My opinion on Students' Rights To their Own Language

Claudia Mendoza

English 1100_3J

September 11, 2015 

Opinion: Students' Rights To their Own Language 

     "We affirm strongly that teachers must have the experiences and training that will enable them to respect, diversity, and uphold the right of students to their own language." This was the decision made in the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 1972. Should college students use diversity in their writing? Yes, they should. Believe it or not when students use nonstandard English or a different language, they sound like themselves, and not a robot. Their soul resonance sounds throughout the sentence. It sounds as if they put their identity into their writing. 

     In America, we have FREEDOM OF SPEECH, or so they tell us we do. In movies, actors say "Fuck you motherfucker, this is bullshit", "Yo momma...", , and Sofia Vergara says, "AY DIOS MIO" in her Columbian accent. The writer is the one who wrote it though, movies ain't free, and it takes a lot of people to make a movie. So why can a film writer express himself/ herself through a script and we(college students) can't? Bullshit. A film writer's vision is their movie. Why can't I make my movie with a BIC Atlantis, and FIVE STAR paper? 

     Diversity teaches us facts about different situations and an outlook of everything a student has experienced. If a student wants and needs to explain a situation in their own way, they should have the right to. You can't force them to sound monotone. Where would the fun be from writing or reading? If I was doing a paper that I enjoyed I would like to write freely on my emotions and past. I wouldn't like to sound like Siri only stating facts based on statistics, or not sounding like myself and sounding monotone. Words are used for emphasis and to express emotion on the content. 

    Like I mentioned previously, words have the power to express emotion on the content (prompt). "Wouldn't you know

We been hurt, been down before
Nigga, when our pride was low
Lookin' at the world like, "Where do we go?"

Would you rather have Kendrick Lamar's 'Alright' lyric's rage as: Didn't you know? We've been hurt and down. When our pride was hurt we were wondering, 'where do we belong in this world?'", it doesn't sound bad but his emotions of rage and desperation to get his point across isn't there. What the people felt when their pride was low can't be comprehended with Standard English.

"What's the price for a black man life?

I check the toe tag, not one zero in sight
I turn the TV on, not one hero in sight
Unless he dribble or he fiddle with mics"

January 28th by J. Cole, real words, but if you were to put this in Standard English, it'd be sounding like a plain and boring debate on why during the Ferguson incident, there was no black heroes (like the president), but only basketball players, and rappers that spoke out about it on TV. You wouldn't feel the disappointing and aggressive sound of Jermaine's lyrics. That's why we have music in the world, and if they have a positive message in the song people tend to listen and hear with their hearts more. So why can't OUR writing be the same? What if there's a writing prodigy to be discovered throughout college?, but couldn't be discovered because teachers would have us write in Standard English.

     Now I ain't got no gavel, but I believe that the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication did the right thing in 1972. They were specific on how teachers should respect and allow students to express themselves using diversity with Foreign language and non-standard English in their writing. If we didn't have this solution, there'd probably be a less number of interesting books in the world to read today. 

   

My identity

Claudia Mendoza

English 1100 3J

Prof. Young

Identity Essay

            Identity makes you, it’s your characteristics, your uniqueness, the perception from others, and it’s WHO YOU ARE. Parts of your identity are elements that you were born with and taught. It is your religion, your age, your social class, your job, your gender, your origin, your race, and your culture. It is what others see once they see you for the first time. Identity IS the distinct characteristics that define you as a unique individual as well as from the perception of others. Gloria Anzaldua, a Chicana lesbian feminist, wrote an article called “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. It’s an article about her language, which people seem to clean out, but to Anzaldua her language is her identity. To me, my gender is my identity.

            “I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing. I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I will have my serpent’s tongue – my woman’s voice, my sexual voice, my poet’s voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence” (Gloria Anzaldua, How to Tame a Wild Tongue, page 261). Women shouldn’t feel the need to be silent when not spoken to or when trying to express a thought. The quote above is a perfect example of how women shouldn’t be scared to hide their voice, thoughts, and actions. There’s supposed to be equality in the world. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t believe I’m going to aspire to how others think women should be or act. My voice is MY voice and I shall use it how I want to, even if it’s something you won’t like to hear, or things “ladies shouldn’t say”. There are traditions that have an absurd rule that men are the head of the household and whatever they say should be followed. For that reason, men are “supposed” to be head of household and the only ones who work, the only ones who are superior to everyone in the household. Times have changed, but there are some households still following this misogynistic tradition. I’d say things have changed due to how many single mothers there are out in the world working for their family, alone, with no one’s help and still manage to raise their kids right. Women can work too, and they can also be head of household, they’re not weak and they can still manage to take care of the house and raise their kids’ right.

