To what extent are language and identity connected? Consider the language or languages you speak. Does language, in some way, as Amy Tan describes in her essay, “Mother Tongue,” help you to “see things” and express your own unique identity? Does the way you “make sense of the world” change depending on what language you're speaking? English or Chinese? Texting with friends or meeting with a professor? Now imagine that you're the only one left who speaks and understands the language you grew up with. What would happen to your world then? To your identity?
Whether you grew up speaking one language or several, language is the way we make ourselves known to one another. It’s how we connect, communicate, and learn. We use language in multiple contexts: with family and friends, in our communities, at work, and at school. We might ask ourselves then if our identities change depending on the linguistic context. Or is our identity fixed and set? Unchanging and unchangeable? Thus, the relationship between who we are, what we say, and how we say it, might be one worth exploring. Comment below to share your thoughts on language, culture, and identity.
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About this blogA blog is an online conversation. This one is for students of writing and is an extension of our face-to-face classroom. Here is where we can continue a discussion started in class, ask questions, and test new ideas. Archives
March 2020
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