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Eldy Bellacetin

Professor Holly Batty

English 28

14 December 2017

Cascading Effect : How Languages Affects the Identity

Throughout childhood I was brought up in a Spanish speaking household and learned

English at school ,so everyone in my family always asked me to translate for them. This situation

has made me realize how often people take languages for granted. Most people talk to their

families, friends, and coworkers without even thinking about the language they used. Imagine the

lonesome feeling of not being able to communicate with anyone in a foreign country. Languages

contain a codex of permissible expressions and cultural values rooted within them. These values

innocuously impact every speaker ,and they affect an individual's perspective and mannerism.

Although most people think speaking a language is just a way to communicate, languages are

actually a big part of ones identity because they impact the interactions we have with our

people, our culture, and our society.

The interactions we have with our people are influenced by how proficient we are in

speaking different languages. It has become common today to dismiss speaking multiple

languages in the United States. When it comes to the topic of popular spoken languages, most of

us will agree that English is the leading one. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on

the question of retaining the original native tongue. Whereas some are convinced that English

should be the dominant language, others maintain the importance of strengthening the native

tongue as well. As doctor Claudio O. Topppleburg discusses the positive effects of using our

native tongue. Toppleburg himself states, The development of childrens home langues may
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associate with strengthening of family cohesion and intimacy, parental authority and

transmission of cultural norms, all of which can lead to healthy adjustment and a strong

identification and internalization of the social values of the family (Toppleburg, Collins). In

other words, Toppleburg believes that not only should we speak the native language we should

strengthen it. This is important because it affects multilingual speakers, and parents who cannot

speak to their children in their native tongue. As an example, most Latin American childrens

school lives they are only taught English, and their Spanish is forgotten. Toppleburgs study

proves to be true because the most common way anyone interacts with each other is speaking the

same language. If the children can not communicate with their parents and relatives they lose

touch with various important aspects of their lives. Not only do our interactions with people

impact our identity through language, but also our culture.

Culture is an important part of our lives and it is influenced by the languages that we

speak. We will continue using Spanish as an example because Latin Americans are affected by

this dilemma in the United States. Spanish has a particular separation between masculine and

feminine words that is unique compared to the English language. I personally think that it even

affects the Latin Culture. For example, the word teacher in English is gender neutral but in

Spanish it has two distinctions (masculine) El profesor and (feminine) La profesora. These

gender distinctions are part of the Spanish Language and it clearly draws a line between men and

women. In her book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Julia Alvarez tells the story of

four girls growing up in the United States while their parents are trying to preserve the

Dominican culture through their lives. Alvarez states, Better an independent nobody than a

high-class house slave (Alvarez 144). Alvarez presents a common sentiment among Latin-

American women because of the role they play in their families. However, Spanish itself does
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not limit women opportunities. Everyone is free to choose what they want to do, but people do

consider their gender when choosing roles in life. Latin culture just embraces these distinctions

and enforces them. The men take more labor intensive jobs while the women run the household

and raise their children. Even though this exists in Latin cultures American social values are

slowly being introduced through the growing dual lingual speakers. English as a language is

making ripples throughout various societies.

English as a language has changed societies because of its dominance throughout the

world. Most immigrants have to learn English to communicate in western countries and this

releases them from their cultural restrictions granting people different opportunities. For

example, English job titles do not have gender specific variations because western societies are

solely concerned about performance. This lets anyone be anything without gender even being a

concern. Alvarez shows this train of thought when she writes Recently she had begun spreading

her wings, taking adult course in real estate and international economics and business

management, dreaming of a bigger-than-family-size life for herself. She still did lip service to the

old ways, while herself nibbling away at forbidden fruit (Alvarez 116). Alvarez shows that

women are thinking about similar aspirations as men. The impact English has had on Latin

society has allowed women to look past the culture and go toward their desires. It is amazing

how a language can affect so many individuals and even change perspects.

At this point I would like to present some arguments that the skeptic in me has thought

of. He and many other think that language has no particular effect on anything because they are

just words that are used to communicate. Noises that the people of a certain area give meaning to

but aside from that do nothing else. These points are valid but as shown in the writings in the

European Journal of Social Sciences, Adel Dastgoshadeh writes Language is a central feature of
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human identity. When we hear someone speak, we immediately make guesses about his or her

gender, education level, age, profession, and place of origin(Dastgoshadeh, Jalizadeh 661)

Dastghoshadeh believes that language itself is a key definer of people in general, we are able to

discern a great deal from how they sound. From the words choice we would also be able to see

what language and how strong their accent is letting us get a taste of the culture they originate

from. Languages are incredibly powerful, and produce a cascading effect throughout any

speakers identities.

Languages are more than just a simple means of communication. Even though, most

people just speak a language without realizing their importance. The retention of the native

language alongside with secondary languages not only give the benefit of both but keeps people

in touch with their culture. These cultural connections significantly affect the choices everyone

makes through life , leading people to interact and adopt societys customs with a different

perspective. As an example, English has not only affected various societies because of its unique

dialect. Even though most people just speak a language without realizing their importance,

languages are actually a big part of one's identity because they impact the interactions we have

with our people, our culture, and our society. Language has a rippling effect that leads

multilingual speakers towards a unique journey that more people should embark on by learning

new languages.

Works cited

Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1991.
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Dastgoshadeh, Adel, and Kaveh Jalilzadeh. Language Loss, Identity, and English as an

International Language. European Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 21, 2011, pp. 659663.,

doi:https://www.academia.edu/5382271/Language_loss_Identity_and_English_as_an_Internation

al_Language.

Toppelberg, Claudio O., and Brian A. Collins. Language, Culture, and Adaptation in Immigrant

Children. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, U.S. National

Library of Medicine, Oct. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3526379/.

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