Second Triumvirate

While the definition of American Sign Language varies throughout institutions and settings, Dr. William Vicars defines ASL as “a visually perceived language based on a naturally evolved system of articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the body, along with non-manual markers such as facial expressions, head movements, shoulder raises, mouth morphemes, and movements of the body” (ASL: a brief description, n.d.). More specifically, ASL may also vary among individuals. Pidgin…

In “Speaking in Tongues”, Zadie Smith showcases the different aspects that distinguish a person who can only only speak with one single voice and those who have multiple voices. Zadie smith spoke with a formal British accent most of her life, but that wasn’t always the case for her. She discusses how she grew up speaking with a different accent than she is now, in the beginning of the essay, she introduces herself with the language she acquired while attending Cambridge University. However,…

One way to address this problem is to require students to take two years of foreign language to graduate high school. By requiring two years it allows the student to become accustomed with the language; it also mirrors the minimum requirements for entry into college. According to François Grosjean, the author of Bilingual: Life and Reality, most of the world’s population is bilingual. While quantifying bilingualism is tricky, Grosjean reports these rough measures: Europe: 56% Great Britain: 38%…

S.E.E (sign exact english) is a form of nonverbal english which deaf people who have chosen not to do ASl would do SEE. deaf people that speak/sign S.E.E are not apart of the Deaf community/culture. S.E.E is different from sign language because it uses signs that go along with english, uses plurals, has verbs, etc. S.E.E is controversial in the Deaf culture because Deaf people feel like that the people using S.E.E aren’t accepting the Deaf culture/communication. Sign Exact English is exactly…

In the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa talks about her experience struggling with her identity growing up as a Chicana living in the United States. Her experience also relates to many other Latinos living in the United States who struggled to find their place in society and a language to speak freely without feeling fear and embarrassment afterwards. She talks about how throughout her life the language she used was suppressed in various ways and forms as she was forced to…

The Romans, Greeks, Chinese, Mesopotamians, and the Islamic cultures contributions have impacted our world greatly. The Muslims, apart of the Islamic culture, have one of the most important impacts. The field of medicine, the scholars learning opportunities, along with geography and navigation were a fewer the most important contributions. One of the most vital Islamic achievements was geography and navigation. In document 5 it shows the astrolabe a device ,which as originally created by the…

Rodriguez argues that it is essential to speak the public language in order to connect with your public identity. Without having knowledge of the public language there is no possible way to know your public identity and who you are in the community. This argument is explained more in the essay “Their English voices prying loose, my ties to my other name,....” (22) As Rodriguez loosens his ties on his english after holding it in for so long he begins to become more comfortable with the public…

the “Becoming a Lifelong Learner” project has been an interesting and enriching experience for me. At first, it seemed bothersome to spend my time communicating, reading, and watching TV in Spanish, but as I got used to these habits, they became second nature. With the help of this project, I have really began to feel that learning Spanish may be worthwhile and useful for me as time goes on. Now that the assignment is over, I do not want to lose touch with Spanish culture and everyday…

In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, much of the story revolves around accents. The word itself has two definitions: “a distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, especially one associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class” and emphasis/to emphasize. The word comes from Latin, accentus, meaning “tone, signal, or intensity,” which is a translated loan word from the Greek prosoidia. Prosoidia is a “song sung to music,” or “intonation”. Songs stand out from regular…

Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and Reality. Harvard University Press. This reference highlights the reason why we switch from one language to the other. According to the author this communication is called, code-switching and it is very common among individuals who speak more than one language. “The switching part of the speech can vary in words, phrases or sentences” (Grosjean, 2010, p. 52). Grosjean made a very interesting point in mentioning how many individuals or bilinguals…