Published 04/10/2023 at 09:14
On Friday (29th), the birds of the Sabiá Agency performed The second session of Diversity at the Nest in 2023. This is an internal climate initiative so that the team can engage with relevant societal themes, fostering the development of more critical, broad, and empathetic thinking. On this occasion, the chosen theme was “Variation and linguistic prejudice: breaking paradigms for more inclusive communication.”
The conversation was led by two members of our team, both responsible for creative writing within the Agency. Lucas Custódio, with his degree in Literature from the University of São Paulo and his career working with language, addressed a topic widely discussed in sociolinguistics: the myths perpetuated by linguistic prejudice. The second part of the conversation was handled by Mariana Oliveira, a social communicator and advertiser with extensive experience in the practical application of the Portuguese language, who demonstrated how we can use communication in a more inclusive way.
“Most of the time, we approach ‘diversity’ from macro societal standpoints, but we forget to analyze other aspects that may not be as evident and that can contribute to its complete understanding. Because there isn't a conscious debate about the most different forms of linguistic prejudice, it ends up masking other forms of prejudice that our society has already recognized as unacceptable. We can say that a person with little command of normative grammar is less intelligent or capable than one who received formal instruction, for example, contributing to widening the existing social divide..explains Custódio.
Linguistic prejudice and its myths
With direct influence from the work “Linguistic Prejudice: What it is, How it's done”, by Marcos Bagno, some myths that continue to be perpetuated even after the publication of the work in 1999 were addressed during the session.
Before addressing the myths themselves, Custódio adds a postscript, emphasizing that we need to pay attention to two points for better understanding: first, language presents a high degree of variability and diversity that cannot be curbed by the creation of grammatical rules. Second, all people, to some extent, exhibit behaviors that reinforce linguistic prejudice in some way on a daily basis.
MYTH #1 – There Is Only One Portuguese Language
It is evident that even those who are not directly involved in the context of speaking Portuguese are able to perceive that it has variations. However, at a certain level, it is believed that, even with the rich diversity of variations, the language presents a linguistic “standard,” represented by the stipulated norm widely disseminated in academic environments.
In reality, the idea of a linguistic standard for the Portuguese language is not only a myth but also completely impractical, considering that the variation occurring in the language is crossed by several factors, such as temporality, geographical location, linguistic communities, level of education, etc.
When a standard is believed to exist, all other variations (which are just as valid) end up on the margins of society, as non-standard and unacceptable. This linguistic divide creates social spaces that cannot be accessed by those without formal education, widening social inequality.
MYTH #2 – Portuguese is very difficult
This myth is perhaps the one that goes most unnoticed, largely because this belief is the result of a rigid and impractical language teaching system. It is believed that the Portuguese language is that measured segment in school, in elementary and high school, with difficult names and grammatical forms never used in everyday conversation.
The truth is that any native speaker who fully goes through their language acquisition process knows how to use all the structures that language provides. To know how to use a language means to know and naturally employ the basic grammatical rules of its functioning. For example, you will never see a native Portuguese speaker saying something like “The boy will arrive here next week.”.
MYTH #3 – People without an education say everything wrong
One of the most damaging yet widespread myths is that speaking “incorrectly” is equivalent to a lack of education, which goes hand in hand with the idea that there is a “standard” variation of Portuguese. However, caution is needed when trying to classify a language phenomenon as an error, as it may be part of a linguistic process that has been ongoing for centuries.
As an example, the fact that a certain group of people replaces “L” in a consonant cluster with “R” was used, as occurs in “bicicreta” (bicycle), “pranta” (plant), and “chicrete” (chewing gum). Although it is a variation associated with a disadvantaged population, and therefore stigmatized, the phenomenon is recurrent in the history of the Portuguese language: it is called rhotacism. Words like *branco*, *fraco*, and *prata*—which are widely accepted in grammar today—originated in the same way, from the forms *blank*, *flaccu*, and *plata*.
Logically, accepting such terms while rejecting others that undergo the same phonetic phenomenon is purely prejudice, not a linguistic issue, but rather a political and social one.
MYTH #4 – It’s correct to say it this way because that’s how it’s spelled
In the fourth and final myth, notions that have become confused over time are addressed: writing and speech. Speech is the most natural form of expression for a language. It's how we communicate most of the time. It is much more fluid and therefore much more susceptible to variations. Writing, on the other hand, was created as a form of representation of this speech, making it possible to store ideas and meanings derived from speech in a standard that would be understandable to any speaker.
