Language And Identity Essay. There are many ways in which we identify ourselves, both on an individual and societal level. From our appearances, to our ideals, there are many things that make up who we are; yet none are as powerful as our language Jul 14, · Major Paper 1: Personal Essay on Language and Identity Language partially defines identity, it only defines identity to a certain degree, one’s actions and life choices could also define identity to some extent. I think this is an arguable claim because, truly, language and the way we speak does define us partially at least Mar 06, · Essay type Research. Words. (3 pages) Views. There is no doubt that language plays a very important role in human identity, and. linguistic factors and semantics denote how exactly an individual is able to communicate using his chosen language. As a matter of fact, today social scientists are intent on analyzing linguistic data, so that they may be able to study human Estimated Reading Time: 6 mins
Language And Identity Essay - Words | Cram
Language refers to the means of expression that people use for communication. Hence, language is an important tool of communication. However, language may also be associated with the identity of an individual.
People are distinctively different from each other. People may use language to portray their differences or similarities. Therefore, language asserts the identity of an individual.
A certain language may help in uniting people who belong to a certain social group. There is a close relationship between language and identity.
Every individual has a certain identity. However, the identity of an individual is not static. It is dependent on the occasion, purpose, and context. People in new geographical locations may redefine their identities to conform to their context. Language helps in determining the identity of an individual.
Language may identify an individual with a certain social status, race, nationality, or gender. People who identify themselves with a certain group usually use a common language, language and identity essay.
In the family setting, people communicate using a certain language. Using this language to communicate with family members may elicit feelings of endearment language and identity essay consciously or unconsciously. Therefore, use of the language gives them a sense of belonging. In addition, the national language of a country gives residents of the country a national identity.
Therefore, language is the unifying factor that helps in determining the identity of a certain group of people, language and identity essay. There is a close relationship between language and gender identity. Gender variation in speech is common in various societies. In the contemporary world, women and men communicate using different forms of language. Differences in the social status of men and women are the main factors that contribute to the difference in speech. Social issues language and identity essay power and subordination between men and women usually lead to language and identity essay in speech between the two genders.
Most societies require women to more polite speech than men. The society usually sanctions the use of profanity or obscenity by women. In such societies, women have a subordinate role and their social freedom is less than that of men. In addition, women may have greater insecurity, uncertainty, and lack of confidence Edwards Therefore, one may use language to determine the social freedom of a society.
There is a very strong relationship between language and racial or ethnic identity. The history of individuals determines their language. Therefore, language and identity essay, people who have a similar racial background may use similar language for communication.
The mother tongue is one of the aspects of racial identity that one acquires by virtue of birth. Racial identity may be critical in the early life of an individual as it gives an individual a sense of belonging. In most homes, people use a certain language to communicate with their family members.
This makes people who use the language to consciously or unconsciously associate use of the language with a sense of endearment. The language is distinctively different from the public language.
Hispanics who live in America may associate Spanish with racial identity. Therefore, they may use English to communicate in public, but address their close friends and family members using Spanish. Spanish enables them to express their feelings in ways that are extremely difficult in English Kirszner and Mandell Speaking in a certain language creates a sense of belonging to people who communicate using the language.
In some instances, the use of a certain language among the social minority may create social isolation. People may not be able to have good relations with people who do not speak their native language. Language and identity essay addition, they may be unable to express their feelings clearly using the language commonly used by the public.
Even in societies that speak one language, people use a certain language when communicating with their friends or close family members. The language enables them to express their feelings clearly. Aria by Richard Rodriguez highlights how language may be a source of racial identity. The author narrates how Spanish affected his early life. When Rodriguez was young, Spanish was the only language that members of his family used to communicate language and identity essay at home.
This is despite the fact that they lived in California where English was the public language. Using Spanish created a sense of endearment among the family members. It made them feel relaxed and welcomed at home. Communicating using Spanish was both advantageous and disadvantageous to the family. It strengthened the family ties and gave the members of the language and identity essay a sense of belonging.
However, it led to social isolation of the family, language and identity essay. Rodriguez family members could only socialize with their relatives who also communicated using Spanish. Communicating using Spanish had a negative effect on the learning abilities of Rodriguez and his siblings. This led to significant improvement in the social life of members of the family. However, after speaking in English for long time, Rodriguez forgot how to speak Spanish properly.
This elicited taunts from various relatives who referred to him as pocho — someone who had lost his identity Rodriguez Therefore, according to the relatives, the ability to communicate in Spanish was an integral part of their identity.
Aria highlights the importance of language in racial identity. In fact, even after the integration of Rodriguez into the American society, he still had feelings of nostalgia when he heard someone speaking Spanish in the streets. This shows that Rodriguez still associated Spanish with his racial identity. It is easy to detect the social status of people from their speech. The education level is one of the major factors that affect the language of individuals.
People who belong to high social classes are more likely to receive quality education, language and identity essay, therefore, enabling people from high social classes to use proper language while communicating. People from different social backgrounds usually have different dialects. Therefore, grammatical differences can help in determining their social backgrounds. In addition, people from different social classes usually have phonological and phonetic differences.
Therefore, people from different social status may have different accents. In the nineteenth century, language and identity essay, slavery was a common activity in America. Slaves belonged to the lowest social class in the society. Their masters strived to ensure that they maintain the status quo.
Therefore, it was wrong for slaves to learn how to read and write. The ability to read and write would have increased the intellectual capabilities of the slaves. Therefore, inability to read and write condemned the slaves to eternal slavery.
Language created a social barrier between the slaves and their masters Douglass All contemporary societies have social stratifications. Social stratification refers to the order language and identity essay hierarchy of social classes in a society. The social distance between two groups determines how the language in the social groups affects each other. A change in language in the higher social class would have minimal effect on the language in the lower social groups. In fact, it may not even affect the language in the lower social groups.
Social groups that have a small social distance may use almost identical languages. Language helps in improving communication between two parties. However, the effectiveness of communication depends on the ability of both parties to understand the language.
Therefore, language may either facilitate or impair communication between two parties. People should be able to decipher the meaning of various words in a certain language.
Failure to understand the language effectively may make an individual have the wrong understanding of the message, language and identity essay. This is because certain words may have different meanings in different contexts.
Therefore, it is vital for the individual speaking to take into consideration ability of the listeners to understand the information Tan Language has two main functions.
It helps in communication and gives a group of people a sense of identity and pride. People usually identify themselves with a certain language. Various groups of people use a certain jargon that is only comprehensible to people within the group. Language may show the social status, gender, and race of an individual. People who belong to different social status usually use different languages. In addition, language and identity essay, different genders use different language vocabularies.
Language \u0026 Identity
, time: 12:03Identity and Language - Words | Essay Example
Language And Identity Essay. There are many ways in which we identify ourselves, both on an individual and societal level. From our appearances, to our ideals, there are many things that make up who we are; yet none are as powerful as our language Language is a important element of culture and culture is known to be crucial definer of one's identity. Language connects people to a certain identity and allows them to communicate their ideas and values to themselves and the world In other words language is important as it allows people to express their thoughts as well as beliefs. Language does not necessarily define one's identity and identity does Jul 14, · Major Paper 1: Personal Essay on Language and Identity Language partially defines identity, it only defines identity to a certain degree, one’s actions and life choices could also define identity to some extent. I think this is an arguable claim because, truly, language and the way we speak does define us partially at least
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