English 210
Luis Batista
L&L Argumentative Essay Draft
February 6, 2023
Individuals in our society are constantly judged by their appearance, and how they portray themselves. Whether by looks, voice, or color, we humans are always prone to judging others. As I stated previously, one’s voice is very important to how others view us, which brings up the topic of a person’s Language and way of speaking. A few languages/ways of speaking make you seem of a higher value to others, the strongest of them all being Standard English. The better you speak standard English, the more respect you will receive from society. You will receive more opportunities, more respect, and an easier path through life in most places if you’re able to speak and write decent Standard English at will. In a ted-talk called “Why I Keep Speaking Up” the speaker Safwat Saleem talks about his experience of being discriminated against because of his inability to speak proper Standard English. In a similar text called “Mother Tongue” By Amy tan, the author Amy delves into the difference in treatment that her mother received because of her “Broken English”, while Amy could speak perfect standard English and get treated with respect, her mother did not get the same treatment. For these reasons, I believe Standard English is preferred for the success of students outside of college; therefore, we should prioritize Standard English to grade our students, but at the same time, we should allow the choice of other languages and forms of speaking in elective classes.
In the ted talk “Why I keep speaking up” Safwat Saleem experiences hate after publishing his work for the way he spoke. Saleem spoke with an accent, and the media response to his voice was mostly negative. The media loved the idea of the video, and what it represented, but most comments hated that Saleem was not able to speak Standard English. For example, in the video, Saleem states “But comments like that kept coming in. so I figured I should just ignore them and start working on the second part of the video. I recorded my audio but every time I sat down to edit, I just could not do it.”
Citations
Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan – University of Missouri–St. Louis.” UMSL, University of Missouri–St. Louis, https://umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/Mother%20Tongue%20by%20Tan.pdf.
“Why I Keep Speaking up, Even When People Mock My Accent.” Performance by Safwat Saleem, Safwat Saleem: Why I Keep Speaking up, Even When People Mock My Accent | TED Talk, Ted , 15 Aug. 2016, https://www.ted.com/talks/safwat_saleem_why_i_keep_speaking_up_even_when_people_mock_my_accent?language=en. Accessed 2 Mar. 2023.
