Page 18 - My Mom Speaks Broken English: My Lingustic Identity; Language and Literacy Project, UWRT 1103
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linguistic identities. Even from the title of this story collection
itself, “My Mom Speaks Broken English”, the goal is to boldly
display the types of negative associations held with aspects of
my cultural identity. To me, terms such as “broken English”
does not hold this same negative connotation; instead, these are
important aspects of my culture and my communication pattern.
My primary pride in my project comes from the fact that I
could portray a theme that I find extremely central to my
character and hold in very high regard. I am proud that I could
challenge myself and use my personal experiences to enhance
the quality and significance of this project, making it more
worthwhile. If I were to teach someone about writing, based off
of my experiences while completing this project, I would make
sure to relay the importance of finding a way to internalize a
prompt. Whether writing is a given assignment or a voluntary
pastime, there are ways to make the subject or mode by which
one writes is more meaningful and, therefore, greater
appreciated. Making a piece of writing personal and individual,
makes the process of writing much more manageable, while also
improving the quality of the final produce.
If I had had even more time for this project, one aspect that I
would like to particularly enhance would be the opportunity for
additional perspective. My parents are central to my current
linguistic identity and I would have wished that I could have
even better included their narrative. To some extent, I like the
fact that this project was extremely personal. Even so, I would
have liked to have found a way to incorporate the voices that
influenced me.
My choice of a storybook for this project was the product of
extensive thought and consideration. As I considered the
various events that led to my literacy, I could think about the
individual stories themselves and the end product of my
linguistic identity. I decided that these narratives were
important snapshots into my personal development, providing
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