Discussion guide for university courses and book clubs
Becoming Frum is appropriate for college- and graduate-level courses in Jewish studies, sociolinguistics, anthropology, sociology, and religious studies, as well as for book clubs. Here are some questions to guide your discussions.
Chapter 1:
1. Which do you think is more important for someone trying to fit in to an Orthodox community: believing or behaving? Why?
2. How useful is the notion of recursivity (pp. 12-13) in understanding ideologies of distinction in Orthodox communities?
3. How do you think language differs from other cultural practices that newcomers encounter, like hair styles, food preparation, music, and home decoration? Why is it often harder to learn language?
Chapter 2:
1. What impact do you think the author's background had on the data she was able to collect and how she analyzed and presented it?
2. How did the author's experiences compare to those of the ba'alei teshuva (BTs) she studied?
3. Why might a matched guise test be useful for researching people's perceptions of language?
Chapter 3:
1. Why do some BTs adopt the music, food, home decoration, etc., that they encounter in Orthodox communities?
2. Why do some BTs reject some of these cultural practices?
3. In what ways do some BTs distinguish themselves from other Orthodox Jews, as well as from non-Orthodox Jews?
Chapter 4:
1. How different do you think Orthodox Jewish English is from general American English? Do you think it's a separate language? Dialect? English with a repertoire of distinctive features?
2. What should this distinct way of speaking be called?
3. Why does Yiddish exhibit so much influence on the English of Orthodox Jews in Ashkenazi-dominated communities, even a few generations removed from the major waves of Eastern European immigration?
4. Why do many Orthodox Jews use periphrastic verbs?
5. [For those who are knowledgeable about Orthodox communities]: What other features of Orthodox Jewish English are you familiar with?
Chapter 5:
1. How useful is data from various sources in understanding the Modern Orthodox to Black Hat continuum: Frumster.com, the Survey of American Jewish Language and Identity, and recordings of frum speech?
2. Which do you think is most important in indicating and perceiving one's location on the
Modern Orthodox to Black Hat continuum: pronunciation, grammar, or words?
3. Do you think it would be possible to present oneself as Orthodox without indicating a location along the Modern Orthodox to Black Hat continuum?
Chapter 6:
1. Do you think it would be possible for Rivka-Bracha and Samuel to pass as frum from birth?
2. Why are certain linguistic features adopted more than others?
3. Why do some BTs reject certain linguistic features?
4. Have you experienced "Say now, believe later"?
Chapter 7:
1. Why do Yeshiva BTs tend to use more distinctive language than Community BTs and Peripheral BTs?
2. How useful do you think the notion of "legitimate peripheral participation" is for understanding adult language socialization?
3. Why do you think Rabbi Nussbaum used certain features with his FFB study partner more than with his BT study partner?
4. How important do you think translation, correction, and other instances of direct instruction are in BTs' language learning?
5. Do you think new BTs learn more language from FFBs or from other BTs?
Chapter 8:
1. How does one determine what is a language "mistake"? If enough people use a "mistake" does it eventually become correct?
2. How does qualitative hyperaccommodation differ from quantitative hyperaccommodation?
3. Have you ever found yourself overextending a lexical replacement?
4. What role does hyperaccommodation play in the shift toward stringency in contemporary Orthodox communities?
5. Why do some BTs deliberately distinguish their language from that of other Orthodox Jews?
6. Can you think of applications for the bungee effect in other situations, including other adult transitions?
Chapter 9:
1. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of adult immigrants and migrants learning new languages or varieties of their native language?
2. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of people training for various professions?
3. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of people who convert from one religion to another?
4. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of Jews who become more observant in non-Orthodox settings?
5. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of children growing up Orthodox?
6. What questions are you left with at the end of the book?
Chapter 1:
1. Which do you think is more important for someone trying to fit in to an Orthodox community: believing or behaving? Why?
2. How useful is the notion of recursivity (pp. 12-13) in understanding ideologies of distinction in Orthodox communities?
3. How do you think language differs from other cultural practices that newcomers encounter, like hair styles, food preparation, music, and home decoration? Why is it often harder to learn language?
Chapter 2:
1. What impact do you think the author's background had on the data she was able to collect and how she analyzed and presented it?
2. How did the author's experiences compare to those of the ba'alei teshuva (BTs) she studied?
3. Why might a matched guise test be useful for researching people's perceptions of language?
Chapter 3:
1. Why do some BTs adopt the music, food, home decoration, etc., that they encounter in Orthodox communities?
2. Why do some BTs reject some of these cultural practices?
3. In what ways do some BTs distinguish themselves from other Orthodox Jews, as well as from non-Orthodox Jews?
Chapter 4:
1. How different do you think Orthodox Jewish English is from general American English? Do you think it's a separate language? Dialect? English with a repertoire of distinctive features?
2. What should this distinct way of speaking be called?
3. Why does Yiddish exhibit so much influence on the English of Orthodox Jews in Ashkenazi-dominated communities, even a few generations removed from the major waves of Eastern European immigration?
4. Why do many Orthodox Jews use periphrastic verbs?
5. [For those who are knowledgeable about Orthodox communities]: What other features of Orthodox Jewish English are you familiar with?
Chapter 5:
1. How useful is data from various sources in understanding the Modern Orthodox to Black Hat continuum: Frumster.com, the Survey of American Jewish Language and Identity, and recordings of frum speech?
2. Which do you think is most important in indicating and perceiving one's location on the
Modern Orthodox to Black Hat continuum: pronunciation, grammar, or words?
3. Do you think it would be possible to present oneself as Orthodox without indicating a location along the Modern Orthodox to Black Hat continuum?
Chapter 6:
1. Do you think it would be possible for Rivka-Bracha and Samuel to pass as frum from birth?
2. Why are certain linguistic features adopted more than others?
3. Why do some BTs reject certain linguistic features?
4. Have you experienced "Say now, believe later"?
Chapter 7:
1. Why do Yeshiva BTs tend to use more distinctive language than Community BTs and Peripheral BTs?
2. How useful do you think the notion of "legitimate peripheral participation" is for understanding adult language socialization?
3. Why do you think Rabbi Nussbaum used certain features with his FFB study partner more than with his BT study partner?
4. How important do you think translation, correction, and other instances of direct instruction are in BTs' language learning?
5. Do you think new BTs learn more language from FFBs or from other BTs?
Chapter 8:
1. How does one determine what is a language "mistake"? If enough people use a "mistake" does it eventually become correct?
2. How does qualitative hyperaccommodation differ from quantitative hyperaccommodation?
3. Have you ever found yourself overextending a lexical replacement?
4. What role does hyperaccommodation play in the shift toward stringency in contemporary Orthodox communities?
5. Why do some BTs deliberately distinguish their language from that of other Orthodox Jews?
6. Can you think of applications for the bungee effect in other situations, including other adult transitions?
Chapter 9:
1. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of adult immigrants and migrants learning new languages or varieties of their native language?
2. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of people training for various professions?
3. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of people who convert from one religion to another?
4. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of Jews who become more observant in non-Orthodox settings?
5. How do you think the experiences of BTs compare to those of children growing up Orthodox?
6. What questions are you left with at the end of the book?