Language_in_American_Culture

Carrie Ackerman [ 17 November 2010 ] The Affects of Language in American Culture Culture is a part of everyone’s life, whether we choose to express it in our everyday lives or to just be aware of its presence. A major part of one’s culture is a defining language. The topic of assimilation versus multiculturalism directly relates to culture in America, and even more specifically to the power of language in American culture. Since language is the basis of communication, I think that all immigrants must assimilate to a certain degree by speaking English, while preserving their heritage if they choose to do so. Language is a very powerful thing. It is the way that people communicate with each other. For a foreigner living in America I think that this is essential. This is why I believe that if a foreigner only attempts to learn English, then they are already assimilating to American culture. Whether or not they choose to change their whole lifestyle into an American way of life, if they take on the English language then they are assimilating to a certain extent. Amy Tan is the author of the essay Mother Tongue. In this essay, she explains how the power of language has influenced her life through her mother and the experiences they have had together concerning her mother’s English speaking ability, or lack thereof. She was born into a Chinese family where both Chinese and English were spoken. She is sensitive to and accepting of people’s lingual differences. She talks about how the inability to speak English well in America gives others the wrong impression: “everything is limited, including people’s perceptions of the limited English speaker” (Tan 13). She is saying here that prolific English speakers place limitations on people who have limited English-speaking abilities. Limitations such as being stupid, inferior, foreign, or an outsider can be placed on them. It also includes not being taken seriously and the assumption that they would not know any better if they were treated like less of an American. Thomas J. Bray is the author of article Memorial Day and Multiculturalism. This article is in contrast to Mother Tongue in that he thinks that people should work harder to adapt to “standard” English. He is in favor of banning bilingual education in schools in the Silicon Valley area of California. He believes that multiculturalism does nothing to benefit a country, instead it ultimately weakens it: “A country that has no standards to assimilate to is a country without a core. And a country deep in trouble” (Bray 3). In this statement he is talking about standards of assimilation, one of those standards referring to language. He believes that people within America should speak English in order to communicate and thus strengthen the nation and the people as a whole. I can relate the issue of the power of language to my own family experiences. Before I do this, I would first like to give you a bit of my parent’s history. Both my mother and my father are originally from a small rural town in Italy names Cassino, about two hours away from Rome. They both resided with their families on separate farm-like estates. Both of their families were deeply rooted in traditional Italian culture. It was here in Cassino that they met and soon began a relationship together. They were married about a year later and set their sight on heading west to the United States. Not knowing a single word of English or anything about American culture, they packed their bags and hopped on a plane to America, leaving behind their friends, family, and their home. After about a twenty-four hour flight, they were both a little homesick and excitedly nervous about starting a whole new life completely different from the one they had always known. My father began looking for work immediately and soon they both settled in Michigan. Both of my parents soon realized that in order for them to truly function in America, they would have to be able to speak English. Simple tasks like going to the grocery store or ordering a meal at a restaurant were near impossible for them. Therefore, my parents enrolled in night school to learn English, which both of them successfully completed. By this time, my father was now employed and things were going well for them. Although they could speak English, their English was not perfect and they spoke with heavy Italian accents that did not go unnoticed. My mother recalls going to the store trying to get assistance from one of the workers, describing the situation as “talking to a wall.” She remembers how ignored she felt and how people seemed to just write her off because of her English skills, giving her strange looks when she spoke. All of these experiences lead up to where my parents are now, fluent English speakers. I am from the first generation in my family whose native language was English. Both my sister and I grew up in a bilingual house. We heard both Italian and English from our parents, but we were formally taught English as our primary language. Although we do not speak it fluently, we picked up a few Italian words here and there. We can also understand what our parents are saying when they speak it. For example, they would tell us to do chores or ask us where things were in the house. At first, we did not know what they were saying but after a few times we would catch on and understand. For the most part that is how we would communicate through Italian. My sister and I never spoke it but we could understand them and then respond in English. Some people like to refer to this as speaking “Italish,” the combination of Italian and English words when communicating. There are still things to this day that my parents slip up on. Words that contain silent letters when pronounced or the change in spelling of certain words when you change tenses can be tricky for them. Even when they say something that other people cannot understand, I can understand them just as if they were speaking perfect English. This is similar to what Amy Tan experienced with her mother: “Some say that they understand none of it…But to me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It’s my mother’s tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery” (Tan 12). Even though to some people her mother was misunderstood, to Amy she was very clearly understood using her own form of English, her “mother tongue.” I think that my family has assimilated to a more mainstream culture here in America. This is because of the fact that my parents had to assimilate and take on different American ideals when they first came here, most importantly speaking English. My parents raised my sisters and I with both Italian and American ideals, giving us a sense of our Italian heritage and our American residence. I tend to think that even if my parents stressed my Italian heritage even more, I would probably still end up on the more American side of the cultural spectrum. When you grow up in a country with its own ideals and beliefs and ways of life, it is hard to adapt to a culture that is so remote from you. American culture is something that can take on different life forms depending on who you ask. It can mean many different things to many different people. I don’t think that there is one right answer to the question: What is American culture' One thing for sure is that in order to truly be part of a culture, you must be able to communicate with those around you. Therefore, I think is essential that foreigners learn and speak English while preserving their heritage in America. The English language is a very powerful and useful tool. To those who enter this country, it can mean the difference between taken seriously or being taken for granted. Works Cited Bray, Thomas. ""Memorial Day and Multiculturalism."." 24 May 1998. Detroit News. 31 October 2010 . Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue.” Across Cultures. Eds. Sheena Gillespie and Robert Singleton. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. 26-31.