What Makes a Dialect a Dialect: The Roots of Upper Peninsula English | Kathryn Remlinger | TEDxNMU

Did you know that everyone—you, me, your high school English teacher—has a dialect? If this is the case, why don’t some of us think we have a dialect, when in fact we do? Kathryn Remlinger explores the regional dialect of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Dr. Kathryn Remlinger grew up in Columbus, Ohio. She earned a B.A. in French and sociology and an M.A. in English from Morehead State University and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Technical Communication with emphasis in sociolinguistics from Michigan Technological University. She is currently Professor of English at Grand Valley State University where she teaches a range of socio-cultural linguistics courses. Her research broadly focuses on the relationship between language, identity, and place and more specifically on how we use language to shape ideas about dialects and our perceptions about groups of speakers, the role of tourism and media in affecting language attitudes and awareness, as well as the history and development of regional dialects. She is author of Yooper Talk: Dialect as Identity in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She balances her life with cycling, cross-country skiing, and spending time with friends and her spouse, Robert Bell. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx