The English and Spanish language abrazándose like íntimos compadres. That is the perfect example of Spanglish. Spanglish is the representation of different cultures, different places, and lots of history within the fusion of two languages. It allows its speakers to quickly switch between two worlds and put their brains to the test. In a similar manner, every language is a door to a new set of rules, concepts, and benefits. When reading Felipe de Ortego y Gasca’s “Regarding Spanglish” after having read Boroditsky’s “How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?”, a single idea kept echoing inside my head. Reading “How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?” before reading “Regarding Spanglish” suggests that Spanglish provides linguistic …show more content…
I was surprised because, for the first time, I realized that Spanglish isn’t as normal as I think it is. Ortego states that Spanglish works “bi-directionally”, which means I can be speaking Spanish and mix in some English words, or vice versa (176). Behind an action I carry out every day, advantages that go unnoticed finally popped up. According to Boroditsky, the Kuuk Thaayorre are always spatially oriented because the only way for them to communicate successfully is by referring to each of the cardinal points (5). In a similar way, Spanglish speakers always need to be well aware of both languages to be able to understand the meaning of sentences when speaking. Ortego says that this “code-switching occurs logically” in the sentences, which suggests that Spanglish challenges our brains allowing us to become more dynamic and efficient when speaking (176). Spanglish causes Spanish and English to intertwine, taking the most suitable words from each language to make a conversation much more practical and flowing. We become so quick and agile at doing this, that our brains don’t have to stop and think about the right words to express ourselves. As Spanglish speakers, we can navigate from one language to another in no time and choose any word that enhances our speech and clarifies our intentions. Yet, it was with the help of Boroditsky’s research and support …show more content…
This term brings us to a better explanation of how Spanglish is not improper Spanish nor improper English, but what he defines as “enrichment of the discourse of expressions” (de Ortego y Gasca 177). On “How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?”, Boroditsky talks about the way different languages deploy meaning. As an example, we can mention how Boroditsky addressed how Russians have a specific name for every shade of a color (8). This characteristic made them faster at identifying shades, whereas English speakers may have to ponder if there is even a name for a certain shade in their language. Similarly, Spanglish speakers can easily select words that perfectly fit the emotion, mood, or meaning they are trying to convey. Spanglish not only provides a variety of options for us to put thoughts into word but also allows us to soak up on two cultures at once resulting in a true enrichment of our expressions. These complementary examples serve as the perfect proof that an expanded lexicon helps the brain work
“Se Habla Español,” is written by a Latin author, Tanya Barrientos; and Amy Tan, a Chinese author, wrote “Mother Tongue”. In both literate narratives the authors write about their experiences with language and how it impacted their lives. In This essay we will be discussing the similarities as well as the differences in the stories and the authors of “Se Habla Español” and “Mother Tongue”. We will discuss how both authors use a play on words in their titles, how language has impacted their lives, how struggling with language has made them feel emotionally, and how both authors dealt with these issues.
Language is an important part of who we are. It influences the way we think and behave on a great scale. However, sometimes it is forced upon us to go in different directions just so we can physically and mentally feel as if we belong to the society in which we live in. Just as we see in Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s “A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, both authors faced some challenges along the way by coping with two different languages, while still trying to achieve the social position which they desired.
I feel that although it was a difficult move, I am happy that my parents decided to move me to a Bilingual Program. Now, I could ask my teachers questions in Spanish about the words or things I didn’t understand. This helped me get more knowledge in English and to have a better vocabulary. I am proud to be bilingual for many reasons. However, in this paper, I will only explain three of the reasons.
Alvarez, L. (1998) It’s the talk of Nueva York: The hybrid called Spanglish. In V. P. Clark et al. (eds)
In Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, the author Richard Rodriguez argues that since there is a lack of bilingual education taught in American schools, many students face a loss of intimacy to their native language, leaving them identifiable-less. He makes this claim by expressing that although native language can cause divisions in communication, it is the basis structure to a person.
An ongoing battle of culture, freedom, and language occurs in America today. The battle is commonly called Bilingualism. The dictionary definition: being able to speak multiple languages. Though, when you dig deeper, you discover the hunger of differing tongues. Many people believe bilingualism should have a certain role in the public and education. One of these figures is Martin Espada who believe that bilingualism is also respecting one's culture. He believes that there should be more effort put into understanding different cultures and languages. An opposing figure to this is poet and author, Richard Rodriguez, who believes bilingualism should not be emphasized in the public and education system. Rather being able to speak one language and communicating is superior.
The author’s diction heightens the confusion and difficulties the English language evokes, as her simple method of communication progressively becomes more complicated. Words are “sifting” around solely as “vocabulary words” it becomes difficult for her to connect and understand this “closed” language. The author learned Spanish during her childhood through past memories and experiences which helped her form a closer knit bond to the language as a whole; however, English does not root any deep connections for her causing her to doubt the importance of words. The negative connotation when she refers to vocabulary words and closed is due to the fact that she is frustrated with her inability to communicate exactly what she perceives as they are not connected to experiences. Similarly, the language seems “frail” and essentially “bottled up” as she is unable to express her thoughts in a manner other than exclusive “translations”. Unlike Spanish, English seems to have a complicated and confusing aspect tied to it where the author is feels trapped because she cannot convey her emotions or relate to it culturally. The repetitions of these words that have a negative connotation draw out the significance behind communication and the true value of connecting to a culture. Overall, the dictio...
Even though Diaz chose English as his medium of expression, he never aspired to create a failed Spanglish, but an English exceptionally creative, capable of assimilating the Spanish spoken in New York and using it to improve their adoptive language. None of its relators fascinates with this new language, or becomes the main topic of the novel, but rather it is used as a fun vehicle that allows him to expose his stories with admirable freedom.
Languages are continually changing and developing, and these changes occur in many different ways and for a variety of reasons. Language change is detectable to some extent in all languages, and ‘similar paths of change’ can be recognised in numerous unrelated languages (Bybee, 2015, p. 139). Since users of language all over the world have ‘the same mental processes’ and ‘use communication for the same or very similar ends’ (Bybee, 2015, p. 1), similar changes occur on the same linguistic aspects, and in many cases these changes produce similar results in multiple languages. However, language change is limited by the function it performs. Languages must be learnt to such an extent which allows communication between the generation above and below one’s own (McMahon, 1994, p. 5). Hence language change is a gradual, lethargic process, as only small changes in
Spanish and English may both be widely spoken languages, however English is becoming more and more prevalent as a second language. For this project I interviewed an acquaintance who speaks Spanish as a first language and English as a second language. Spanish and English are similar in aspects such as grammar (in that they are both SVO—subject, verb, object—languages) and vocabulary (since both were influenced by Latin) (Shoebottom n.d.), however they are also quite different, especially in their phonology. These differences are what made learning it as a second language a little more difficult for this interviewee.
Being bilingual always made my life differ as if I lived two lives, speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere outside of home. On the daily basis at my house, my family speaks Spanish. When we communicate we speak very fast, at times we can not even understand one another. After this occurs we all burst out in laughter super loud, no boundaries are enforced in our lexicon. The enforcement changes when entering a different discourse community.
In her article, How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think, Lera Boroditsky (2009) explains how the results of her experiments support the idea that the structure of language shapes the way we think. In one of her experiments, she found that English speakers would place cards showing temporal progression in temporal order from left to right, Hebrew speakers would place them right to left, and that the Kuuk Thaayorre would place them from east to west. This shows that the written language affects how time is represented to them. In another one of her experiments, she asked German and Spanish speakers to describe some items and found that the masculinity or femininity of the noun in their respective languages affects how it is ultimately described. This can also be seen in how artists represent the human form of abstract entities like death. Boroditsky concludes that “Language is central to our experience of being human, and the languages we speak profoundly shape the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we live our lives.” (Core reader p. 49) I would like to add that language is also the foundation of a person’s culture, pride, and self by exploring articles written by Eric Liu, Amy Tan, and Gloria Anzaldua.
In this online blog entry, Elizabeth Landau claims that bilingualism can be very beneficial to one’s cognitive abilities. Her first sub-claim is that bilinguals retain better cognitive function as the body grows older. The grounds for this sub-claim is a reference to Ellen Bialystok’s study on Alzheimer’s patients revealing that bilinguals were several years older than monolinguals at similar phases of neurological impairment. The findings from this study support Landau’s main claim because it shows that bilinguals’ cognitive abilities regressed at a much slower pace than those of monolinguals’. The work of Bialystok is credible since she is affiliated with York University in Toronto, Ontario, and the research that Landau refers to in this blog entry are all from presentations at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Landau’s second sub-claim is that bilinguals are better at multitasking. She supports this sub-claim with Judith Kroll’s research that has found bilinguals better suited to multitasking because of their heightened attention skills. This is most likely because bilinguals are perpetually inhibiting one language in favor of the other, which gives them an enhanced ability to tune out irrelevant information. Once again, these grounds are credible and scholarly because Judith Kroll is a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, and like Bialystok, Kroll presented these findings at the annual conference. More importantly, Landau uses Bialystok’s research for support because the multitasking skills found among bilinguals correlate with improved cognitive abilities. The warrant here is that mult...
Also in support of the Bilingual Approach, Brown (2000:68) says the first language ‘can be a facilitating factor not just an interfering factor.’ Brown is here alluding to the issue of language transfer, which is defined by Odlin (1993:27) as ‘the influence resulting from similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously (and perhaps imperfectly) acquired.’ The facilitating factor (Brown, 2000) is what is referred to as positive transfer, or a situation where similarities between the L1 and the L2 can facilitate learning. Positive transfer is also defined by Nunan (2000) as the use of the rules that coincide in both the L1 and the L2 and the learners using the L1 rules to benefit from learning the L2. The interfering factor (Brown, 2000) refers to negative transfer, or the use of L1rules in the learning of an L2 although such rules do not exist in the L2 (Nunan, 2000). Dulay and Burt (cited in Maniam, 2010), refer to negative transfer as interference, which they define as automatic transfer, due to habit, of the surface structure of the L1 on the surface structure of the L2. In apparent reference to the notion of negative transfer,
In today’s schooling system most high school students are required to take at least 2 to 4 years of a foreign language in order to graduate. However, some people do not understand the importance of taking a different language, until it is time to get a job or while they are in their current job. It is significant that we take at least 2 years of a foreign language in both high school and college and try to learn as much as possible because learning a new language can open up so many doors.