Researched Exploratory Essay

Countless new people move to United States every day, whether is from Japan, Brazil, Italy, etc. There are many people from all over the world that speak very different languages that when they come to the U.S. it is necessary to learn to speak English. Everyone having a way of speaking it very different from another person. There have been many arguments about the proper way to speak English or how “proper” someone speaks English. There also could be miscommunication. However, foreigners are usually mistreated because they don’t speak “proper” English. 

Amy Tan is an Asian American author with many incredible works. For example, “The Valley of Amazement”, “The Joy Luck Club”, “the Kitchen God’s Wife” and many others. Mother Tongue (1990) is one of her works that is very interesting. Mother Tongue goes over how Amy has different ways of speaking English with different people. It also goes in detail about Amy and her mother and their experiences together with the English language. It shows the many instances Amy helped her mother with many different things that all had to do with the way her mother speaks English. Tan dives into her experiences herself explaining and showing how language impacted her life whether it was in something as mundane school or her own experiences at work. Also, Tan describes her mother’s experiences with her way of speaking English that were made her struggle throughout her life in. Mother Tongue’s author Amy Tan claims that people that struggle with the English language are often mistreated. For example, Tan in her paper states ” And I had plenty of empirical evidence to support me; the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her”(2.) The evidence above shows how Tan’s mother was a witness in how many different people mistreated her mother because of her “limited” English. This is very similar of how my mother is dismissed in some stores because of the way she speaks English. Furthermore, Amy states in her work ” And the doctor finally called her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect English — lo and behold — we had assurances the CAT scan would be found, promises that a conference call on Monday would be held, and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake”(2.) This shows how Tan’s mother was heavily mistreated because of her “broken” English, the staff at the hospital were so rude and very unconcerned about her genuine fears of her CAT scans being lost and not knowing if she was okay or not. Someone who spoke perfect English in that situation wouldn’t have gotten that treatment just like when Amy talked on behalf of her mother and asked something to be done, the staff immediately gave solutions to the problem. This further proves how people that struggle with speaking English are seriously mistreated in countless occasions whether is something small like sending back something at a restaurant or something a lot more serious like a doctor’s scan about someone’s health that could be deadly. People are not taken seriously, they are dismissed, ignored and very rudely spoken to. It could be in very different places like a restaurant, hospital, supermarket, etc. This is a very big issue that makes many people not confident and often embarrassed of their own family or themselves. However, this is not something that should happen because not everyone speaks perfect English but everyone deserves to be listened to and acknowledge.

So many people have been mistreated because of their way of speaking English. It is not even a just English, many people from other countries have been mistreated for not speaking proper Spanish, German, Italian, and so many other languages. Diana Drake a communicator that struggle with her English explains in detail how she was mistreated as a child because of her “broken: English. She states in her personal essay that “But at that point, the damage had been done. I was wounded and crying. I remember thinking to myself that I wouldn’t speak in class unless I absolutely had to. It was an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy; something a four-year-old girl should never experience.” (1) This goes to show how damaging it is for people to mistreat others based on their ability to speak English. Even a little girl who doesn’t know why she is being targeted or being made fun of it is truly heartbreaking. This however also shaped Diana inti the woman she is today where she can look at those traumatizing memories with some fondness that makes her a better person. Her essay goes on about her experiences and in how her and her mother laughed when reminded of how when she had homework her mother and her would butcher words but both where learning and having fun. Her perception of herself has made her so much better and all of the bad memories of her “broken” English are just stepping stones to her career today.

There have also been instances where people that speak with an accent are seen as untrustworthy. In Paul Stevens’ article “Viewpoint: The Silencing of ESL Speakers” it states how in a study done by psycholinguistic Shiri Lev-Ari, Ph.D. where non-native speakers record a statement in English and have native English speakers record the same statement, when native English speakers rated the accuracy of the statement, the people with the heaviest accent were rated as least true while people who spoke “perfect English” where rated as truest. Also, the same article states “Magda Bowyer, a U.S. citizen who is originally from Poland, said, “It often happened to me that a customer questioned my answer to a problem simply because of my accent. I was told, ‘I don’t think you understand what I am saying. Can I talk to someone else?’ They acknowledged [my answer] only after they heard the same answer in ‘perfect’ English.” (1) This furthers proves my point on how so many people perceive people who don’t speak “proper” English as not reliable or are dismissed entirely. The many struggles’ people go through that are categorized as common that other people with perfect English don’t even have to think about. It is very sad.

All the examples above show the many different difficulties people with “broken” English have to go through and how mistreat others. From Amy Tan, author, to Magda Bowyer, citizen, who struggle and have to keep fighting and take all the different misjudgments from others for something people not only have no control over and shouldn’t really matter is very heartbreaking and upsetting. People should shine some light on and acknowledge the complications and emotional baggage that non-native English speakers go through. People should open up and share some instances similar that could be enriching to other that could relate, that way people could start changing and be more supportive and accepting. This could help unite so many people and communities.  

Cited Works

• Stevens, P. (2020, February 28). Viewpoint: The silencing of ESL Speakers. SHRM. Retrieved December 16, 2021, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/global-and-cultural-effectiveness/pages/viewpoint-the-silencing-of-esl-speakers.aspx
• Drake, Diana (2019, April 25). A student’s struggle to speak English leads to a career as a Communicator. Wharton Global Youth Program. Retrieved December 16, 2021, from https://globalyouth.wharton.upenn.edu/articles/student-essays/struggle-speak-english-better-communicator/
• Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” Dreams and Inward Journeys: A Rhetoric and Reader for Writers, edited by Marjorie Ford and Jon Ford, 7th ed., Pearson, 2010, pp.