culture of speech

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Speaking, writing and reading are integral to everyday life, where language is the primary tool for expression and communication. Studying how people use language – what words and phrases they unconsciously choose and combine – can help us better understand ourselves and why we behave the way we do.

Linguistics scholars seek to determine what is unique and universal about the language we use, how it is acquired and the ways it changes over time. They consider language as a cultural, social and psychological phenomenon.

“Understanding why and how languages differ tells about the range of what is human,” said Dan Jurafsky , the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor in Humanities and chair of the Department of Linguistics in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford . “Discovering what’s universal about languages can help us understand the core of our humanity.”

The stories below represent some of the ways linguists have investigated many aspects of language, including its semantics and syntax, phonetics and phonology, and its social, psychological and computational aspects.

Understanding stereotypes

Stanford linguists and psychologists study how language is interpreted by people. Even the slightest differences in language use can correspond with biased beliefs of the speakers, according to research.

One study showed that a relatively harmless sentence, such as “girls are as good as boys at math,” can subtly perpetuate sexist stereotypes. Because of the statement’s grammatical structure, it implies that being good at math is more common or natural for boys than girls, the researchers said.

Language can play a big role in how we and others perceive the world, and linguists work to discover what words and phrases can influence us, unknowingly.

How well-meaning statements can spread stereotypes unintentionally

New Stanford research shows that sentences that frame one gender as the standard for the other can unintentionally perpetuate biases.

Algorithms reveal changes in stereotypes

New Stanford research shows that, over the past century, linguistic changes in gender and ethnic stereotypes correlated with major social movements and demographic changes in the U.S. Census data.

Exploring what an interruption is in conversation

Stanford doctoral candidate Katherine Hilton found that people perceive interruptions in conversation differently, and those perceptions differ depending on the listener’s own conversational style as well as gender.

Cops speak less respectfully to black community members

Professors Jennifer Eberhardt and Dan Jurafsky, along with other Stanford researchers, detected racial disparities in police officers’ speech after analyzing more than 100 hours of body camera footage from Oakland Police.

How other languages inform our own

People speak roughly 7,000 languages worldwide. Although there is a lot in common among languages, each one is unique, both in its structure and in the way it reflects the culture of the people who speak it.

Jurafsky said it’s important to study languages other than our own and how they develop over time because it can help scholars understand what lies at the foundation of humans’ unique way of communicating with one another.

“All this research can help us discover what it means to be human,” Jurafsky said.

Stanford PhD student documents indigenous language of Papua New Guinea

Fifth-year PhD student Kate Lindsey recently returned to the United States after a year of documenting an obscure language indigenous to the South Pacific nation.

Students explore Esperanto across Europe

In a research project spanning eight countries, two Stanford students search for Esperanto, a constructed language, against the backdrop of European populism.

Chris Manning: How computers are learning to understand language​

A computer scientist discusses the evolution of computational linguistics and where it’s headed next.

Stanford research explores novel perspectives on the evolution of Spanish

Using digital tools and literature to explore the evolution of the Spanish language, Stanford researcher Cuauhtémoc García-García reveals a new historical perspective on linguistic changes in Latin America and Spain.

Language as a lens into behavior

Linguists analyze how certain speech patterns correspond to particular behaviors, including how language can impact people’s buying decisions or influence their social media use.

For example, in one research paper, a group of Stanford researchers examined the differences in how Republicans and Democrats express themselves online to better understand how a polarization of beliefs can occur on social media.

“We live in a very polarized time,” Jurafsky said. “Understanding what different groups of people say and why is the first step in determining how we can help bring people together.”

Analyzing the tweets of Republicans and Democrats

New research by Dora Demszky and colleagues examined how Republicans and Democrats express themselves online in an attempt to understand how polarization of beliefs occurs on social media.

Examining bilingual behavior of children at Texas preschool

A Stanford senior studied a group of bilingual children at a Spanish immersion preschool in Texas to understand how they distinguished between their two languages.

Predicting sales of online products from advertising language

Stanford linguist Dan Jurafsky and colleagues have found that products in Japan sell better if their advertising includes polite language and words that invoke cultural traditions or authority.

Language can help the elderly cope with the challenges of aging, says Stanford professor

By examining conversations of elderly Japanese women, linguist Yoshiko Matsumoto uncovers language techniques that help people move past traumatic events and regain a sense of normalcy.

Cultural Day speech - "The brave do not abandon their culture"

Culture is the total way of life that people in the society are blessed with. culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. through culture we are governed by norms and customs, which are the pillars of any society. if these […].

Culture is the total way of life that people in the society are blessed with. Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Through culture we are governed by norms and customs, which are the pillars of any society. If these pillars are not properly followed in our society, our culture will resemble a perfume with no smell. It’s a gradual existence of presenting those norms and customs to people who surround us through music, dances, arts, crafts, food, dressing style, languages just to mention a few.

Culture has been known since man came to an existence and till today we are still practicing it. Through culture we learn how to be better people in the society like living as brothers and sisters. It’s very hard for a person to live without culture because it’s like an antelope at the middle of hungry lioness. A human being is a very complex creature. Every individual human has a distinguished attitude, behaviours as well as traits. It is only through culture where human beings act uniformly and live as a society. Thus, in a simple definition of culture we all agree that culture is a totality way of life of a certain given society as they live and continue to struggle against the nature.  

Africa is believed to be the cornerstone of culture and every year, thousands of people from all over the world visit Africa to witness the beautiful culture, history and other amazing natural phenomena which Africa is blessed with and which it cherishes, for instance the earth surface features, wild animals, water bodies as well as hospitality of the people in the continent. Also, food, songs, costumes just to mention a few. Just as we are going to witness in this very day.

The way, we Africans handle our lives and whatever surrounds us; that is actually our culture, and it is through which we are identified. However, there are many different cultures from other communities and from other parts of the world, which remain to be the part of great adventure and identity to those people who live in those communities. We also recognize and appreciate their cultures. Wherever you are and wherever you live, your culture is of great value since it is the one which made you to be who you are today. Under no circumstance, a brave should not abandon his or her culture because if one abandons his or her culture, I dare to say he or she would abandon him or herself.

It is high time for us to protect all what we have in our culture and whatever is good should be taken to great heights and we should try all our level best to eliminate all those practices which are against human rights even if they have been practiced in our culture for centuries. Practices such as female genital mutilation, discrimination of any kind, torture to women and children and any kind of maltreatment to our society members. Culture is not static, it changes as the human being develops so let us not be prisoners of our own culture.

For those who have been here for four years will agree with us that we have been improving always from our first Cultural Day in 2010, 2011 and last year. The event is about commemorating our culture and other cultures beyond our boarders and beyond our continent. It must be well understood that, preserving our culture doesn’t mean to disrespect other peoples’ cultures. Cultures create and develop identities.

Today, and now, I highly call all students and staffs to try all our level best to love and feel proud of our culture. This is because it is believed that you will not know the importance of things unless they are taken away from you. Through the education that we get here at St Jude, we should enable ourselves to reach the millennium goals of fighting and eradicating poverty, diseases and ignorance which are the challenges facing the African continent. But also it will help us to reach the mission and vision of our school of preparing the future leaders of Tanzania and the world at large. Leaders who are responsible, respectful, honest, kind to all the people and our planet earth because if we destroy it, we also destroy ourselves in another way. I believe that, we are not Africans because we are only born in Africa but because Africa is born in our hearts.

Our culture is possible with our environment. The responsibility of preserving our environment is also part of our culture. William Mkufya, a famous Tanzanian writer in one of his book blamed the human being for destroying his own environment and if I may quote him, he says “The presence of modern human on earth is only a few thousand years old and yet have destroyed a huge portion of what nature has preserved for millions of years”. Ladies and gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to remind each one of us to take responsibility in preserving our environment, what exactly the  nature has preserve for millions of years as Mkufya says.  

Having said so, I believe that changes can also be brought by us, by working and cooperating with different people, even those who live beyond our shores. Through our talents, ideas and education that we get here at St Jude we can change ourselves as well as our society and other societies too. I truly believe that this young and brave generation will one day make a greater change and make the world a better place for every single person.

There are 120 tribes and so 120 languages in Tanzania ranging from Bantu Cushites to Nilotes. All these tribes have their cultures. Additionally, we are also blessed to be united by one language, Kiswahili and one country Tanzania.

Actually, there is indeed a great need of creating a balance between affirmation of the previous marginalized cultures by supporting them, and also appreciate the current dominant cultures putting forward and support their languages which are Kiswahili and other languages in our societies.

Ultimately, to make this long story short, may I call all of us with all love, kindness and sympathy to pray for Mzee Madiba who was the first president of South Africa to retain back his health and get better soon. GOD hears our voices, and we hope that Nelson Mandela will get well thus we say “Get well soon tata.”

God bless Africa, God bless Tanzania, and God bless St Jude.

Remember, “Jasiri haachi asili,” The brave do not abandon their culture.

 Prepared by Eric, Enock and Hosiana – Form 5 students at St Jude’s

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• Speaking Internationally →

Understanding Cultural Differences in Public Speaking

Ever felt lost in translation while delivering a speech to an international audience? This happens when we overlook the role of cultural nuances in public speaking. From body language, gestures to addressing local beliefs, understanding these can unveil new dimensions in your communication style and make you more relatable.

Get ready as we delve into effective strategies that transform your speeches from monologues into engaging conversations! Let’s embark on this journey together!

Key Takeaways

• Cultural differences in public speaking impact communication styles , nonverbal cues, and values/beliefs, requiring speakers to adapt their approach for effective engagement.
• Understanding diverse cultural communication styles is crucial for avoiding confusion or offense and building connections with international audiences .
• Nonverbal cues such as eye contact, gestures, and facial expressions vary among cultures and must be interpreted within specific cultural contexts for successful cross-cultural communication.
• Cultural values and beliefs significantly influence public speaking, shaping language use, nonverbal cues, tonal variations, and body language. Ignoring these differences can result in miscommunication or unintentional offense.
• Common cultural misunderstandings can hinder effective public speaking by impacting emotional expression, conflict resolution approaches, or personal information sharing. Speakers should be aware of these potential challenges to connect with their audience successfully.
• Strategies for adapting to cultural differences include developing cultural sensitivity skills, overcoming language barriers through translation services, and respecting cultural norms/taboo topics during speech preparation.
• Researching the cultural context of a foreign country helps speakers tailor their messages to resonate with diverse audiences while adapting to local customs/traditions. This enhances rapport building and avoids unintended misunderstandings or offense during presentations.

Importance of Understanding Cultural Differences in Public Speaking

Understanding cultural differences in public speaking is essential for effective communication and audience engagement. Cultural communication styles, nonverbal cues, values, and beliefs can greatly impact how a message is received, making it crucial to adapt and tailor one’s approach accordingly.

Cultural communication styles and their impact

Diving into the world of public speaking, it’s a given that your audience won’t always share the same cultural background as you. This makes understanding different cultural communication styles an invaluable asset in your toolkit.

Why so? Let’s get into it. Cultural differences wield notable influence on how people communicate — from the tone and volume to the speed of speech; all these factors are shaped by culture.

In a multicultural environment, this can either make or break your presentation. Misjudging a listener’s cultural communication style means risking confusing or even offending them, thereby creating barriers rather than bridges between you and your audience.

On the flip side, being able to navigate these diverse communication styles allows for more effective engagement with international business partners or at global conferences, further solidifying your position as an inexorable force in public speaking.

So whether it’s mastering social norms or grappling with language nuances, successful adaptation to various cultural communication styles paves the way for engaging speeches and lively discussions across borders.

Nonverbal communication in different cultures

Cracking the code of nonverbal communication across different cultures is crucial for public speakers. It’s not just about what you say, but how your body broadcasts unspoken signals that can either amplify your message or generate a cultural faux pas.

Across different societies worldwide, people interpret actions in social situations differently, making nonverbal cues fundamental components of intercultural communication.

Eye contact and gestures are two aspects of body language that vary significantly among cultures. In some places, steady eye contact indicates trustworthiness and openness while in others it may be seen as aggression or disrespect.

Understanding the significance behind these variations could mean the difference between sealing a deal or causing unintended offense during a presentation.

Facial expressions too, often regarded as universal forms of communication, can stir up confusion if not appropriately interpreted within cultural contexts. A smile might convey warmth and friendliness to one group but might signify embarrassment to another.

Good public speaking isn’t just mastering speech; it involves becoming fluent in the language of nonverbal cues around us—a recipe for successful cross-cultural communication! So next time you step on an international stage with your well-practiced speech remember – it’s not all about words; Interpreting and delivering effective nonverbal cues rooted deeply in cultural norms is equally integral.

Cultural values and beliefs and their impact

Diving into the rich tapestry of cultural values and beliefs illuminates their significant impact on public speaking. Culture is like an invisible hand, subtly guiding our communication styles.

