yanjun revision

7/30/2019 Yanjun Revision

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Yanjun Cai

Prof. Jan Rieman

ENGL 1101-119

Nov 5, 2012

Students Right to Their Own Language Assignment

Section 1. Overall statement on Students Right to Their Own Language (hard to describe it

comprehensively, I am still considering it You can omit it)

Section 2.

In my point of view, students have the right to preserve the way they speaking and writing

and it is needless to force each student to follow the standard performance. Dialect is the form

of a language that is spoken in one area with grammar, words, and pronunciation that may be

different from other forms of the same language. People speak naturally following the way

they grown up, which contains abundant cultural background. Students using their own dialect

can manifest more creatively and animatedly, for they are acquainted with the dialect as to

express themselves authentically.

My following instance maybe not so appropriate but it still makes sense to some extent.

Although Chinese-style English is not the English dialect strictly, plenty of English learners in

China are hooked on it. To the non-native speaker, English is totally unaccustomed family of

language and these learners lack the cultural background and atmosphere to deeply comprehend

its usage. On some occasions, people communicate with others in English applying simple


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translations, regardless of the natural fluency and coherence in English expression. Or you may

observe my translation in this article during your reading as well as some tricky sentences,

although I make an effort to convey my ideas and concepts to the audiences. There is no

wonder that people who dont really integrate with English language commit errors or mistakes

here and there. Hence, their inner sentiment and emotion can be obscure for readers.

Situation is quite equivalent when students are required to express themselves in Standard

English rather than their own language and the words fail to convey the indeed meaning. What

genuinely attract us are students clear, forceful and vigorous thoughts, which weights much

more than monotonous and dry statement with careful and finicky correctness in standard

landmark. Since speaking and writing are two closely related but separated part, teachers

should emphasis on the academic requirements and occupational functions to students. We

value students thoughtful writing with the expectation that they can become proficient in Edit

American English under required circumstance. As a result, teachers should lead student to be

confident about their own language to voice their emotions. Furthermore, students should treat

Standard English Writing as a competence, at least for their sake that most employers are still

convinced employee who has a mastery of standard writing format can adapt to the companies

demands effortlessly. Because the way of speaking does influence the way of writing, even

though students can speak in various dialect, we need to take Edit American English writing

seriously to distinguish the formal writing with casual one in order to catering for employability.

There is no definitely right or wrong usage among certain language; neither one dialect is


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prior to others. Though dictionary guides the meaning of words and phrases, it just provides the

most acceptable and prevalent usage, which may twists as time goes by, and we dont necessarily

adhere to the presented subjects. We need standard speaking and writing on certain occasions

to perform formally, such as commercial negotiations and academic conferences. However in

daily life, language ought to be diversified, which can take in a variety of elements to embody it.

I suppose language as a pool demanding flowing water to refresh its contents; otherwise it

gradually becomes a slough filled with dead water and cannot circulate anymore, and finally dies

out.

Section 3.

Mandarin Chinese is the standard form of Chinese, which is the official language of China.

However, in Xiamen, Fujian province where I grown up, people have their own dialect named

Min Nan Yu (Hokkien, to which Taiwanese Mandarin is similar). There is no cacuminal

(retroflex pronunciation) in Hokkien compared with Mandarin Chinese, and the pronunciation is

totally different from Mandarin Chinese. Because there were mountains and hills among the

district, which contributed to inconvenient transportation and communication, Hokkien

preserved some pronunciation in ancient Chinese and it is still prevailing among southeast of

Fujian Province including Xiamen. Hokkien is widespread in Southeast Asia as well, and when

we communicate with Hokkien, a sense of warmth and sincerity come to mind. People enjoy

making fun each other using homophone between Hokkien and Mandarin Chinese, which can

convert amusing meaning between these two dialects.


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Nevertheless, I presume that Hokkien is not so appreciate in provinces people have the

comparatively standard Mandarin Chinese. Sometimes people are mocking our Hokkien accent,

or the situations people cannot enunciate words clearly and correctly, which sounds funny to

them standard Mandarin speakers. In fact, Chinas vast territory and large population make

people have different dialects, which I believe we should be proud of the diversity of Chinese.

