Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Professor Relerford
English 104
28 October 2017
Essay 2
What are some of the things that make you different from everyone else? Regardless of
the answer to that question, your culture had a gigantic influence on shaping you to be who you
are today! According to Live Science, culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a
particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and
arts. Language and culture need each other like flowers need bees. Without language, culture
Language and identity go hand and hand for many reasons. Humans use their language to
communicate things such as emotions and beliefs. The importance of this is backed by the first
amendment that gives freedom of speech. My belief is similar to that of John Edwards, personal
and group identities embrace one another; I believe speaking a certain language puts you in a
select group (2). Since languages tend to come with certain phrases, people that speak similar
languages may share comparable experiences. Lena Ampuda reflects back on a memory that she
has and puts an emphasis on her grandmas language (94). As well as the identical experiences,
people that speak the same language tend to also have similarities in race, beliefs, diet,
experience and so on, just because often times relation helps to make people feel closer. This
connects those people and also defines them individually. In addition, language is one of the first
things other people use to identify you. Simple things such as misuse of a word or poor grammar
can leave someone with the impression that you may not be very intelligent. Language, often
times is how people assume where race and homeland. How other people perceive us is part of
The first language that I learned was English. I was raised in a household with parents
that practiced two completely different forms of English. My mom mostly speaks as she would at
a business meeting, always calling me out when I make a grammatical error while speaking.
Then completely on the other side of the spectrum, there is my dad, he is most likely where I
picked most of my grammatical errors up from. When my dad talks around the house he says just
enough so you can understand him but it isnt a complete sentence and he makes sure to throw
slang in there as well. Whenever having a conversation either one of them I would speak how
they would and in doing so my ability to code improved. The second language I learned or my
heritage language is Spanish. I am not completely fluent in Spanish but I read, write and
comprehend at an above average level. I owe this to my mom and aunts, who speak Spanish, and
school.
When it comes to language the school system has several responsibilities, one of those
being to teach students academic English. Students should use academic English for
educational purposes because then they will get in the habit of writing in a professional manner.
It is the students job to balance the language that he learns at school and his culture. It is a
constant struggle to classify the appropriate times to use one or the other in professional and
unprofessional settings. In most cases, what is taught is already what the student is accustomed
to but in some cases, it isnt. For the students that have to balance both, it is asked if those
students can success academically without compromising their culture. The key in doing so is
being confident in who theyre. As well as teaching writing using academic English, schools
teach students how to communicate using a standard English as well. I personally believe that
everyone in America should learn standard English. This isnt realistic for many reasons one of
them being that everyone will not agree that this is true but if there was a standard English in
America, everyone would be able to easily communicate with each other. The difference in
language is also what makes America special, you have the freedom to advertise their culture
Cultural identity isnt forgotten while maintaining dominant culture. As previously stated,
there are certain places in the US where you can be more submerged in your culture than others
such as China town. Even if you arent completely submerged in your culture, that doesnt mean
you completely lose yours. Theres always things you can do such as listen to music of your
culture, dress in garments of your culture, eat the foods of your culture and still speak the
dominate language of your culture when with family and friends that speak it too. In some cases,
due to oppressive language people may want to forget their cultural identity. Oppressive
language is using certain words or phrases with a negative connotation to group people. An
example of oppressive language would be stereotypes. Stereotypes are just a reflection of the
hate, against certain cultures, that is in America. It isnt necessary to change who you are to be
successful in America but since English is the main language, it is important to understand how
to properly speak. Someone that is under the medias microscope, that has handled success and
stayed true to their culture is, Cardi B. Even with her recent success with song Bodak Yellow,
that peaked Billboard number one, she made a Latin version. She is a person in the public eye
that is a good example of staying true culture and handling success for many reasons other than
In conclusion language and culture are tied together because of the simple fact that
language is a part of cultural background, it adds to your beliefs. Identity is shaped by the
language you speak, what values you hold, religion, upbringing and personality. Your family
heritage is a huge part of who youre because the people youre raised around, affects how your
lifestyle is. As you grow older, you become more individually stable but even still, you either
hold belief in what you were taught or the opposite. For foreigners, it may feel as though theyre
Edwards, John. Language and Identity: an Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Green, David F. Gumbo Ya Ya: Tapping Cultural Stories to Teach Composition. Visions and
Cyphers, Inprint Editions, 2016, pp. 93104.
Zimmermann, Kim Ann. What Is Culture? | Definition of Culture. LiveScience, Purch, 12 July
2017, www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html.