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Amy Tan's essay is definitely an effective and powerful statement not only on variations of English and her exposure to the same but also on class and cultural discrimination that people encounter because of their inability to use proper standardized English. While the author has refused to focus on discrimination aspect in detail, she has effectively drawn our attention to this side of the issue. There is some underlying tension that one feels when reading the essay that directs our attention to the discriminatory attitude of people towards immigrants on account of their limited English. The essay also reveals the truth about cultural identity that immigrants have been forced to develop and adhere to because of stereotypical expectations and images harbored by Americans. The immigrant community has often suffered from stereotyping and has been forced to take up certain careers since that's what people expect them to do. However the essay clearly shows that immigrant community is no longer willing from suffer from such restricted expectations of them. They want to explore career choices like any other person would want to. The essay also effectively points out the biased attitude of people in the workplace while it subtly but purposefully attacks achievement tests.
While I certainly agree with her on other issues, I don't think achievement tests' example was really relevant. This is because achievement tests are meant to assess your understanding on English language and its complex structure, so I don't feel they are biased or they try to undermine the significance of variations of Englishes. They are definitely incapable of capturing the richness of different forms of English but they...
Research shows and even common observation proves that children of immigrant families learn perfect English in high schools and by the time they graduate, their proficiency of English language is just as good as any other child while they fluency in native language suffers. Amy Tan herself is a good example of this. She explains in the essay that her English was clear and perfect and thus I do not understand how her performance on achievement tests could possibly suffer because of broken English spoken at home. Hinton (1999) reveals: "It is commonplace for fluency in the first language to decline as English improves, so that by the end of the high school years, children are at best semi-speakers of their heritage language."
Amy Tan's essay has its flaws but they lie in the area where she starts generalizing. The negative impact of broken English on her own English language skills might have been pronounced in her case but researchers unanimously agree that English language acquisition is not as difficult a task for immigrant children as it is to retain knowledge of their first language.
References
Amy Tan, "Mother Tongue" accessed online 12th March 2005: http://www.usao.edu/~facbassitycb/amytan.htm
Hinton, Leanne, Involuntary Language Loss among Immigrants: Asian-American Linguistic Autobiographies. 1999-12-00 ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics Washington DC.
Reading between the lines it can be understood that one must not be influenced by the pressures of the environment and of the other people. All in all it can be stated that a major theme in the works of May Tan is represented by the American colonialism taking place in the contemporary world at cultural level. Just as it has been stated in the beginning of the paper, language
For Amy Tan, however, attempting, for her parents' sake, to become simultaneously Chinese and American, without compromising either culture, or herself, was a tricky balancing act. As E.D. Huntley adds: Amy Tan spent her childhood years attempting to understand, as well as to come to terms with and to reconcile, the contradictions between her ethnicity and the dominant Western culture in which she was being raised and educated. She lived the
Mother Tongue Rhetorical Techniques in Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" As anyone who has ever been in an argument can tell you, what you say is often far less important than how you say it. Even in other less-aggressive circumstances, perception is generally far more important than substance -- this is certainly the case when it comes to politics, and often the case in more personal situations and relationships. When it comes to
Therefore, Tan and Tanner both use linguistics to prove a different point. Even though their arguments differ, both Tan and Tannen refer to the ways women become marked. Although Tan does not use the term "marked," she implies that ethnic background is a type of cultural marking. Ethnicity can be a highly visible marker, leading to prejudices and biases. Tan's mother tongue led to her being labeled and marked just
Mother Tongue and Newman Those who immigrate into the United States from other countries are encouraged to adapt to the culture of the majority population, namely white males of European descent. Language is the component of culture which is first targeted by those who try to force assimilation. When a person comes to the United States, they will feel compelled to learn English and be able to read and write in
Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan [...] how the author uses rhetorical strategies to make her argument, while critiquing cultural standards. Amy Tan writes of the different forms of English she uses in her life, while illustrating the myriad ways that people express themselves depending on their audience and their needs. Everyone uses different phrases and expressions depending on their surroundings and their goals. Tan's essay applies to all of