This is my English Portfolio for Writing in the Humanities.
Categories
Cover Page
In my portfolio, I will introduce the three units we have focused on this semester. Unit one was our rhetorical analysis unit where we explored and analyzed various writings from authors like Lippi-Green, Cran, Macneil and Tan. We explored the role of language in our daily life and the rhetorical aspects that these authors use to narrate their ideas on language. We chose one author and his/her writing to analyze and to show how their use of rhetoric solidified their argument. I selected Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” to analyze. For unit two, we focused on a researched-based argument and essay. For my argument, I chose to explore how accent discrimination negatively impacts the hiring process for those who did not learn English as a first language. For this assignment, we found several scholarly sources, analyzed, summarized and paraphrased them and included them in our essays to support our arguments. For unit three, we were tasked with creating a visual argument, through the use of multimodal and rhetorical tactics. We chose a topic to argue, mine being the role of wealth inequality and the unfair treatment of those who live in poverty versus those who live in better standing or come from a place of privilege. We used images and rhetoric in order to establish our visual argument, and we chose a poem to help support our argument further. I took a quote from my poem, as well, in order to further solidify its relevance in the topic and strengthen my argument. We also explored the idea of what writing is, and how our perception of writing changed over the course of the semester.
Categories
Self-Assessment Essay
My perception of what writing is and does has evolved significantly since the beginning of the semester. I believed and still do believe that writing is an amazing way to communicate ideas, feelings, and moments in time to others across generations of people. This will continue to be my belief, but I now have a better understanding of what more writing can do. It is a time-honored tradition and should be continued to be taught and learned so that we may pass it on to our children. However, I now recognize that writing has a more functional aspect in communicating the problems and solutions of today that we may not typically think about. It is also now that I realize the importance of language, its development across peoples and how it is interpreted, and its relation to writing. Our interpretation of language is what drives us to write. It is what solidifies our voice and our place in the world.
The course learning objectives that I felt were most prominent in my writing include recognition of language attitudes, practicing using online databases, strengthening our source use and engagement in multimodal composition. Throughout our first unit we recognized the role of language and its ability to empower and oppress its users. We read several different writing pieces by various authors, all of whom had experience with the English language, the discrimination of language and the versatility of language. Recognizing the role of the English language for its users was a big part of understanding what many of these authors were talking about. We learned what it meant to code switch, how language stereotypes affect people socially and professionally, and why breaking language barriers is important to create a peaceful and equal society. In our second unit, strengthening our source citing and practicing using resources was well executed throughout the research of our argumentative essay topic. My chosen topic included the exploration of how accent discrimination seeps into the professional environment and how it negatively affects the hiring process. Through the act of researching, we went through several online databases, finding resources and practiced citing, analyzing, summarizing and paraphrasing different scholarly sources. During our third unit, we engaged in a different form of argument, visual argument. For this assignment, we were tasked to create a visual argument, through the use of image, color, symbolism,and quotation. This use of multimodal composition allowed us to explore different, but effective writing strategies using a medium other than pure word.
These strategies helped me to achieve a better understanding of what writing does, and what language does, for that matter. Writing and language go hand in hand, and to understand how writing has and will evolve, we must first understand how language has evolved, as well. My development of the course learning objectives allowed me to gain a different perspective on language, what writing does for language and vice versa. The use of language and writing has changed very much since the beginnings of English. As we discussed in Unit one, some critics believe that reverting to the traditional ways of language is what is preferable in order to keep our language alive, however, because of its versatility, language cannot submit to such a way of thinking. Therefore, writing will continue to differ across decades, across communities and across people. This is what is so beautiful about writing and language, its ability to be versatile. So, to the question, what is writing, I say writing is language and language is versatile.
Categories
Visual Argument Essay
Abstract:
For our third assignment, we were tasked with creating a visual argument in response to a current social issue. We also created an essay to explain the purpose, analyze the rhetorical strategies and describe our visual argument. In addition, we found and analyzed a poem that relates to our visual argument and referenced it as a supporting factor in our essay. The argument I proposed concerned income inequality and how the treatment of those with lower incomes by those who are well-off is unfair and unkind. My visual argument was a hand drawn, cartoon-style picture. My intended audience included those who read and interact with political/social cartoons and those who read newspapers and articles. From this assignment, I learned how to create a thoroughly descriptive analysis of an image, and how to represent rhetorical devices through visuals.
Cover Letter:
Some of the most meaningful insights I have gained in this unit regarding language, writing and rhetoric include the ability to write a descriptive analysis about a physical subject and to analyze the rhetorical qualities of said subject. Rhetoric and argument most impacted my learning and writing practices in this unit. Argument was the focus for this visual project, and exploring how to convey a well-developed argument through visual art. Furthermore, rhetoric played into this, as well, for its use in creating symbolism in order for the audience to understand the visual argument more thoroughly. Some of the course learning outcomes that I have achieved in this unit include participating in collaborative and social aspects with my peers and engaging in genre analysis and multimodal composing to explore effective writing across disciplinary contexts. Through peer review and communication, I was able to develop my argument further, and provide a better descriptive analysis so that it was easier to understand. I was also able to help my peers in developing their visual arguments as well. This was also a great example of the exploration into a different way of writing, multimodal composition. Creating a visual argument, through use of rhetoric, that communicates using words, pictures, symbols etc., instead of only using language. My overall reaction to this assignment was a positive one. I enjoyed the exploration of a new medium of argument and writing and using alternative methods to demonstrate to my audience a topic with a deeper message.
