SOCIOLINGUISTIC
1. Take an extract of a talk show with participants using different varieties of English.
a. What differences among these varieties of English can you find in this extract? (You may look at the differences in features of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation)
b. What are the positive and negative effects of using these varieties of English in this talk show? (You may think about the political and social effects of this choice)
c. Extra question: What are your suggestions to limit the negative effects, if there are any?
Note: The participants may use different Standard Englishes or different dialects/accents.

a. First, in terms of the interviewee, Sir Rhodes Boyson uses Standard British English (RP). Sir Boyson worked as a member of the Parliament and he was knighted so it can be assumed that he came from an upper-class society, which explains his accent and dialect. His English is typical and identical to that in BBC radio and news aired on the televisions in the U.K, which is understandable even to those whose English is a second language.
However, the same cannot be said about the interviewer’s English, personified in this case, is Ali G. Ali G’s English is much different from the Standard British English of Sir Boyson, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary wise. Even though Ali himself is a fictional character, everything about him was built to be believed in, including his language. His English is probably Jafaican accent with a shade of thuggish English. To fully understand the language Ali G uses is to investigate every episodes of his talk show, which within the scope of this essay is fundamentally impossible. Nonetheless, most seem to agree that Ali G’s language is Jafaican, according to several articles about the character’s English and accent.
According to Kerswill (2014, p. 432), Jafaican English or Multicultural London English is basically “a combination of inner city’s language, second-language English, African, Caribbean and Asian Englishes, local dialect, London Jamaican Creole, Standard English and languages other than English”. However, because not all elements of Multicultural London English are recognizable in Ali G’s speech pattern, his language will instead be analyzed in terms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation with relations to those of Sir Boyson’s English to draw out the differences between the two types of English.
In terms of grammar, Sir Boyson’s English follows the grammar rules strictly while Ali G’s grammar is quite poor. Firstly, there is no distinct usage of subject and verb agreement. This can be seen in the first part of the video where Ali introduces himself and his guest “we iz talkin’ about de education fin’.” Moreover, towards the end of the clip Ali tells Sir Boyson that “you iz rockin’ […] you iz the man…” to show his respect to him. Basically it can be assumed that Ali G uses verbs with little to no accordance to the subject they follow. Secondly, as of personal pronounce, the way Ali addresses himself seems to be strange compared to that of Sir Boyson. Whereas Sir Boyson uses “I” to address himself and “my” to express possession, Ali G confusingly uses “I” and “me” for the same purpose. Notable examples are: “Listen ‘ere, I ‘az got none other than me main man Sir Rhodes Boyson…” and “Me make me own breakfast”.
Regarding vocabulary, Ali’s speech is full of slang while Sir Boyson’s is not. Some of the slangs that are mentioned in the video are “wicked”, “cained”, “boning”, etc. These words have a completely different meaning in this case, with “wicked” means brilliant, “cained” means doing drug and “boning” means sex. Moreover, Ali G also uses words from other languages like “Buka”, which is a word from another language. Besides, there are structures that Ali himself is particularly fond of like “in da house” or “man”. Ali uses the phrase “in da house” twice to introduce the presence of his guest while he uses “man” just simply as a way to address the opposite speaker.
Lastly, pronunciation shows the starkest difference between Sir Boyson’s English and Ali G’s. Ali seems to be fond of replacing /θ/ with /f/ (“education fin’”) and /ð/ with “d” (“da ‘ouse”). Besides, he also skips many sounds in his speech. Most words that end with a “g” get their “g” silenced, for example, “gettin’” and “teachin’”. He also drops his aitches most of the time as well, as in “Listen ‘ere” and “in da ‘ouse”. According to López (2007), h-dropping means the speaker comes from a less educated background. This shows the social class of the character Ali G. Another aspect that might be related to pronunciation is the rhythm in which Ali G speaks. According to a study on Multicultural London English, it is syllable-timed (staccato) (Kerswill, 2014). Basically, Ali G’s rhythm is choppy why Sir Boyson’s is smooth and calm. The reason behind this might be that Ali G admires rap culture; thus, he talks just like the way he raps.
In conclusion, the differences between the two English varieties are quite sharp in terms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. While Sir Boyson’s English reflects a high social status and upper-class background, Ali G’s demonstrates a lack of education as well as a low-class status. This is further confirmed in the character’s biography.