It shapes not just language but also nonverbal cues, tonal variations, body language, and so much more. For example, in some cultures maintaining eye contact while delivering a speech denotes trust and confidence while in others it’s seen as disrespectful or aggressive.

Ignoring this aspect can lead to unintended miscommunication or even offend your audience unintentionally. As speakers venturing across diverse cultures – understanding these differences is essential because what might be persuasive in one culture could fall flat in another due to contrasting cultural norms and beliefs.

Furthermore, deep knowledge about the audience’s values results in speeches that are sincere and respectful – two key elements of ethical communication that resonate with multicultural audiences globally.

Cultural intelligence amplifies your competence as a speaker by fostering genuine connections based on crosscultural understanding – making every word count for you and your listeners.

Common cultural misunderstandings

Cultural misunderstandings can be a significant barrier in public speaking, affecting both the speaker and the audience. These misunderstandings often arise from differences in expressing emotions, conflicts, or personal information.

For example, what may be considered appropriate humor in one culture might be seen as offensive in another. Likewise, the level of directness or indirectness in communication varies among cultures and can impact how messages are received.

Understanding these common cultural misunderstandings is crucial for public speakers to effectively connect with their audience and avoid unintended negative reactions during presentations.

Strategies for Adapting to Cultural Differences in Public Speaking

Cultural sensitivity.

Cultural sensitivity is a crucial skill for public speakers when it comes to understanding and managing cultural differences. It involves recognizing and appreciating the diverse backgrounds and experiences of individuals, promoting empathy and understanding.

Cultural sensitivity goes beyond surface-level observations, requiring an effort to understand hidden aspects of culture. It’s important not to assign values or judgments to cultural differences but instead recognize them as equally valid.

By developing skills in cultural sensitivity, public speakers can improve their cross-cultural communication and effectively connect with diverse audiences from different backgrounds. As our society becomes increasingly diverse, fostering cultural competence, sensitivity, and awareness is essential for creating inclusive spaces where every voice is heard.

Language barriers

Language barriers are a significant challenge when it comes to public speaking, especially in an international context. Speaking different languages can often lead to misunderstandings and gaps in communication, making it difficult to effectively convey your message.

This is particularly crucial for public speakers who want to connect with diverse audiences around the world. Translation services can be a valuable resource in overcoming language barriers, allowing you to bridge the gap and ensure that your message is understood by everyone.

By addressing language barriers head-on, you can enhance the quality and safety of communication during public speaking engagements while promoting collaboration and understanding among individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

Cultural norms and taboos

Understanding cultural norms and taboos is vital for public speakers when navigating different cultural contexts. Different cultures have their own set of expectations regarding appropriate behavior, language usage, and topics that are considered taboo.

It is important to be aware of these cultural nuances to avoid unintentionally offending or alienating your audience.

For example, what may be acceptable humor in one culture could be seen as disrespectful or offensive in another. Similarly, certain gestures or body language that convey a positive message in one culture might have negative connotations in another.

Being mindful of these differences allows you to adapt your communication style accordingly and ensure effective cross-cultural interaction.

In addition, understanding the cultural norms and taboos associated with public speaking can also help you tailor your content appropriately. By recognizing which topics are sensitive within a particular culture, you can avoid potential misunderstandings or controversies during your speech.

Research and Preparation for Public Speaking in a Foreign Country

Researching and preparing for public speaking in a foreign country involves understanding the cultural context, adapting to local customs and traditions, and ensuring language proficiency.

Understanding the cultural context

In today’s interconnected world, public speakers often find themselves addressing diverse audiences from various cultural backgrounds. To effectively connect with these audiences, it is crucial to understand the cultural context in which they operate.

This means recognizing and appreciating the beliefs, customs, values, and behaviors that shape their communication styles.

By understanding the cultural context, public speakers can adapt their messages to resonate with different cultures. For example, knowing that some cultures value indirect communication while others prefer directness can help speakers tailor their language and tone accordingly.

Additionally, being aware of nonverbal cues such as gestures or personal space preferences can ensure effective communication across cultures.

Researching and preparing for public speaking engagements in foreign countries also requires an understanding of the cultural context. Learning about local customs and traditions helps speakers navigate potential pitfalls or avoid unintentionally offending their audience.

Moreover, having a basic knowledge of the local language shows respect and enhances rapport building.

Adapting to local customs and traditions

Understanding and adapting to local customs and traditions is crucial for public speakers when delivering presentations in foreign countries. Every culture has its own set of norms, values, and practices that shape communication styles and expectations.

By familiarizing themselves with these cultural nuances, speakers can ensure that their message resonates with the audience and avoids any unintended misunderstandings or offense.

Researching the customs and traditions of a specific culture allows speakers to tailor their approach accordingly. For example, knowing whether it is appropriate to address elders first or observe certain gestures of respect can significantly impact how they are perceived by the audience.

Moreover, understanding local customs helps avoid taboos or sensitive topics that may inadvertently offend attendees.

Adapting to local customs also demonstrates respect for the host country’s culture, fostering a positive connection with the audience. It shows an appreciation for diversity and creates an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and understood.

Language proficiency

Having strong language proficiency is essential when it comes to public speaking, especially in a foreign country. Being able to communicate effectively and confidently in the local language can greatly enhance your ability to connect with the audience and convey your message.

Not only does it show respect for the culture and its people, but it also demonstrates your dedication to understanding and embracing diversity. Moreover, having proficiency in different languages improves attitudes towards those who are different from us and allows for greater empathy towards cultural values.

So, whether you’re striving for distinguished English speaking skills or working on mastering another language altogether, investing time in developing your language proficiency will undoubtedly benefit you as a public speaker navigating cultural differences.

In conclusion, understanding and adapting to cultural differences in public speaking is essential for effective communication. By being culturally sensitive and aware, speakers can connect with their diverse audience on a deeper level, avoid misunderstandings, and deliver impactful speeches.

So embrace cultural diversity and enhance your public speaking skills to engage with people from different backgrounds successfully!

1. How do cultural differences impact public speaking?

Cultural differences can impact public speaking in various ways, including communication style, body language, and audience expectations. Different cultures may have different norms for eye contact, gestures, and vocal tone, which can influence how a speaker is perceived and understood.

2. What are some common challenges when speaking to an international audience?

When speaking to an international audience, common challenges may include language barriers, varying levels of English proficiency among listeners, differing cultural beliefs and values that shape understanding and interpretation of messages, as well as potential miscommunications or misunderstandings due to unfamiliarity with certain sayings or idioms.

3. How can speakers adapt their presentations for different cultures?

Speakers can adapt their presentations for different cultures by researching the target culture’s communication styles and preferences beforehand. This includes understanding appropriate use of nonverbal cues, using relatable examples that resonate with the specific cultural context while avoiding potentially sensitive topics or offensive content.

4. What strategies can help improve cross-cultural communication during public speaking?

To improve cross-cultural communication during public speaking engagements, it is important to be mindful of cultural diversity within the audience. Speakers should strive for clarity in speech delivery by enunciating words clearly and avoid using jargon or technical terms that might not be easily understood outside of one’s own culture. Additionally addressing questions from the audience respectfully helps create a more inclusive environment where all participants feel valued regardless of their background knowledge on given topic being discussed

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Cultural Responsiveness

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Cultural responsiveness involves understanding and appropriately including and responding to the combination of cultural variables and the full range of dimensions of diversity that an individual brings to interactions. Cultural responsiveness requires valuing diversity, seeking to further cultural knowledge, and working toward the creation of community spaces and workspaces where diversity is valued (Hopf et al., 2021).

Cultural competence is a dynamic and complex process requiring ongoing self-assessment, continuous cultural education, openness to others’ values and beliefs, and willingness to share one’s own values and beliefs. This is a process that evolves over time. It begins with understanding one’s own culture, continues through reciprocal interactions with individuals from various cultures, and extends through one’s own lifelong learning.

Cultural humility refers to the understanding that one must begin with a personal examination of one’s own beliefs and cultural identities to better understand the beliefs and cultural identities of others. Cultural humility is a lifelong process of self-reflection (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998).

Cultural responsiveness, cultural competence, and cultural humility are all dynamic, complex, and lifelong processes. The terms are not mutually exclusive and have sometimes been used interchangeably. For purposes of this page, the term “cultural responsiveness” will be used.

Clinical approaches—such as interview style, assessment tools, and therapeutic techniques—that are appropriate for one individual may not be appropriate for another. It is important to recognize that the unique influence of an individual’s cultural and linguistic background may change over time and according to circumstance (e.g., interactions in the workplace, with authority figures, within a social context). Such changes may require adjustments in clinical approaches.

Cultural responsiveness in service delivery impacts a provider’s ability to

• respond to demographic diversity;
• understand and respond to social determinants of health and health disparities as they impact different populations;
• improve the quality of services and health outcomes; and
• meet legislative, regulatory, and accreditation mandates.

For further information and access to additional ASHA resources, please see Cultural Competence Check-Ins and Social Determinants of Health .

Roles and Responsibilities

ASHA requires that audiologists and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) practice in a manner that considers the impact of cultural variables as well as language exposure and acquisition on the individual and their family. Audiologists and SLPs provide services to diverse populations. Professional and clinical competence requires that audiologists and SLPs practice in a manner that considers each individual’s cultural and linguistic characteristics and unique values so that these professionals can provide the most effective assessment and intervention services (ASHA, 2004, 2006). ASHA-certified practitioners have met academic and professional standards that include knowledge of cultural variables and how they may influence communication and service delivery. See ASHA’s Audiology Certification Standards and Speech-Language Pathology Certification Standards . Clinicians are responsible for providing culturally responsive and clinically competent services during all clinical interactions. Responsiveness to the cultural and linguistic differences that affect identification, assessment, treatment, and management includes the following actions:

• Engaging in an internal self-assessment to consider the influence of one’s own biases and beliefs and their potential impact on service delivery
• Identifying and acknowledging limitations in education, training, and knowledge as well as seeking additional resources and education to develop cultural responsiveness (e.g., continuing education, networking with community members)
• Seeking funding for and engaging in ongoing professional development related to cultural responsiveness
• Demonstrating respect for each individual’s ability, age, culture, dialect, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, language, national/regional origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and veteran status
• Integrating each individual’s traditions, customs, values, and beliefs into service delivery
• Recognizing that assimilation and acculturation impact communication patterns during identification, assessment, treatment, and management of a disorder and/or difference
• Assessing and treating each person as an individual and responding to their unique needs, as opposed to anticipating cultural variables based on assumptions
• Identifying appropriate intervention and assessment strategies and materials that do not (a) violate the individual’s unique values and/or (b) create a chasm between the clinician, the individual, their community, and their support systems (e.g., family members)
• Assessing health literacy to support appropriate communication with individuals and their support systems so that information presented during assessment/treatment/counseling is provided in a health literate format
• Demonstrating cultural humility and sensitivity to be respectful of individuals’ cultural values when providing clinical services
• Referring to and/or consulting with other service providers with appropriate cultural and linguistic proficiency, including using
• a cultural informant —a member of, or someone familiar with, a given culture (Spradley & McCurdy, 1972) who can supply relevant information about that culture to a third-party member (e.g., a clinician);
• a cultural broker —an individual who acts as a bridge between diverse families and schools (Jezewski & Sotnik, 2001; Torres et al., 2015) or one who advocates for a given culture to a third-party member (e.g., a clinician); or
• an interpreter and/or a translator , where appropriate (see ASHA’s Practice Portal page on Collaborating With Interpreters, Transliterators, and Translators for further information)
• Upholding ethical responsibilities during the provision of clinically appropriate services

Clinicians have a responsibility to advocate for consumers, families, and communities at risk for or presenting with communication and related disorders and/or differences. Advocacy specific to cultural responsiveness includes

• collaborating with professionals across disciplines and with local and national organizations to gain knowledge of, develop, and disseminate educational, health, and medical information pertinent to specific communities;
• gaining knowledge and education of high-risk factors (e.g., hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, fetal alcohol syndrome) in specific populations and the incidence and prevalence of these risk factors that can result in greater likelihood for communication and related disorders and/or differences;
• providing education regarding prevention strategies for speech, language, cognitive, hearing, balance, voice, and feeding/swallowing disorders in specific populations;
• providing appropriate and culturally relevant consumer information and marketing materials/tools for outreach, service provision, and education, with consideration of the health literacy, values, and preferences of communities; and
• identifying and educating communities regarding the impact of state and federal legislation on service delivery.

