The Society Perception on Fluency in Speaking English Language

‘Mother Tongue’ by Amy Tan is an article that discusses the concept of English Language and how many non-native people in the American society struggle to survive because they are not able to effectively communicate in English. Amy uses her mother as an example to help illustrate the different versions of English that exists as the non-native people try to fit in and learn the English language. Amy illustrates the way that many people struggle to understand her mother’s English, while she understands her completely without any struggle because she does not associate the quality of the English language with the quality of the content. Not speaking fluent English should never be used as a means of evaluating an individual’s level of intelligence or their social status.

The world today have become biased, such that everyone assumes that speaking fluent English is what determines ones level of intelligence and the level of respect that they get in the society. Amy effectively presents this argument in her article by sectioning the article using relatable subtitles, to show how the society manipulates fluency of speaking the English language to categorize people. She begins the article by first Amy’s mum as she explains in the article goes through a lot of struggles to get through her day because everyone judges her according to the type of English that she speaks. She constantly receives poor service at the department stores, the banks and restaurants as the service providers always pretend they do not understand her and other times even ignore her (Tan, 22). Amy’s mum is just one example of the many people that struggle in the American society all because they are not able to fluently express themselves in the English language.

Speaking fluent English has become one of the features that one need to have in-order to fit in the society which is very unethical. One not fluently speaking in English does not mean that they cannot be understood, broken English is just a type of English where individuals use incorrect tenses and maybe wrong wording. A good example as use by Amy in the article is ‘not waste money that way’; this is a statement that anyone can understand if they are willing to (Tan, 20). However the society has come up with the perception that for one to be understood, they must speak fluently.

Amy is able to understand her mother even though she speaks fluent English, because she takes time to listen and understand what her mother is trying to say. Some may argue that, this is because she has heard her speak since she was young. Well this may be true, but Amy’s husband is also able to understand this type of English that is new to him. What is even more surprising is the fact that he also frequently uses it because it has become their home language. This is a language that they have come to associate with family talk and it is what unites them all together (Tan, 20).

People from countries whose national language is not English experience major difficulties when it comes to perfecting their spoken English language. The society has created that assumption that most of these people most especially the Asians cannot excel in writing because they are generally not good in languages.  Amy illustrates that these people are not given the chance to prove themselves which is why most of them take up science and mathematics related courses (Tan, 23). This is a concept that is true, it is very rare to meet a writer who is Chinese and the few that are there are those that have been born in America.

 A good illustration of this is with Amy, who though Asian, was born in America. Amy has that opportunity to venture in language because she could fluently communicate in English given that it is the language that she learnt to communicate with since she was a child. She however did not automatically become a writer just because she could fluently communicate in English. She illustrates that she was ridiculed and told that she was the worst writer which could all have been because she was Asian (Tan, 23). She did not give up and her decisions to write simple English for the normal people whose first language was not English is what saw her prevail and become a good writer. Amy decided not to focus on writing perfect English, but rather on writing simple and easy to understand English stories.

Speaking fluent English does not mean that one is intelligent and perfect as the society has been made to believe. What is important is ensuring that what one speaks whether it is in the right order or not, is that it can be understood. The society needs to change its prejudiced perception that every individual need to communicate in fluent English in order for them to be considered important enough or even to be taken seriously. The society need to understand that people come from various language backgrounds and so not everyone can speak fluent English, what is important is whether the type of English that they speak can be understood.

 

 

 

 

 

Works cited

Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” Mother Tongue, 6 Oct. 2006, www.u.arizona.edu/~sab4949/mother.html.