I thought this reading was interesting. The dynamic ingroups and outgroups form by playing off each other reminds me of a catch 22 in some cases. In the case of an American who is fluent in Japanese, it seems like it is not possible to penetrate into the group because of the lack of the common group knowledge, but the only way to get that knowledge is to be a part of the ingroup.
One of the most interesting factors for me was how much of an effect language has on creating and maintaining ingroups and outgroups. On a basic level it makes sense, because if you don’t speak the common language of a certain group, it will automatically mark you as someone different. However, one factor that I didn’t really consider is the fact that each language has specific markers and emphasis on how it is spoken, the way it is spoken, and what is spoken. For example, I read an article recently called “Why the French Love to Say No.” One of the points in the article explained that while the English language has over 500,000 words, French only has around 70,000. As a result, while English is rather explicit and direct in how it is spoken and not heavily reliant on context, French is much more reliant on context and other expressions to show meaning, and ‘non’ can have many different layers of meaning and not actually mean no. Considering the fact that different languages operate in fundamentally different ways can be very helpful in converging different groups.
I also found the part about language and how the different ways it is spoken can mark a person as an “insider” or an “outsider” really interesting. Even if you spend years studying a language to the point where you are fluent, you still might not be. able to break into the group whose native language it is.
Language is a good way for people to discriminate against other people. It doenst matter how well you speak the language you are still outside.
I think you made a very interesting point by comparing English to French, as you showed how language is crucial in creating/maintaining ingroups and outgroups. I would also add that it is difficult to be included in an ingroup, even if a person is fluent if they happen to
still have a foreign accent.