            The thing I hate the most is when people try to make women feel inferior. For me, it’s very riveting when men underestimate women, most of the time they’re proven wrong or if not they at least realize the drive and determination women have. “I just love bossy women, I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind leading” (Amy Poehler). I’m proud to be a woman, I take pride in what I am. I am proud that I can create life inside of me, that my body is durable to allow up to 57 del (unit) of pain. I am proud to have a broad mind that allows me to handle work and family. That’s why gender is everything to me, I look up to my mother and all the women that are strong enough to pull through life without the help of a man. I believe on equality, both my mom and dad, are authoritative figures in my household, but they have the same position and authorization for all of us who live with them.

            Ultimately, my identity is that of gender, that of feminism. I have a sexual side, a responsible side, a side with ambition, intelligent side, a creative side, strong side, and a nurturing side. I, like men, have goals and I’m going to achieve them. I’m not going to hold back from my creative mind just because it might be overrated. I’m a big girl now and I say I’m going to make it to something. I can do whatever I want, whatever my mind aspires to, because I CAN. I know who I am, it’s about time I show it, and how much I’ve grown. I am a feminist, we make our own sense, we believe in the equality of the sexes in all realms. This is why feminist psychology opened broader realms for psychology. My identity is my gender, and how as a woman, I can explore the world and conquer it; and it means EVERYTHING TO ME.

Reading Response Quesions to "How to Tame a Wild Tongue"

Claudia Mendoza
English 1100 3J
Prof. Young
Questions for Reading Response

1. In the beginning, Anzaldua is in a dentist's chair getting her roots cleaned out. This connects to the overall point of "How to Tame a Wild Tongue", by introducing how her tongue being uncontrollable and wild. Which leads to asking questions to herself about how can you train the tongue to be quiet, bridle it, or saddle it. 
2. I believe her purpose of using Spanish in the passage is to show her language, or her languages that seem to make up everything she is a part of, and how there is a right to herself and others to be heard and their language itself to be demonstrated and not kept silent. Her Spanish use in the passage is very flowing though, being Hispanic I understood most of it, but there are some words I obviously had to use context clues for because I'm not Mexican. The normal Spanish in the passage was understood and she even took her time to translate it and elaborate on it. Her purpose was also to mention that her and other Chicanos' language isn't like other Latinos' language. It is different and deserves it's own category. 
3. Academic English and Spanish are categorized as standard in the passage. The reason being is because it is a formal type of English or Spanish, clean and uncut with no slang. Chicano Spanish is considered nonstandard because it was made after people emigrated from Mexico to America. It is a type of slang from actual Mexican Spanish which is why it would be considered nonstandard. This confused the writer because she thought the language she spoke was very unusual and she was insecure about it, just as other Chicanos were. 
4. Speaking and writing Academic English is a part of identity. This is not just for Hispanics but anyone who has immigrated from another country to the United States. Everyone has to learn English when they get here, because that's what "we came here for" and not knowing the main language of this country would not be proper because it is needed for education and further on in life. Therefore, it becomes a part of your identity as well as your first language.
5. The only types of English I know is Spanglish which is used by Latinos, English slang which is used by many, the different types of accents that English has succumbed to: like the accent that people from west New York have, the people from the Southwest, and the English with Brooklyn accent. 
6. No, I don't use a secret language to communicate with certain people. 
7. When I talk with my friends, I tend to speak very ghetto-ish like because I was raised in Paterson and all the English they talk there is pretty much slang. When I talk with my family, I either talk Spanish but mostly Spanglish because the Spanish seems to fade away when you grow up and your parents understands more English. When I talk to my professors I choose to believe I talk proper English unlike how I would talk to familiar people. 
8. "I am my language," means that the language someones speaks makes a person who they are. It shows they're foreign, and it shows they're different from an American, as well as the way they were raised being from another country. 
9. The introduction and conclusion connect because they talk about how Mexicans have been through a lot with having to keep shut then to speaking out because they are now in 'America' and not in Mexico. Also how they've progressed about this and kept quiet about it for a long time and it shows their patience. 
10. The language I speak can definitely be a part of my identity because it shows I'm not just American, I'm Hispanic. 
11. Identity for me is very important but unlike Anzaldua, it is not with my language, but with my gender. In the passage by Anzaldua, she mentions, "The first time I heard two women, a Puerto Rican and a Cuban, say the word 'nosotras', I was shocked. I had not known the word existed. Chicanos use 'nosotros' whether male or female. We are robbed of our female being by the masculine plural, language is a male discourse". I was shocked to have heard Mexicans didn't use the words nosotras. It was surprising to see how this sounded misogynistic. My Spanish is like the Cubans and Puerto Ricans where we use nosotras, so it did sound interesting that they didn't use the female being in a plural noun. For me idenitity revolves around my gender than my language. I haven't came across any hardship with my language use but with gender, yes. For the reason I am female I'm expected to do certain things a way a woman is "supposed to do" but men don't have to aspire to the same things we do. I don't know why we are not treated the same as them even though we are smarter and stronger than men in more ways than one. Therefore, identity is very important for me because I choose to believe in the equality of the sexes and having that believe makes me who I am. 

