It is generally accepted that the introduction of literacy is a valuable contribution to educational progress. But, as shown by Mühlhäusler’s article, it has inevitable repercussions on unlettered societies worth considering before undertaking such an endeavour. Mühlhäusler deals with a range of sociolinguistic ramifications of the introduction of literacy to communities living in the Pacific area. His main thesis claims that the introduction of vernacular literacy causes linguistic, religious and social changes. He even goes so far as to assert that “[t]he most general long-term effect of literacy in the vernacular has been language decline and death” (190). In other words, Mühlhäusler presumes a causal relation between the introduction of vernacular literacy and the extinction of the very same language. Although he mentions that “[t]he introduction of literacy cannot be separated from other processes affecting the ecology of the Pacific languages” (190) and although he admits to present “rather radical overgeneralizations and observations” (189) …show more content…
Apart from this he attracts criticism by asserting a causal relation between the introduction of vernacular literacy and the decline of vernacular literacy, that in turn would lead to language shift, without providing sufficient evidence for such a coincidence. He ignores the presence of other potential factors completely and seems not taking into account that the introduction of literacy rests usually upon a political intend, either colonial or postcolonial, respectively is restricted by language policies. The resulting questions are rather, whether a vernacular language, a language of wider communication or a former colonial language should be chosen for the introduction of literacy and which medium would involve the fewest undesirable
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is primarily an autobiographical piece about her experiences growing up in a household that chiefly spoke “broken” English, and a reflection on how this gave her a unique perspective on the transformative properties of language. Yet, it is no way an academic analysis, a deliberate choice, Tan even includes a short disclaimer in the beginning concerning this, and the excerpts she includes come from her own background, her personal observations, something which I found quite refreshing. As someone who comes from a mixed family and identifies as Asian-American, I related a great deal to her upbringing, and in many instances down to the exact circumstance. For example, she details an incident in which she
In his essay “The World of Doublespeak,” William Lutz define doublespeak as “a blanket term for language which makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant attractive, or at least tolerable” (2013). Lutz goes on to claim “It is language which avoids, shifts, or denies responsibility” (2013). He explains the purpose of doublespeak is to “mislead, distort, deceive, inflate” (2103). Based on many of his examples, such as wording an airplane as an airplane that has had “uncontrolled contact with the ground,” or referring to a city slum as the resident of the “fiscal underachievers,” I feel he may overstate his own definition of doublespeak. While, the play on words in these examples does attempt to deceive the read and
Benjamin Banneker earnestly attempts to persuade Thomas Jefferson, former slave owner, the wrongness of slavery by using his sense of morality and reasoning against him. Banneker brings to light Jefferson’s views and to set the foundation to take his argument further. He refers to the Revolutionary War in line 2, "...arms and tyranny of the British Crown..." and explains the British Crown and indirectly refers to their ruling of the colonies. The word he most significantly used was ‘tyranny’ which sums up the rule of the British Crown in the colonists eyes. He uses the Revolutionary War and its impact on the colonies to further deepen the argument on his next point, without this clarification what he said next wouldn't have made any
“So many words were still unknown that when the butcher and the lady at the drugstore said something to me, exotic polysyllabic sounds would bloom in the midst of their sentences. Often, the speech of people in public seemed to be very loud, booming with confidence. The man behind the counter would literally ask, ‘What can I do for you?’ But by being firm and so clear, the sound of his voice said that he was a gringo; he belonged in the public society”(12). Rodriguez describes the way English sounds to him creating an image that the language was very complex to in his perspective.
In the autobiography, “The Fortunate Traveler: Shuttling between Communities and Literacies by Economy Class”, written by Suresh Canagarajah, he describes his academic trajectory from a child learning English to an accomplished bilingual writer. Written in chronological order, Canagarajah begins by noting the importance of English in his family. Canagarajah’s parents would use English as a form of code switching to keep secrecy between themselves; because of this he begins to learn English and was able to decipher the codes and effectively prove that being bilingual gives a person a greater advantage over being monolingual. As he begins his school life, Canagarajah begins to realize that different countries have different writing styles and that his style might not be properly understood by people of different discourse, based of the education of the reader.
