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Clo 9

Students will examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards and differences empower and oppress language users

When we write, we have to think of our attitude towards the topic and how we want to deliver our message. Will our writing hurt people or help people? In this class, we looked at some poems and excerpts and determined the kind of attitude and language the author had towards their writing.

In my group, we looked at Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”. In this poem, she talked about how the world treated her and her Mother differently because of the type of English they spoke. Her Mother spoke what is seen as ‘broken English’ while she spoke what is seen as ‘perfect English’. The difference between them is seen when her Mother is speaking to her Doctor and is treated terribly because of the English she spoke. But when Amy Tan came into the picture and spoke, the situation they were in was cleared.

I am sure that a lot of people with immigrant parents can relate to this story a lot. I didn’t fully know about the different types of English and how badly it affected people’s lives. English is used to determine who is better in terms of literacy. It also seems to determine how one should live. The linguistic standards are destroying a lot of people’s lives.