Summary Of How To Tame A Wild Tongue

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Spencer Weiss Professor Campoy English 131 October 14, 2014 In the academic classroom of The University of Washington, there are many different students who come from different cultures, countries, and speak different languages from the normal English in which I speak. The question being brought up is “Should non-standard forms of English be incorporated in academic writing?” The University of Washington has an enrollment of 44,786 students, and 15 percent of those students are an international student; which means there are 6,678 students who attended the University of Washington that are bilingual. Some may argue that allowing students to write in a non-standard form of English puts monolingual students (like me) at a disadvantage. I believe…show more content…
Gloria is a Tejana, which is a person of Hispanic Origin born in Texas. Gloria’s argument in this story is her trying to promote her language in the community she lives in. Unfortunately, the community she lives in see’s Gloria and her language as inferior. Gloria is bilingual and is an example of someone who kept her culture and identity close to heart. She says, “I cannot accept the legitimacy of myself. Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate…as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate.” Gloria puts her main points of the story in Spanish to show the reader the power she wants to show. She also puts the main points in Spanish to legitimize herself. She doesn’t want her roots to be hidden, she wants her roots to be embraced and that’s something that should be show in the university classroom. Something I admire about Gloria’s writing is when she turned the tables and started writing in Spanish. Her Chicano roots are not something to be hidden; they are something to be embraced. This relates to the bilingual students at The University of Washington, they need to be able to express their language and culture throughout their writing and not be required to write in a standard form of English. This piece of writing also had a more personal side to it. The examples that she noted where she felt ashamed of her culture made it clear that her beliefs are legitimate. Gloria constantly mentions that there is a conflict between learning English and staying true to ones roots. This is a problem that happens in the university classroom; students struggle with learning English if they come from a different culture; they need to realize that to uphold their true identity, they need to stay true to their

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