Espadas Bilingualism

However, in order for one to truly understand the arguments made by the authors they must also understand the context behind these arguments; therefore, knowing how the individual authors’ definition of bilingualism lets the reader truly absorb what points they’re trying to make and why.In Espada’s essay, he defines bilingualism as a way for a person to remain in contact with their different cultural identities. There are many areas in the essay where the reader could interpret this definition from. However, the most significant piece of evidence appears at the beginning of the essay where Espada mentions his friend Jack Agueros’ analogy to describe his bilingualism “English and Spanish are like two dogs I love. English is an obedient dog.

English and Spanish, the two dogs in this analogy, are the two cultures he nurtures and adores. Despite one culture being more dominant over the other, they are still two different parts of his identity that he must take care of. Compared to Espada’s essay, Rodriguez seems to approach the definition of bilingualism from a completely different perspective. Rodriguez sees bilingualism as a connection to one’s public identity. He mentions his definition near the beginning of his essay, where Rodriguez talks about how his previous non-bilingual self would have been pleased if the teachers had spoken Spanish. Instead of supporting why the teachers should have spoken Spanish to him, he then presents a statement that goes against the wishes of his non-bilingual self, saying “I would have trusted them and responded with ease. But I would have evaded- and for how long could I afford to delay?-learning the great lesson of school, that I had a public identity.” Although the process of learning English had caused discomfort, it was the pressure to learn a language that ultimately lead him to learn the public language English and become a member of

He shows this through his many experiences with bilingual court and education. At the end of his essay, Espada concludes with a basic summary of what he has learned. Espada claims “The repression of Spanish is part of a larger attempt to silence Latinos, and, like the crazy uncle at the family dinner table yelling about independence or socialism, we must refuse to be silenced.” Through the summary the reader understands despite English being the prevalent language the in the U.S. today the Spanish culture is still being preserved through bilingualism.On the other hand Rodriguez argues that in order to gain a public identity, one must be willing to sacrifice some part of their own cultural identity. He supports this argument by telling his own story of being forced to learn English by the bilingual education system. The experience he had learning English made him experience great embarrassment, sadness, and change. Rodriguez concludes his experience by discussing how English had changed his personal life at home: “We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No longer so close;no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness.” By learning English, Rodriguez’s family is finally able to integrate into society without language barriers. As a result, the family loses the intimacy they had while