Ethical Considerations

Cultural and linguistic responsiveness is as important to the provision of services as are scientific, technical, and clinical knowledge and skills. The ASHA Code of Ethics (ASHA, 2023) contains the fundamentals of ethical conduct, which are described by Principles of Ethics and by Rules of Ethics. Principles of Ethics form the underlying philosophical basis for the Code of Ethics, whereas Rules of Ethics are specific statements of minimally acceptable as well as unacceptable professional conduct. The following provisions in the Code of Ethics establish the responsibilities of the practitioner to provide culturally and linguistically competent services and research and to avoid discrimination in professional relationships:

• Individuals shall provide all clinical services and scientific activities competently (Principle I, Rule A).
• Individuals shall use every resource, including referral and/or interprofessional collaboration when appropriate, to ensure that quality service is provided (Principle I, Rule B).
• Individuals shall not discriminate in the delivery of professional services or in the conduct of research and scholarly activities on the basis of age; citizenship; disability; ethnicity; gender; gender expression; gender identity; genetic information; national origin, including culture, language, dialect, and accent; race; religion; sex; sexual orientation; or veteran status (Principle I, Rule C).
• Individuals who hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence shall engage in only those aspects of the professions that are within the scope of their professional practice and competence, considering their certification status, education, training, and experience (Principle II, Rule A).
• Individuals shall not discriminate in their relationships with colleagues, assistants, students, support personnel, and members of other professions and disciplines on the basis of age; citizenship; disability; ethnicity; gender; gender expression; gender identity; genetic information; national origin, including culture, language, dialect, and accent; race; religion; sex; sexual orientation; socioeconomic status; or veteran status (Principle IV, Rule M).

Principles of Ethics and Rules of Ethics are not intended to serve as justification for the denial of services or as the basis for discrimination in the delivery of professional services or the conduct of research and scholarly activities. Rather, “individuals shall enhance and refine their professional competence and expertise through engagement in lifelong learning applicable to their professional activities and skills” (Principle II, Rule C). Assessment and treatment should not vary in quality based on factors such as ethnicity, age, or socioeconomic status. Discrimination in any professional arena and against any individual, whether subtle or overt, ultimately dishonors the professions and harms all those within the practice.

Clinicians have an obligation to seek the information and expertise required to provide culturally responsive services and are asked to carefully consider the basis for determining their need to refer and/or deny services. ASHA’s Office of Multicultural Affairs can provide assistance and resources in making this determination and in identifying resources to continually enhance cultural responsiveness. The Board of Ethics’ Issues in Ethics Statement: Cultural and Linguistic Competence (ASHA, 2017) is designed to provide guidance to members, applicants, and certified individuals as they make these types of professional decisions.

If you are concerned about the appropriate interpretation and application of the Code of Ethics, staff members from ASHA’s Ethics team ( [email protected] ) can provide further information and direction.

Developing Cultural Responsiveness

Developing cultural responsiveness is an ongoing process. It involves self-awareness and cultural humility, and it may require audiologists and SLPs to recognize what they do not know about the languages and cultures of the individuals, families, and communities they serve. As a result, they may seek culture-specific knowledge and experience in these areas. Per Kohnert (2008), the culturally responsive clinician has the ability to

• simultaneously appreciate cultural patterns and individual variation;
• engage in cultural self-scrutiny to assess cultural biases and improve self-awareness;
• utilize evidence-based practice to include client/patient/family characteristics, clinician expertise, and empirical evidence in clinical decisions; and
• understand the communication contexts and needs of clients/patients and their families by considering communication disorders within a social context.

Culturally responsive clinicians also identify bias and/or determine appropriateness of materials in assessment and treatment materials and practices. Additionally, culturally responsive clinicians recognize the role of social justice (fairness for all people, including the equitable distribution of resources in a society) by advocating for, promoting, and providing quality care and education for all individuals (Horton, 2021, Unger et al., 2021).

Developing cultural responsiveness includes

• self-assessment, including a review of the clinician’s personal history, values, beliefs, and implicit and explicit biases;
• an understanding of how these factors might influence perceptions of communication abilities and patterns;
• an understanding of how personal perceptions might influence interactions and service delivery to a variety of individuals; and
• transitioning understanding into actions that support an unbiased, culturally appropriate, and relevant clinical environment.

As cultural responsiveness has a relationship with cultural competence, the work of Cross (2012) is relevant to the present discussion. Cross’s (2012) continuum of cultural competence includes the following stages:

Cultural destructiveness —This stage includes policies, practices, and attitudes that are detrimental to cultures and individuals within those cultures.

Cultural incapacity —At this stage, agencies and individuals do not have the ability to assist those in need.

Cultural blindness —At this stage, the prevailing belief is that color or culture makes no difference or does not exist.

Cultural pre-competence —At this stage, cultural differences are accepted and respected. This includes ongoing self-assessment of cultural bias.

Advanced cultural competence —At this stage, the individual and/or agency holds culture in high esteem and works to contribute to knowledge regarding culturally competent practice.

Self-assessment may reveal where a clinician is along the continuum of cultural competence (see ASHA’s Cultural Competence Assessment tool ). The steps to developing cultural responsiveness are as follows:

• Learning about an individual’s culture(s), language, experience, history, alternative sources of care, and power differentials.
• Developing a dynamic definition of what constitutes culture that allows for possible change, or redefinition, as all participants grow.
• Demonstrating respect for individual cultural backgrounds by integrating personal preferences and cultural practices into assessment and treatment, including recognizing the influence of culture on linguistic variations, which may result in variations in communication patterns due to context, communication intent, and communication partner.
• Recognizing that power in the clinical situation is reciprocal and that individuals receiving services are supported, are encouraged, and have the capacity to make choices and changes in their lives and to participate in service delivery as appropriate for their culture and personal preferences.
• Identifying cultural variables that are both explicit (e.g., external symbols, food, and language) and implicit (e.g., religious practices and beliefs, spiritual beliefs, educational values, age and gender roles, child-rearing practices, and fears and perceptions).
• Developing an ethnogenetic viewpoint that recognizes that groups, cultures, and the individuals within them are fluid and complex in their identities and relationships.
• Moving away from ethnocentrism , the belief that one’s way of life and view of the world are inherently superior to others’ and are more desirable.
• Moving away from essentialism , which defines groups as “essentially” different, with characteristics “natural” to a group (Fuller, 2002). Essentialism does not consider variation within a culture and can lead health care professionals to stereotype their patients. Health care professionals may incorrectly focus practice on beliefs about groups instead of individuals as a result.

Cultural Dimensions

Individuals within all cultures vary based on differences, preferences, values, and experiences. Culture is learned, not inherited. Hofstede (2011) identifies cultural dimensions that are globally applicable and are reflected in all aspects of life, including

• family life,
• child-rearing practices,
• employment, and
• health care practices.

Hofstede (2011) also identifies the following as the broadest and most encompassing dimensions of cultural variability:

• Individualism–collectivism —how individuals are integrated into groups
• Power distance —how human inequality and/or the power of one group over another is interpreted
• Masculinity–femininity —emotional roles as divided between genders
• Uncertainty avoidance —society’s stress level in the event of an unforeseeable future
• Long- and short-term orientation —whether people’s efforts are focused on the past, present, or future
• Indulgence versus restraint —instant versus delayed gratification and the control of desire

Please see Examples of Cultural Dimensions for definitions and explanations of the terms above.

Bearing in mind that these cultural dimensions are applied broadly to each country and that individuals may demonstrate individual differences within their country’s culture, Hofstede (2011) developed a Country Comparison tool . This tool displays a graphic visualization of each country’s dimensions in numerical terms, as well as a display of two or more countries’ dimensions for comparison.

Additional dimensions include

• cultural value orientations (e.g., time orientation),
• verbal communication (e.g., turn-taking expectations, amount of talking allowed among conversational partners),
• nonverbal communication (e.g., eye contact, personal space use), and
• relational communication norms (e.g., greeting rituals, conversational expectations for various types of individuals).

Cultural dimensions occur along a continuum, and an individual may demonstrate behavior that falls anywhere along that continuum. A wide variety of factors may influence how cultural dimensions are manifested by each individual, including

• individual differences;
• individual circumstances;
• assimilation —the process of someone in a new environment totally embracing the host culture (Riquelme, 2013); and
• acculturation —the integration of the host culture with the native culture to varying degrees (Riquelme, 2013).

Implications of Cultural Dimensions

Cultural dimensions influence verbal and nonverbal behaviors in communicative interactions. They affect how individuals convey trust or distrust and what they interpret as friendly, unfriendly, interested, or bored behaviors. For example, friendliness is conveyed by

• listening without interrupting the speaker in a high power distance culture;
• using formal and specific language in a strong uncertainty avoidance culture;
• verbally disclosing information in an individualistic culture; and
• using an assertive style of communication in a highly masculine culture.

Please see Examples of Cultural Dimensions and the Cultural Dimensions section for definitions and explanations of the terms above. Failure to recognize these variations in interactions can result in crucial miscommunications. For example, professionals educated in a particular setting (e.g., U.S. schools) may value low power distance and may attempt to treat students, clients/patients, and families as equals, encouraging them to participate in the development of therapeutic goals and objectives. However, people from high power distance cultures may question the competence of a professional who attempts to include them in the development of interventions (Hwa-Froelich & Westby, 2003). This discrepancy may negatively impact communication.

An audiologist or SLP whose cultural beliefs are consistent with independence and active experimentation may face conflicts with families whose cultural beliefs support dependence and compliance if there is a lack of awareness of these cultural differences (Hyter & Salas-Provance, 2021).

Research suggests that when clients/patients view themselves as similar to their health care providers in terms of cultural and linguistic background, the health care provider–patient relationship is strengthened. Patient-centered communication is one factor noted to affect perceived personal similarity (Street et al., 2008).

The impact of cultural dimensions should be considered within the environment and within clinical interactions. Clinicians are encouraged to be mindful of intersectionality —the way in which systems of inequality that are based on discrimination due to cultural dimensions meet to create unique dynamics and the reality that each system has the potential to reinforce other systems. This concept further emphasizes the importance of developing rapport with an individual to determine the various social influences that may impact treatment outcomes. Please see Crenshaw (1989), a seminal work on intersectionality, for further information.

Cultural Responsiveness Versus Stereotyping

Cultural responsiveness requires audiologists and SLPs to consider how values and norms are uniquely shaped. Even when individuals share similar cultural backgrounds, their values are shaped by their own experiences and interpretations of these experiences. Stereotyping uses preconceptions of a particular population and may result in inappropriate behaviors, clinical judgments, and decisions.

For example, cultural responsiveness in dysphagia services includes the identification of the individual’s personal food history and preferences. Stereotyping in dysphagia services could lead to recommendations based solely on the food preferences most often associated with the individual’s cultural background.

Difference Versus Disorder

Cultural responsiveness requires clinicians to distinguish a communication difference from a communication disorder . A clinically competent clinician will gain sufficient knowledge of an individual’s cultural and linguistic background to avoid making an assumption that a communication pattern(s) constitutes a disorder when the pattern(s) may in fact be reflecting cultural and linguistic variation.

Distinguishing between communication differences and communication disorders involves the ability to

• recognize that cultural dimensions and individual variation may influence eye-gaze behavior; facial expressions; body language; rules of social interaction; child-rearing practices; perceptions of mental health, physical health, illness, and disability; and patterns of superior and subordinate roles in relation to status by age, gender or gender identity, and class (Lau, 2006; Murry et al., 2011);
• review cultural and linguistic variables and factors that may influence communication to determine if the communication patterns of an individual may be related to their cultural background (Penn et al., 2017);
• determine if the communication pattern is related to the individual’s linguistic background (see Multilingual Service Delivery in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology );
• understand that differences may be related to the amounts and types of different exposure to and development of new cultural communication patterns;
• recognize that assimilation and level of acculturation may influence individual communication patterns and behaviors;
• identify a disorder as a breakdown in communication that is sufficient to negatively influence the effective use of symbols and message processing in the language used by the speaker;
• identify a communication difference as a variation of a symbol system used by a group of individuals that reflects and is determined by shared regional, social, or cultural/ethnic factors;
• recognize that a regional, social, or cultural/ethnic variation of a communication system is rule based and should not be considered a disorder of speech or language (e.g., an accent or a dialect does not reflect an articulation disorder; Hamilton et al., 2018); and
• incorporate the cognitive learning styles of individuals and avoid the expectation of mainstream methods for problem solving and communication (Davis & Stanford, 2020).

Although clinicians work to avoid misidentifying language/dialect differences as disorders, research has demonstrated that children from minoritized backgrounds who may speak nonmainstream English dialects are less likely to receive needed services than similar White peers (Morgan et al., 2015, 2016). Rather than a strictly dialect versus disorder framework, Oetting et al. (2016) recommend that clinicians use a disorder within dialect framework to keep the conversation about the nature and prevalence of childhood language disorders across dialects at the forefront when considering screening, assessment, and treatment planning and when providing education about the services clinicians provide.

Terminology

Clinicians consider their use of person-first or identity-first terminology (e.g., “person with autism” vs. “autistic person”) and remain aware that terminology used to describe individuals may vary based on individual identity and preference. When there is a preference for either person-first or identity-first language, that preference should be honored. When in doubt clinicians may ask the individual to whom they are referring.

