Individuality is what distinguishes someone from a group full of people of the same kind. There are many factors when it comes to individuality, but one of the most important is self-expression and the way a message is sent and received. Something that can make or break self-expression and the impact one might want to make is language. The way one uses their main and secondary language will be the main aspect that brings their ideas together. Language is what helps the audience understand certain distinctions in an argument and reasoning, as it displays one’s culture, simplicity, and how they can communicate with others of certain social backgrounds.
To begin with, one is able to show their culture through their use of language by relating
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it to a specific unique experience, or by reflecting it in the way one speaks. In Amy Tan’s essay by the name of Mother Tongue, she does this by going into detail about her relationship with her mother and how her form of speech shows off her culture. She talks about how her mother’s way of speaking English brings a particular flair to her words, as she speaks in such a way where she gets the main point across and doesn’t overly complicate things. As her mother’s main language is Chinese, her understanding of English is quite impressive. Her mother’s use of English gets more extraordinary as Tan explains that, “She reads the Forbes report, listens to the Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine’s books with ease-all kinds of things I can’t begin to understand”(Source A, paragraph 7). This shows that even though she is not as fluent as American born citizens are, she has many more opportunities as those who just speak Chinese. At the same time, simplicity can be affective and easily shown by the use of language. It can be done so by avoiding pretentious and useless words that are just used for show. George Orwell goes into detail about the way other authors abuse language just to seem intellectual and confuse the masses in his essay Politics and the English Language. He talks about how some authors overly explain what they are trying to say by complicating their wording, as he gives the example about how some would say, “In my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that than to say I think” (Source B, paragraph 3). He even goes further into explaining how the language of other authors is just them taking other cliché ideas, as they lack originality themselves. An equally significant factor in the use of language to reflect the ideas of an individual is how it can relate and communicate with other people of diverse social backgrounds.
In Slang in America by Walt Whitman, he discusses how slang is used to allow other people to understand each other in an easier manner. He then talks about how slang brings the dialects of people from different environments together as he says that slang “is indeed a sort of universal absorber, combiner, and conqueror” (Source C, paragraph 1). He then goes on in depth about how the origins of most of the common and acceptable words we use today used to be considered slang and how slang is used to evolve the English …show more content…
language. The use of language can sometimes limit self-expression and the spreading of ideas, as certain words are used to sound sophisticated and to manipulate the general public.
It may additionally limit the audience if a person is stuck to just one language or culture in his or her writing or delivery. That is why the use of language is important for the reasoning and spreading of ideas, as both quality and quantity are important necessities. In Jim Cummins illustration called The Effects of Bilingualism, he explains how the use of a language or two can get you far. He starts off by showing off how being a master of a single language can keep transport you where you need to go, but in a slightly more difficult manner by having a woman on a unicycle resemble the average speaker of just one language. He then shows how someone who is more advanced in one language and knows a little bit of another can be balanced enough to succeed in going to their desired destination, as a parallel to a guy riding a bike with both a big and small wheel. Cummins then compares the velocity and distance of the guy with the equally balanced wheels to that of a well-spoken bilingual man. He can go father and faster than the other two, as he is more able to adapt and evolve when it comes to his language. Finally, the illustrator shows this poor imbecile who can’t use any language for his life cause of not having the opportunity to learn how to use one correctly, he does not have the ability to go to his
desired destination or anywhere, as his tires are not circular. He is therefore stuck there for eternity until he learns how to get new “wheels”(Source F). Overall, the authors of each piece I’ve mentioned their interpretation of language and how to use either one or more of them in the right usage. Each one of the authors is reeking of individuality, since all of their ideas and identities are not similar in the slightest. Their use of language and speech are distinct, and that is what they teach their readers to do. The writing used by these authors teach the audience not only how to write accurately, but how writing accurately can help one’s self-expression that way they can spread message across. Self-expression is necessary when it comes to spreading a message, but one must separate himself or herself from everyone else before doing so.
Distinctive voices of individuals is far much greater than just one’s spoken words; Isn’t it? Voices hold so much more meaning! It can be said to be one’s expression of their attitudes or perspective through body language or a series of actions. We can see that one’s unique opinion towards a subject is inevitably articulated through their unique expression which draws others into viewing the expressed perspective.
The power of words is immeasurable. Words help people to voice their opinions and express their thoughts and feelings. Our everyday lives are shaped by communication and in general language. A persons language can often influence success and happiness. America is viewed as a melting pot for numerous different people and their respective languages. Language is so vital in our society that a person of diverse ethnic background can face many tribulations throughout their everyday life.
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Throughout time the flexibility of different languages within the world today are always being tossed up in the air, if there’s disadvantages or advantages to being capable of more than one language. Although all individuals have there own opinions on being able to speak fluently with different languages, there isn’t any other way to see it besides it being a huge advantage; fully appreciating the beneficial chance to be bilingual or trilingual and sometimes even more. Communicating with more than a single voice will represent who one is and where they came from. Within two articles “Speaking in Tongues” written by Zadie Smith and “How to tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzalduas’s both demonstrate the different languages they encounter. Smith looses her chance in speaking from her voice being forced upon to change without resistance while Anzalduas’s aggressively puts up a battle to be able to keep her voice. The acceptance of varies languages isn’t in everyone category, however in time we should be more accepting and realize from articles like such that’s beneficial to learn and accept the difference languages of different cultures within the world today. Although there may be struggles upon learning the knowledge to something new, its nothing but an advantage to have with one throughout a lifetime!