Visual Argument Essay:
The poem I chose, Widening Income Inequality by Frederick Seidel, explores the role of a person of good financial standing and their social relationship to those who suffer from financial instability. People typically do not respond with kindness or compassion when they see someone begging for money. There is always the excuse of; they are lazy, they can work, they can, they can, they can. “It’s always possible to be amusing”, meaning they have the ability to amuse or entertain for money. Frederick contradicts himself via his use of his knowledge that the poor really are impoverished, versus his “rule” that he doesn’t give to beggars on the street. He goes on to state everything that he possesses that those living in poverty may not have; a hat, “sophisticated shoes”, buttered toast, working feet and legs. He addresses many of the concerns that people dealing with income inequality face regarding food insecurity, little to no health care, clothing. My visual argument acts as a response to this literary work, presenting a real-life experience that New Yorkers will witness, and how people of different incomes are treated and treat each other.
The purpose of my argument is to criticize the way that our society treats those who are less fortunate and how income inequality affects people. I am arguing that most of those who are well-off and wealthy treat people who live in poverty very poorly and without compassion. My intended audience would be anyone who reads political and economic cartoons, in newspapers or on billboards. My visual argument would target the middle and upper middle class, and those who are wary of the inequality between rich and poor. This genre is an editorial cartoon, focusing on economic crises. This seems the most appropriate genre because it is easy to read, and also mimics earlier political cartoons which are associated with commenting on societal issues, and problems that affect the general population. The visual argument will be published in popular newspapers that feature political cartoons like The New York Times or The Washington Post. These newspapers are accustomed to this genre of visual argument and already have a stable audience for it.
The image I made represents the juxtaposition between people of different income backgrounds. It is a scene taken from the everyday life of a New Yorker, walking on a city street. It is a landscape drawing in the perspective of an invisible third person, as the audience member, who is witness to the event. The drawing is done in graphite pencil. This is a one-point perspective image of a concrete sidewalk, taking up the left side of the page. There is a homeless man sitting on the corner, he is asking for spare change. He sits on cardboard and he is visibly physically impared and tired. He wears clothes that are worn out and carries with him a bag with his few belongings. There is a second man that passes by him dressed in name brand attire, i.e Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nike, but his expression is not visible to us, for he is looking at the man who is sitting on the edge of the sidewalk.
There is text above his head, in a speech bubble, that references what the man says in a serifs Roboto Slab font, “He can get a job, he is just lazy.” Written underneath the scene is a quote, in Roboto Slab, taken from my chosen poem, Widening Income Inequality by Frederick Seidel that states “The poor are poorer than they ever were.” The overall color scheme of the image is very gray and gloomy, with muted colors and tones. This adds to the overarching, somewhat depressive theme of what it is like to be scolded for living in poverty and how people of higher incomes dismiss the wealth gap as something for the impoverished to deal with.
The most significant features of my visual argument are my use of color and the wording I used for the caption, which is a direct quote taken from my chosen poem, Widening Income Inequality. The overall color scheme of my visual argument is gray with a lot of muted tones. This is to provide for a gloomy, overcast feeling and to make my audience sad, because it is a sad topic. The caption for the visual argument is “The poor are poorer than they ever were.” This alludes to the poem I chase while also providing an interesting juxtaposition to what is happening in the actual visual. One of my subjects, who appears to be wealthy, says “He’s just lazy, he can get a job”, when he looks at my other subject, a homeless man. The use of text shows the disconnect between classes and the cruelty shown by those who are of higher income status, because they feel that they have the power to treat other people unkindly. Given my intended audience, these aspects are well-chosen. They are easy to identify and interpret, but they also carry a lot of meaning. My audience will be able to understand the use of color, and the overarching message of sadness that it connotes. The juxtaposition comments on our own blindness to the realities that people face. This is the rhetorical element that will push my visual argument further. It is a direct commentary on the society that we live in, which frowns upon the impoverished, and also exposes those of higher wealth for initiating and contributing to this belief system. In conclusion, in order to see this belief system dismantled, and a new social construct that inspires us to show compassion, we must be prepared to call out those who engage in this type of behavior and set the example that income inequality does not determine the kindness that people should be shown, it is character that determines that. We also must work to create a more equitable society, in which people do not have to suffer every day for having low income. It is up to those in positions of power to change these unfair and inhumane occurrences, and it is up to us as individuals to put honorable people in positions of power.
Revision:
The poem I chose, Widening Income Inequality by Frederick Seidel, explores the role of a person of good financial standing and their social relationship to those who suffer from financial instability. People typically do not respond with kindness or compassion when they see someone begging for money. There is always the excuse of; they are lazy, they can work, they can, they can, they can. “It’s always possible to be amusing”, this quote taken from the poem means that the beggars have the ability to amuse or entertain for money, so that they should work for their dollar. Frederick’s narrator contradicts himself via his use of his knowledge that the poor really are impoverished, versus his “rule” that he doesn’t give to beggars on the street. He goes on to state everything that he possesses that those living in poverty may not have; a hat, “sophisticated shoes”, buttered toast, working feet and legs. He addresses many of the concerns that people dealing with income inequality face regarding food insecurity, little to no health care, clothing. My visual argument acts as a response to this literary work, presenting a real-life experience that New Yorkers will witness, and how people of different incomes are treated and treat each other.