Similarly, clinicians should be aware of appropriate pronoun use. Using an individual’s correct personal pronouns shows respect to the individual and creates an inclusive environment. Please see Supporting and Working With Transgender and Gender-Diverse People for further information.

Response to Intervention and Dynamic Assessment

Early intervention services are used to determine which children have intrinsic learning problems that cannot be attributed to lack of experience with the tasks. Response to intervention and dynamic assessment are early intervention processes that help decrease unnecessary referrals for special education services for children who can benefit from modified instructional techniques. These approaches may also differentiate an underlying disability from a difference because they are highly focused on intended outcomes, individual needs, and data resulting from reliable screening measures (Hosp, n.d.).

Cultural Responsiveness in Clinical Service Delivery

Clinically competent service providers recognize and address the cultural and linguistic variables that affect service delivery while individualizing assessment and treatment strategies. This individualization ensures that the audiologist or SLP does not make overgeneralizations regarding a person’s cultural or linguistic background. When providing services, audiologists and SLPs consider

• if the environment setup is inviting;
• if the environment is accessible;
• the need to modify scheduling and appointment times due to cultural and individual values that may influence availability;
• the appropriateness and cultural sensitivity of materials used during assessment and intervention activities; and
• individual perceptions of assessment, possible diagnosis, and intervention strategies.

The National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards in Health and Health Care (Office of Minority Health, n.d.) provide a framework for all health care organizations to best serve the nation’s increasingly diverse communities.

Clinical Topics Practice Portal pages include additional information regarding the potential impact of culture as it relates to specific clinical topics.

The Assessment Process

When conducting assessments, audiologists and SLPs consider the individual’s level of acculturation and assimilation within the mainstream culture. In addition, practitioners determine how familiar and comfortable the individual is with social, interpersonal, academic, and testing practices, as familiarity with testing procedures may influence performance during the assessment process. An evaluation may have to be completed over multiple sessions if there is a need to assess an individual in more than one language, collaborate with an interpreter, utilize alternate assessment formats, and find and/or establish norms for a given population. See ASHA’s Practice Portal pages on Multilingual Service Delivery in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology  and Collaborating With Interpreters, Transliterators, and Translators as well as ASHA’s page on Dynamic Assessment for more information.

Gathering a Case History

Case histories include information about the individual’s communication characteristics as they compare to others from the same community. Whenever possible, case histories are collected using open-ended questions rather than asking respondents to select from options that may not be appropriate for them. Clinicians do not make assumptions about individuals or their families based on general cultural, ethnic, or racial information. The case history process is used to gather specific knowledge of the diverse views represented.

Ethnographic interviewing encourages the interviewee to provide information that they feel is relevant rather than to respond to clinician-presented questions. This style of interviewing can provide insight into individual perceptions, views, desires, and expectations. Strategies for ethnographic interviewing include

• using open-ended questions rather than “yes” or “no” questions;
• restating what has been said by repeating the exact words rather than paraphrasing or interpreting;
• summarizing statements and providing the opportunity for correction in case of misinterpretation;
• avoiding multiple questions posed in rapid succession and/or multipart questions;
• avoiding leading questions that tend to direct the person to a specific response; and
• avoiding using “why” questions because such questions may sound judgmental and may increase defensiveness (Westby et al., 2003).

Assessment Tools

Under most conditions, the use of standardized tests alone is not a comprehensive approach to determine whether an individual has a communication disorder. Test scores are invalid for the test taker who is not reflected in the normative group for the test’s standardization sample, even if the test is administered as instructed. In these cases, standardized tests cannot be used to determine the presence or absence of a communication disorder. However, these tests can provide valuable descriptive information about the individual’s abilities and limitations in the language of the test (e.g., a test administered in English will assess an individual’s ability in English).

Formal test environments and assessment tools may be unfamiliar to individuals who have not had exposure to the mainstream educational context and to the culture of testing that includes both nonverbal and verbal components. Nonverbal aspects of the testing culture include

• perception of time;
• how one is expected to learn;
• how one is expected to respond to the examiner, regardless of gender, culture, age, and/or socioeconomic background;
• attitudes toward display of abilities;
• attitudes toward guessing, using the process of elimination, storytelling, or conversing with an unfamiliar individual;
• test abstraction (e.g., naming protocols that require providing already shared information or situations in which the individual is required to assume a “make-believe” attitude in order to engage in an expected manner); and
• nonlinguistic aspects of pragmatics (DeJarnette et al., 2015).

Verbal aspects of the testing culture include

• form of language,
• functions of language,
• content of language,
• organization of language, and
• pragmatic rules of social interaction.

Accommodations and Modifications

For the purpose of this page, an accommodation of an assessment process refers to an adjustment or change to the environment or mode of response in order to (a) facilitate access and interaction and (b) remove barriers to participation without changing what the test measures. For the purpose of this page, a modification refers to a change in material, content, or acceptable response. Accommodations and modifications may be necessary to gain useful information about the individual’s abilities and limitations. However, some changes may invalidate a standardized score. Selected examples of accommodations and modifications include

• rewording and providing additional test instructions other than those allowed when presenting trial items;
• providing additional cues or repeating stimuli that may not be permitted on test or task items;
• allowing extra time for responses on timed subtests;
• skipping items that are inappropriate for the individual (e.g., items with which the individual has had no experience);
• asking the individual for an explanation of correct or incorrect responses (when not standard procedure); and
• using alternate scoring rubrics.

It is important to note that there can never be one-to-one translation for test items. Languages vary across many factors, including order of acquisition of vocabulary, morphology, and syntactic structures. Well-developed standardized tests are difficult to find for individuals who use a language other than or in addition to spoken English. See ASHA’s Practice Portal page on Multilingual Service Delivery in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology  for more information.

It is the clinician’s responsibility to document all accommodations and modifications made during the assessment process in all reporting.

Considerations for Audiologic Assessment

Some audiologists may rely on physiological measures in an attempt to circumvent the influence of language factors on assessment outcomes. However, all components of the audiologic evaluation, including speech audiometry, should be completed if possible. It is important to note that

• speech reception threshold testing is intended to measure the threshold for hearing intelligible speech and is not intended to measure vocabulary, familiarity, or intelligence;
• responses may reflect the phonemic inventory of the language(s) spoken (see Phonemic Inventories and Cultural and Linguistic Information Across Languages );
• a lack of familiarity with test items and/or the testing process may compromise speech scores; and
• speech testing materials are language specific. It is not appropriate to simply translate and then use a test that has been developed and normed in a specific language. Compromised performance may be due to language background rather than hearing and/or processing disorders.

Treatment should be initiated with an understanding of the environmental and language context of the individual and their family, and every effort should be made to minimize or remove physical, cultural, linguistic, and institutional barriers to intervention. Culturally relevant stimuli and experiences are to be included in intervention programs as appropriate. Audiologists and SLPs consider the nature of family and caregiver involvement during intervention. Selected considerations that may influence (a) individual expectations of the clinician and (b) the therapeutic process include

• the individual consistently deferring to the audiologist/SLP as the expert,
• cultural differences that influence the nature and level of the individual’s participation based on the perceptions of their role,
• therapy techniques that promote behavior patterns inconsistent with family values, and
• how language and communication patterns are taught and influenced by the individual’s culture and values.

Factors considered when selecting appropriate audiologic intervention include the impact of cultural influence on the

• acceptance of hearing loss as a disability,
• perceived value of medical intervention,
• cultural and social significance attached to hearing loss,
• role of gender as it relates to treatment options,
• language of treatment, and
• listening environment or hearing health of the individual.

Culturally diverse views of disorders and disabilities are considered when providing counseling because cultural variations affect beliefs about the causes of a disorder as well as how the person with a disorder should be treated. Cultural views may also influence individual goals as well as the caregiver’s goals for the person with the disorder or disability.

Each family unit has a system in which each member affects all other members (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Relationships are built and maintained through communication and may be significantly impacted by a communication disorder. When counseling individuals and families, it is important to recognize the unique relationships of a family system, including how a family member’s disorder affects relationships among the members as well as the functioning of the family system.

Cultural dimensions that influence counseling include

• the effect of the disability on life participation in culturally relevant contexts;
• the need for and/or acceptance of special treatment or education;
• acceptance of the use of technology for treatment;
• recognition that the family and/or the mainstream may judge some practices to be harmful;
• cultural values that conflict with mainstream values in terms of independence, individualism–collectivism, power distance, avoiding uncertainty, masculinity–femininity, hedonism, time orientation, indulgence, and restraint; and
• the individual’s and the family’s views of the role that each member plays—or should play—in the family.

Some cultures may have remedies or practices that mainstream professionals do not understand or embrace—and that they may even view as harmful. Professionals must discern whether cultural beliefs and practices are truly cultural variations or are harmful to the individual. Culturally sensitive counseling can provide information as well as alternative safe treatments (Westby, 2007).

In addition, religious or spiritual beliefs and practices may take precedence before educational or medical recommendations can be considered or accepted. If these beliefs or practices are misunderstood or unknown to professionals, they may interfere with or undermine educational and medical interventions (Fadiman, 2012; Shannon & Tatum, 2002; Swihart et al., 2021).

Please see ASHA’s Practice Portal page on Counseling For Professional Service Delivery for further information.

Public Policy

A number of laws and regulations have implications for the culturally responsive provision of audiology and speech-language pathology services. Implications for practice relate, for example, to the implementation of standardized procedures, access to and participation in services, language proficiency, mandated accommodations to facilitate participation by individuals with disabilities, access to federal funding, availability of interpreters, classroom inclusion, disproportionate representation by race and ethnicity of children with disabilities, reducing health care disparities, and privacy.

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA is intended to protect persons with disabilities and to guarantee them access to and participation in society. The statute is specifically directed at employment, public accommodations, public services (i.e., services delivered by state and local governments), transportation, and telecommunication. To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability , which is defined by the ADA as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; have a history or record of such an impairment; or be perceived by others as having such an impairment.

Equal Educational Opportunities Act

The Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 states, “All children enrolled in public schools are entitled to equal educational opportunity without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin.”

• Executive Order No. 13166

Executive Order No. 13166 (2000) requires federal agencies to examine the services they provide, identify any need for services to those with limited English proficiency, and develop and implement a system to provide those services so that persons with limited English proficiency can have meaningful access to them. See the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons [PDF]. This is applicable to health care providers who receive federal funds (e.g., via Medicare, Medicaid, or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program).

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

FERPA (34 CFR Part 99) protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when they reach the age of 18 years or attend a school beyond the high school level. Materials are to be provided in a manner that is culturally and linguistically accessible so that individuals can understand their rights. See FERPA Regulations .

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Title II of HIPAA , known as the Administrative Simplification (AS) provisions, requires the establishment of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers. This act gives individuals aged 12–18 years the right to privacy. The provider must have a signed disclosure from the affected person before giving out any information on provided health care to anyone else, including the patient’s parents. The AS provisions also address the security and privacy of health data. Materials are to be provided in a manner that is culturally and linguistically accessible so that individuals can understand their rights.

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The IDEA 2006 Regulations made significant steps toward addressing problems with inappropriate identification and disproportionate representations of children with disabilities by race and ethnicity. A provision of the IDEA requires states to review ethnicity data in addition to race data to determine the presence of disproportionality. Disproportionality refers to the overrepresentation or underrepresentation of a particular demographic group in a special education program relative to the number in the overall student population (National Education Association, 2007). If significant disproportionality is determined, the state is required to review and revise policies, procedures, and practices, and the local education agency is required to reserve the maximum amount of funds under Section 613(f) of the statute to provide early intervening services to children in the local education agency, “particularly, but not exclusively” to those in groups that were significantly overidentified. These regulations clearly define steps that states must take to address the problem of disproportionality in special education. See IDEA Part B: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students .

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—addresses the expansion of health care coverage to populations that may not have been served in the past, explicitly linking health literacy to patient protection and then offering funds/grants for programs to increase cultural responsiveness. The ACA (2010) uses specific language regarding patient–provider communication—including provisions to communicate health and health care information clearly, promote prevention, ensure equity and cultural competence, and deliver high-quality care.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (1989) prohibits discrimination in any federally funded program on the basis of race, color, or national origin. This includes any public or private facility, such as a hospital, clinic, nursing home, public school, university, or Head Start program that receives federal financial assistance, such as grants, training, use of equipment, and other assistance. According to the Office of Civil Rights, all providers who work for any agency funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are required to provide language access services to patients who do not speak English.

State Laws and Regulations

Differences in state regulations are reflected in a number of requirements (see ASHA’s State-by-State webpage for further information).

