This book explores ideas and issues related to second language (L2)
speakers and L2 use as portrayed on American television. It examines
many examples of television depictions of L2 speakers and L2 use
collected in the first decades of the 21st century. The book is divided
into four three-chapter sections.
"Humor and Homicide" looks at two aspects of the inclusion of L2
speakers and L2 use on television: L2 use or speakers depicted to create
humor in various ways, especially through miscommunication or
misunderstanding, and L2 knowledge used to solve crimes in the
detective/police procedural genre. The section describes the reasons
behind these phenomena, how they work, and the messages they convey to
viewers. "Language Learning" explores how both adult and child language
acquisition is represented and misrepresented on American television,
with analysis of realistic vs. non-realistic depictions. "Subtitles and
Stereotypes" explores the ways in which L2 speakers are often negatively
depicted on television, their portrayal based on stereotypes. This work
specifically investigates the role that subtitles play in leading
viewers to such conclusions, employing the idea of language
subordination, a process that devalues non-standard language while
validating the norms and beliefs of the dominant group. Also considered
are ways in which stereotypes are sometimes used to undermine negative
perspectives on L2 speakers. "Language Attitudes and Mediation"
evaluates depictions of second languages used as tools of mediation in
both historical and satirical terms as well as the feelings these
portrayals engender in viewers.
In short, this work asks questions that have not previously been posed
about L2 use on television, and it provides answers that not only shed
light on issues of the representation of language learning and language
use, but also constitute a lens through which American society as a
whole might be understood.
