Madorah E. Smith wrote a piece in the book “Sista Tongue” Calling non haole people in Hawaii retards with language. Which was written in 1939, a teachers college of university of Hawaii. She uses studies to show progress of English made from different racial groups in Hawaii compared to white people. At this time not many people could speak nor write good English because all the different races together. Creating negative/positive look on pidgin speakers. The word choice Smith used like retard for non haole is inappropriate.
During this time Hawaii many immigrants from around the world came to work on plantation increasing the languages on the island. The annexation was beginning and the kingdom of Hawaii was losing its culture. It was hard for these different races to learn English. The next generation of kids will have parent’s language rub off on them. From all this mixed languages together gives them an accent. Makes it that much harder to get English clear. Even people from one language the strong accent just sticks with them throughout their lives and can’t get rid of it but as generations past then the accent can slowly become less and English can be clearer. The way pidgin is used back then it was so strong so when they would write it’ll affect how words come out not using proper English standards.
…show more content…
People who speak pidgin have positives and negatives.
Some positives are which other locals will understand you and know where you are from. Some negatives are that people who speak pidgin are looked down on and thought of as stupid. Most people in America speak English. For professional use everyone should understand clearly. While people who can turn pidgin on and off have more opportunity because they get along with anyone. They could get a job locally with pidgin and turn it off for business that don’t allow it. When speaking pidgin others will know if you’re a local or not. Just like the way people judge on looks they’ll judge you on way you
speak. Word choice like retarded was used back then different then today. Today it’d be cruel thing to say about non haole peoples English. Just because someone can speak perfect English nor write it doesn’t mean there smarter people. The use of perfect English is to communicate so that anyone in the nation understands clearly as possible. People that use pidgin may actually be very smart, who just grew up with different traits. Smith was wrong for calling people retard that didn’t have perfect English. Judging someone’s ability of English and comparing to other ethnics is a good way to find a way for improvements for writing or speech. But judging them is wrong. No one should be labeled as retard for not having proper English.
“Standard English was imposed on children of immigrant parents, then the children were separated from native English speakers, then the children were labeled “inferior” and “ignorant” (Hughes 70) because they could not speak Standard English. In addition to feeling inferior about their second language skills, these students also felt inadequate in regard to speaking their own mother tongues” (qtd in Kanae)
This lack of correlation between facts and her claim happens throughout her entire article and really hurts the article's credibility. After listing a slew of facts and anecdotes her response was “I find these facts and statistics terrifying”, this explanation does not give any insight on why on I should stop saying “retard” or the consequences that saying has. Throughout her entire article the only real point that states why we shouldn't say the R-word is because it hurts her feelings. I belive that hurt feelings are not what I would call a good reason in an argument to ban the word retard. Her entire article is based on appealing to people's emotions rather than appealing to people’s logic. A great contrast to Patricia Bauer’s article is Christopher Fairman’s “The Case Against Banning the Word ‘Retard’. Although he uses less facts and statistics than Bauer’s article, he uses them in a more impactful way and states how the fact is connected on the use of the word. One such example of this is when he talks about the N-word as an
In the article “Do You Speak American?,” Robert MacNeil is trying to reach the american public, especially those who do not have a complete understanding of the ongoing changes that are happening to the English that is spoken throughout the United States. He uses a multitude of examples to prove this very fact. For one he wants to inform the people that one reason for this change is that average people now have more influence in the way language is spoken.Which to him is a good thing. He enjoys the new evolution that American English has undertaken. He believes that it is a step in the right direction. Another, example he uses are the changes different regions and/or group of people have made on the English language. He uses the different accents and dialect to show the growth and improvement that occurred. Even though, some linguist view these changes as wrong, MacNeil views them as necessary and as something that is unique to the United States. In essence, a necessary growth that only makes the United States grow into a better country. Thus, making it more diverse.