ASHA Resources

• 2020 Standards and Implementation Procedures for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology
• 2020 Standards and Implementation Procedures for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology
• ASHA Code of Ethics
• ASHA State-by-State
• Cultural Competence Check-Ins
• Cultural Competence for Everyone: A Shift in Perspectives
• Dynamic Assessment
• Examples of Cultural Dimensions
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
• IDEA Part B: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
• Issues in Ethics: Cultural and Linguistic Competence
• Palliative and End-of-Life Care
• Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
• Response to Intervention (RTI)
• Scope of Practice in Audiology
• Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
• Social Determinants of Health 
• Special Interest Group 14, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
• Special Interest Group 17, Global Issues in Communication Sciences and Related Disorders
• Supporting and Working With Transgender and Gender-Diverse People
• Taking Action Against Microaggressions: Micro Course Series
• The Complexity of Health Disparities: More Than Just Black–White Differences
• Understanding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
• Why Is Yogurt Good for You? Because It Has Live Cultures
• Working With Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Students in Schools

Other Resources

This list of resources is not exhaustive, and the inclusion of any specific resource does not imply endorsement from ASHA.

• A Guide to Cultural Competence in the Curriculum: Speech-Language Pathology [PDF]
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Department of Health and Human Services: Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons [PDF]
• Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA )
• FERPA regulations
• Georgetown University National Center for Cultural Competence
• National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care [PDF]
• Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
• That’s Unheard Of

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Torres, K., Lee, N., & Tran, C. (2015). Building relationships, building cultures: Cultural brokering in family engagement. https://education.uw.edu/sites/default/files/programs/epsc/Cultural%20Brokers%20Brief_Web.pdf [PDF]

Unger, J. P., DeBonis, D. A., & Amitrano, A. R. (2021). A preliminary investigation of social justice perceptions among U.S. speech-language pathologists: Clinical implications. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 30 (5), 2003–2016. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_AJSLP-20-00286

Westby, C. (2007). Child maltreatment: A global issue. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 38 (2), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2007/014)

Westby, C., Burda, A., & Mehta, Z. (2003). Asking the right questions in the right ways: Strategies for ethnographic interviewing. The ASHA Leader, 8 (8), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.FTR3.08082003.4

About This Content

Acknowledgments.

Content for ASHA’s Practice Portal is developed through a comprehensive process that includes multiple rounds of subject matter expert input and review. ASHA extends its gratitude to the following subject matter experts who were involved in the development of the Cultural Responsiveness page:

• Rhoda L. Agin, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Noma I. Anderson, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Alaina Davis, PhD, CCC-SLP/L
• Danai Kasambira Fannin, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Nancy M. Gauvin, EdD, CCC-SLP
• Joyce L. Harris, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Joan C. Payne, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Rebecca K. Reeves, MA, CCC-SLP
• Kenyatta O. Rivers, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Barbara Rodriguez, PhD, CCC-SLP
• Diane M. Scott, PhD, CCC-A
• Irene G. Torres, MS, CCC-SLP

In addition, ASHA thanks the members of ASHA’s Multicultural Issues Board and the Working Group on Cultural Competence in Professional Service Delivery whose work was foundational to the development of this content.

Members of the Working Group on Cultural Competence in Professional Service Delivery were Carol Westby (chair), Catherine Clarke, James Lee, Hortencia Kayser, Carmen Vega-Barachowitz, and Claudia Saad (ex officio). Celia Hooper and Brian Shulman, vice presidents for professional practices in speech-language pathology; Mary Jo Schill and Alison E. Lemke, vice presidents for administration and planning; and Barbara Moore, vice president for planning, served as the monitoring officers.

Members of ASHA’s Multicultural Issues Board included Bopanna Ballachanda, Arnell Brady, Julie K. Bisbee, Nancy Flores Castilleja, Marcella Coleman, Candice Costa, Catherine J. Crowley, Diana Diaz, Ianthe Dunn-Murad, Nancy Eng, Debra Garrett, Nikki Giogis, Thomas J. Hallahan, Kathryn Helms, Ella R. Inglebret, Emi Isaki, Ronald C. Jones, Edgarita Long, Nidhi Mahendra, Tedd B. Masiongale, Joe A. Melcher, Wesley Nicholson, Janna Oetting, Alina de la Paz, Constance Dean Qualls, Rebecca K. Reeves, Luis F. Riquelme, Barbara Rodriguez, Marlene Salas-Provance, Toni Salisbury, Yasmeen Shah, Linda McCabe Smith, Greta Tan, Irene Torres, Carmen Vega-Barachowitz, Kenneth E. Wolf, and Michelle Yee. Vicki Deal-Williams and Karen Beverly-Ducker served as ex officios. Monitoring vice presidents for administration and planning Lyn Goldberg, Michael Kimbarow, and Alison E. Lemke provided guidance.

Citing Practice Portal Pages

The recommended citation for this Practice Portal page is:

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Cultural responsiveness [Practice Portal]. https://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Professional-Issues/Cultural-Responsiveness/ .

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6.3 Language, Community, and Culture

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Explain the role of culture in the acquisition of language.
• Describe how language can form the foundation of sociocultural groups in speech communities.
• Describe how people code-switch among speech communities.

While language is critical to individual human thought, its basic function is to communicate messages in human communities. That is, language is fundamentally social. Through social interaction, humans learn the language of their community. And through language, humans express community identity and coordinate their activities.

Language Acquisition and Language Socialization

Imagine that someone handed you a babbling baby and said to you, “Teach this baby the basic rules and values of our culture.” What would you do?

Likely, you’d start by teaching the baby your language. Without language, it’s pretty hard to teach rules and values (unless you are a really good mime). Luckily, babies come into the world with special cognitive abilities that make them ready to learn language. Most babies undergo a rapid process of language learning between the ages of nine months and three years. Babies proceed through a set of stages that allow them to learn language just by being exposed to surrounding talk. Many scholars study the problem of language acquisition , examining precisely how humans manage to learn language in a diversity of sociocultural contexts.

So your babbling baby would probably learn language just by being exposed to it. But what if someone wanted to hasten the process or make sure their baby was particularly excellent with language?

An American would probably interact with the baby in a particular way, sitting the baby on their lap facing them, pointing to objects and asking basic questions in a quiz-like fashion. “See the cookie? Where did the cookie go? In my tummy!” The person might say these types of things while talking in a high-pitched, sing-song voice. Linguists call this type of talk “motherese.” In many other cultures, caregivers do not interact with babies in this way. In some cultures, oversimplified “baby talk” is considered detrimental to language learning. The context of language learning might involve a whole host of characters beyond the baby and the caregiver, encompassing all household relatives, neighbors, visitors, and even strangers. Language is not always “taught” to babies, but is often witnessed and overheard. Rather than quizzing her baby American style, a mother in Kaluli society in Papua New Guinea is more likely to sit her baby on her lap facing outward, talking “for” the baby in conversations with siblings (Ochs and Schieffelin [1984] 2001). In West Africa, babies spend large parts of the day wrapped on the backs of their mothers where face-to-face interaction with her is impossible. But they overhear the talk around them all day long, and people frequently engage their attention in brief interactions. In the field of language socialization , researchers go beyond the various stages of language learning to focus on the social contexts in which language is acquired. As social contexts shape the way children learn language, language itself becomes a means of learning about sociocultural life.

Whether facing their caregivers or facing out to the social world around them, babies in all cultures learn to be proficient in their languages. And yet, in American culture, the notion persists that language proficiency relies on very precise forms of interaction between caregiver and baby, the American model of motherese. Every culture has specific ideas about language, how it is acquired, how it varies across social groups, how it changes over time, etc. These ideas are termed language ideologies . Some of these ideas, like the notion that babies have a special “window” of opportunity for learning language, are supported by linguistic research. Others, however, are challenged by ethnographic and cross-cultural research.

Speech Communities and Code Switching

A ten-year-old girl described one of her stuffed animals as “derpy.” Here is a snippet of her conversation with her mother:

Thisbe: Look at his face. He’s so derpy. Jennifer: Derpy? I don’t know that word. What does it mean? Thisbe: Like, kind of stupid. Kind of dumb. Jennifer: Oh, ok. Like Clover [our dog], when she fell off the couch. Was that derpy? Thisbe: No, that’s not derpy! It’s like ... Mom, I just can’t explain it to you. You just have to know.

All speakers of a particular language form a hypothetical community, sharing a common grammar and vocabulary, as well as a set of understandings about how language is used in different situations. Within this large group are smaller groups of speakers who use the common language in special ways unique to that group. Anthropologists use the term speech community to describe such a group (Muehlmann 2014). Speech communities often have distinctive vocabularies, grammatical forms, and intonation patterns. Using these features appropriately, members of the speech community demonstrate their membership in the group.

The concept of speech community was originally used to describe the distribution of dialects in a language. A dialect is a form of language specific to a particular region. For instance, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, it’s common for local people to pronounce the word “water” as “woohder,” as if it nearly rhymes with the word “order.” It’s also common to use the phrase “yooz” for the second-person plural (as in, “Yooz better drink some woohder!”). Linguists William Labov , Sharon Ash , and Charles Boberg famously mapped out these dialectical differences in different regions of the United States (2006). Over time, a dialect can accumulate such unique linguistic features that it develops into a separate language. Indeed, the distinction between a well-developed dialect and a language is largely political. Nation-states may downplay regional differences as mere dialects in order to maintain linguistic unity, while separatist political movements may champion their way of speaking as an entirely different language in order to justify their demands for independence.

Other researchers have focused on the speech communities of ethnic groups and immigrants. Researchers use the term vernacular to describe dialects that are not necessarily regional but associated with specific social categories, such as groups based on ethnicity, age, or gender. Anthropological research on African American Vernacular English (AAE), Chicano English, and Native American English have all shown how these vernaculars shape distinctive forms of storytelling, arguing, and criticism (Chun and Lo 2015). Rather than seeing ethnic vernaculars as “incorrect” forms of English, researchers demonstrate how vernaculars like AAE are highly structured linguistic systems with regular grammatical patterns and innovative vocabularies (Labov 1972a). In formal settings like American classrooms and courtrooms, these alternative ways of using English are too often stigmatized as lazy, unintelligent, or just plain wrong. Believing their own English to be the “correct” form, authority figures often forbid the use of alternative vernaculars of English and refuse to engage in any effort to understand those forms.

More recent research on vernaculars has explored how speakers maneuver among the styles of language they encounter in their daily lives, engaging in various languages, dialects, vernaculars, and other elements of style. We all use a variety of linguistic styles, and many speak more than one language. Addressing different audiences, U.S. President Barack Obama used linguistic strategies to “Whiten,” “Blacken,” “Americanize,” and “Christianize” his public identity, thus subverting racial stereotypes and indicating his membership in a diversity of communities (Alim and Smitherman 2012). In parts of the world that were previously colonized by Europeans, European languages have been maintained as the formal language of government and education even as most people speak local languages in their everyday interactions with kin, neighbors, merchants, and other community members. In these postcolonial contexts, people tack back and forth between various styles of their local languages as well as shifting between the local language and the European one. Such strategic maneuvering among linguistic styles, called code-switching , is done by people in many difference contexts.

For many people, the style of language spoken in elite settings such as schools and government institutions has the effect of disempowering and marginalizing them. Linguistic anthropologists examine how vernaculars associated with elite and professional groups become a means of in-group solidarity and out-group exclusion. Anthropologist and lawyer Elizabeth Mertz (2007) conducted participant observation in first-year classes at several American law schools, looking at how law students are taught to “think like a lawyer.” Using a version of the Socratic method, law professors teach their students to set aside the moral and emotional elements of cases to view them purely as texts subject to abstract, professional analysis. The ability to master the linguistic maneuvering and arcane vocabulary of this form of analysis becomes a prerequisite for becoming a lawyer. The American justice system is thus dominated by people who are trained to set aside humanistic concerns in favor of textual authority and manipulation. Mertz’s study shows how people are socialized by language throughout their lives, not just in childhood. And it alerts us to the way that language can be used to elevate the learned perspectives of elites, dismissing the moral and emotional perspectives of others.

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SPEECH CULTURE AND ORATORY: CURRENT STATE AND PROBLEMS

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How Americans feel about ‘cancel culture’ and offensive speech in 6 charts

Americans have long debated the boundaries of free speech, from what is and isn’t protected by the First Amendment to discussions about “political correctness” and, more recently, “cancel culture.” The internet has amplified these debates and fostered new questions about tone and tenor in recent years. Here’s a look at how adults in the United States see these and related issues, based on Pew Research Center surveys.

This Pew Research Center analysis looks at how Americans view the tenor of discourse, both online and off. The findings used here come from three surveys the Center conducted in fall 2020. Sample sizes, field dates and methodological information for each survey are accessible through the links in this analysis.

In a September 2020 survey, 44% of Americans said they’d heard at least a fair amount about the phrase “cancel culture,” including 22% who had heard a great deal about it. A majority of Americans (56%) said they’d heard nothing or not too much about it, including 38% – the largest share – who had heard nothing at all about the phrase.

Familiarity with the term cancel culture varied by age, gender and education level, but not political party affiliation, according to the same survey.

