Calderon 1 Giselle Calderon Professor Vana DerOhanessian English 114A December 5, 2013 Language and Culture in Families Growing

up our childhoods were strongly influenced by the culture and language passed on by our parents. If it werent for these certain cultures we wouldnt have many of the mentalities that we have now. Even the way we speak would be different. Language is what we use to communicate and interact with others. The cultures and languages we grow up with, in other words affect the way we communicate and interact with others now. It makes us who we are. The persons we have become today are a positive result of the culture and language we were associated with growing up. In our English class this semester we had to read Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, a daughter of immigrants from China. She states how speaking both English and Chinese had an effect on her growing up and also as an adult. To Amy Tan language has become, the tool of her trade (76). She mentions that she uses all the Englishes she grew up with, even for the language contained in her work. As she analyzes the type of English she now speaks, compared to the English she grew up with, she also begins to examine the way her mom spoke the English language. She comes to the conclusion that her mothers tongue is the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world (77). Even though her mother spoke a different language, which wasnt fluent English, it was a language that made sense to Tan. She also mentions experiences when her mother was given a hard time due to her lack of speaking English perfectly, but instead she decides to look on the bright side of her

Calderon 2 mothers challenge. Tan shows her appreciation for understanding a unique language that was comprehensible to her. She includes the hardships that her mother had to overcome as she tried communicating and interacting with others. Being a grateful daughter, Tan wants people to know that her mother really made efforts to make her English more understandable. To Amy Tan rather than seeing her mothers struggles as a burden, which also became her struggles, she instead sees it as something that contributed very much to her writing later on in life. She appreciates that language that her mother contributed to her and describes it as containing her mothers intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts (79). Someone who didnt grow up with a mother speaking language as a second language cant really go through such a memorable experience. As I was thinking about the powerful effect of language and the culture that comes along with it, it reminded me of what we talk about in my Survey of Central American Literature class. Many times our professor makes us read works by famous Central American authors not just in English but also in Spanish. The readings are usually organized with the original writing in Spanish on the left side and the English translation on the right side. He constantly reminds us to re-read the readings in Spanish, especially if we dont understand it English. Once you read it in Spanish, you notice that it is more powerful and passionate because in English it usually isnt originally translated properly so it doesnt provide the same effect. When you are bilingual there are some words that describe a particular situation a lot better in one language compared to the other one and vice versa. I notice many bilingual people say, Whats that word? when they are trying to come up with a certain word that defines what theyre talking about better in their first language than in English. For bilinguals in the U.S., English is often their second language because their first language is the one that is taught by their parents that were born and come

Calderon 3 from other countries. Language can have a strong impact on the way people try to express themselves. Its one of the many ways we can express ourselves, if not the most dominant. Our families are the people that we spend the most time with, ever since the day we were born. The people that we are usually around with influence us strongly. Their use of language and their type of culture will therefore, also have a strong influence on us. If children grow up in a household where parents werent present much to show care and support for the child, chances are they will be affected negatively. They will grow up in an environment and culture where care and attention is not easily given but instead excessively needed. If parents are too busy finding ways to support the family financially then parents will not be able to give as much attention as they would like to their children. These types of situations tend to take place in minority families with immigrant parents. The parents in these families are too busy trying to provide for their families that they wont have enough time trying to learn the English language and to teach it to their kids, but they also wont be able to give the necessary attention children need to grow up in a healthy environment. International and CSUN student, Pantea Shademani explained about a psychological study which reveals, that the role of parental supervision is an important component for effectively addressing delinquent behaviors (20). Studies prove that physical interaction and involvement in childrens lives is very important for parents. If parents dont spend the essential time to teach their children fluent English, then they will be speaking it the way they were raised. Many people could see this as a bad thing. They believe that if parents arent correctly teaching them fluent English then it will lead to delinquent behaviors. But then they wouldnt have their own language, made up of their first language passed on by their immigrant parents and English, which makes them interesting individuals. They in fact, have two different ways to describe, define, and view things making them more expressive of what they

Calderon 4 actually feel and think, having more than one way of viewing something. Some would argue that this is something negative because their second language gets in the way, and they wont be able to contribute like others. Instead, it lets them express themselves in a superior way because they arent just limited to a few perspectives but many more. They actually have a better strategy of combining two or more languages and cultures together to precisely explain what they want to say and even providing different opinions based on their broader experiences and knowledge attained from more than one culture. Language and culture together, make a strong and positive influence on a child. Just like Amy Tan felt proud of the different Englishes that she spoke, they influence a child by providing more than one of comprehending both languages. Studies in Psychology and Mental Health show that because language is intimately tied to culture and ones sense of group identification, bilingual people may have a more complex and multifaceted sense of self and group identity than monolinguals (Piotrowski 273). They prove that bilingual children have an advantage over children that just learn one language because it makes them unique knowing two or more languages along with different ways of seeing life. Their different languages allow them to explain themselves in the best ways possible because if one language doesnt exactly let them say what they want to, they can use another language as reference. That alone results in making bilinguals, unique individuals that have more to contribute with different vocabularies and experiences or examples derived from their many cultures. Our childhood sets an important foundation that will affect us very much as we grow older. Children that grow up as bilingual individuals are different from those that were just able to become fluent in only one language. They are able to incorporate a variety of vocabulary words, understandings, and viewpoints due to the fact that they grew learning more than one

Calderon 5 language and with more than one culture. They are the ones that grow up with more job opportunities because they are more useful. The fact that they grow up bilingual or multilingual, knowing more than two different languages, and incorporate more than one culture in their everyday lives, makes an overall positive impact. Sure they might grow up having a hard time pronouncing some words, getting the languages mixed up, or even being confused by the different cultures that are a part of their lives, but it becomes more beneficial. Monolinguals dont have as much to offer as bilinguals do.

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Works Cited Piotrowski, Nancy A. Bilingualism. Salem Health: Psychology and Mental Health, 3 (2010): 273-276. Print. Shademani, Pantea. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology, Clinical Psychology. STRESSORS AND LATINO ADOLESCENTS DELINQUENCY: AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH (2012): 20. Print. Tan, Amy. The opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. New York: Putnam, 2003. Print.