Language Separation in Immigrant Families Essay - 706 Words

Language Separation in Immigrant Families In America, each family usually has a standard language spoken in the household. Communication is easy and mothers can talk with their children and they can connect with them. Some people who have this benefit are unaware that some families do not have this advantage in their homes. Lee Thomas and Linh Cao understand that some families have language change through each generation. Cao herself lived in house where her relatives used several different languages and learned first hand that there are many losses when a family doesn’t share a common language. Thomas and Cao wrote this article specifically for parents and families that have language separation through generations. Both†¦show more content†¦After 1975, she learned to speak, read, and write in Vietnamese. She is now comfortable with English but still uses Vietnamese. Her siblings learned Vietnamese first and then learned Mandarin or Hainanese. Now each child uses a different language with each other and their elders. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate that even families can be separated by language. To show this point the author’s write about Cao’s experiences with a language struggle between family members. This narration gives the reader a close up look at how language works in a family. Besides using narration she always uses a little cause and effect by sharing the results of having language separation. She gave three examples of conversational situations in her household. The languages Vietnamese, Hainanese, Mandarin, and English are used interchangeably. Looking at the dialogues in the article made the conversation seem broken because there were four languages being used. The first conversation is between Cao’s mom and one of her siblings, Tung. It has to do with Tung not wanting to eat the large amount of noodles Mom prepared for him. Then she asks about Tung’s homework and he is unable to explain it to her because they do not share a fluent language between them. In the article this selection was described as a â€Å"routinized inter active exchange† (Thomas Cao 64). This means that the two of them were able to have small talk based on things like food. But theyShow MoreRelatedImmigrant Families And The Parent Child Relationship Essay1445 Words   |  6 Pagesexamining immigrant families and the parent-child relationship. The population of first and second generation immigrant children in the United States grew by 51 percent between 1995 and 2014 (Child Trends, 2014, p. 3). According to the Migration Policy Institute, about 88 percent of immigrant children are born in the U.S (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). 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