Younger adults were more likely to have heard about cancel culture than their older counterparts. Roughly two-thirds (64%) of adults under 30 said they’d heard a great deal or fair amount about cancel culture, compared with 46% of those ages 30 to 49 and 34% of those 50 and older.

Men were more likely than women to be familiar with the phrase, as were those who have a bachelor’s or advanced degree when compared with those who have lower levels of formal education.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents were about as likely as Republicans and GOP leaners to say they had heard at least a fair amount about cancel culture (46% vs. 44%). But there were more pronounced differences within each party when taking ideology into account. About six-in-ten liberal Democrats (59%) said they had heard at least a fair amount about cancel culture, compared with roughly a third of conservative and moderate Democrats (34%). Similarly, around half of conservative Republicans (49%) had heard of the term, compared with around a third of moderate and liberal Republicans (36%).

Americans were most likely to mention accountability when describing what the phrase cancel culture means to them. As part of the fall 2020 survey, the Center asked U.S. adults who had heard a fair amount or a great deal about the term to explain in their own words what it meant to them. Around half (49%) said it describes actions people take to hold others accountable.

Smaller shares described cancel culture as a form of censorship – such as a restriction on free speech or as history being erased – or as mean-spirited attacks used to cause others harm (14% and 12%, respectively).

About a third of conservative Republicans who had heard of the phrase (36%) described it as actions taken to hold people accountable, compared with roughly half or more of moderate or liberal Republicans (51%), conservative or moderate Democrats (54%) and liberal Democrats (59%).

Conservative Republicans who had heard of the term were also more likely to see cancel culture as a form of censorship: 26% described it as censorship, compared with 15% of moderate or liberal Republicans and roughly one-in-ten or fewer Democrats, regardless of ideology.

In the September 2020 survey, Americans said they believed calling out others on social media is more likely to hold people accountable than punish people who don’t deserve it. Overall, 58% of adults said that in general, when people publicly call others out on social media for posting content that might be considered offensive, they are more likely to hold people accountable . In comparison, 38% said this kind of action is more likely to punish people who don’t deserve it.

Views on this question differed sharply by political party. Democrats were far more likely than Republicans to say that this type of action holds people accountable (75% vs. 39%). In contrast, 56% of Republicans – but just 22% of Democrats – said this generally punishes people who don’t deserve it.

In a separate report using data from the same September 2020 survey, 55% of Americans said many people take offensive content they see online too seriously , while a smaller share (42%) said offensive content online is too often excused as not a big deal.

Americans’ attitudes again differed widely by political party. Roughly six-in-ten Democrats (59%) said offensive content online is too often excused as not a big deal, while just a quarter of Republicans agreed – a 34 percentage point gap. And while 72% of Republicans said many people take offensive content they see online too seriously, about four-in-ten Democrats (39%) said the same.

In a four-country survey conducted in the fall of 2020, Americans were the most likely to say that people today are too easily offended . A majority of Americans (57%) said people today are too easily offended by what others say, while four-in-ten said people should be careful what they say to avoid offending others, according to the survey of adults in the U.S., Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

In contrast, respondents in the three European countries surveyed were more closely divided over whether people today are too easily offended or whether people should be careful what they say to avoid offending others.

Opinions on this topic were connected to ideological leanings in three of the four countries surveyed, with the largest gap among U.S. adults. Around two-thirds of Americans on the ideological left (65%) said people should be careful to avoid offending others, compared with about one-in-four on the ideological right – a gap of 42 percentage points. The left-right difference was 17 points in the UK and 15 points in Germany. There was no significant difference between the left and the right in France.

In the U.S., the ideological divide was closely related to political party affiliation: Six-in-ten Democrats said people should be careful what they say to avoid offending others, while only 17% of Republicans said the same.

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Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center .

Americans’ views of offensive speech aren’t necessarily clear-cut

Many adults in east and southeast asia support free speech, are open to societal change, americans’ views of technology companies, most americans say a free press is highly important to society, ­most americans favor restrictions on false information, violent content online, most popular.

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Speech on Culture [1, 2, 3, 5 Minutes]

1, 2, 3 minutes speech on culture.

Dear teachers and students!

Greetings to all. and thank you to all of you to give me chance to give a speech.

culture plays a crucial role in the human experience. Our identity is shaped by the combination of our traditions, rituals, beliefs, and behaviours that bind us to our past and our neighbourhood.

Culture includes more than just music and art; it also includes how we relate to one another, what we hold dear, and how we go about living our daily lives. It includes all of our attitudes and values, manners and practises, spoken and written words, as well as ways of living and working.

We can better comprehend ourselves and the world around us thanks to culture, which is a strong force. It enables us to communicate with others and express ourselves. It serves as a catalyst for innovation, creativity, and inspiration.

Although tourism is a major source of money for many nations and can help to preserve historical and cultural places, culture also has a big impact on how our economy and society are shaped. Additionally, culture can be used as a diplomatic and international relations tool.

Contrarily, we must be conscious of the fact that culture may also serve as a catalyst for tension and conflict. When different cultures interact, misconceptions and preconceptions may occur, therefore it’s crucial that we work to understand and respect them even when we don’t agree with them.

In conclusion, culture plays a crucial role in defining both our identities as people and as a society. It influences who we are, ties us to the past, and improves our quality of life. Let’s cooperate to value, protect, and cherish the cultural diversity that exists all around us.

I’m grateful.

Speech on Culture Quotes of some internationally famous personalities for Speech on

• Mahatma Gandhi : “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”
• Albert Camus : “Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.”
• Barack Obama : “The arts and culture are an essential part of our economy and our community life. They offer us unparalleled avenues for expression, for reflection, and for bringing us together as one people.”
• Malcolm X : “A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself.”
• Ralph Waldo Emerson : “Culture is one thing and varnish is another.”
• Mark Twain : “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”
• Thomas Jefferson : “Every culture has contributed to our civilization. Every culture has contributed to the development of humankind.”
• Paulo Coelho : “Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers.”
• Ray Bradbury : “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
• Confucius : “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.”

5 Minutes Speech on Culture

One of the most crucial components of human society is culture. It influences our thoughts, behaviours, and interpersonal interactions. The beliefs, practises, social norms, and traditions that make up our culture are what make us who we are as a people.

The fact that culture is continuously changing is one of its most fascinating aspects. Our history, environment, and social connections all have an impact on it. It is a reflection of our society’s ideals and goals.

Art, music, literature, and even food are some of the numerous ways that culture can be expressed. Every culture has its own distinctive artistic forms and methods for expressing creativity. Additionally, it aids in fostering harmony and understanding among various social groupings.

Tradition is one of the main components of culture. The transmission of cultural values and beliefs from one generation to the next is aided by tradition. Additionally, it makes us feel rooted and a part of something bigger than ourselves.

However, culture is more than just the past; it also aids in navigating the present and preparing for the future. Finding purpose and significance in our lives as well as the world around us is what culture is all about.

As a society, one of the most crucial things we can do is to celebrate and protect our culture. We ought to endeavour to preserve our heritage for future generations and be proud of it. In order to build a more accepting and peaceful society, we should also make an effort to understand and value other people’s cultures.

As a whole, culture is an essential and dynamic component of human civilization that determines who we are and establishes our position in it. We have a responsibility to protect it for upcoming generations because it is something to be treasured and embraced.

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Cross-Cultural Psychology

The importance of free speech culture, an interview with the co-author of the canceling of the american mind..

Posted November 30, 2023 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

In their new book The Canceling of the American Mind , Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott provide countless examples of people who have been canceled across the political spectrum—from the left, the right, and everywhere in between. Following is an interview with Schlott, who argues for the importance of free-speech culture and suggests how higher education and broader society might better support it.

Jonathan Wai: What is “free speech culture” and why is it important?

Rikki Schlott : Free speech culture is the antidote to cancel culture. But before I define that for you, let’s first get to the heart of what cancel culture is.

We define cancel culture as the uptick beginning around 2014, and accelerating in 2017 and after, of campaigns to get people fired, disinvited, deplatformed, or otherwise punished for speech that is—or would be—protected by First Amendment standards, and the climate of fear and conformity that has resulted from this uptick.

We argue that the roots of cancel culture can be traced back to academia over several decades but that social media and a general cultural alienation from free speech values allowed it to explode in roughly the past decade.

Surveys show roughly 4 in 5 Americans think cancel culture is a problem. They’re right. We believe the only way to fight back against cancel culture is to re-embrace a free speech culture. For older Americans, this isn’t a new idea. For many younger Americans, sadly, some of the fundamental values that have underpinned American society are alien.

A free speech culture is a set of cultural norms rooted in older democratic values. Buying into a free speech culture requires a recommitment to old idioms like “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” “To each their own,” “It’s a free country,” and “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” As cliche as they may sound, we think our society has lost sight of these values.

And, if we might, we’d like to add another few idioms that we believe an anti-cancel-culture-culture must adopt: “Always take seriously the possibility you might be wrong,” “It’s important to know what people really think,” and “Just because you hate someone doesn't mean they’re wrong.”

JW: In your book, you illustrate multiple examples of “cancellations” of people who are politically on the right, the left, and all across the spectrum. What is going on?

RS: Our book is littered with case studies of cancel culture in all crevices of society—from higher education to journalism to the literary world to scientific fields and even comedy.

Those who say cancel culture isn’t happening are simply ignoring the endless list of people who have been unceremoniously torn down for something they said or did. My co-author is the president and CEO of FIRE (The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), which defends the free speech rights of students and professors on campuses, so we had unprecedented access to a treasure trove of data about cancellations in academia.

The numbers are truly frightening. From just 2014 to 2023, we’ve tallied more than 1,000 attempts to get professors fired, punished, or silenced for their speech. And two-thirds of them are punished in some way. To give you a sense of just how unprecedented that is in the scheme of American history, it’s estimated that 100 to 150 professors lost their jobs during the Red Scare from 1947 to 1957. That’s a moment we rightfully look back upon and condemn. In the last decade, we’ve seen 200 professor terminations. Historians will one day study what exactly happened on campuses in the beginning of the 21st century.

And you’re right. It might surprise some readers to find out that around a third of the attempts to get professors fired actually come from the political right. Cancel culture isn’t a right-versus-left issue. It is a liberal-versus-illiberal one.

JW: What are some ideas to help reform higher education to support free speech culture?

RS: As you can probably tell by now, Greg and I share a passion for protecting free speech in the culture more broadly—but especially on college campuses where we’ve seen firsthand just how dire the situation is.

The third portion of the book is dedicated to presenting solutions on how we get ourselves out of this mess. We have chapters on how to raise kids who aren’t cancellers, keeping your corporation out of the culture war, fixing K-12 education, and reforming higher ed itself.

Honestly, we’re pretty radical. We think the situation is so urgent that we should be entertaining solutions and alternatives that upend the current system.

Working within the framework of our current institutions, we think a few low-hanging solutions include adopting viewpoint neutrality as an institution, banning DEI statements and political litmus tests in the hiring process, and installing an academic freedom ombudsman.

Also, the past couple months have demonstrated just how much power donors (many of whom are alumni) have to demand change. We suggest that anyone who gives to their alma mater tie their checks to demands that the school adopts a written official commitment to free speech and commits to defending students and professors under siege.

Zooming out, we also are excitedly following the creation of new institutions like the University of Austin.

We also think employers should rethink college degree requirements where possible. Colleges and universities are drunk on their power as the gatekeepers to success. We can fight back and demand better of them by opening our minds to non-graduates in the hiring process, too.

Jonathan Wai, Ph.D. , is Assistant Professor of Education Policy and Psychology and the 21st Century Endowed Chair in Education Policy at the University of Arkansas.

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Practicing deliberation in challenging speech cultures: the role of metadiscourse

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Idit Manosevitch, Elie Friedman, Leah Sprain, Practicing deliberation in challenging speech cultures: the role of metadiscourse, Journal of Communication , Volume 74, Issue 4, August 2024, Pages 322–332, https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqae020

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This qualitative research draws on language and social interaction (LSI) approaches to consider how speech culture shapes the practice of deliberation in a country presumed to be a challenging environment for deliberative practices: Israel. Our analysis examines structured deliberative forums conducted by communication students in Israel, to demonstrate how participants reference, use, and orient to both deliberative democracy discourse and Israeli speech culture in ways that enable them to overcome cultural challenges to doing deliberation. We found that participants utilize metadiscourse to take stances that frame cultural challenges of deliberation, negotiate the tensions between deliberative principles and local speech culture, and creatively integrate local speech norms with deliberation. This research contributes to LSI and Political Communication scholarship, by enhancing practical theory of deliberative democracy. The explication of the role of metadiscourse reframes the relationship between culture and deliberation thereby providing new directions for scholars, practitioners, and educators of deliberative democracy.

