The Price of Learning “Proper” English
From an early age, my experiences at school and in everyday life taught me that people who spoke “proper” English were treated differently than those who did not. This was just a part of daily life in China because speaking “proper” English, is synonymous with success and climbing the social ladder. “Proper” English, in this case, is a myth because while the general rule of thumb is American Standard English or British Standard English, the accent is not clearly defined. Most believe that the ability to speak English the “correct” way provides access and opportunities otherwise unknown. As a result, people are willing to go to extreme lengths to learn and speak “proper” English. In doing so, English as a language, and those who speak it, are perceived to be higher on the social hierarchy. Other languages, and inherently the culture it is affiliated with is discriminated against because of a perceived lack of value. While English has opened doors for me, the immense value placed on learning “proper” English, along with the educational practices of some international schools, has engendered self-oppression and ingroup discrimination.
One of my earliest memories is of clutching onto my mom’s shirt and crying, begging to go home with her. At the top of the staircase stood the Eagles, an Australian family I lived with during the week. I remember my weekday mom dangling a poofy princess dress no four-year-old could resist as a bribe to get me to stay. When all my tears had dried, I walked up the stairs and into the apartment. This marked another week I lived in Shenzhen with the Eagles, apart from my family a few hours away in Dongguan, China. For my parents, this was the ultimate act of love and sacrifice. They gave up their chance to live in their dream house to pay for my tuition and for the Eagles to care for me as their own. They sent a four-year old me to a foreign city hours away to learn “proper” English.
My case is not even the most extreme extent to which some parents are willing to go for their children to learn western English. Many families send their children across the Pacific Ocean to live with homestay families in the US for a chance to learn “authentic” English. However, it demonstrates the value that is placed on the ability to speak English, especially without an accent. What is “proper” English and what is it about learning to speak it worth this cost anyway? For my parents, this sacrifice was worth it because in China, speaking “proper” English is seen as a symbol of status and a way to distinguish yourself.
In elementary school, I distinctly remember a school policy that barred students from speaking a language besides English — even during recess. Anyone caught violating this policy, even if they were just searching for the English word in their native tongue, was reprimanded and given a warning. Collect enough warning cards and recess is taken away. By the time I was in middle school, students who continued to struggle were placed in an Intensive English class, separate from the students in their grade. This created an invisible hierarchy between those who could speak “proper” English and those who did not. This could make the process of learning English more difficult for those placed in the remedial courses, as it would increase the stress and pressure to perform.
On the surface, these policies were intended to facilitate English language acquisition.
But in reality, what do these policies communicate to a group of impressionable minds? What do they imply about students whose first language is not English? What about students who have been speaking English all their lives?
These were not policies meant to help students learn another language, they were just a few ways that language has been used to oppress. In fact, research by linguistics professor Elsa Auerbach at the University of Massachusetts indicates that allowing students to use their native language in the classroom consistently yields positive results in second language acquisition (Auerbach, 2016). Specifically “teachers argue that since students don’t start by thinking in the second language, allowing for the exploration of ideas in the L1 (first language) supports a gradual, developmental process”. Additionally, punishing students for “lapses” into their native languages leads students to see themselves as “failures or aberrations, a cause for guilt”(Auerbach, 2016). Students who are able to speak the designated language well, however, are rewarded with a sense of superiority.
Beyond the classroom, I quickly learned that the rules of speaking “proper” English applied too. During a hotel stay, I called the front desk to ask for additional toiletries in Cantonese and was met with slow responses and rude behavior. I eventually gave up and let them know that I would call back at a better time for them. My mom heard what had happened and asked me to call back and ask for the toiletries — in English. I immediately dialed the number and the same person answered the phone. I was shocked by the complete one reversal on the response I received when I spoke in English. Since then, I have tested the theory many times and it became clear that speaking “proper” English beyond a classroom context would more often than not yield better treatment from others. This reinforced my self imposed discriminatory thought, placing those who speak English above those who do not, and therefore those who spoke English the best at the top.
Seeing that my ability to speak “proper” English would give me an advantage, I began to default to speaking in English even though I lived in China. The privileges that speaking English afforded led me to see my native tongue as a lesser language. I avoided speaking Mandarin and Cantonese for fear of losing these privileges. In Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he argues that the system of oppression perpetuates itself based on the fear of the oppressor and the oppressed (Freire, 1968, p.47). The oppressor’s fear of losing their freedom to oppress keeps them from breaking the cycle of oppression (Freire, 1968, p.48). In rejecting my native language, I perpetuated Paulo Freire’s prescription that the oppressor could not free themselves for fear of losing their ability to oppress. To this day, I feel ashamed of taking part in perpetuating this system of oppression because I never questioned my prejudices and unconscious biases.
Over time, English became my dominant language and I would be mocked for my struggle to speak Mandarin and Cantonese fluently. This further reaffirmed my affinity for speaking English led me to discriminate against my peers who did not speak “proper” English. This was only reinforced by the policies in my school which perpetuated a hiThierarchy of language. Any policy that implies that there is a better way, a “right” way to speak goes beyond mere linguistic repression because language is a key element of culture and identity. For me, this meant feeling the need to distance myself from my Chinese identity. So in addition to avoiding speaking my native languages, I did all that I could to appear “less Chinese.”
When certain languages are repressed while others are elevated, it affects how the speakers of those languages see themselves in relation to others and the world. Ethnolinguistic vitality theory describes the ways in which researchers measure the strength of an ethnolinguistic group (Giles et al., 1977). By measuring the status, demography, institutional support, and control factors researchers can determine which groups are most likely to assimilate and which are likely to maintain their own distinct identities. I threw myself into learning “proper” English and western values and banished any distinguishing cultural differences I held at home.
The institutional support in my school perpetuated the strength of English language vitality while detracting from the language vitality of Mandarin and Cantonese. This was fed by the widely held belief that English will give you a better chance of being hired for esteemed jobs, however, the pervasiveness of this belief caused the cost of English education to skyrocket. This meant that having a good grasp of the English language became a symbol of wealth, increasing the pressure for young Chinese people to learn the language. This further reinforced English language vitality and detracted from the status of those who only spoke Mandarin and Cantonese.
While many people around the world English is seen as a gateway to success, the pedestal it is placed on can perpetuate systems of oppression and lead to in-group discrimination. Especially when students are kept from speaking their own language and taught to feel that their native language is inferior, the elevation of English can create students who feel a total rejection of their own language and culture. If we are unable to confront these problems and remedy how we engage in language-learning, we will continue to create systems of oppression.
Works Cited
Auerbach, E. R. (2016). Reflections on Auerbach (1993), “Reexamining English Only in the ESL Classroom.” TESOL Quarterly, 50(4), 936–939. doi: 10.1002/tesq.310
Freiere, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Place of publication not identified: Penguin Education.
Giles, H. (1977). Language, ethnicity, and intergroup relations. London: Academic Press.
