I do speak English!

Text: “IT’S OK TO SPEAK YOUR OWN FORM OF ENGLISH”

The argument of my assignment is that speaking all forms of “Englishes” should be treated equally in the society so that non-native speakers shouldn’t feel the compulsion to mold their form of English. My intended audience are the people working in and with the educational department as well as the students. The genre I used is school awareness poster.

As a non-native speaker of English, I know how in certain educational institutions and standings I feel the compulsion of correcting my dialect. I wasn’t aware that this feeling was mutual in all non-native speakers. I started reading different essays and texts on language politics and its impact on our society as a part of my course. The essay “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan stands out to me the most. It was very relatable given that, immigrants despite of knowing the English language are not treated equally because of their non-standard dialect. This was when I realized where this feeling of compulsion for self-correction roots from. My fellows also shared their experiences about how they feel the same urgency to correct themselves. Some of them shared how they were treated differently by teachers and fellows just because their English wasn’t the Standard English. I believe that if the awareness starts from elementary school level, it can make a positive impact in changing the typical view of the students, teachers as well as other people associated with educational institutions in regard to speaking non-standard English language. That’s the reason why I choose school awareness poster as my genre.

The first rhetorical strategy I used is the linear development of my claim at the start of poster which highlights my argument “IT’S OK TO SPEAK YOUR OWN FORM OF ENGLISH”. It progresses to the main essence of the poster that different dialects of English originate from different native language speakers. The use of bold text shows the emphasis of the argument. Since it’s a poster displayed in schools for the purpose of awareness of students and teachers to normalize different speaking styles of English. This strategy leads to the “Pathos”. All the immigrants (non-native English speakers) can relate to this poster and its importance because most of them if not all experience the impact of standard English language. Especially, the immigrant children from different countries around the world (their English represented as Flags) studying in the education system of US.

The second strategy is imagery which is demonstrated in the poster as little girl (who is not a white American representing the non-native speakers of English) shouting out different languages (the flags represent different speaking styles of English language). This imagery translates into the idea that non-native speakers shouldn’t feel embarrassed in speaking the English (of their own form/style). This leads to “Ethos” because of my personal experiences with English speech as an immigrant and non-native speaker of English. I came to states after completing my primary education in a country where English wasn’t the native language. I was very good in speaking English language but after moving to states I realized that it is not good enough. I would be considered good at it if I only speak the “Standard English”.