What does your language say about you and your culture?

In the sketch we watched for homework, I found it quite interesting that ‘the president’ greeted people with vastly different attitudes, changing his tone and hugging those who are like him. However, when a woman of the other ethnicity tried to greet by hugging, he extended his hand to block her off and give her his other, more formal greeting. I think this shows how the way we communicate is restricted by our identities, and a set of unwritten rules of how different types of people should interact – if we misjudge situations or act erratically, we would end up creating an atmosphere of awkwardness like that woman in the sketch.

Another thing that I noticed in the video was that the president code-switched when greeting members of his own community, using default gestures (certain styles of hugging) and sociolect (“tuck”) that outsiders (like me) don’t know how to use. The contrast between how ‘the president’ interacts with each group excludes those of the other group, while also emphasising the connection with his own group. This could also apply to our lives, when we adopt certain ways of speaking to show our affiliation with the different social groups we are part of.