The purpose of my argument is to criticize the way that our society treats those who are less fortunate and how income inequality affects people. I am arguing that most of those who are well-off and wealthy treat people who live in poverty very poorly and without compassion. My intended audience would be anyone who reads political and economic cartoons, in newspapers or on billboards. My visual argument would target the middle and upper middle class, and those who are wary of the inequality between rich and poor. This genre is an editorial cartoon, focusing on economic crises. This seems the most appropriate genre because it is easy to read, and also mimics earlier political cartoons which are associated with commenting on societal issues, and problems that affect the general population. The visual argument will be published in popular newspapers that feature political cartoons like The New York Times or The Washington Post. These newspapers are accustomed to this genre of visual argument and already have a stable audience for it.
The image I made represents the juxtaposition between people of different income backgrounds. It is a scene taken from the everyday life of a New Yorker, walking on a city street. It is a landscape drawing in the perspective of an invisible third person, as the audience member, who is witness to the event. The drawing is done in graphite pencil. This is a one-point perspective image of a concrete sidewalk, taking up the left side of the page. There is a homeless man sitting on the corner, he is asking for spare change. He sits on cardboard and he is visibly physically impared and tired. He wears clothes that are worn out and carries with him a bag with his few belongings. There is a second man that passes by him dressed in name brand attire, i.e Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nike, but his expression is not visible to us, for he is looking at the man who is sitting on the edge of the sidewalk.
There is text above his head, in a speech bubble, that references what the man says in a serifs Roboto Slab font, “He can get a job, he is just lazy.” Written underneath the scene is a quote, in Roboto Slab, taken from my chosen poem, Widening Income Inequality by Frederick Seidel that states “The poor are poorer than they ever were.” The overall color scheme of the image is very gray and gloomy, with muted colors and tones. This adds to the overarching, somewhat depressive theme of what it is like to be scolded for living in poverty and how people of higher incomes dismiss the wealth gap as something for the impoverished to deal with.
The most significant features of my visual argument are my use of color and the wording I used for the caption, which is a direct quote taken from my chosen poem, Widening Income Inequality. The overall color scheme of my visual argument is gray with a lot of muted tones. This is to provide for a gloomy, overcast feeling and to make my audience sad, because it is a sad topic. The caption for the visual argument is “The poor are poorer than they ever were.” This alludes to the poem I chase while also providing an interesting juxtaposition to what is happening in the actual visual. One of my subjects, who appears to be wealthy, says “He’s just lazy, he can get a job”, when he looks at my other subject, a homeless man. The use of text shows the disconnect between classes and the cruelty shown by those who are of higher income status, because they feel that they have the power to treat other people unkindly. Given my intended audience, these aspects are well-chosen. They are easy to identify and interpret, but they also carry a lot of meaning. My audience will be able to understand the use of color, and the overarching message of sadness that it connotes. The juxtaposition comments on our own blindness to the realities that people face. This is the rhetorical element that will push my visual argument further. It is a direct commentary on the society that we live in, which frowns upon the impoverished, and also exposes those of higher wealth for initiating and contributing to this belief system. In conclusion, in order to see this belief system dismantled, and a new social construct that inspires us to show compassion, we must be prepared to call out those who engage in this type of behavior and set the example that income inequality does not determine the kindness that people should be shown, it is character that determines that. We also must work to create a more equitable society, in which people do not have to suffer every day for having low income. It is up to those in positions of power to change these unfair and inhumane occurrences, and it is up to us as individuals to put honorable people in positions of power.
Abstract:
Our second assignment was a research paper on accent discrimination in job hiring processes. In this paper, I argue that accent discrimination within business hiring practices is rooted in hatred and bigotry. Over the course of several weeks, we were tasked with researching and analyzing different resources that would support and counter our argument. We also referenced several texts that we read and analyzed from the previous unit. My audience consists of those who endure the effects of these harmful practices and employers who should be knowledgeable about this issue. The purpose of my argument is to draw my audience’s attention to the current issue and find ways to acknowledge and change this practice. From this unit I learned that creating a formal argument requires much research and citation. I also learned that harmful business practices are more commonplace than what I had initially thought, but the only way to reverse such an unfair situation is to start by reversing our own thinking as individuals.
Cover Letter:
During our research for this assignment, I gained insight into the true implications of accent discrimination for those who must endure prejudice. The mental effects of any discrimination, accent included, are detrimental and can cause long-lasting harm to individuals, and the society that has suppressed them, for they are inclined to retaliate. I also learned of the glass ceiling effect that still chokes our business practices. Although change is slow, it is still ever present and will continue to grow in our hiring process. The evidence that I found impacted my learning practices the most, allowing me to grow my perspective of the subject at hand. What most surprised me were the legal loopholes that businesses can use in order to discriminate against potential hirees. There is nothing in our constitutional amendments that explicitly states that accent discrimination is a criminal offense, and thus companies can use this as a support beam for most exclusionary practices, including the magnification of the “glass ceiling”, keeping minorities out of places of high power in business. It is also the fact that accent is associated with social acceptance that shocked me the most. People who share the same accent are more likely to be accepting of each other because of their shared way of speaking and social identities. This unit has helped me to “recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages.” Language discrimination only exists to oppress by those who hold prejudices and biases against people of other, non-American, backgrounds. The societal shunning of those who speak with an accent directly empowers those at the top of the ladder, who control much of American business practices and are responsible for hiring for their companies. It prevents people of other backgrounds from holding positions of power, thus hierarchizing language and accent, specifically the “standard” English accent.