3 Citations that peaked my interest in "How to Tame a Wild Tongue"

Claudia Mendoza
English 1100 3J
Prof. Young
3 Citations

Works Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan Naomi Bernstein. Fourth Ed. New York: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2013. 245-255. Print. 

Getting to know you

Claudia Mendoza
English 1100 3J
August 25, 2015
Prof. Young

Getting to know me

   For starters, my name is Claudia Mendoza, I'm Peruvian and I'm 18 years old. I do have a certain hobby that I do on my free time and that would be art. I'm a moderate artist I would say, and I wouldn't call it a passion because it's not a priority for me to pursue at all. I guess I'd be I'm big on Creative writing, I like talking about certain topics that I'd just let the words flow out instead of having an outline of what to write based on solely facts. Especially when I'm on a computer, reason being is because I'm a good and quick "typer" I would say. 

   My writing experience in high school wasn't much effective. The teachers taught tricks and such but not something I'd enjoy writing and expressing my point of view, because you can't use "I or me". I'd pretty much the reading in my English classes, and how we only had to write five paragraphs. They'd just teach us to cite and write an essay based on facts and data. In my experience, I had easy classes for English because my teachers didn't do much. Others had to do papers but I pretty much only got five paragraphs or seven done. 

   I mostly listen to Hip Hop, Pop, R&B, and Rap but I wouldn't say I'm picky with music because I like anything my ears find pleasing. It could be hard core rock and if I'm feeling the beat then I like it. My favorite artist is Beyonce! She's a queen and one of the best, I love her. I do use social media a lot. I have Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, and I use it so frequently I don't even know how much times I'd look at it. I guess I'd say anytime I'm bored, have nothing to do, or when I get a notification, so pretty much every hour. 

   The most important learning experience I want to have this semester would be responsibility, leadership, and social advice. I lack responsibility, so I guess I want to better myself by doing the things I need to do on time, and not being late or absent. I am a leader but I want to enforce and gain more confidence in order to lead better and to become a good leader. Social advice I guess would be good because even though I have friends, I'm not exactly the best at making new ones or even dealing with people that are superficial. I'm a nice person but I have this unapproachable attitude towards people I don't have a good feeling about. It's not everyone, I just have this lack of patience. I can't deal with people I have nothing to talk about and I'm not a follower for me to just go where they go.

My friends though say I need to be nicer and not pull an attitude with someone I don't know, but even though that goes against my sixth sense, I need to work on it in order to pursue my business career. Therefore, I have decided to try to be a very very very very nice and friendly person to EVERYONE (good vibe or bad vibe) I meet for the first time. That's pretty much everything about me, and I would honestly rate my writing as a C if it's like high school, but if not then B.