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• Speech Writing /

5 minute Speech on Cultural Diversity for School Students

• Updated on  
• Feb 1, 2024

Speech on Cultural Diversity:  The existence of different cultural or ethnic groups within a society is called diversity of culture or cultural diversity. Human cultures are diverse, with unique values, beliefs, and practices. These practices are important for the world because they permit different cultures to exchange ideas, foods, traditions, and other important aspects according to their cultures.

Cultural diversity also helps in creating greater understanding between people, groups, and societies. The exchange of cultural diversity promotes the recognition of equal dignity and respect for all cultures, which makes the world a more vibrant and innovative place to live.

Table of Contents

• 1 Speech on Cultural Diversity: Sample 1
• 2 Speech on Cultural Diversity: Sample 2
• 3 10 Lines Speech on Cultural Diversity

Also Read: Cultural Diversity and International Students at Coventry University

Speech on Cultural Diversity: Sample 1

To the honorable guests, teachers, and my dear classmates: Today I am honored to keep my point of view through my speech on cultural diversity.

As we know, culture and human beings are incomplete without each other. It is only the culture that defines us as human beings. If I say, that culture is the base of shaping our perspectives of the world, our values, customs, and identities it wouldn´t be wrong. Opening our minds to the diversity of culture helps us with new ideas, perspectives, and innovations. 

Now you must be wondering why it is necessary to celebrate cultural diversity.

The celebration of cultural diversity is important for promoting understanding between people of different backgrounds. Intercultural understanding not only helps in reducing the reason for discrimination and conflicts but also allows us to understand each other appreciate different worldviews and stand united on our common humanity.

The celebration of cultural diversity is just not a formality. It is a powerful tool used for the promotion of intercultural understanding. In a world of different cultures and discrimination, which often leads to discrimination and conflicts, the understanding of culture becomes a bridge to unity. By appreciating the different perspectives and views of people and their respective cultures we can deconstruct the barriers of preconception and hatred. Through this sensibility, we can stand united on the common ground where we all share humanity.

In conclusion, celebrating diversity based on different cultures is merely not a source of luxury rather it propels us toward the future which requires understanding, replaces ignorance, and results in the prevailance of unity. More involvement in the cultures shares experiences of human experiences which further helps not only in understanding the culture but also in bridging the gap of differences. 

Also Read: Cultural Sensitivities to Be Aware of Before You Study Abroad

Speech on Cultural Diversity: Sample 2

Greetings to the respected gathered people. Today I am going to keep my perspective by speech on cultural diversity. 

As we all know the differences in culture are just not concepts rather it is a reality that helps to shape the world in different ways. To understand it more clearly, let us take an example of the tech industry. Silicon Valley is the center point of people with talents, innovations as well as different cultures. 

Brilliant minds from across the globe get together to create the next inventions rather than the wave of many inventions and developments. Engineers, designers, microbiologists, and entrepreneurs bring with them a rich culture that further builds up an environment of creativity. 

The cooperation of people with different backgrounds helps create an understanding of the differences in culture. Moreover, it also drives the development of solutions that help the global audience. 

Let us consider an example of a successful startup where people from various countries are gathered with respective cultural backgrounds. Each team member has unique insights into the culture which further contributes to the idea that leads up to a product that resonates with a broad spectrum of users. This interaction of different perspectives not only sparks innovation but also enhances the adaptability of the product in different markets. 

Moreover, cultural diversity in the workplace will lead to an exchange of ideas, which ultimately will help in making innovative decisions and as well as a decision-making process. It will break the environment that validates a limited set of ideas and feelings, challenges assumptions and promotes a culture of continuous learning.

This real-world example listed several benefits that are just not related to cultural diversity but also demonstrate that cultural diversity is just not for moral implementation but has a strategic advantage. The combination of technology, business, and cultural diversification becomes a catalyst for the progress of the entire startup and reminds us of the importance of innovation, inclusiveness, and a peaceful future. 

Also Read: Study Abroad In US: Cultural Diversity is the Key to Development as per Oakland University

10 Lines Speech on Cultural Diversity

Here are the 10 lines of the speech on cultural diversity which will help us to understand the topic more easily. 

1. The existence of different cultural or ethnic groups within a society is called diversity of culture or cultural diversity.

2. Diversity in culture permits the exchange of ideas, foods, traditions, and other important aspects according to their cultures.

3. Cultural diversity also helps in creating greater understanding between people, groups, and societies. 

4. If I say, culture is the base of shaping our perspectives of the world, our values, customs, and identities it wouldn´t be wrong.

5. The celebration of cultural diversity is important for promoting understanding between people of different backgrounds.

6. In a world of different cultures and discrimination, which often leads to discrimination and conflicts, the understanding of culture becomes a bridge to unity.

7. Intercultural understanding not only helps in reducing the reason for discrimination and conflicts but also allows us to understand each other and appreciate different worldviews.

8. Cultural diversity in the workplace will lead to an exchange of ideas, which ultimately will help in making innovative decisions and as well as a decision-making process.

9. This real-world example listed several benefits that are just not related to cultural diversity but also demonstrate that cultural diversity is just not for moral implementation but has a strategic advantage.

10. The combination of technology, business, and cultural diversification becomes a catalyst for the progress of the entire startup.

Also Read: 20 Most Ethnically Diverse Universities in the World

Ans: Culture and human beings are incomplete without each other. It is only the culture that defines us as human beings. If I say, that culture is the base of shaping our perspectives of the world, our values, customs, and identities it wouldn´t be wrong. Opening our minds to the diversity of culture helps us with new ideas, perspectives, and innovations. 

Ans: As culture shapes our perspectives of the world and our values, therefore it is important. 

Ans: In academics, diverse culture helps us to learn more about different perspectives and values of other people’s beliefs.

Ans: The combination of technology, business, and cultural diversification becomes a catalyst for the progress of society. 

Ans: 1. Culture permits the exchange of ideas, foods, traditions, and other important aspects according to their cultures. 2. Cultural diversity also helps in creating greater understanding between people, groups, and societies.  3. If I say, culture is the base of shaping our perspectives of the world, our values, customs, and identities it wouldn´t be wrong. 4. The celebration of culture is important for promoting understanding between people of different backgrounds. 5. In a world of different cultures and discrimination, which often leads to discrimination and conflicts, the understanding of culture becomes a bridge to unity.

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This was all about the speech on cultural diversity. We hope we were able to provide you with every detail that you were looking for. For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu.

Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with educational and informative content expertise. She has hands-on experience in Education, Study Abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and analysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particularly in the education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs related to her field to expand her expertise further. In her personal life, she loves creative writing and aspires to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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Speech Acts Across Cultures

Challenges to communication in a second language.

• Edited by: Susan Gass and Joyce Neu
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• Language: English
• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Copyright year: 2006
• Audience: Institutions, Libraries, Academics
• Front matter: 6
• Main content: 350
• Keywords: Speech act theory
• Published: September 24, 2009
• ISBN: 9783110219289
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IOC head Thomas Bach uses speech at Paris Olympics closing ceremony to call for "culture of peace" in a war-torn world

SAINT-DENIS, France -- IOC head Thomas Bach uses speech at Paris Olympics closing ceremony to call for "culture of peace" in a war-torn world.

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A UC Berkeley linguist explores what Kamala Harris’s voice and speech reveal about her identity

"When we talk about Kamala Harris as a modern candidate, she is in some ways embodying all of the ways the country has moved on from the idea that you can only be one thing at once."

By Jason Pohl

Lawrence Cooper/Sipa USA via AP

August 6, 2024

Every now and then, a scholar’s niche expertise lines up with a cultural or political moment and finds an audience hungry for the details. Nicole Holliday is having one of those moments. 

Holliday is an acting associate professor of linguistics at UC Berkeley who studies what politicians say, how they speak and what their speech reveals about their identity. Perhaps more than any other scholar, Holliday has spent years examining the speaking style of a politician who is also having a moment: Kamala Harris.

What does Harris’s enunciation of vowels say about her California roots? How do a few choice words on the debate stage speak to her background as a Black woman? And how does that all change when she’s working a crowd in Georgia or delivering a policy statement in Washington? 

“I’m really interested in what happens with the voice, with the body, to inhabit these different parts of a person’s style,” said Holliday, who has also researched Barack Obama’s speaking style. “Politicians are the best people to study this on because you know what their motivations are — they’re all trying to get elected, or they’re trying to get money, or they’re trying to get voters.”

Journalists and the general public have become increasingly interested in Holliday’s work ever since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and Harris soared to the top of the ticket as the Democratic presidential nominee. Holliday’s TikTok videos describing the science of Harris’s tone, style and word choice have gone viral, as have her explanations on why linguistically it’s problematic when people intentionally mispronounce her name. (It’s “comma-la.”) 

Individuals shifting how they speak based on their goals isn’t reserved for politicians, and it shouldn’t be viewed as inauthentic, Holliday said. Regular people vary their tone and word choice from their workplaces to their homes. Those variations fascinate Holliday.

“Most of the stuff that I’m talking about happens way below the level of consciousness,” Holliday said, “It would be really hard to control, even if you were trying.”

Berkeley News asked her what her research on Harris says about Harris’s culture and identity, why it matters that some people — including Donald Trump — continue to mispronounce her name, and what language can teach us about the current political moment. 

Berkeley News : Can you give me the 30,000-foot assessment of what your research has found especially interesting or special about the way Kamala Harris speaks? 

Nicole Holliday: She has a really unique style that reflects her biography. She sounds like an African American woman. She sounds like she’s from Northern California. She sounds like a charismatic political figure. But these are different identities that one person would have to inhabit all at once, and they’re traditionally seen as in conflict.

Our stereotype of a persuasive politician is not a Black and Indian woman. If you ask somebody to draw a picture of an American politician, they’re not drawing Kamala Harris. So she’s got to be a politician and, at the same time, sound like herself: a woman and Black and Indian American. And rep her hometown because she is a hometown girl, which can be a little bit of a liability for her now on a national stage because of the way that California is painted. 

But damn, she is so California.

Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

Say more. As a linguist, what do you hear in her speech that signals her California roots? 

When people describe the features that are geographically unique to California in the linguistic literature, they focus on a few things. There is this thing called the California vowel shift , where the back vowels move forward, and this is something that we see Harris do. 

@mixedlinguist VP Harris is sociolinguistally awesome, and fortunately I already wrote a paper about that! #linguisttok My website with all my research: https://nicolerholliday.wordpress.com ♬ original sound – Nicole Holliday

She doesn’t say “cool.” She says “kewl.” She doesn’t say goat. She says “gewt,” with the tongue far forward in the mouth. This is also a change that’s been in progress across America, so a lot of young people, even in the Midwest, will pronounce their back vowels far forward like this. But it started in California. It would be very strange if she had those vowels and she was her age and she was from New York. This is not something that they do over there. 

Another example: She has this interesting thing going on with what we call the low back vowels. Her low back vowels are distinct, which is not the case for most Californians, but they’re both kind of shifted up.

What that means is that words that are like “cot” and “caught,” those for me, a person from Ohio, are the same. But for her, they’re slightly distinct, but higher than we would expect. That’s a really interesting interplay, because I think that has to do with her being a Black woman from California. 

If she were a white woman, or if she were a Black man, we might not see this exact pattern.

You also say she’s embodying what’s called African American English. What do you mean?

I looked at her debate speech from when she was running as a primary candidate for the 2020 nomination. And when she talks about things that have to do with her biography, specifically about race or about immigration — these things that she can speak on from personal experience —  she uses a set of tones that is more what we would characterize as an African American charismatic style. So she kinda sounds more like Obama. 

When she talks about things like the economy or gun control or the climate, she uses a more typical, average white politician style, in terms of her tone. It is very interesting. And in this situation, it’s not a function of talking to different audiences, because she’s just in the same debate. It’s really what she’s talking about.

Lastly, she has this very occasional strategic use of casual features that are, for white Americans, just seen as really casual, but can also be what we call “camouflaged features of African American English.” This is my favorite thing. African American English is stigmatized. People call it “bad English.” They say it’s “improper.” All of this kind of stuff. But as a result, middle class and upper middle class Black people have found a way to kind of index their Blackness — highlight this part of their identities — without getting chastised for using “bad grammar.” 

And she does this even in the super formal debate speech.

She uses “gotta” and “gonna” in these particular ways. And of course, yes, white people say “gotta” and “gonna.” Everybody in America says “gotta” and “gonna.” But in a debate context, that is a little bit surprising, given how formal the rest of her style is. 

Is there an example of her doing this that comes to mind?

My favorite quote from her is from Oct. 15th, 2019, in the fourth primary debate. She said, “This is a crisis of Donald Trump’s making, and it is on a long list of crises of Donald Trump’s making. And that’s why dude gotta go.” 

When she has these strong zingers, particularly against Trump, they tend to go viral. Nicole Holliday, UC Berkeley

“Dude. Gotta. Go.” Not “Dude’s gotta go.” No. For a while, her primary campaign was selling T-shirts that said, “Dude gotta go.” It became a catchphrase. When I say that she’s doing this as part of a stylistic performance, that’s what I mean. Maybe it wasn’t premeditated. She didn’t think about it ahead of time. But that became a zinger, a one-liner. And when she has these strong zingers, particularly against Trump, they tend to go viral.