Researched Argument Essay
Everyone has an accent, and a person’s accent is judged by those that surround him/her. Different accents can be considered different variations of English. For example, English from the South sounds very different from New Yorker English, but English is a versatile language, and its rules can be bent. The bias that surrounds certain accents is rooted in racism and discrimination. I strongly believe that accent discrimination plays negatively into our professional lives and that we, as individuals, are responsible for eliminating this bias.
Discrimination in business hiring practices of those who speak English with L2, English as a second language, accents is detrimental to the individual and is rooted in hatred and prejudice. Prejudice against accent is due to stereotypes. “…people’s reactions to accents are informed not just by aspects of the speech stream, but by attitudes and assumptions…naïve native listeners are confident that they can hear an Asian accent when they see an Asian face—even though the accent they are hearing is a mid-west American accent. The only individuals who do not seem to have much confidence are native speakers of English who are nervous about interacting with people who have an L2 accent” (Derwing). A biased individual’s beliefs in regard to accent discrimination is regarded as the “standard language ideology” (Lippi-Green), preference for a homogeneous spoken language upheld by general institutions, like the education system, drawn from the spoken language of the upper middle class. Most stereotypes of minorities come from a contradictory culture to the upper middle class, as well. In addition, the socio-psychological impacts that accent discrimination has on individuals is severe. The trauma of social exclusion and lack of empathy can drive individuals to feel the need to retaliate against the society that excluded them. Oftentimes, those who are not accustomed to or not fluent in English are harassed and degraded because of their limitations. Their dislike to communicate with others causes others to label them as antisocial or shy. (Accent Discrimination). Policy falls short in efficiency of its explanation of discrimination’s relation to intelligence and accent. Title VII included in the New Civil Rights Act of 1946 states that employers are not allowed to discriminate against employees or potential employees on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” (Title VII). However, it fails to mention accent as a term of which employees may not be discriminated against. This leaves the topic of accent up for debate, providing room for employers to reject potential employees from jobs. “The research suggests that discrimination based on accent is still widely accepted and continues to happen…Nguyen (1993) suggests testing spoken English in order to put all applicants on the same level and to match vacancies to the required level of spoken English. However, until Title VII (Government, 1964) is updated so that there is less room for interpretation, it will be difficult for employees to win cases against the employers” (Cerrato). Treatment of those who speak with L2 accents is harsh, even when not getting hired in the cutthroat business world. Even daily life can be a struggle. “And I had plenty of empirical evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her” (Tan). Only prejudiced and biased individuals discriminate against immigrants with accents. “These results are the first experimental illustration of the hypothesis that accent triggers intergroup discrimination only among prejudiced individuals because they evaluate native accents as being qualitatively better than accents of immigrants, thereby legitimizing ingroup bias” (De Souza). In order to be successful in a business, managers will have to overcome stereotypes in regard to accent discrimination, especially for businesses on a global scale. “… US corporations are beginning to formulate accent descrimination policies to ensure legal compliance “(Petrick).
Some may argue that we have come a long way and that in today’s age, compared to the past few decades where segregation and discrimination was normalized, we are much better off. In some ways this is true. Diversity in the workplace has increased and many people from various backgrounds and accent-types are hired each day. The opposing side may also argue that almost no one deals with it accent discrimination, and that it is not a prevalent issue. This way of thinking is completely false and could be extremely harmful. “Accents are deep-rooted in social group identity…accents have covert prestige within the communities in which they are spoken” (Bhatia). That being said, those who share the same, or similar accents are more likely to be accepted, and hired, because they share the same social group. This creates a glass ceiling effect within the hiring process, also known as the pervasive resistance, to allow minorities into high ranks of management or positions of power in businesses.
With hundreds of different languages in the world and a constant influx of immigrants to the US, more people now, than ever, are learning, speaking and sharing multiple languages and this means many people are learning English as a second language (or third, or fourth). Yet, stereotypes still seem to linger when immigrants with L2 accents look for work. “…accent triggers intergroup discrimination only among prejudiced individuals because they evaluate native accents as being qualitatively better than accents of immigrants, thereby legitimizing ingroup bias” (De Souza). Although we are in a better place now than we were several decades ago, change is slow for those who face accent discrimination. In order to be successful in a business, managers will have to overcome stereotypes in regard to accent discrimination, especially for businesses on a global scale. U.S. courts will continue to receive cases related to accent discrimination. Federal policy will soon need to be activated and revised in order to maintain an effective working environment. Even though our Civil Rights Act extended policies of Title VII, outlawing discrimination on the basis of race/national origin, it never explicitly states accent as a term of the law in which employees are to be protected from employer bias. It is oftentimes that those who are being discriminated against are not even acknowledged, and people do not see a problem with the way that they are treated. This is a huge part of the issue that we face, acknowledgement. Furthermore, because of the fact that accent discrimination is not explicitly criminalized within our federal law, it can be worked around and used as a catalyst for other discriminatory practices. “There are some cases where an employer can legally dismiss an employee based on their foreign accent…an employer can require their employees to speak fluent English if it is a skill that is necessary to do the job effectively” (Wishnia). These instances where it is allowable for employers to dismiss employees because of accent, are a potential issue for prejudice hirers who can claim accent as a deterrent when, in reality, it is a person’s race or background that they are discriminating against.