How does Charlotte Mew use language to show the powerlessness of the bride? ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ was written in the 19th century in what, today, would be seen as a misogynistic and patriarchal environment; Charlotte Mew uses this to induce the female audience as they are able to empathise with the farmer’s bride, who may be seen as a symbolic representation of all women in the era, when the poet tells us the farmer ‘chose’ her as his ‘maid’ in the first line. This informs us that the young girl had no choice in her marriage already conveying her as powerless and through the use of ‘maid’ the audience assume, due to the time period, that the farmer is much older than his bride perhaps depicting the girl as vulnerable, weak and innocent, therefore,
Written by Gloria Anzaldua, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, is an opinion easy , a retrospection of her past and a story about identity and recognition of a wild tongue. The following is a rhetorical analysis and personal response of this easy . My analysis will be divided into 4 separate parts including intended audience, main claim, purpose and situation. (a) Intended audience : The first thing that anyone who even skims through this easy would notice is Anzaldua’s multi-lingual language use.
The essay “Let them die” by Kenan Malik points out that “languages on the verge of extinction” (Malik, 13) should be left “die in piece” (Malik, 13). However, based on the ineffectiveness
(446) This quote really stands out to me in the passage. Lu talks about no matter at what attempts his parents or teachers tried to do to keep the two conflicting languages conflicts away, it would still emerge and that in his attempt to only think about one language, it would conflict with the other one and they would eventually compromise and both languages would be thought of. Growing up, she compares her literacy to an electronic tool and the ability to switch it on and off whenever she was in her natural place, which was home, and her alien place, which was school. This was the main struggle because it leads to the avoidance of writing with
The power of language We all have some form of language limitations, no matter where we come from and what our background is. “Mother tongue” by Amy Tan and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua both share similar themes in their stories that demonstrate how they both deal with how different forms of the same language are portrayed in society. In both stories they speak about what society declares the right way of speech and having to face prejudgment, the two authors share their personal experiences of how they’ve dealt with it.
Language plays an important role in one’s culture. Not only is it used for every day communication, it is also used to pass down stories in some cultures. In The Latehomecomer, the language difference between the Hmong and Americans causes problems for the Yang family. However, the Hmong language is very important to their people. They use it to pass down stories, which is an important part of their culture.
Rhetorical Precis #4: “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Amy Tan’s purpose in her article “Mother Tongue” is to show the influence of her mother’s style of english. She also relates this to a more broad topic of the idea that there are many different types of english that people speak that are tailored to whoever they are speaking to. She begins this piece by stating plainly that she is not an english scholar. Instead of decreasing her credibility it actually increases it and paints this piece as a more personal set of observations rather than a bland overview of the entire language.
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is the short story about the importance of language and how it is a key for communication. Tan emigrated from China to Oakland, California and she was a first generation of Asian-American. The author is very fascinated by the language and she believes that the language has the power of emotions, a visual image, a complex idea, and a simple truth. She also believes that there are many different types of “Englishes”.
This binary understanding is more effective in language that its roots are either in the way of transporting new words to a new home or imposing a fresh terminology on a native population. As Coral Ann Howells puts it, ‘Our way of seeing is structured by the forms in which our language enables us.’ (Re-visions of Praire Indian History in Rudy Wiebe’s The Temptations of Big Bear and My Lovely Enemy in revisions of Canadian Literature, ed. Shirley Chew.
Rather than considering colonial texts only from a traditional historical perspective, the cultural studies reading method aims to analyze them as dynamic instances or strategies used by colonial subjects in a challenging and changing society. In order to overcome the inquiry whether this type of texts should be classified as “colonial literature” or “historiography”, based on formal characteristics or literary canonization criteria, it is essential to reorient our focus on the text itself and its critical