Do students have the right to their own language?

Jayson Hughes

English 1100

Prof. Young

Language

September 17, 2015

Should students write with their own language

Have you ever felt that you should be able to say whatever you want to say? Maybe you feel like you shouldn’t be restricted on what you can say. There have been quite a few discussions on whether or not students should have the right to what they can say in class and when they are writing. I do believe that students have the right to their own language. You know why? Because I don’t want to limit our generation on what they can say. I feel if students have the permission to write whatever they want they will write more natural and wont feel like they have to robot and do exactly what it is right.

I have had some teachers that just tell me to put down whatever comes to my mind on the paper. To create original ideas and other things. I like it. I do not like when teachers tell me I have to write five paragraphs and have to follow a whole script on how to write.  It makes me feel like my brain cannot wander freely and be able to write well. I like writing, but if I can use my own language and talk free and use my own slang in my writing, ill love it. I wanna be able to write with my own style, talk about something I saw to was so fresh and maybe how shawty was trippin earlier in they day. I just feel like I’m being myself and not what other people want me to be. I feel like it the most important thing, to let writers have their own identity because if they didn’t, everyone would sound the same and books would be boring.

Identity

Jayson Hughes
English 1100
Prof. Young
Identity
3 September 2015
        Identity to me means a whole lot. It is everything. Being yourself, being able to do whatever you want and just knowing deep inside that it’s you. You’re not trying to be anyone else but the real person you are. People always say there are three different types of a person, one is how you act when you are with your friends, the other is how you act in front of your parents, and the third one, the one that is the most true to yourself, is how you act when you are alone. I believe that to be true. I see people all the time act different for different kinds of people; for instance, they change how they act when they are around certain kinds of people. For me, I believe I always act the same; I don’t try to fit in for anyone or anything. I don’t conform to what people believe is right, if I think something is right I will do that, not what others want. Just how the dentist was trying to control Gloria’s tongue. That wasn’t right, “’were going to have to do something about your tongue”. Like what is that? She can’t help that. Language was everything to her, it was her identity.

      My identity is a basketball player, who ever would of thought? I really don’t look like I play basketball. I mean look at me, not big, not tall. Just average. That’s why it is always hard to tell someone’s identity. Sometimes to figure out someone’s real identity you have to sit down and talk to him or her. I have seen some very Hispanic looking people and they do not speak any Spanish at all. All I know is I love talking to people that are from different areas and just getting to talk to them and discover their true identity.

       In “how to tame a wild tongue” language was a very big part of Gloria’s identity. She’s always saying how you can tell how someone is from the language they speak. She says, “ When other races have given up their tongue, we’ve kept ours.” She’s proud of that, as you can tell. Language means so much to her. But, she still says the struggles of identities are still there. “Yet the struggle of identities continues, the struggle of borders is our reality still.”

How to Tame a Wild Tongue quotes

Jayson Hughes
31 August 2015
Prof. Young
English 1100
Quotes


"How do you tame a wild tongue, train it to be quiet, how do you riddle and saddle it? How do you make it lie down?"

"When other races have given up their tongues, we've kept ours."

"Yet the struggle of identity continues, the struggle of borders is our reality still."

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Jayson Hughes
31 August 2015
Prof. Young
English 1100
How to Tame a Wild Tongue Questions



1.  In the opening scene Anzaldua is sitting in a chair at the dentists office getting work done on her teeth. The dentist keeps telling her to try and control her tongue, which she can't really do. The dentist starts getting angry and frustrated with her. But Anzaldua thinks, "how do you tame a wild tongue?". In this scene she uses her tongue to stand for her home language of Spanish, and she uses the dentist to describe people that try and tell her not to speak her language and speak english. The dentist wants her to control she just can't.

2. To me the Spanish that Anzaldua was using in her writing made sense to me. I actually don't speak it and i don't understand it. But it made sense to me how she was trying to use it to show people how she has been confused her whole life and she wanted to confuse us. She doesn't know which version of Spanish she should speak, should it be Standard, or maybe even Chicana. She is never sure. 

3. I believe that Academic English can be defined as Standard Spanish to others because it teaches you the basics of the language. Also, most people just speak Standard Spanish compared to other types, so that also could help that just be the right language. Not everyone speaks Chicano, it is sort of like slang, it is close to a whole other language mixing up vowels and other things. That to me can make it nonstandard because it isn't the basics of the language.

4. Yes i do believe that identity is necessary in writing because when you write you kind of throw yourself on the page. We have accents and slang all over the country. People in the south talk different then people in the north. So when you hear someone from the south talk and you're not used to it you can tell they aren't from that place. So that could help someone get their identity right there. Without identity everything would seem the same and be boring.

5. There is a lot of different types of English identities that everyone from around the country uses. Everyone has different slang and ways people use it. I am from Florida so everyone down there uses y'all and southern terms. Up here people say yous guys and other stuff. There is also formal identities and such. Stuff like "Yes sir". Then theres slang that Whats up dog and other stuff.

6. I do not really use a secret language or anything like that. But i have heard people talk in pig latin and gibberish but i do not understand it at all. Me and my friends have like code words and stuff though that we made up and whenever we say them people stare at us like we are crazy. 

7. I usually speak nonstandard english with my friends because i am comfortable with them and they always understand what i am saying. Curse words and such are usually said between us because you are not being judged on what you say and they usually don't care. But when i talk to my parents or any adult really i am usually speaking to them in standard english. One, they usually do not even understand what slang we use, and then i always use respect when i talk to my elders. I just think it is the right thing to do.

8. I believe this means that different heritages and cultures have different languages. Your language usually describes what heritage you are from. Also other stuff comes with the language, like what type of music you listen too and what kind stuff you dress in. Language is a big part in all of that.

9. The introduction and the conclusion connect by both using something that is hard to control and not doing it. Introduction talks about how she can not control her tongue,( her language) because it is wild. The conclusion talks about how other cultures have converted and given up their native tongue when the Chicanos have been strong and kept theirs. Just how she kept her tongue strong in the beginning.

10. Yes the language you speak is a very big part of your identity. You hear someone speaking spanish you can know they are hispanic and part of identity is a persons culture. You can learn a lot about a person from their culture and other things, and language can tell you all that.

11. Identity is very important to me, i like being my own person and not conforming to what others do. I have my own identity and that means people can pick me out from others. I like to stand out, not fit in. Anzaldua believes identity is very important. She says, " Chicanos need to identify ourselves as a distinct people." She wants them to have their own identity and be known as different people. She also says, " One day the inner struggle will cease and a true integration take place." This is her saying the struggle of them having an identity is still tough. The borders are still the reality for them.