Mother Tongue Summative Task Part One

Mother Tongue Summative Task Part One (Questions One and Two)

1. Discuss the significance of the following statements in the essay:

a) “And I use them all—all the Englishes I get up with.”

Point Form:

This statement is important because it tells the reader how important the dialect of her mother is to her.
It also shows the reader how all the dialects and languages you listen to affect the way you speak.
It highlights the differences in our speech patterns and the different dialects we use in different situations.
It also bring to light her diverse background in English and he ability to use a wide variety of dialects. This makes her seem more qualified.
Is dialect the right term?

Full Answer:

Before the group discussion, I believed that the statement “And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with” (Tan, 1), was significant because it shows the
Additionally, it shows how she doesn't believe that simplicity is bad when it comes to language (Tan, 6), furthermore, it shows how Amy Tan does not think that the kind of ‘broken’ language used by her mother needs to be fixed. I believe this because Amy Tan says the following about a piece of text she wrote trying to preserve the nature of her mother’s English, “I wanted to capture what language ability tests never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech, and the nature of her thoughts (Tan, 6). To do this she had to keep her language simple, consequently, her resulting story didn't have as much flowery language, it was a very good book for her mother to read because it was easy to understand (Tan, 6); showing the value of