b. There are many effects that resulted from the difference of English varieties in this talk show and they should not be strictly classified into negative or positive effects. The reason is that Da Ali G Show is a comedy show where Ali G gets to interview people from much higher social status than he is and gets them into awkward position by asking impossibly ignorant questions. Thus, the effects should be viewed with regard of their comedic value.
Firstly, to fully convince the interviewees that the character Ali G is indeed, dense, Ali G himself has to look like he truly comes from a social background that can breed that kind of person. It would be suspicious if Ali G asks dull questions with a posh accent as a person with posh accent would never be that unintelligent, presumably. Besides, the stupidity coming from Ali G has to be tolerable to his guests. On hearing Ali G’s language and accent, the guests might as well accept that he has a limited education and therefore, they make allowance for his idiocy. In short, using Jafaican makes the character of Ali G believable and forgivable to the interviewees, thereby making Ali G’s interview effective and possible.
Secondly, the difference in English varieties creates a humorous juxtaposition. While most of Ali G’s guests have high social status and they speak with a posh accent calmly and politely, Ali G’s aggressive Jafaican English completely contrasts them. Monro (1988), in his theory on humor, contended that “The neatness of the joke will depend on two things: the degree of contrast between the two elements, and the completeness with which they are made to fuse.” In Ali G’s case, it is the stark contrast between him and his guests and their attempt to have a normal interview that makes the joke funny. Indeed, the situation in which an upper-class interviewee has to cope with the stupidity of his or her interviewer creates a particularly comical scene.
Thirdly, Ali G’s English employs a multitude of slangs to completely distract and confuse his interviewer to create a comedic effect. This is clearly demonstrated in the video when Sir Boyson is asked if “kids should be “cained”?” To Sir Boyson and elderly audience, “caned” means discipline and he wholeheartedly agrees that kids should be “caned”. However, “caned” has much darker meaning coming from the other side. To Ali G, and probably to audience under the age of 50 as well, “caned” or “cained” means doing cocaine. This creates a ridiculous situation where the ex-member of the Parliament advocates the use of drug in school and even says that he himself was “caned” back in his days, to which Ali G just simply replied “Wicked!” and “Respect!” in awe.

c. Even though Ali G’s language can create hilarious situations and entertain thousands, it is possible that he might offend some while making some laugh. Comedic as it is, it is better to entertain people without infuriating some of them. Hence, a suggestion is given to potentially minimize the possible damage that the offensive nature of Da Ali G Show would cause.
In my opinion, Ali G should rely less on his use of slangs to confuse his interviewees. Slang is one of the features that make Ali G’s identity and it is by no means bad but tricking people into misunderstanding by using words they are not familiar with or using words that have a different meaning or connotation just seems cheap and unfair. As in the case of Sir Boyson, it is true that it was amusing to see an influential figure mistaking cocaine for discipline but the humor from it might offense a lot of old people and seem to lure victim into it. Considering that the interview is still hysterically hilarious with stupid questions from Ali G apart from the “cained” part, it is possible that Ali G can still deliver humorous interview without using slangs as a trap to unwary interviewees.

References:
Braier, R. (2013). Jafaican it? No we're not | Mind your language. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2013/aug/30/mind-your-language-jafaican
'Jafaican' is wiping out inner-city English accents. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2016, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-382734/Jafaican-wiping-inner-city-English-accents.html
Kerswill, P. (2014). The objectification of ‘Jafaican’: the discoursal embedding of Multicultural London English in the British media. In J. Androutsopoulos (Ed.) Mediatization and Sociolinguistic Change (pp. 428-455). Berlin: De Gruyter.
López, I. M. (2007). The Social Status of /h/ in English. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, 20 , 157-166.
Monro, D. H. (1988). Theories of Humor. In L. Behrens, & L. J. Rosen (Ed.) Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum (3rd ed.) (pp. 349-355). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company.
2012, 6. B. (n.d). Sir Rhodes Boyson. Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/9507100/Sir-Rhodes-Boyson.html