Children acquire language competence through initial communication with their family members,

and families also possess competence in their dialects from the last generation and environment.

Consequently, one certain dialect is shaped and carved by cultural background and ethnic values

in the tide of history.

There is no doubt that dialect is an essential part of our national heritage that we should

respect it rather than deprive it. I still remember that the period during my first two years of my

elementary school, the government in Xiamen made a decision to popularize Mandarin Chinese

and Hokkien was forbidden in schools. As a result, it was rare for pupils to chat with Hokkien.

Some insisted on the dialect by the influence of family, others gradually get used to speaking

Mandarin Chinese but still have accent to a certain extent. Situations took a favorable turn

when I was in high school that there were some scholar appealed peoples attention to the lost

Hokkien and advocated courses especially set up for Hokkien. It was fortunate enough that the

public attaches great importance to Hokkien again, although we have wasted several years and

most of the 90s generations missed our dialect, which could be a cultural fault in our heritage.

People have different dialects, or just different accents influenced by dialect should not be


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looked down on, for others are not in dominant position. I expect that even different languages

can share some common points; a variety of dialects certainly can convey peoples conceptions

without obstructing comprehension. In order to have better development for the diversity of

dialects, people as listener should be more open-minded to accept different dialects, and people

as speaker should preserve their own dialects as well as get accustomed to universal language for

better communications with other groups. Take myself as instance, I changed my accent and

tried to imitate the Mandarin Chinese during my first two years in university and eventually my

friends could hardly distinguish my accent with Hokkien. Meanwhile, I was learning Hokkien

from my parents conscientiously, which I would like to practice during my staying at home.

The reason is that I am in need of both Mandarin Chinese and Hokkien to communicate with

various people. Whats more, I prefer to regard Hokkien as another language that load my

memory and sentiment, based on which I believe some people share similar situations with me.

Therefore, we ought to respect and appreciate others dialects.

Section 4.

English is the most prevalent language all over the world and now English Mania is

sweeping across the globe. Under this circumstance, people need to change their stereotype and

eliminate the bias on dialects because of the worldwide transmission of English. Students

mother tongue can influence the process of learning English as second or third language. If

teachers and students as native English speakers show their understanding and sympathy for

these foreign learners, and they are willing to help learners adapt to English atmosphere,


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meanwhile learners are working on authentic English, English itself will be in perfect harmony

continuously. Look back upon my experience as an English learner, my teacher, peers and

home-stay family always do me a favor to be a fluent speaker. Thanks to their patience and

instructions, I am now gradually getting accustomed to flow my English. In the contrast, if

people are so mean to these language learners and hypercritical to their dialects, learners will

sense huge pressure and they might need more confidence to overcome their wrong usage,

which is not so significant among communications.

While students have their rights on their own language, we must attach the importance to

Edited American English, no matter what the language students are familiar with. Edited

American English is deemed as a formal way to perform English and it should be emphasis to

students intending to the fields requiring it. In universities, undergraduates are expected to

explore and experience as much as possible. They read common researching articles and

they cooperate papers and receive feedbacks from their instructors and peers. Based on

others feedback, they are encouraged to craft their ideas and keep on writing. As for graduate

students, they are not able to summary the papers, but also they put on their own thoughts and

conclude their opinions. It is obvious that a graduate student need to be a critical reader as well

as a rigorous writer, so that your research can be explicit expressed and give a clear statement to

your readers. Through these systematic procedures, students ought to meet the requirement of

academic performance. Concerning the occupation, however, employers perspective cannot be

altered instantly, so students should be responsible for their performance in writing. Theyd


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better be competent to complete formal correspondence and invitation, or conference summary.

On the other hand, teachers should stimulate students to convert their minds to be more tolerant

and broad-minded to the variety of dialects. Todays students willbe tomorrows employer, by

whom the circumstance can be changed.

Yanjun,

I really enjoyed reading your paper! It is full of personal experiences and great ideas! I

gave you a few ideas that I thought you could incorporate into your paper. I would like to

see your statement so that I can see your stance on this subject. Are you for students

dialect or Standard American English? Or both? The first paragraph of your paper could

work as your statement. Overall your paper hits all the points and I think it shoud deserve

an A+ !!!

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