As an international student, wouldn’t it be frustrating to be forbidden from writing an essay using some words in your own language? Well, that’s what Gloria Anzaldúa is complaining about. Anzaldúa explained in How to Tame a Wild Tongue how hard it has been over the years to mix Spanish and English together. Anzaldúa also explains how rude some people were toward her just because she was not American. Due to this, Anzaldúa states that people should be allowed to mix their native languages with English. U.S. colleges should allow students to have the freedom of mixing any language with English because it represents who they are, it’s very helpful for speakers of English as a second language, and discouraging it creates fear of English.
Any student should have the freedom of writing and speaking their native languages because it represents their identity. A student’s language shoes others who he or she is and is a reflection of their culture. No one should be made to feel ashamed for their identity. Anzaldúa faced many episodes of racism, one of which being when her teacher mispronounced her name and she replied with how it is properly pronounced. The teacher said, “If you want to be American, speak American. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (Anzaldúa 75). Anzaldúa was an American – just an American who grew up with a different culture. She states, “Wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out” – a clear line being drawn to identities being cut out and erased (Anzaldúa 75). Even though I learned English when I was a kid, sometimes I forget a word in English and say it in Arabic or the other way around. Additionally, there are some words in English that are very difficult to translate, so I say it in Arabic and explain what it means.
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"Expression of Identity: The Use of Non-English Languages in English Classrooms".
The opposition might say mixing English with other languages will be confusing and hard to understand or that it will ruin the English language. Richard E. Miller, a supporter of my counterargument and the author of Writing at the End of the World, states, “Me fail English? That’s unpossible” (Forgione and Radcliffe). He has also said, “The number of literacies one masters cannot change the dominant social structure” (Forgione and Radcliffe). No one can change the dominant social structure, so there is little sense in worrying about it. Miller takes a realistic approach to the issue – he believes “language is power, but he realizes Standard Written English […] holds the most power” (Forgione and Radcliffe). It should not be a crime for a student to use their native language, just so long as they don’t speak only in their native languages. While one cannot change the dominant social structure, avoiding the structure altogether will help nothing. If the most power lays with English, then a strong attempt should be made to speak and write it.
Students should, however, have the freedom of saying a word or a sentence in their language and explaining it in English because that primary language is part of their identity. Using your own language isn’t a disgrace or a shame. In fact, the student should be proud of who they are and what their language is despite what people say. Learning English for the first time becomes a part of your identity and substituting words of your native language is part of that process. Using substitution not only helps those speaking English as a second language, but also reflects the learning process which is, in turn, a show of identity.
Students should have the freedom to use words from their own language in essays because it’s helpful for those speaking English as a second language. Using their native words will make students feel more confident when writing in English. This is actually considered a learning strategy according to Emma Alicia Garza. She writes: “Learner strategies are defined as deliberate behaviors or actions that learners use to make language learning more successful, self-directed, and enjoyable” (Garza). Substituting an English word for one of their native language is a deliberate action, meant to help their comprehension of the English language. Garza goes on to say, “Cognitive strategies relate new concepts to prior knowledge” (Garza). This includes crafting a new sentence around a word they had prior knowledge of, allowing them to see how the word fits into the grander scheme of the new language. While there needs to be clear limits set, students should be able to use their native languages. To use their own language in an English essay doesn’t mean that he or she can write half of their essay in English and the other half in their own language. It means that students can sparingly use some words of their language and explain the meaning of it in English. As long as it is done sparingly, the teacher should not reprimand the student as that creates fear in learning English.
Gloria Anzaldúa stated in How to Tame a Wild Tongue, “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess – that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler” (75). No one should ever be punished for using their native language or else it may backfire and cause them to fear leaving their comfort zone, thus avoiding English at all. I had a similar personal experience: once in middle school during English class, I spoke a little bit of Arabic with a friend of mine and the teacher heard. The teacher was annoyed and punished us by making us sit in the class for lunch, not allowed to go outside and play. We weren’t disturbing the class when I used Arabic, but for some reason he didn’t like it. Anzaldúa states she was mixing Spanish with English when she was told: “We’re going to have to do something about your tongue” (75). These discriminatory actions take away any desire to learn a new language as they create fear. Some might state that making beginners in the English language use their own words will not make them succeed in learning English. The truth is, that will make the foreign students comfortable and better at writing in English because he or she will only include some words in his or her native language and explain what they mean. That will make the student a good translator and they will be more likely to succeed in writing English.
People should have the freedom of writing some words or sentences in their own language as long as they explain the meaning of it. I agree with Anzaldúa that we should be able to mix English with other languages. I disagree with her when she writes sentences in Spanish in an English book and doesn’t explain what the words mean, and that leads to non-Spanish speakers to be lost and confused. If Anzaldúa explained in English what she wrote in Spanish it would be much better. This topic is very crucial for international students because it will help them a lot in writing their English essays and it will have a big impact on their grades. It is important to allow students to use their native languages alongside English in the classroom because it represents who they are, it is helpful to those beginning English as a second language, and it creates a welcome environment for learning.
