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Language Learner Essay

Thea Meyer

English 480
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Learning a second language is complicated. On the surface, it seems to some that second

language learning is just grammar and memorization. Others may think that learners immersed in a

second language will just acquire it through interaction. Either way, language learning can appear to be

a simple question of learner effort. However, language learning is much more complicated. Language

and culture are inseparable, and this creates challenges for Jin, from American Born Chinese, and Alice,

from French Lessons. The two learners share some common experiences related to developing an

identity in the L2 culture including: distance from the L1; a lack of control over their identities; and a

lengthy process to developing their identities in the L2 cultures.

Jin attempts to push away his Chinese identity because those around him do not understand or

accept Chinese culture. When another student in his class says that Chinese people eat dogs, the

teacher replies, Jins family probably stopped that sort of thing as soon as they came to the United

States (Yang, 2008, p.31). This demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of Chinese culture, and

demeans Jins connection to China. The teacher assumes that Jins family did eat dogs in China, and

essentially states that if they did, it is wrong. Shes saying that Jins family should have changed their

ways when they came to the United States. To Jin, this sends the message that people in the United

States are not going to try to understand and value his Chinese culture and language. It tells him that his

home culture is wrong and he needs to change to belong in the United States. Once Jin moves out of San

Francisco China Town into his new school, he is not comfortable in his Chinese- American identity. He

wants to be a white American boy (Yang, 2008, 194).

When Wei-Chen first arrives at the school, Jin does not want to be friends with him. Jin feels

angry, thinking, something made me want to beat him up (Yang, 2008, p.36). When Wei-chen tries to

speak with him in Chinese, Jin tells him to speak English (Yang, 2008, p.37). This is a telling sign that Jin

wants so keep Chinese culture away from himself. The fact that Wei- Chen is Taiwanese angers Jin. He

wants nothing to do with his Chinese identity, because it is painful for him. Jin even tells Wei-Chen that
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he has enough friends, when he really does not. The other boys are playing away from Jin in the picture

while he is sitting at the table eating alone. They do not want to play with Jin because he is Chinese. Jin

is so desperate to keep Wei- chen away from him that he is willing to have no friends rather than a

Taiwanese friend.

As a child, Alice uses her L2 (French) to escape from her troubled life. After her fathers death,

she never really feels comfortable in her home. It is never the same as when her father was alive. Like

Jin, her L1 background is not the happy place it once was. She feels the need to escape- to become

someone else who doesnt have to feel the pain of being an outsider. Alice states, At home I was the

worst in sports; here, miraculously, I was good about her time in Switzerland (Kaplan, 1993, p. 57).

Logically, learning to speak French should not directly improve her athletic skills. In Minnesota, she felt

inferior to her peers; In Switzerland, her new beginning, she is better in every aspect. She escaped to

Switzerland as a high school student because she couldnt stand her life in Minnesota anymore. There

she only spoke French with the other students and teachers. When Alice is immersed in French, she can

forget who she was in the past. She is obsessed with perfect French pronunciation, so not one hint of

her L1 shows. Alice reflects that, In September my r is clunky, the one Ive brought with me from

Minnesota. It is like cement overshoes, like wearing wooden clogs in a cathedral (Kaplan, 1993, p. 54).

She feels weighed down by the r from her L1. Even the smallest thing to remind Alice of her past in the

United States upsets her, and she sets out to correct it as soon as she can. Alice wants no reminders of

the unhappy life she used to live, including English.

Though these two learners appear to isolate themselves from the L1 for different reasons, they

both seek distance from their L1 to create a new identity centered around the L2. A loss or separation

from the L1 is common with students learning a second language. In fact, some parents and teachers

believe that the L1 should be avoided in the home. For instance, in the study by Schecter & Bayley, a

teacher counseled Mariana [the mother] against teaching Spanish literacy to her daughter and advised
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the parents to speak English whenever possible in the home in order not to "create a conflict" that

would cause the child to experience problems in school (1997, ). This is actually not advisable. It is

problematic that the Jin and Alice only want to communicate using the L2, because, the L2 is used

along with, not in place of the first language (Sridhar, 1994,p. 800). It is not at all uncommon for

students to desire a stronger connection with the L2 culture and language, for a variety of reasons like

those experienced by Jin and Alice. Teachers in the second language classroom to value and help

empower students to value their first language.

Both students find themselves distanced from the L1 in favor of the L2 culture. In reality, the

students are not in control of their changing identities. Even when Jin initially tries to distance himself

from Wei- Chen, they still become friends. Jin and Wei- chen become friends quickly because they share

a similar cultural background and are both excluded by their classmates. The classmates have negative

views of Chinese people, so they deny Jin and Wei- chen the opportunity to be members of the

dominant L2 culture. No matter how much Jin wants to be friends with his white American classmates,

he cannot change their perception of him. Wei- Chen is attracted to Jin because he is Chinese and Wei-

Chen is from Taiwan. They can speak together in their native languages. Jin does not want to be seen as

Chinese- American, but that is the way others see him. For better or worse, Jin does not have control

over how others in society see him. Jins life is impacted by the way others view him, and it therefore

shapes his identity as well.

