Linguistics in North Carolina through lessons and videos

We’ve recently published eight videos and four lesson plans that promote understanding of the unique linguistic features of North Carolina. The videos — excerpts from documentaries produced by North Carolina State University’s North Carolina Language and Life program — provide intriguing glimpses into the vocabulary and linguistic patterns of regional and cultural groups across the state. The lesson plans, by Hannah Askin, have been adapted from the Voices of North Carolina dialect awareness curriculum, a project of NC State linguistics professors Dr. Walt Wolfram and Dr. Jeffrey Reaser.

The videos are:

• African American English
• The Cherokee Language
• Dialect in Southern cities
• Lumbee English 1
• Lumbee English 2
• Mountain Talk
• Outer Banks English
• Spanish and English in the American South

The lesson plans, which incorporate video-viewing activities, are:

• African American English
• Language Change in North Carolina Cities
• Outer Banks English
• Spanish and Hispanic English in North Carolina