It is true that retard people will feel uncomfortable and insulting when they hear the word “retard” because retard people deem that the word “retard” contains mock, disdain and discrimination from others. However, actually most of people only see “retard” as a word to describe a kind of mental sickness. Fairman, the author of “saying it is hurtful, banning it is worse” also argues that some bad words such as “retard” mostly are used as an academic word, he says that “he found nothing wrong with ‘calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards”(168). R-word is used to describe an academic mental illness most of time, and people do need a word like “retard” to functions as the name of this kind of mental disability. Before the appearance of “retard”, “idiot”,a word with worse meaning, did the same job and after the death of “retard” there must be a new word which also may be attached similar insulting meaning, accepting the same duty. Not only academic functions, some bad languages also can bring people senses of belonging. Although using new language more often instead of people’s original language can assist people more easily integrate into the new country, only motherland language contains an intimate feeling because original language
.... The problem with this is the fact that through generations , assimilation ends up hurting the family customs and traditions . The accent
In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa explains the implications of living under the influence of two cultures. She begins with a story of how she was punished by a teacher for correcting the pronunciation of her name. Anzaldúa gives the reader anecdotes about her life in a dual culture society, explaining the trials of accepting her heritage, fighting to find her place in Mexican or American society, and establishing herself as a proud Chicana.
In “A Movie, A Word, and My Family’s Battle,” by Patricia Bauer makes an emotional argument that you cannot use the word “retard”, no matter how you mean it, without offending a large group of people while also setting back years of progress.
From the article The End of Race: Hawaii and the Mixing of Peoples, Olson introduces the current Hawaii is a place with mixing race and even though people may have different culture habits, but those habits are not pure as the first generation because of the intermarriage. “As intermarriage continuous in Hawaii-and already almost half of the all marriages are between couples of different or mixed ethnicities-the number of people who will be able to call themselves pure Japanese, or pure Hawaiian, or pure white (haole in Hawaiian), will steadily decline” (Olson, 2010, p.335). The number of people who would call them from some place original would decreases, even though they could speak the perfect language from their original places, however, the next generations can only speak English or local dialogs, because of the environment they have grown up. These situations show that even though people from different races, but they are bonding together and find the belongings of the place they lived. An example of the use of language would be shown in the article What 's Black, Then White, and Said All Over. “It may seem twisted, given American history, that general pop language draws from the experience of black exclusion at all. But white attempts to yo here and dis
Another difficulty cultures deal with is language and the way people speak. In some cases, people struggle to belong by making changes in the way they speak the English language just to be assimilated. They attempt to use words and letters, as well as body language that fit in the norm; all in an attempt to denounce their original intonation and style of pronunciation. One ...
The purpose of Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue,” is to show how challenging it can be if an individual is raised by a parent who speaks “limited English” (36) as Tan’s mother does, partially because it can result in people being judged poorly by others. As Tan’s primary care giver, her mother was a significant part of her childhood, and she has a strong influence over Tan’s writing style. Being raised by her mother taught her that one’s perception of the world is heavily based upon the language spoken at home. Alternately, people’s perceptions of one another are based largely on the language used.
Language is part of the few benefits that immigrants bring with their culture. United States benefits from cultures of the many immigrants that migrate to the U.S. the variation of different languages brings great benefit to the U.
Another benefit can be socially/politically. For example, knowing english can help communicate with other people. Being able to speak english would help feel more comfortable around other people. Giving the opportunity of making new friends. Also B. Miller from “What Are the Benefits of Learning English?”says that many websites are mainly available in only English, and anyone that doesn't know to read english would have a problem in understanding it. In “Immigrants Should Learn English” Havovi Cooper says, “Immigrants are also particularly vulnerable in a new environment, so it’s even more important for them to know english before choosing the U.S. as their homeland so they can be well-versed in their rights and the laws protecting them.”
Samoan is a rich language that remains the principal language of the people of Samoa. The Samoan language is exquisite and quite easy to learn and is similar to other languages in the pacific region. “Samoan is a branch of the Austronesian Language, formerly called Malayo-Polynesian language, one of the word’s largest language families, both in terms of numbers of languages-more than 700-and geographic spread-covering islands and some mainland areas from Madagascar in the west to Easter Island and Hawaii in the east” (Amerika Samoa). “The Austronesian language is divided into two branches: Formosan, the languages spoken by about 200,000 people in Taiwan; and Malayo-Polynesian, comprising the rest of the language in the Austronesian family” (Encarta Online). As a student finishing up his 2nd year of the Hawaiian Language, I was amazed to find several words in Pouliuli having the same meaning in Hawaiian. Therefore, this report will focus on the Samoan language; it’s rules, pronunciation, and the similarities and differences between the Samoan language and the Hawaiian language.
If students are allowed to use both American Standard English and Pidgin in the classroom, they will use more brain power and improve their cognitive functions. Students are able to learn most effectively when they are allowed to use Pidgin and when their language is treated with respect.
...nities especially at tourist attractions that require employees to speak two languages. Being bilingual can not only help you find a job where you live but you can relocate to another state and be more likely to land a position in your desired career field.