APPENDIX A
Ali G: Listen ‘ere! I ‘az got none other than me main man Sir Rhodes Boyson in da house ‘cuz we iz talkin about de education fing. Let talk about de discipline. Do you fink, Sir Rhode, dere iz enuff discipline, in school?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: I think there is slightly less than there should be.
Ali G: Do you believe kids should be cained?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: I do.
Ali G: You do?! Wicked man! You believe kids should be cained even in school?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: Even in school.
Ali G: Do you not fink, Sir Rhode, if you get cained in school you can't concentrate as well, ‘cuz there ‘lot people out dere say that if you gettin’ cained...
Sir Rhodes Boyson: well I was caned in my time and I've concentrated in all my life.
Ali G: You were cained? Respect man!
Sir Rhodes Boyson: Yes I mean it was it, I mean it shouldn't be done evil and it shouldn't be done badly.
Ali G: Ai’ight, you ‘af got to have good stuff.
Sir Rhodes Boyson: You have to have rules in life.
Ali G: You ‘af to have good cane.
Sir Rhodes Boyson: You have to have a good caine.
Ali G: Do you fink sex education should be taught in de school?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: No.
Ali G: Why not?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: I... I think that is the job of the family.
Ali G: Do you think porn star should teach sex education in school?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: No.
Ali G: Why not?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: Because I... I do not respect porn stars as you say...
Ali G: But dey ‘az more bonin’ experience than anyone else..?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: No, not the experience fitted with our world, for our culture.
Ali G: Let’s talk about de teaching methods. Do you not fink, Sir Rhodes, iz it time for a new teachin method?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: No, human nature hasn't changed since [...]
Ali G: What about rap? Do you think rap should be used in school?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: I don't know what rap is...
Ali G: Rap is like, you know, me checkin’ it, me rockin’ it, me feelin’ it, me rockin’ it, Boyson in da ‘ouse, make it feel it like a mouse.
Sir Rhodes Boyson: It's rather nice. I think that is for the school yard.
Ali G: So, what about the maff? What do you reckon about da maff? Do you reck' the maff? Or do you rock the maff?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: The maths?
Ali G: The maff....the maff…
Sir Rhodes Boyson: What's the maff?
Ali G: You know, one two three…
Sir Rhodes Boyson: Oh yeah, that's right. Very good.
Ali G: Why don't dey teach proper maff in school?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: What do you mean by proper maths?
Ali G: Why do dey teach in kilos and grams when you should really deal in ounces, four of ounces, eight of ounces... Why don't they modernize and teach in ounces?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: I prefer the old ones. It has been a tradition. I'd have the old things back again.
Ali G: Wicked! And you need to know about four of ounces, eight of ounces...all dat kind of thin’...
Sir Rhodes Boyson: Well, if you are doing baking or anything like that...for real, I make my own breakfast everyday.
Ali G: Me make me own breakfast.
Sir Rhodes Boyson: Very good.
Ali G: So, I mean ‘oever bought a kilo of anythin, you know [...] I mean what is dat useful for, de kilo?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: I'm not certain that the kilo is great one.
Ali G: Sir Rhodes, do you think there should be mixed schools?
Sir Rhodes Boyson: I think there should be a choice, the parents and the people themselves.
Ali G: Sir Rhodes, will there always be education throughout the nation stoppin’ domination...
Sir Rhodes Boyson: There'll always be some ways...
Ali G:...in de station.
Sir Rhodes Boyson: Yeah, there'll always be some methods of one generation putting it in the work of the next generation.
Ali G: Wicked! You iz rockin’, Sir Rhodes Boyson in da ‘ouse… Buka! Buka! You iz the man, I wish you was my teacher with dem years ago, now it wouldn't have turned out like dis.

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[ 1 ]. 12012, 6. B. (n.d). Sir Rhodes Boyson. Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/9507100/Sir-Rhodes-Boyson.html
[ 2 ]. Braier, R. (2013). Jafaican it? No we're not | Mind your language. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2013/aug/30/mind-your-language-jafaican
[ 3 ]. 'Jafaican' is wiping out inner-city English accents. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2016, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-382734/Jafaican-wiping-inner-city-English-accents.html