Liam Shaw

Latin @ Voices in Animated Film

I plan to look into characters in animated children's films, specifically those who speak with a Latin@ accent or speak in Spanish.  I will analyze the characters both from a linguistic and a non-linguistic standpoint.  In the linguistic analysis, I plan to transcribe characters' speech, looking for prominent features such as rolled r's.  In the non-linguistic analysis I will watch each film closely and take qualitative notes on the ways in which these characters interact with other characters, how often they appear in the story, what sort of role they play in the plot, and how they develop over the course of the film. I will then examine the two sets of data together to see if certain linguistic features correlate with certain actions or statements that the characters make.  Based on my findings, I plan to contact organizations such as the Center for Media Literacy to contact them about incorporating my findings into their curriculum for educating children about the media they watch.

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