In this way, it is necessary to understand that spelling exists and must be respected so that written language can be understood. However, the same “word” represented by characters can have different phonetic variations, leading to a distinct interpretation. It's like a recipe; you need to follow a list of ingredients to achieve the result, but each person (or group) has their own way of executing it.
Is it possible to end linguistic prejudice?
It can be quite complicated to end something that is so ingrained and widespread within the educational system. However, by becoming aware of the existence of linguistic prejudice, there are some things we can do to avoid perpetuating it.
- Recognize that a linguistic crisis exists, which also occupies the political and social sphere;
- Reframe the concept of grammatical error, remembering that language varies and that many movements that arise spontaneously from native speakers' speech are linguistic phenomena;
- Change the attitude towards episodes of linguistic variation.
“It's important to remember, however, that language specialists don't want to promote a kind of grammatical chaos where absolutely everything is valid. There are still different contexts in which different facets of language should be used. Thus, we should understand that there is no magic formula for all speakers of a language, and that all variations should be respected, as they make sense in a given context.,”Custódio finishes.
How to use language and communication as a tool for inclusion
In the second part of the conversation, Mariana Oliveira highlights the use of language as a reproducer of social meanings. From the moment an individual is born, they are constantly permeated by senses and meanings consolidated by language. Therefore, Oliveira corroborates the concept that language, as a manifestation of speech, is a field of political struggle.
“Beyond hiring and having a diverse team, it's always important to question what organizations are actually doing to make people feel included. Part of this change comes from how we position our discourse; after all, by changing our language, we can modify our reality. This is reflected in the use of empathetic language that is free of stereotypes and prejudice.”explains Oliveira.
The 5 pillars of inclusive communication
In order to promote inclusion through language, Oliveira presents 5 pillars that can be used as foundations for structuring more empathetic and inclusive communication.
Empathy
The first of the pillars, empathy, was presented as the ability to share, perceive, and connect with others' feelings, being able to see life through another person's lens.
“The phrase ‘walk in someone else's shoes’ bothers me greatly, as that's not what empathy is. Even though the shoes belong to someone else, the feet and the path traveled are still yours. Therefore, empathy is more about understanding what another person is going through from your own emotional filter and what you can do to show solidarity with them..
2. RASA Technique
Despite the name, the RASA technique is anything but superficial. It serves to demonstrate how we can practice better listening and, consequently, promote more assertive communication. The term is an acronym for Receive, Appreciate, Summarize, and Ask.
- ReceiveIt's about how you position yourself in relation to another person and how you show that you are receiving the information. If the person feels like they are the only one in the room, then it's working.
- AppreciateAppreciation comes through small signals that you are following what is being said. These can be interjections, head nods, body language, etc.
- Synthesizeinstead of interrupting the individual to say something, prefer to wait and synthesize what was said, with the intention of adding your position and stating what you understood from what was said.
- Ask: these are questions raised to demonstrate interest in the subject and also to discover more about what is being discussed.
3. Position of Speech
Social standpoint is presented as a highly discussed subjective space nowadays, which aims to direct speech to individuals or groups who directly experience the subject matter at hand, or to reserve this space for those who normally do not have the opportunity to occupy it. It is a discussion about protagonism and silencing within the field of discourse.
Within inclusive communication, it is important to recognize proper social locations, so as not to silence or interrupt the speech of a person who should be occupying that space, either because they lack opportunities or because it concerns their experience as an individual in society.
4. Neutral communication
It is a way of structuring speech that includes people who identify with neither the female nor the male gender — therefore, a non-binary language. There are still various discussions on how this communication should take place, in order to make it accessible to everyone, including those who require special screen readers due to visual impairments.
While some groups advocate for the use of “e” to neutralize gender inflection morphemes (such as “todes” instead of todos and todas), it is also possible to choose entirely neutral constructions already established in the Portuguese language, such as “It is a pleasure to have you here”instead of“Welcome”.
5. Non-sexist language
Another controversial point in normative Portuguese grammar is the fact that there is a “masculinization” of gender for individuals in the plural or based on certain terms. This occurs when a group of people is reduced to “eles” (they - masculine), even when people of other genders are present, or when “homem” (man) is used as a metonymy for “humanity,” for example.
The adoption of non-sexist language is important to deconstruct the imagery that there are only men in positions of power or relevance. This happens when a team of medical professionals is called “the doctors,” but a nursing group is referred to as “the nurses,” even though both roles are performed by any gender.
At the end of the conversation, Custódio and Oliveira invited everyone to reflect more on the space that language occupies in their daily lives and on how to contribute to building more bridges than walls in exchanges and interpersonal relationships.