The only way to combat the issue of language discrimination is exposure and acceptance.
The more that people, especially younger generations, are exposed to different accents, sounds and languages, the more accepting we, as a society will become in regard to each individual’s way-of-speaking. Starting from a younger age means that children can expand their soundhouses, learning to understand sounds that come from languages other than English. Not to mention the social and cognitive benefits of learning multiple languages at an early age can only be a positive factor in one’s future. Increasing diversity in language promotes acceptance of others’ accents and thus creates a more peaceful community. Acceptance of each other’s differences, language-related or otherwise, should be our main goal in order to promote a healthier and happier future. Once we learn to accept and embrace the uniqueness of each individual, we will then be able to be able to socially progress as humans.
Works Cited:
“Accent Discrimination and the Harmful Effects.” IvyPanda, 14 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/accent-discrimination-and-the-harmful-effects/.
Bhatia, Tej. “Accent, Intelligibility, Mental Health, and Trauma – Wiley Online Library.” Accent, Intelligibility, Mental Health, and Trauma, Wiley Online Library, 8 Oct. 2018, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/weng.12329.
Cerrato, Laura. “Accent Discrimination in the US: A Hindrance to Your Employment and …” Metropolia, 27 Apr. 2017, https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/129361/Cerrato_Laura.pdf?sequence=1.
Derwing, Tracey M., et al. “L2 Accent and Ethics: Issues That Merit Attention.” SpringerLink, Springer Netherlands, 1 Jan. 1970, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-8869-4_5.
De Souza, Luana, et al. “The Legitimizing Role of Accent on Discrimination against Immigrants.” Wiley Online Library, 1 July 2016, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2216.
Gadoua, Renée K. “Accent Discrimination: Invisible Source of Social Bias.” SU News, 25 Oct. 2018, https://news.syr.edu/blog/2018/10/25/accent-discrimination-invisible-source-of-social-bias/.
Lippi-Green, Rosina. “Language Subordination”. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the United States. Second ed., Routledge, 2012.
Markley, Dianne. “Regional Accent Discrimination in the Hiring Process: A Language …” ProQuest, University of North Texas ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2000, https://www.proquest.com/openview/aa1bb276e0d4d0b6fc0728f62b961750/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y.
Matsuda, Mary. “Voices of America: Accent, Antidiscrimination Law, and a Jurisprudence …” JSTOR, The Yale Law Journal Company, Inc., Mar. 1991, https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/796694.
Petrick, Joseph A. and John F. Quinn. “Emerging Strategic Human Resource Challenges in Managing Accent.” Radford University. Radford.edu, http://applyhrm.asp.radford.edu/1993/Volume4_Number2_Pages79-150/The%20Relationship%20between%20Students’%20grades%20and%20Their%20Evaluati.pdf.
Tan, Amy. “Mother tongue.” The Threepenny Review, 1990, pp. 7-8.
Timming, Andrew. “The Effect of Foreign Accent on Employability: A Study of the Aural …” Sage Journals, 1 Apr. 2016, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0950017016630260.
“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964#:~:text=Definitions.
Wishnia, Jaclyn. “What Is Accent Discrimination?” LegalMatch Law Library, LegalMatch, 21 July 2020, https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/accent-discrimination-lawyers.html.
Wood, Grace. “Guilty by Accent?” Equinox Publishing, Journal of Language and Discrimination, , 2019, https://api.equinoxpub.com/articles/fulltext/39918#:~:text=Research%20into%20urban%20housing%2C%20employment%2C%20education%20and%20public,against%20protected%20traits%20%28e.g.%20ethnicity%2C%20gender%2C%20religion%2C%20etc.%29.
Revision:
Everyone has an accent, and a person’s accent is judged by those that surround him/her. Different accents can be considered different variations of English. For example, English from the South sounds very different from New Yorker English, but English is a versatile language and its rules can be bent. The bias that surrounds certain accents is rooted in racism and discrimination. I strongly believe that accent discrimination plays negatively into our professional lives and that we, as individuals, are responsible for eliminating this bias.
