History of the English language

antithesis, first person pronouns, and diction to convey the struggle that our younger selves went through and how it connects to our current perception of school and society. Modeling Rodriguez's essay, I contrasted my younger self’s perspective on language compared to now. The antithesis…

is the formation of speech competence including the formation of speech activity. Speech competence is the ability to use language in practice (to express thoughts, intentions, requests), to use both verbal and non-verbal communication (facial expressions, gestures, movements) (Kravchenko, 2009, 39). According to Berk (1999, 358), there are several components of the language, such as that phonology, grammar, semantics and pragmatics. The first element is phonology that refers to the correct…

In his essay "In Plain English: Let's Make It Official," Charles Krauthammer mentions English being the key to unifying a multicultural society like the United States. There is no doubt that the United States is a nation composed of immigrants from all over the world. However, it is not a nation composed of immigrants trying to ostracize themselves to create their own territory. We are a melting pot of many linguistic, cultural, and ethnic groups that are constantly interacting and coming…

As a hispanic person, I have faced language and identity issues. I have struggled with these challenges throughout my lifetime. My first language is spanish, I did not learn english until I entered the first grade where it was mandatory. A clear memory I have with the transition of spanish to english is being frustrated and angry that I was being forced to learn another language. Although school is taught in english, I am in touch with my spanish vocabulary because I speak spanish in my house…

My family's heritage is from Mexico. I was never told that I am Hispanic, I was only told that I was Mexican but I was also told to refer myself as an American. I did not even know the term, Hispanic, until I was in the eighth grade, when I saw my mother doing some paper work. I asked her what it meant, she said, "It's like another word for Mexican". I am part of the second generation in my family to be born in America. That means my parents did not teach me Spanish, so I had to learn it…

People’s culture heavily affects their perspective. A person’s view often reflects how people in similar situations to them think and how they see others. It is impractical that people will become entirely separate from their past and tradition to form a new and different culture of their own to embrace. Culture is what shapes people into who they are and what they find normal. “I was a confident and proud HAPA in Hawaii, but when I came back to Michigan, my predominately white peers still saw…

America is known for having freedom to improve people education. There’s so many things that can help people learn how to read and write. Not many country outside of America have literacy, they can’t learn or improve their reading and writing skills for different reasons. America forces student to go to school which it’s an advantage, but sadly a few disadvantage things can happen. Literacy is the ability to read, write and comprehend, it could be learned in many different ways. Not all…

felt like a lie” (631). Barrientos wanted to speak her native language, which was Spanish, but never learned how, until she took Spanish speaking classes. Tan also felt that language was an important factor in the home. In her text, she says, “But I do think that the language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are…

enroll in American schools, according to the article, “Language Barriers: Only the Beginning” (Guthrie). Bilingual education should be implemented in schools in the United States because it allows for a smoother transition into the English language for foreign students when compared to programs that only teach English, it ensures that students will not lose familiarity with their native tongue, and it aids in the destruction of the language barriers that can impair foreign students, all while…

Life is full of long desires that we long to fulfill and accomplish; however we rarely have the opportunity to pursue those desires within our given boundaries. Now imagine that you were granted a ticket, a golden ticket to set foot wherever you’ve desired. Gazing around the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, I longed to set foot in El Salvador, my beloved home country again. I desperately yearn to grasp a ticket that satisfied me a spot on the following flight. As a foreigner in the United…