Noah Webster—an 18th century American patriot, copyright pioneer and author of a dictionary that sustains his name centuries later. Born in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1758, Webster is known both for fighting in the American Revolution and for his position as being a strong advocate for the Constitutional Convention. His admiration of valiant creative people and their regard for the preservation of their civil ideals was surpassed by the feeling of lament at how hesitant they could be when it came to the protection of their own interests. Intensely believing in the development of the United States’ cultural independence, he realized the necessity of a fundamental element of a unique American language with its own style, pronunciation and idiom (White 5). In 1806, Webster published A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, the first true American dictionary and Webster’s first small lexicographical work. Subsequently, he went to work on his classic masterpiece, An American Dictionary of the English Language. He learned a total of 26 languages—including Anglo-Saxon and Sanskrit—in order to research the foundation of his own country's native tongue. Published in 1828, this book embodied a new pattern of lexicography. Its 70,000 entries surpassed Samuel Johnson's 1755 British masterpiece not only in scope but also in authority (King 73).
“Go on, dive in. You’ll have to do some digging... she’s big heifer”. Such was one of my earliest forays into surgical medicine. As a student new to the clinical environment, I was somewhat surprised by the pervasiveness of derogatory slang used to describe patients, and I questioned how I wanted to interact with those around me - be they doctors, patients or students. Reading around this topic led to an excerpt by Komesaroff (2008) in which he presents his theory of micro ethics. Addressing the disparity between traditional bioethical teachings and the realities of clinical practice, he ultimately emphasises the importance of the smallest of ethical decisions in patient care - be it facial expression, tone of questioning or the often inconspicuous acts of trust.
In today’s society, especially in the United States, most people are monolingual English speakers. As a result, these monolingual speakers are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who speak more than one language fluently. This disadvantage is crucial to realize since it is important to learn how individuals and the nation can be enhanced. Multilingual speakers have an advantage in global affairs that involve countries that speak different languages. Speaking multiple languages makes it easier to communicate with people when involved in foreign affairs. Those who speak multiple languages are also more aware of other cultures in society. Monolingual speakers are not as exposed to other cultures and have difficulty understanding or even recognizing them. Furthermore, being multilingual increases your
“Culture is often described as the combination of a body of knowledge, a body of belief and a body of behavior. It involves a number of elements, including personal identification, language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions that are often specific to ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or social groups”.
Language is our gateway to understanding the world around us, but it is always evolving; the words we use everyday are constantly changing. Since the mid 20th century, some terms common to that time have either dropped off or have evolved to mean something different than its original intent. However, language that is used for a different areas evolve in different ways. I will examine, particularly, the area of language involved with humor and jokes. If language shapes the way we perceive the world, is it necessary that the language associated with jokes and humor must always be changing in order to be funny, or has humor had a constant element that will never change regardless of the language use of that era? I will compare the various types language (slang, etc.), both spoken and written, in the most popular forms of comedy found in the 1950’s and 1960’s until now. You do not have to be a professional comedian to tell or understand a joke. Humor today commonly refers to the tendency of provoking amusement or laughter; primarily through language. Over the past 50 years comedy has played an important role in shaping and influencing our culture. But the question remains: How and why is language changing? There are many ways to go about determining the answer to this question, so to narrow it down I am only going to look at areas of humor in magazines (specifically MAD magazine) and censorship. In my research, I will uncover whether or not there has been significant language change, possible causes for the language change, and what we can expect comedy will be lik...
Culture can be present in any group, large or small. There are no special skills required to form a culture, all that is needed are the thoughts and ideas of the social group’s members. These provide a meaning to the people inside the culture and provide something to study for those outside the culture who wish to better understand it.
Having the ability to speak multiple languages can give people the upper hand when learning and experiencing new cultures; however, being monolingual can help in today 's society. Although having the ability to communicate in different languages can be helpful, being monolingual is not a disadvantage due to the ability to communicate in today 's new and modern global world through the language of English.
Since we all learn and develop different identities trying to communicate with people of different identities is difficult and has its implications. We often try to communicate with others the way we would communicate with ourselves. In order to interact with other cultures and identities, we must learn those identities and learn to adapt to those other identities. In order to have successful intercultural communication, we must accept our differences but discover our similarities, as
According to Hofstede’s (1980), ‘culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another… culture in the sense, includes systems of values: and values are among the building blocks of culture.’ It is necessary to determine how culture impacts our communication behavior as culture directly influences our perception and understanding of the message that is transmitted from one party to another. People from different cultures encode and decode messages differently; this therefore increases the chances of misunderstanding. Intercultural communication refers to interactions between people whose cultural assumptions are so different that the communication between them is altered. Verderber, Verderber, & Sellnow, (2010).
The way people interact with one another effects how they communicate. More specifically, their verbal and nonverbal communication define their social group, which in turn gives them their cultural identity. For instance, since I live in the Midwestern United States, I call a fizzy beverage ‘pop’, while someone in the northeast might call it ‘soda ' and someone from the southern part of the United States would likely refer to it as 'coke '. This shows the people in my area
Learning is the most essential part of communication it shows that you can process multiple ideas at once and not judge but seek to understand where another person’s ideas are coming from as well. People have their own reasons and narratives that shape what they believe to be their goods and why they protect these goods. Each person’s goods are representative of their culture. Culture is a collection of ones history learned styles, patterns, and perceptions that continu...