Amy Tan’s Mother TongueLanguage & Culture

Image source: http://www.amytan.net/

http://www.amytan.net/ATBiography.aspx

Amy Tan and her Mother

Image source: http://www.achievement.org/achievers/tan0/photos/tan0-010a.gif

Overview

In the essay “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan explains that she began to write stories using all the Englishes she grew up with. How these different Englishes or even a language other than English contribute to identity is a crucial issue for adolescents. The ways that the individual negotiates those different Englishes within a so-called standard dialect contributes to his or her success with the mainstream culture.

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Brainstorm

What are the different languages you use? When and why? Consider both reading and writing, and don’t forget about email! If you speak another language, include it (or possibly them if you know more than one).

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Reading: The first 2 paragraphs

• read aloud.

• Discuss why Tan opens with an explanation of what she is not.

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Different Englishes

What does Tan mean by different Englishes?

(see paragraph 4, p. 472)

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Different English Usage: Hypocritical?

• Why does Tan speak a different English with her mother than with her husband?

• Is it hypocritical?

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Page 474

• What point is Tan making with the example of her mother and the hospital?

• What point is she making with the example of the stockbroker?

Support your responses with specific reference to Tan’s essay.

http://wiredforbooks.org/amytan/

Source: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=910

Homework: Brief Essay

Choose one topic below:• Describe the Englishes (or other languages) that you gre

w up with speaking or now use. How does the way you speak with your family differ from the way you speak with your teachers, friends, and colleagues.

• Describe a time when someone made assumptions or even a judgment (negative or positive) about you based on your language usage (written or spoken). For those who say they’ve never had such an experience, write about a situation they’ve observed involving someone else.

• Refer to Tan’s essay in your response.