The Importance Of Language, Culture, And Identity

The language is defined as “human communication through the use of spoken or written words,” but that definition must include that language is also a cultural identity – “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”. In other words, the language provides information about your roots; it is one of the most valuable resources to communicate with your mother culture.

Part One, Language and Identity, includes personal essays that explore the struggles of two individuals with issues of identity connected to the languages they were raised to

Though it does not come up in everyday thought, cultural identity is an idea that all humans possess. Abridged, cultural identity can be simply explained as the sharing of a similar culture by people of various ethnicities. However, cultural identity is more complex than that, defined by an individual’s values, beliefs, and ideas of moral behavior influenced by their culture. Furthermore, cultural identity is ever changing from individual to individual. This means that although two individuals may be of the same ethnicity, differences in circumstances may cause variations between the individuals’ personal beliefs. As a result of interracial interactions, multiculturalism has grown during the twenty-first century.

There’s various things that describes everyone, but there’s only a few things that make each and every one of us unique, which is, our cultural background. As far as cultural background, it defines the individual’s upbringing. The cultural background includes ones religion, race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, linguistic and values. These values can be shaped by family, friends, society, or authoritative level. This paper is a great way for one to define my identity or at least understand who I am.

In Amy Tan’s essay, Mother Tongue, she reflects how her mother’s language did not define who she was by stating “She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine's books with ease--all kinds of things I can't begin to understand. Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says” (207). Amy Tan's mother spoke bad English, but that didn’t undermine her knowledge. Although culture and identity are linked with a strong sense of pride, identity has a different branch in which expands more to a person such as their knowledge. The way someone dresses or the way they present themselves in general. Identity is a special trait or traits about you that no one else possesses, this is a prime example as to why language cannot be tied to identity. The two contrasts one another strongly because language is not something only one person possesses whereas someone’s style, for an example, can be duplicated, but not mastered. Identity is what makes a person who they are regarding all aspects of their

Language has been an integral part of human existence since the dawn of time. Our innate ability to communicate has guided the progress of civilization since its modest beginnings and facilitates our understanding of what it means to be human. The only practical way to thoroughly express one’s identity is through language, whether it be verbal speech or written text. It is only through this medium that we are able to fulfill our roles as a social people, who use discourse to cultivate relationships both on a personal and communal level. Language defines the human notion of self by revealing culture and beliefs, making individuality context-specific, and providing identity markers.

There is a Mexican man that enters with the rest of his family. They eat beans, rice, flour tortillas and etc. The family does there every day routine, the dad wakes up at six- thirty to go to work in his truck. The children go to school and the mother stays at home. The things a person does in their all has a reason which goes all back to culture. Culture is what makes up everyone different from one another. Texts such as “What is Cultural Identity?”, “Where Worlds Collide” and “Two ways to Belong” supports that depending on one’s culture it effects one perspective on the world and others.

Unconsciously, we all speak different languages; we categorize the way we speak by the environment and people at which we are speaking too. Whenever a character enters an unfamiliar environment, they experiment with language to find themselves and understand reality. For immigrants, language is a means to retain one’s identity; however, as they become more assimilated in their new communities their language no longer reflects that of their identity but of their new cultural surroundings. When an immigrant, immigrates to a new country they become marginalized, they’re alienated from common cultural practices, social ritual, and scripted behavior. It’s not without intercultural communication and negotiation

Cultural Identity is “The definition of groups or individuals (by themselves or others) in terms of cultural or subcultural categories (including ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, and gender)” (Oxford Reference). Everyone has cultural identity even though some are unaware of theirs because their habits and traditions might be seen as normal to the person and they might not make the connection that it is a cultural tradition or connected to their cultural identity. Some people are very aware of their cultural identity and have conflict within their identity because the cultures may not coincide. Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait: On the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States and Pat Mora’s “Legal Alien” both show cultural conflict through symbolism, conflict, and purpose.

By welcoming the diverse languages and religions of the world, America is considered a melting pot of both cultural and ethnic identities. In the essay about bilingualism “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa she writes, “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity - I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself” (172). Anzaldúa believes that her ethnicity and language are what make her who she is. Therefore, by insulting her language, she is insulted as well. Her identity is “twin skin” with how she speaks. Linguistic identity is the ability for a person to speak freely in any language and ultimately their identity is shown through shared language. The things that define a person are their actions, their behavior, the way they walk, and the way they talk. A person’s culture has a heavy influence on their identity throughout their lives. To disrespect an important part of their culture, their language, is to disrespect the person on an extremely interpersonal level. The person would be, therefore, discouraged from speaking their native language. Anzaldúa shows that her language constitutes who she is; it binds her to the existence of her identity therefore a person’s language defines his/her identity.

The person’s identity reflects his culture and from where he belongs. People who migrate from their homeland to a foreign country struggled between native and foreign language. One has to become multilingual due to the demand of society to be able to communicate. In James Baldwin, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” And Amy Tan’s, “Mother Tongue” both authors experience struggle of language role and being bilingual in order to adjust in different societies. Leaving native language and being bilingual affects one’s public identity, personal life and inequality.

I have chosen the video on food, Would You Eat It? 10 Weird Foods We Dare You To Try, to make connections between cultural norms, language, and personal identity. There are many cultural norms and values presented in the video, and it is interesting to be able to compare them to my cultural norms and values. Culture is what makes everyone different. Through enculturation we learn our norms and values through this process at a very young age. With culture, we have comfort and meaning for life. There are many cultures around the world have very different norms and values, as seen within this YouTube video. When the video first started I was caught off guard when I heard “10 most disgusting delicacies in the world” (TheRichest, 2015). It was shocking to hear the word disgusting, because everyone in the world has different taste buds and enjoys different things that others do not. Something disgusting may be delicious to another culture. Since we are grown up eating certain foods, we are accustomed to that taste and style, so cultures are use to their traditions and style of eating. Through out the video we hear ten disgusting foods that are from all over the world. There are so many cultures across the world and it was interesting to see so many and their norms and values they grew up with. The delicacies seen in the video are sometimes beliefs and symbols for cultures. They are norms, which are normal for them, and may come across strange to other cultures, but are meaningful

In this world, there are many different countries speaking their own individual languages. People can identify from each other’s language of who they are and where they are from. The language I speak shows my identity, culture and this is who I am and where I originally come from. However, my culture can be lost when immigrating to the most diverse cultural country which is the United States. The reason is because I obligated to learn a new language to adapt into the new society.

Language and identity are two things that are very closely related. In the excerpt of “How to Tame a wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, the author does an excellent job of explaining how identity and language blend right together. By hearing someone speak their language one could determine a person’s cultural values and their identity. In the excerpt Anzaldua says, “For a people who cannot entirely identify with either standard Spanish or English, what recourse is left to them but to create their own language?” By this quote, author is trying to show that it is very important for a person to connect with their language because the way someone speaks a language will reflect their identity and their value in a society.

In most case, identity is shaped by culture. Since culture is a set of ideals life practices, routines and attitudes set up by a certain community hence culture plays a major role in shaping the identity of an individual. An individual’s character and attributes can be because of their background. This is due to the set up that one has grown up (Dumas 19). People tend to learn more about their culture, and as they grow up it becomes part of them. They embrace the culture’s beliefs and tend to do things following the set routines. The aspect of following the set routine and beliefs play a significant part in shaping the identity of an individual.