Language Discrimination and Cultural Impact: An Analytical Essay

This essay examines how discrimination arises from differences in spoken English, including accent, tone, and grammar, often stemming from cultural and social environments. It analyzes four articles highlighting instances of language-based discrimination, where the use of Standard English is used as a benchmark, leading to social and legal injustices against various ethnicities. The essay references cases involving an aboriginal woman, a Marathi librarian, and Amy Tan's personal experiences with her mother's 'broken English,' illustrating how language-oriented discrimination can result in loss of self-respect, dignity, and even liberty. It concludes that societal and media influences contribute to the mandatory expectation of Standard English, perpetuating discrimination against those whose native tongue differs.

Analytical Reading and Writing 1
Running Head: ANALYTICAL READING AND WRITING
Analytical Reading and Writing

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Analytical Reading and Writing
The four articles selected highlight discrimination or people based on use of spoken
English language, which differs from Standard English. Such differences usually arise from
cultural and ethnic differences. The thesis in the context of the literatures is: The ideology of
using Standard English language as a benchmark for communication puts different ethnicities
under social and legal discrimination.
The article by Amy Tan shows the way she has grown up amongst different kinds of
English and all that mattered was being perceived rightly. She talks of her mother’s ‘broken
English’ which made her feel ashamed for some time. Language spoken in immigrant families
shapes the child’s development of language to great extent. The second article by Hedley
Thomas highlights the case of an aboriginal woman who lost the case and suffered sentence of
life imprisonment for the sake of her aboriginal communication failed to be interpreted properly
by the lawyers. The third article ‘LEGAL RECOGNITION OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN
COMMUNICATION: THE CASE OF ROBYN KINA’ by Eades (1996) is similar to the one by
Thomas (2006) in the sense that aboriginal communication tends to be misinterpreted and the
subject is victimized therefore. The fourth article by Lippi-Green talks of a controversial case of
a Marathi woman who was removed from the job due to improper or lack of standard accent
despite having the ideal skills of a librarian.
Despite having the rules against discrimination in place, language has repeated instances
of bringing about discrimination against those whose mother tongue is not English. The article
published in The Australian is on a single case which reflects the perils of many such aboriginal
offenders of the law. The chapter analyzing the cases did an insightful work on where and how
the language of communication mismatched with the lawyers and why the woman sentenced to

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life imprisonment managed to reveal effectively to the journalists about what she did for self
defense. The fourth article was on a Marathi woman’s job loss. Here the lady is well educated
and skilled but still she lost her job. This is not a case of imprisonment but a matter of dignity
and self-respect. Also despite the Civil Rights Act against discrimination she failed to get justice.
The article by Amy Tan (2013) and Lippi-Green (1994) are not on criminal cases but they
highlight other aspects of language oriented discrimination which arouses loss of self-respect
within the victims.
Lippi-Green (1994) in her article criticizes the media and the social and corporate
structure of America and blames the discrimination these aspects. Basically the way these are
structured can influence the society’s perception about language, accent and tone of speaking
English. Tan talks about different types of Englishes one among which is family English and that
need not be grammatically correct always. The basic idea is about expression and perception. So
she feels bad in calling her mother’s language as broken English as if it is something to be
repaired. She wants to point out that her mother spoke spontaneously and was quite expressive.
The only point is that she did not follow the rules of Standard English.
In conclusion therefore the articles illustrate the fact that discrimination arises due to
differences in spoken English language in terms of accent, tone and grammar. The differences
usually originated from one’s culture and the social environment h or she was subjected to since
childhood. The society and media and a touch of corporate culture has made it seemingly
mandatory to speak Standard English in order to be accepted and understood. Sometimes people
lost self-esteem or dignity while at times such discrimination cost them the value of their lives.

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References
Eades, D. (1996). LEGAL RECOGNITION OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN
COMMUNICATION: THE CASE OF ROBYN KINA, Language & Communication 16
(3), pp. 215-227
Lippi-Green, R. (1994). Accent, Standard Language Ideology, and Discriminatory Pretext in the
Courts, Language in Society 23( 2): 163-198
Tan, A. (2013). ‘Mother Tongue’, Retrieved from:
http://theessayexperiencefall2013.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2013/09/Mother-Tongue-by-
Amy-Tan.pdf
Thomas, H. (2006). Failure of justice system that feels all too familiar, The Australian, Retrieved
from: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/failure-of-justice-systemthat-feels-all-
too-familiar/story-e6frg6nf-1111112697062