Afterword

Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century 
Educational Materials: Afterword 

Walt Wolfram

1. What inspired Walt Wolfram and Donna Christian’s research?

2. According to Wolfram, what areas of language study in Appalachian need to be focused on and expanded?

3. What are some myths that exist about language in Appalachia?

4. Along with Appalachian Englishes, what other varieties of English have commonly been “homogenized”? 

5. Officially, what is the geographic range of Appalachia?

6. What equally extreme myth about Appalachian language opposes the “homogenization myth”?

7. How did moonshiner Popcorn Sutton describe what linguists call “Appalachian Englishes”?

8. According to Wolfram, in what ways do researchers need to expand their work on sociolinguistics in Appalachia?  What specific groups are in need of more representation?

9. What did Dunstan’s (2013) study on language prejudice find?

10. In Wolfram’s classroom experiment, which of the four phonetic productions of the THOUGHT vowel elicited laughter from students?  What were the students’ explanations for their reaction?

11. In what ways are linguists trying to eliminate prejudices against Appalachian Englishes and other often-stigmatized varieties of English?

12. What were some of the positive responses to the documentary Mountain Talk?  In what ways did Michael Montgomery have a negative response to the film?