Internet Exercises

1. BEV: Read Charles Fillmore's article entitled "A Linguist Looks at the Ebonics Debate" at http://www.cal.org/ebonics/ebfillmo.html.
   1. What is Ebonics or BEV?
   2. The author summarizes how different people have classified Ebonics as different things. In what ways is Ebonics either a language, a dialect, or a slang? Which term describes it best?
   3. Why is so much importance placed on whether Ebonics is classified as a language, dialect, or slang?
   4. How can linguistic anthropologists help people to understand the issues surrounding this debate?
      
      
2. Forensic Anthropology: Go to and read Stefan Schmitt's description of the Massacre at Río Negro at http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~sss4407/RioNeg.htm.
   1. What happened at Río Negro? Who was responsible for the killings?
   2. In order to expose the crimes at Río Negro what kind of information did investigators collect?
   3. What contributions did forensic anthropologists contribute to the investigation?