abstract
In this course, I learned many useful things like language attitudes and how it impacts certain groups. The analysis aspect of this essay was pretty fun and simple to dissect. I was able to learn how to manage my essay within the 3-4 pages limit because at times I would add many things that would exceed my pages but overall I found this essay to be straightforward and brief from other phases.
Critical Analysis Essay
Allowing Integration of various languages
In life, individuals are likely to experience situations to speak only English. It extends to workplaces and public environments which becomes a restriction for individuals who want to feel safe. The United States is mostly home to many language speakers and various dialects, which diversify the country even more but at times individuals face discrimination and prejudice for speaking a different language in certain public areas. This can discourage some people by leaving them the option to keep quiet outside of their home and workforce to conform to speaking only English. Bilingual speakers should be able to be comfortable speaking and using a foreign language in public settings and work environments, while not being judged for not speaking English.
Within public spaces and work environments, there have been incidents of native English speakers discriminating against individuals who speak and use different languages in their daily lives. There is a video that shows visual footage of the incidents “Customer goes on a racist rant about Spanish words on the Mexican restaurant menu.” This video that was captured by the restaurant’s security camera demonstrates the man was ranting to the staff members and people around him. While making threats by calling immigration authorities as a possible hate speech based on the special menu that was written in Spanish. From this video, there was a particular line that the customer said which in the quote states “It says it in Mexican. We’re not in Mexico. We’re in America! Above the border. The red, the line. I’m an American!” the unidentified man yelled in the video.” Based on the quote from the man that became verbally abusive, he correlates the Spanish language as ‘Mexican’ and shouts out that he is an American. From this video one can question what is Mexican based on the man’s speech? The man seems to be confused because Mexican is a nationality, not a language, he may be referring to Spanish but failed to do so. What’s more compelling from this video is that he screams ‘I’m an American’ which reveals his language attitude towards languages that are not English as partisanship that fits his agenda of using only English, it also connects to supremacy and entitlement. There is a strong conviction of the belief that in America people speak only English and not Spanish. The video highlights the many problems individuals who want to speak or use a different language at work can face problems that were mentioned previously which can become minacious. There is a deep history within the United States of having to learn English to get what you want, which is understandable but forcing someone or threatening them to do it isn’t the way. There is a mentality of only conforming to American ideals and one of them is speaking only English in work or public places to be American. Although English is mainly spoken and is the dominant language that doesn’t mean there aren’t any other languages based on this graph shows different languages in each different state.
There is another emphasis on how a language that isn’t English becomes a factor of misinformation from society’s biases based on recent events that can alter one’s perspective on the language, especially from media’s portrayal. In the previous video, you can observe how the man finds the Spanish language irritating to point that he ranted that it doesn’t belong in America. There has been an increasing number of people thinking that English should be the main language because they grew up speaking it or watching the media that holds bias standings. In one of the course texts, “Myth 11: Italian is Beautiful, German is Ugly” by Howard Giles and Nancy Niedzielski from “Language Myths” written by Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill, who is sociolinguistic Professor. It demonstrates that a certain language is socially arbitrated based on how they sound to how one views the language while using societal judgment, stereotypes, and history from the social climate of a different country that the language is from. Furthermore, On page 89, “the beginning lines states “In sum, it is the social connotations of the speakers of a language variety – whether they are associated with poverty, crime and being uneducated on the one hand, or cultured, wealthy and having political muscle on the other – that dictates our aesthetic (and other) judgments about the language variety. (Giles, Niedzielski, pg89)” The statement shows how people can judge a language based on society’s connotations things like status, poverty, or political views whether it is the country that associate with the language like how some can be affected by media. For some American people, they see an appeal to English because it is part of the ‘Americanism’ aesthetic eventually becomes an ‘American’ language which is another ignorant way of saying English while excluding other languages. It becomes a notion of entitlement and xenophobia to only include English as the main source of language.