Discrimination in business hiring practices of those who speak english with L2, English as a second language, accents is detrimental to the individual and is rooted in hatred and prejudice. Prejudice against accent is due to stereotypes. Quoted from one of the authors of the multilingual education textbook series, “…people’s reactions to accents are informed not just by aspects of the speech stream, but by attitudes and assumptions…naïve native listeners are confident that they can hear an Asian accent when they see an Asian face—even though the accent they are hearing is a mid-west American accent.” (Derwing). It is because of these assumptions that people will start to formulate stereotypes before even interacting with a multilanguage speaker. “A biased individual’s beliefs in regard to accent descrimination is regarded as the “standard language ideology”(Lippi-Green), preference for a homogeneous spoken language upheld by general institutions, like the education system, drawn from the spoken language of the upper middle class. Most stereotypes of minorities come from a contradictory culture to the upper middle class, as well. In addition the socio-psychological impacts that accent descrimination has on individuals is severe. The trauma of social exclusion and lack of empathy can drive individuals to feel the need to retaliate against the society that excluded them. Oftentimes, those who are not accustomed to or not fluent in English are harrassed and degraded because of their limitations. Those who do not feel that they can speak English well, or that they do not meet the standard, causes them to not want to communicate with fluent speakers who tend to label them as antisocial or shy. (Accent Discrimination). Policy falls short in efficency of its explination of discrimination’s relation to intelliegence and accent. Title VII included in the New Civil Rights Act of 1946 states that employers are not allowed to discriminate against employees or potential employees on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin”(Title VII). However it fails to mention accent as a term of which employees may not be discriminated against. This leaves the topic of accent up for debate, providing room for employers to reject potential employees from jobs. “The research suggests that discrimination based on accent is still widely accepted and continues to happen…Nguyen (1993) suggests testing spoken English in order to put all applicants on the same level and to match vacancies to the required level of spoken English. However, until Title VII (Government, 1964) is updated so that there is less room for interpretation, it will be difficult for employees to win cases against the employers” (Cerrato). Treatment of those who speak with L2 accents is harsh in the social aspect of everyday life, even when not getting hired in the cut throat business world. Daily life can be a struggle. Amy Tan, a novelist and first generation Chinese American writes about her own experiences with accent discrimination, “…the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her (her mother) seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her” (Tan). In her personal essay, Tan describes the maltreatment of people towards her mother because of her accent. Only prejudiced and biased individuals discriminate against immigrants with accents. “These results are the first experimental illustration of the hypothesis that accent triggers intergroup discrimination only among prejudiced individuals because they evaluate native accents as being qualitatively better than accents of immigrants, thereby legitimizing ingroup bias” (De Souza). In order to be successful in a business, managers will have to overcome stereotypes in regard to accent discrimination, especially for businesses on a global scale. “… US corporations are beginning to formulate accent descrimination policies to ensure legal compliance “(Petrick).
Some may argue that we have come a long way and that in today’s age, compared to the past few decades where segregation and discrimination was normalized, we are much better off. In some ways this is true. Diversity in the workplace has increased and many people from various backgrounds and accent-types are hired each day. The opposing side may also argue that accent discrimination is not common enough to be a prevalent issue. This way of thinking is completely false and could be extremely harmful. “Accents are deep-rooted in social group identity…accents have covert prestige within the communities in which they are spoken”(Bhatia). That being said, those who share the same, or similar accents are more likely to be accepted, and hired, because they share the same social group. This creates a glass ceiling effect within the hiring process, also known as the pervasive resistance to allow minorities into high ranks of management or positions of power in businesses.
With hundreds of different languages in the world and a constant influx of immigrants to the US, more people now, than ever, are learning, speaking and sharing multiple languages and this means many people are learning English as a second language (or third, or fourth). Yet, stereotypes still seem to linger when immigrants with L2 accents look for work. “…accent triggers intergroup discrimination only among prejudiced individuals because they evaluate native accents as being qualitatively better than accents of immigrants, thereby legitimizing ingroup bias” (De Souza). Although we are in a better place now than we were several decades ago, change is slow for those who face accent discrimination. In order to be successful in a business, managers will have to overcome stereotypes in regard to accent discrimination, especially for businesses on a global scale. U.S. courts will continue to receive cases related to accent descrimination. Federal policy will soon need to be activated and revised in order to maintain an effective working environment. Even though our Civil Rights Act extended policies of Title VII, outlawing descrimination on the basis of race/national origin, it never explicitly states accent as a term of the law in which employees are to be protected from employer bias. It is oftentimes that those who are being discriminated against are not even acknowledged, and people do not see a problem with the way that they are treated. This is a huge part of the issue that we face, acknowledgement. Furthermore, because of the fact that accent descrimination is not explicitly criminalized within our federal law, it can be worked around and used as a catalyst for other discriminatory practices. “There are some cases where an employer can legally dismiss an employee based on their foreign accent…an employer can require their employees to speak fluent English if it is a skill that is necessary to do the job effectively” (Wishnia). These instances where it is allowable for employers to dismiss employees because of accent, are a potential issue for prejudice hirers who can claim accent as a deterrent when, in reality, it is a person’s race or background that they are discriminating against.
The only way to combat the issue of language discrimination is exposure and acceptance.
In order to teach people, we could include more language courses in the classroom, starting from preschool or kindergarten, and finding ways to incorporate multi language and multi accent speakers in the teaching curriculum. The more that people, especially younger generations, are exposed to different accents, sounds and languages, the more accepting we, as a society will become in regard to each individual’s way-of-speaking. Starting from a younger age means that children can expand their sound houses, learning to understand sounds that come from languages other than English. Not to mention the social and cognitive benefits of learning multiple languages at an early age can only be a positive factor in one’s future. Increasing diversity in language promotes acceptance of others’ accents and thus creates a more peaceful community. Acceptance of each other’s differences, language-related or otherwise, should be our main goal in order to promote a healthier and happier future. Once we learn to accept and embrace the uniqueness of each individual, we will then be able to be able to socially progress as humans.