Like Jin, Alice tries to control her French identity. She moves to Switzerland with hopes of a fresh

start, perhaps unconsciously, to distance herself from her fathers death and her unhappiness. Not long

after she begins her schooling in Switzerland, Alice overhears other students speaking in German,

saying, the words Jude I knew those words meant Jewish and that Chris was telling Stephanie I

was Jewish (Kaplan, 1993, p. 47). Even when she is in an entirely new setting, people still see Alice as

Jewish. She does not like that these people are talking about her Jewish heritage, especially behind her
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back. Her Jewish background is a strong reminder of her past, of her father, who was a prosecutor in the

Nuremburg trials. She is haunted by photographs of Holocaust survivors that she finds on her fathers

desk as a child. It is a part of her past that she can never leave behind, it is in her blood. Alice is proud

that she can understand her classmates, and calls them out for talking behind her back. When she calls

out her classmates, she likely does not change their perception of her identity. They may think twice

before they talk behind Alices back again, but her yelling at them does not change the fact that she is

Jewish or their perception of Jewish people. She looks back on this experience, saying that, because I

could understand languages, she couldnt get me (Kaplan, 1993, p. 47). Alice thinks she can use her

remarkable ability to learning languages to control her identity, but that does not seem to be the reality

of the situation.

This points to the idea that second language learners do not have total control over their

language and cultural identity. Both Jin and Alice want to be valued and respected in the L2 setting, but

many factors are out of their control. Much like in the ethnographic study by Norton and Toohey, the

success of Jin and Alice in the L2 culture depends on many other things than their own internal

processes. For example, both Eva and Julie from the study have advantages that they have no control

over. Both are, blonde and white skinned, able- bodied, well- dressed, and attractive to Western eyes

(Norton & Toohey, 2001, p.319). They have benefits that help them in the L2 that are not within their

ability to control. Just as some learners are attractive to members of the dominant society, some are

looked down upon by society. For Jin, the lack of understanding of China and Chinese culture among the

members of his community impacts his identity negatively. He begins to see his own culture in a

negative light. In Alices case, her identity as American and Jewish sometimes becomes a barrier to

being accepted into the L2 community, such as is the case with her German classmates.

Second language learning is a long process. Just, to acquire academic language, [is] a process

that takes at least five years (Stewart, 2013, p. 48). In the Stewart study, Valeria worries that she will
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not have enough time to learn enough English to graduate from the time she is 19 to 21 (Stewart, 2013).

Her situation is similar to most other learners. The progression of development in learning an L2 takes

years. The development of an identity in the l2 is part of the second language learning process. The

experiences of Jin and Alice illustrate how long and complicated identity development can be. Both

struggle so much to belong in the L2 as children and young adults. They have not formed their identities

in the L1 or the L2, and they are still looking for who they are. Acceptance from their peers is so

important to them. It becomes part of learning and living in the L2 culture. As they grow, Jin and Alice

become more comfortable with the fact that their identity will always involve their L1 and L2.

For Jin, this can be seen in the process he goes through becoming Danny, and then reconnecting

with Chinese culture. This is a process that goes from the time he is in elementary school to the seventh

grade. Alices identity also developed through the entire book. She started as a fifth grade student, just

learning French as a foreign language. Through her adolescence and young adulthood, she immerses

herself in French. She clings to French. She even states, When I was an adolescent my passion for

French helped me to pull off what I needed to say, in English, to the people around me (Kaplan, 1993,

p. 214). Alice starts by using French as a crutch, a hiding place when things are rough. As she grows

older, it helps her reconnect with her Jewish history and her family. Eventually, French teaching is a job

for her to support herself. She, like Jin, eventually uses her L1 and l2 identities together to create a new

identity.

Jin and Alices identities are still developing at the end of both texts. Jin is still struggling to

accept his Chinese- American identity in the last pages of the text. He goes to a Chinese- American

bakery each day after school and has a milk tea. This is Jins way of connecting to his Chinese culture. He

goes to a Chinese establishment and stays for hours until closing (Yang, 2008, p. 227). Jin wants to be

close with and learn more about his Chinese heritage. When he meets Wei- Chen at the bakery, Jin still

speaks in English. This symbolizes the mixing of his two cultures, American and Chinses. He listens to
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Chinese and responds in English, all while in a Chinese bakery. His identity consists of the two cultures

and languages. At the end, Wei- Chen still looks human. He does not show his true monkey form. This

shows that Jin is not completely secure, and that his identity in the L1 and L2 will continue to develop.

Alice, as a professor, still talks about her French being rusty, and how she struggles, for a bit, to

switch to her French persona (Kaplan, 1993, p. 207). As a veteran professor, she still feels insecure about

her French at times. Alice acknowledges that she uses French to hide when life gets complicated, but

she still keeps repeating the behavior. In the final words of her memoir, she continues to be learning

more about her relationship with the L2 and the L1.

With a new language come a new identity- one created from the L2 and L1 cultures. The process

to forming this new identity is not simple. Students will need understanding teachers who know about

the experiences like those Jin and Alice face. L2 classrooms need to value every students L1, home

culture, and life experiences in order to inspire and empower them. Most second language teachers

only see their students for a few years at most, so they only see a small part of each students journey. It

is important for teachers to remember that learning a language and being comfortable in the L2 identity

is a long process, and that students need time and encouragement.

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Works Cited

Kaplan, A. Y. (1993). French lessons: A memoir. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2001). "Changing perspectives on good language learners."

Schecter & Bayley. (1997). "Language socialization practices and cultural identity"

Sridhar, S.N. (1994). "A reality check for SLA theories."

Stewart, M. A. (2013). "Giving voice to Valeria's story"

Yang, G. L., & Pien, L. (2008). American born Chinese. New York: Square Fish.