The individual’s judgment comes from society’s biases like for example if you watch the news about a certain country and how corrupt the country is you may see this as a negative place and associate the language to that specific country while feeling discouraged to learn about the culture. Furthermore, from the previous video, the man’s way of thinking can be traced to being ignorant and prejudice in how he interprets the language. In the video, he makes remarks on the ‘Mexican’ language while holding onto his belief that he is American for speaking English. Based on this statement you can tell that he didn’t go to Mexico and learn about the culture and assumed they only speak ‘Mexican’ which is an ignorant way of saying Spanish. This goes more in-depth on how certain people would assume that the country is negative based on what they watch and read and associate it with the language. There is a connection to the man’s belief that speaking or using a different language is connected to immigration which has a negative connotation to thinking someone is illegal from speaking a different language, the following quote mentions “Immigration! Because you’re not legal!” the man says in response.” This relates to the idea that if a country is seen in a negative view then the language is also seen as negative because in recent years there have been biased views on how people who speak different languages are not American citizens or have come here illegally. Also, this relates back to the quote on poverty, this can tie in with immigration and how the man believed the owner was illegal due to coming to this country. The assumption from his speech suggests that Mexicans came here illegally and taking work due to coming from a third country that has fewer opportunities. There have been prejudiced viewpoints towards the Hispanic community on whether they are illegal or not by coming from countries like Mexico. Languages are one the factors to the social climate of the country it’s originated, based on the video, the man associated Mexican as a language which connects to the social climate and the negative outlook of the Hispanic community and Mexico. The chances are, he may have been influenced by what he sees within society that influenced him on believing such. In most extreme cases it’s seen as a threat to the American way of life as well as pushing away from diversity. This becomes a problem because there will be similar incidents from the video for speaking a different language and it leads to an uncomfortable feeling.
In conclusion, Individuals who speak a different language other than English should be comfortable in their own skin to speak their language and not be judged on their fluency or their background. At times foreign language becomes a scapegoat to prejudice based on the nation’s environment that contributes the hate and misinformation impacting certain languages on the representation that some people may get the wrong idea. It comes down to one’s perspectives and connotations on the language. It can factor in generalizing the country and the language speakers. It’s not surprising to see such things being portrayed based on what society wants to see. which can influence people because there are biases within society that make up the perception we have on language and that some don’t even notice it. It becomes a controversial topic to mention because there are many biases on the language itself from watching the news to reading a newspaper. However, one should educate themselves on the issues regarding the topic and be aware of it. In this essay, my main objective is to spread awareness of prejudice and discrimination towards languages other than English and be informed. Language is part of communication and has been there for a very long time. One should not be discouraged to speak a different language or feel overwhelmed by it.
Work Cited
Folley, A. (2019, March 28). Customer goes on racist rant about Spanish words on Mexican restaurant menu. Retrieved November 25, 2020, from https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/436007-customer-goes-on-racist-rant-after-finding-spanish-words-on-a?fbclid=IwAR1fJIzO9M3vtJH6ZL7h0isGgoEmBRGUD_myWtboL43f9qQB9bfaeAcMjTY
Peter, Bauer. Language Myths. Penguin Publishing, 1998. Print. 85-93
Racoma, B. (2019, August 30). The Languages Spoken in the United States {Infographic}. Retrieved November 25, 2020, from https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/languages-spoken-states/
Cover Letter:
Within phase 3, I was able to explore similar activities from phase 2 to like finding and using citations to synthesizing with my sources. I achieved and learned to develop strategies for reading, drafting, revising, and editing for the Course Learning. I developed from well-reasoned arguments using evidence to support my conclusions in utilizing the practice of systematic application of citations. One of the videos which is one of the sources and evidence that I analyzed was “Customer goes on a racist rant about Spanish words on the Mexican restaurant menu.” which ties in with my myth on how society’s bias contributes to how individuals view languages other than English by breaking it into different forms of oppression, a person who speaks a different language faces. In my classes, I analyzed my myth assignment and wrote a page about my example which was an article. Some of the activities were connected to phase 1 and 2 like using purpose and audience to help with improving my analysis. I tried to use my sources while using the 3 W’s, the who, what, and where for the assignment. I would go back to my writing and edit, revise, and read to check on my draft to see if there is anything to fix. I fixed my third and fourth paragraph to fit in with my argument, I tried my best on connecting it to discrimination while breaking it down to other forms of oppression. I also tried to find citations for my sources to cite for the word cited page.
The video I used demonstrated the purpose that bilinguals who speak a different language other than English face discrimination for being different and showed the cold reality of how people react to bilinguals. The video illustrates a clear picture of prejudice and ignorance that some people have when it comes to language and showcasing the attitude towards language. The man used certain statements like “It says it in Mexican.” This shows the ignorance the man has on the Spanish language as well as not being educated, this ties in with my statement that bilinguals shouldn’t be feeling uncomfortable speaking different languages in public or work setting without the fear of discrimination and prejudice. Overall, I did well finding my sources and analyzing them as we are reaching the end.
