived judgments may then lead to the unjustifiable of the individual.

Linguistic discrimination is often defined in terms of prejudice of language. It’s important to note that although there is a relationship between prejudice and discrimination, they are now always directly related.

While, theoretically, any individual may be the victim of linguicism regardless of social and ethnic status, oppressed and marginalized social minorities are often its most consistent targets, due to the fact that the speech varieties that come to be associated with such groups have a tendency to be stigmatized.

The Charter of the French Language, first established in 1977 and amended several times since, has been accused of being discriminatory by English speakers. The law makes French the official language on Quebec and mandates its use in government offices and communiques schools, and in commercial public relations. Though the proportion of English speakers had been in decline since the 1960 s, the law accelerated this, and the 2006 census showed there had been a net drop of 180, 000 native English speakers.

Because some African-Americans speak a particular non-standard variety of English which is often seen as substandard, African-Americans are frequently the targets of linguicism. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is often perceived by members of mainstream American society as indicative of low intelligence or limited education. Furthermore, as with many other nonstandard dialects and especially creoles, AAVE sometimes has been called «lazy» or «bad» English.

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