Abstract:
For our first assignment, our class was tasked with reading, analyzing and summarizing different pieces of literature about accent, language and discrimination in regard to the way people speak. We wrote an essay, the goal of which was to analyze the rhetorical elements of one of our readings. For this assignment, I chose Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue to analyze. My argument that growing up with immigrant parents that are not accustomed to traditional English is difficult because of generalizations and stereotypes by outsiders is supported by Tan’s rhetorical use of diction, oxymoron and a personal anecdote. My audience was indeed similar to Amy’s, speaking to those who go through these experiences firsthand such as immigrants, first generation, and all speakers of multiple languages. From this unit I furthered my learning of academic writing and practiced my rhetorical analysis and summary techniques. This writing broadened my views on language and the discrimination that people endure due to harmful preconceptions.
Cover Letter Reflection:
This assignment has had a positive effect on me and led me to gain a plethora of meaningful insights regarding language and biases. I have learned about the existence of a “double consciousness” for those who are taught how to code switch, utilizing different dictions of the English language in different settings. I have also learned the importance of rewriting this practice to include code meshing, interconnecting different accents of the English language and using them in professional, educational and daily life. In addition, I have learned that immigrant and black communities go through similar experiences when it comes to language and they face constant discrimination for the way that they speak English. Social barriers are created by ignorance and in order to overcome these issues, we, as a society, must educate ourselves on the topic and take time to understand others’ various accents and dictions. The context of the pieces that we have read in class have most impacted my learning experience. I have absorbed countless new pieces of information such as the history of English and its grammar, and how the English language is constantly changing in format, structure and its spoken standard. Even during Shakespearen times, grammar that could’ve been considered correct back then may be considered incorrect by a modern standard, however it is still used by people today. This assignment taught me how to revise for meaning and effective communication. Through our peer assessments, I asked many questions and left thorough commentary of my partner’s writing, which allowed me to gauge a deeper understanding of the meaning and exigence of her essay. I was also able to analyze and revise my own rough draft based on the questions and responses I gave my peers during review, allowing me to further my understanding of the text I chose, and expand upon my rhetorical analysis.
Rhetorical Analysis:
Amy Tan, the daughter of Chinese-immigrant parents is an accomplished writer and language lover. In her career, she has written twelve novels. In her piece, “Mother Tongue”, published in 1990, Amy asserts that being raised by ‘English as a second language’ speakers was a challenge for her and her family. Tan maintains that, although some immigrants, like her mother, are not accustomed to traditional English speaking, it does not mean that they are unknowledgeable or incompetent, but people will still treat them as less than.
She backs this claim using a number of rhetorical devices including diction, anecdotes and oxymorons. In this personal essay, Amy allows her readers to step into her shoes by providing real life experiences and stories of what it was like to grow up in an immigrant household.
In her writing, Amy uses diction to show readers how her mother developed a different form of English in order to communicate. She includes conversations between her and her mother in order to set an empathetic tone, showing how she relates to her mother and how Mrs. Tan’s diction plays a large role in how she is treated in society. This type of language, Amy explains, is more intimate and is referred to as “family talk” because she only uses it with those she is closest to. Her mothers way of speaking, although non-traditional, is perfectly natural for Amy. However, it is often that outsiders, people who are inexperienced or ignorant to alternate vocabulary, do not understand her diction and this creates language discrimination and social barriers for Amy’s mother. It became a frequent occurrence for Mrs. Tan to call her daughter if she were in a situation where people would not take her seriously because of her diction. In one of Tan’s anecdotes about her mother, Amy describes a scene where her mother is belittled for her English and not given fair treatment. Her mother was in the hospital after a benign brain tumor was found in her CAT scan. When she requested to see it, the hospital told her, without a smidge of sympathy, that they had lost it and she would have to make another appointment. Her mother told them that she would not leave until they talked to her daughter, and when they did, the hospital became apologetic and gave her “assurance[s] that the CAT scan would be found”. This anecdote displays the kind of mistreatment that non-traditional English speakers suffer on a day-to-day basis simply because people don’t want to take the time to understand them. In a similar scene, Tan uses an oxymoron to better convey the underlying message, that accents do not define one’s competence. Amy refers to an instance where her mother had a financial issue with her broker in New York because she wanted to retrieve her funds and her broker was already two weeks late with the payment. She says to Amy, “What he want, I come to New York tell him front of his boss, you cheating me? (p.420)” Mrs. Tan had Amy speak to the stockbroker over the phone, so he would take Mrs. Tan seriously, and she threatened to come to his office in order to retrieve her money. Mrs. Tan did exactly that and in her “impeccable broken English ”, she gave the broker a piece of her mind. Tan portrays the anger that her mother feels in this instance by the use of this oxymoron, allowing the audience to envision what it must have been like to exist in this scenario. Although her English is not standard, Mrs. Tan thoroughly understood the situation at hand and was able to get her point across very well. Through these rhetorical devices, Tan was able to convey her claim that her mother’s English was not indicative of her true intelligence. Unlike those who looked down upon or disregarded Mrs.Tan because of her way of speaking, Amy was able to gauge exactly what her mother needed to say and they created a special form of communication the two of them were comfortable with.