The last one is with “I’ma,” which is actually the most distinctively African American of these features. She says, “Cause I’ma tell you as a prosecutor” and “I’ma tell you what I saw.” 

We hear her do it now, too, once in a while. This is her being able to be like, “Look, look, look. I have these fancy degrees and I’m a prosecutor. And yes, I’m the vice president of the United States. But don’t forget that I’m from Oakland, and I’m Black.”

How much of this is conscious? And how much of this is just the deeply ingrained way we speak that’s been honed from decades of talking? 

@mixedlinguist Is Kamala Harris code-switching? What do we even mean by that? #linguistTok #kamala My website: https://nicolerholliday.wordpress.com ♬ original sound – Nicole Holliday

Political figures have debate coaches, speech coaches, things like that. But my sense is that the stuff that she’s doing in this case would be really hard to control. Maybe you can make a little argument about the “I’ma” and the “gotta.”

But the vowels? I’m a professional linguist, and if someone was like, “Make your vowels more California,” I don’t think I could do that. Especially not when I’m trying to, like, deliver a policy position. The cognitive load is too high. 

That holds even more for what I’m saying about the stuff that she does with her tone. It’s not really possible to do this at the level of consciousness. We choose our words, for sure, but even those in a debate kind of context are a little bit difficult. Those are the things you prep. 

But your speech coach is never gonna be like, “All right, so you need to raise the pitch by exactly 50Hz on the first syllable of prosecutor.” It doesn’t happen. It may be that she has a style in mind, but controlling the specific features that are attached to it is not really possible, 

I could see some people with a cynical reading of all of this being like, “Nothing is real, everything is prepared, they’re all politicians, and they’re all trying to manipulate us.” It sounds like you’re saying, “Yeah, maybe.” But also that it’s unlikely because of the more technical parts of speech that linguists spend their careers studying.

I would actually maybe turn that on its head and say, “Yeah, that’s every human.” We notice them doing it because we know that they’re selling something to us.

And this isn’t just her. This is Trump. This is J.D. Vance. This is Pete Buttigieg. It’s everybody who has that job, because selling the brand is part of the job. That’s how they keep their jobs.

Do you think that highlighting your New York-ness if you call the New York DMV is going to get you further than if you sound like you’re from California? Sure it is. And nobody had to tell you that. It’s not a conscious process. But arguably, we all do it. 

It’s just that with the politicians, because we know what they want, it’s clearer that they’re doing it. And the line between a politician doing something as a cynical ploy and doing something that really is part of their biography that I actually connect with as a voter is very fine.

As a linguist, what do you make of the deliberate mispronunciations of “Kamala” that have continued, despite her being a prominent national politician for many years now?

The right way to say anyone’s name — anyone’s name — is how they tell you to say their name. Period. That’s the first point. 

@mixedlinguist What’s up with the differences in how people say “Kamala”? Her name has become a shibboleth that tells us about the speaker’s alignment! #linguistTok #kamala ♬ original sound – Nicole Holliday

I know a guy named Christopher. People call him Chris. He doesn’t want to go by Chris. It’s disrespectful. The third time that he tells you, “My name is not Chris,” and you keep doing it, unless you have some kind of really good excuse, it’s disrespectful. 

For years, Kamala Harris has been putting out videos saying, “My name is Kamala,” and the stress is on the first syllable.

Yes, there are many reasons that regular people can get it wrong in conversation, especially if you’re a person that hasn’t heard her name very much, you’ve only read it. Some people have trouble hearing stress differences. If English isn’t your first language, that might be interfering with your ability to hear the way that she’s pronouncing her name with the stress. I’m not at all saying that your pronunciation of her name as an everyday person is an indication of your politics. I’m not making that claim.  

What I am saying is, if you’re the former president of the United States, or a U.S. Senator, or a media personality with extensive training who’s had to say her name thousands of times in your life and you’ve never bothered to try to say it the way that she says it, that’s on purpose.

You’ve also studied Maya Rudolph’s portrayal of Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live. What makes that parody so good?

My first published Kamala Harris paper was about Maya Rudolph. She takes literally the exact phrases and the tone of those phrases that Kamala Harris uses, and then she dials them up to 11. I’m sure that Maya Rudolph doesn’t actually know how to do this the way that I would coach her as a linguist. She’s not looking at the waveform and the pitch up and down and being like, “All right, well, I need to raise myself by 50Hz here.” We don’t do that. But it’s like she really hears what Kamala Harris is doing. She internalizes it. And then when she goes to put on the Kamala Harris costume, it’s like a caricature. 

This is why parody is funny. Everybody that plays a politician on SNL does this to varying levels of effectiveness. But I would argue that Maya Rudolph is just a really skilled comedian anyway. I’m so glad that they just announced that she’s going to play Kamala Harris for the next year. I was really worried that we wouldn’t get more Maya Rudolph. 

But now I have to write another paper.

There are going to be a lot of speeches in the months ahead. There are going to be a lot of campaign stops. What’s next on your list of things to study?

What I didn’t have in the earlier analysis was her in different situations. Now, I hear her being different in Atlanta than in Philadelphia than in Los Angeles. And I want to know: Where is the California-ness? Where is the Black woman-ness? Where is the politician? I think she’s doing all of these things all the time. But I’m also interested in how people respond to her.  

What’s your sense of that response, so far? 

Speaker Mike Johnson said to members of Congress that they should not leverage racist and sexist attacks against her, that it would not help their cause. And they cannot seem to stop doing it.  

I’m interested in how she responds… She’s got a really fine line to walk.  Nicole Holliday, UC Berkeley

So if she gets portrayed as inauthentic by her opponents, I’m interested in how she responds. Does she shift something about her language in that response, or does she not? Maybe she shouldn’t. Maybe the way is to just let this roll off. I’m not a political consultant. But I do think she’s got a really fine line to walk. 

And there’s something really challenging for her, too. With Barack Obama, he did get the criticism that he wasn’t really Black. But in his case, the only other option was that he was white, and that didn’t work. His opponents were not going to go around saying he was white.

For her, because she has all of these identities at the same time — she is Indian American, she is Black American, she’s Jamaican American — there can be a little bit of a whack-a-mole where everyone will always accuse her of not being X enough.

This is disconcerting because it comes from a cultural and linguistic assumption that people can only ever be one thing. But that’s not the world we live in. So when we talk about Kamala Harris as a modern candidate, she is in some ways — with her biography, her ethnicity, her gender — embodying all of the ways the country has moved on from the idea that you can only be one thing at once. 

So I’m very interested to see how she manages to stay true to herself to respond to those never-ending critiques, and what she does with different audiences. 

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IOC head Thomas Bach uses speech at Paris Olympics closing ceremony to call for "culture of peace" in a war-torn world

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — IOC head Thomas Bach uses speech at Paris Olympics closing ceremony to call for "culture of peace" in a war-torn world.

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What is woke culture? Is Kamala Harris woke?

The term "woke" has evolved significantly from its original meaning. Traditionally, it means being awake or conscious, but in recent years, it has taken on a broader, more political significance.

The term has become particularly contentious in the political arena. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has advocated for “staying woke,” has faced criticism from conservative figures, including former President Donald Trump. As Harris prepares to run for president against Trump, her past statements on being “woke” have resurfaced, fueling political debate.

The Free Speech Center describes woke to suggest "someone who has been oblivious to social issues, but then awakens to the see the world differently."

The term can be traced back to a 1938 song about the Scottsboro Boys, nine Black teenagers falsely accused of rape in Alabama. Despite clear evidence of their innocence, they were convicted by an all-white jury. According to Human Rights Careers, "woke" originally meant being smart and alert to racism within the Black community.

In recent times, particularly during the Black Lives Matter movement, "woke" regained prominence as a call to recognize and combat police brutality and systemic racism. It has since broadened to encompass various progressive political concerns.

However, the term has also garnered negative connotations. Merriam-Webster Dictionary notes that "woke" can imply political liberalism or progressivism perceived as extreme or unreasonable.

Today, "woke" is often used to describe identity politics, with phrases like "wokeness," "wokeism," or "woke ideology" entering the lexicon

Conservative politicians, including former President Donald Trump, have rallied against the " woke ideology " of Americans battling for diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts in the workforce, public schools and in legislation.

A clip from 2017 of Vice President Kamala Harris saying "everybody needs to be woke" has resurfaced and caused a stir. It was also posted on her social media at the time.

Is Vice President Kamala Harris woke?

Kamala Harris made the "woke" statement during a 2017 conference when she was a U.S. Senator speaking with Laurene Powell Jobs.

The subject touched on immigration and environmental issues. Harris then spoke out against the Trump administration's drug policies and immigration policies, and then called on Americans to be "woke."

Harris said during the interview that it was "good for democracy," for people on all side to be engaged with what was going on. She called on Americans to be active and "woke." She later posted on her social media , "We have to stay active. We have to stay woke."

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Miley Cyrus Jokes Her Bangerz Era Was a ‘System Malfunction' During D23 Speech

Miley Cyrus is officially the youngest star to become a Disney Legend, and she's using the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane, remembering her early days at Dinsey and poking fun at some of her past headlines.

On August 11, Cyrus was officially inducted as a Disney Legend, an honor reserved for those who have made a significant impact on the company. The ceremony was held at the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California, during the annual D23 fan convention.

Cyrus, who rose to fame with Disney Channel's Hannah Montana , playing the titular role of Hannah Montana/Miley Stewart since 2006, was among the many honorees of the night, which also included Colleen Atwood, Angela Bassett, Martha Blanding, James L. Brooks, James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Steve Ditko, Harrison Ford, Mark Henn, Frank Oz, Kelly Ripa, Joe Rohde, and John Williams.

Cyrus's Disney Legend induction featured a tribute video featuring commentary from John Travolta, Bret Michaels, and Chappell Roan . When it came time for her to take the stage to collect her award, Cyrus was welcomed on stage by country singer Lainey Wilson, who covered "Best of Both Worlds," which served as the theme song for Hannah Montana and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Once on stage, Cyrus delivered an emotional speech reminiscing about her five years as Hannah. ( Hannah Montana aired from 2006 to 2011 on the Dinsey Channel. Cyrus also starred in the 2009 spinoff movie Hannah Montana: The Movie and headlined the Best of Both Worlds tour in 2011 as part of the project.)

"In 2005, Disney was on a mission to rebuild and reimagine the company — that's why they hired Bob Iger and me," Cyrus joked before recounting how she became Hannah. Cyrus added that after shooting the pilot, she "had gotten a taste of what my life could be" and "did not want anything else."

She also recounted how she performed her first-ever show at a mall in Glendale to record scenes for the show despite not a soul knowing who she was. "I was a little girl in a blonde wig at the mall with a big dream, but in my heart, I was Hannah Montana, and I was so proud to be," Cyrus recalled.

She continued, “A little bit of everything has changed since that day, but at the same time, nothing has changed at all. I stand here still proud to have been Hannah Montana because she made Miley in so many ways. This award is dedicated to Hannah and all of her amazing, loyal fans and to everyone who has made my dream a reality. To quote the legend herself, this is the life.”

Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, also praised Cyrus in a press release before the ceremony . "To be named a Disney Legend is the highest honor our company can bestow on anyone, reserved for those whose talent and achievement have earned them an enduring place in our history," he said. "The fourteen individuals to be honored as Disney Legends this year have each made extraordinary creative contributions across the worlds of Disney."

In her speech, Cyrus also took the chance to poke fun at a couple of mainstay pop culture moments, firstly the longstanding rumor that Disney kids are all created in the company's Burbank offices and, secondly, her infamous Bangerz era . "I definitely wasn't created in a lab, and if I was, there must have been a bug in the system, which caused me to malfunction somewhere between the years of 2013 and 2016. Sorry, Mickey!" the star quipped.

Cyrus's Hannah Montana chapter might not be over yet. In 2020, the star admitted she was open to reprising the role during a Carolina With Greg T In The Morning appearance. "You know what, honestly, I try to put that wig on all the time," Cyrus said at the time. She's just in storage collecting dust, and I'm ready to whip her out. The opportunity will present itself. “I definitely would like to resurrect her at some point.”

If you want to relive Miley Cyrus's Disney Legend speech in full (and HD), the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony will stream on Disney+ starting from 5 p.m. EST on Monday, August 12.

Want more great Culture stories from Teen Vogue ? Check these out:

Underneath Chappell Roan’s Hannah Montana Wig? A Pop Star for the Ages

Is Your New Favorite Song Real or AI?

Bridgerton Showrunner Clarifies Benedict’s Sexuality & Talks Francesca’s Queer Plot Twist

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Internet Mean Girls Came After Avantika. She Continues to Laugh