Tan hopes to convey to readers what it is like to grow up in a Chinese-American household and to explain the societal differences between her English, or ‘Mother Tongue’, and the standard English. Her goal is to eliminate biases for the Chinese community, as well as other immigrants, about their understanding of English. Because of the author’s emotional tone, it seems as though she writes for other first generation kids and those who are a part of the Chinese-American community. Amy’s intended audience includes those who have firsthand experiences like Amy’s, immigrants, children of immigrants, multi-language speakers and those who have experienced being discriminated against for the way they talk. Others who are most likely to be able to relate to her writing are those who support the topic of removing biases for those who have accents, or speak different varieties of English.
Works Cited:
‘“Mother Tongue” By Amy Tan.’ Researchomatic. 2012. https://www.researchomatic.com/mother-Tounge-By-Amy-Tan-112333.html.
Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” The Threepenny Review, 1990.
Revised Essay:
Amy Tan, the daughter of Chinese-immigrant parents is an accomplished writer and language lover. In her career, she has written twelve novels. In her piece, “Mother Tongue”, published in 1990, Amy asserts that being raised by ‘English as a second language’ speakers were a challenge for her and her family. Tan maintains that, although some immigrants, like her mother, are not accustomed to traditional English speaking, it does not mean that they are unknowledgeable or incompetent, but people will still treat them as less than. She backs this claim using a number of rhetorical devices including diction, anecdotes and oxymorons. In this personal essay, Amy allows her readers to step into her shoes by providing real life experiences and stories of what it was like to grow up in an immigrant household.
In her writing, Amy uses diction to show readers how her mother developed a different form of English in order to communicate. She includes conversations between her and her mother in order to set an empathetic tone, giving the audience a relationship that they can identify with and showing how she relates to her mother and how Mrs. Tan’s diction plays a large role in how she is treated in society. This type of language, Amy explains, is more intimate and is referred to as “family talk” because she only uses it with those, she is closest to. Her mother’s way of speaking, although non-traditional, is perfectly natural for Amy. However, it is often that outsiders, people who are inexperienced or ignorant to alternate vocabulary, do not understand her diction and this creates language discrimination and social barriers for Amy’s mother. It became a frequent occurrence for Mrs. Tan to call her daughter if she were in a situation where people would not take her seriously because of her diction. In one of Tan’s anecdotes about her mother, Amy describes a scene where her mother is belittled for her English and not given fair treatment. Her mother was in the hospital after a benign brain tumor was found in her CAT scan. When she requested to see it, the hospital told her, without a smidge of sympathy, that they had lost it and she would have to make another appointment. Her mother told them that she would not leave until they talked to her daughter, and when they did, the hospital became apologetic and gave to Amy, “What he want, I come to New York tell him front of his boss, you cheating me? (p.420)” Mrs. Tan had Amy speak to the stockbroker over the phone, so he would take Mrs. Tan seriously, and she threatened to come to his office in order to retrieve her money. Mrs. Tan did exactly that and in her “impeccable broken English ”, she gave the broker a piece of her mind. Tan portrays the anger that her mother feels in this instance by the use of this oxymoron, allowing the audience to envision what it must have been like to exist in this scenario. She wants the audience to understand the struggle of watching your own mother be ridiculed because of something that she could not control. Although her English is not standard, Mrs. Tan thoroughly understood the situation at hand and was able to get her point across very well. Through these rhetorical devices, Tan was able to convey her claim that her mother’s English gave her “assurance[s] that the CAT scan would be found”. This anecdote displays the kind of mistreatment that non-traditional English speakers suffer on a day-to-day basis simply because people don’t want to take the time to understand them. The stockbroker undermined Mrs. Tan’s intelligence simply because her dialect was not similar to his own. It is because of unfair stereotypes that this occurrence is so constant in the lives of immigrants. In a similar scene, Tan uses an oxymoron to better convey the underlying message, that accents do not define one’s competence. Amy refers to an instance where her mother had a financial issue with her broker in New York because she wanted to retrieve her funds and her broker was already two weeks late with the payment. She says it was not indicative of her true intelligence. Unlike those who looked down upon or disregarded Mrs. Tan because of her way of speaking, Amy was able to gauge exactly what her mother needed to say, and they created a special form of communication the two of them were comfortable with. She is telling us this because it is a relatable factor for other first generation and immigrant children, to have a more intimate language that you share with your family that incorporates a different dialect or multiple languages in order to adapt to the changing linguistics within the family unit.
Tan hopes to convey to readers what it is like to grow up in a Chinese American household and to explain the societal differences between her English, or ‘Mother Tongue’, and the standard English. Her goal is to eliminate biases for the Chinese community, as well as other immigrants, about their understanding of English. Because of the author’s emotional tone, it seems as though she writes for other first-generation kids and those who are a part of the Chinese American community. Amy’s intended audience includes those who have firsthand experiences like Amy’s, immigrants, children of immigrants, multi-language speakers and those who have experienced being discriminated against for the way they talk. Others who are most likely to be able to relate to her writing are those who support the topic of removing biases for those who have accents or speak different varieties of English.
