Letter to the editor

To Ms. Clark, and whom it may concern.

To all those who have had a texting free childhood, this article inaccurately explains the issue regarding the lack of language abilities amongst today’s youth and language erosion. Its author has pinned the blame on technology. Technology is a great tool that can be utilized in order to educate people. Due to the Internet and other technological phenomenons, communication has never been faster. As a result: language, in attempt to keep up with technology, has been modified. However if you ask Ms. Clark she would claim that it has been impinged. Words made shorter, letters mixed with numbers, a catastrophe in the eyes of language purists. However that does not mean that children are no longer capable of learning and possessing miraculous language skills. Ms. Clark, schools such as Mrs. Jordan’s highly respected school are responsible for teaching children the English language. As for your statement that “Youngsters are also in danger of growing up with limited vocabularies because they spend so much of their free time on sites such as Twitter and Facebook instead of reading.” I can assure you the individual is only going to do what they set their mind to do. If one wants to read a novel, then Facebook nor any other social media platform can stop them! I think schools play a big role in sprouting an individual’s love for education, rather than pointing the fingers at social media platforms and other technological devices we should see what we can do to find a solution. To back up my statements with historical context, you should know language began as a form of speech, and then writing was developed to reflect language in a visual form. So now, I ask you Ms. Clark, is gr8 not a visual representation of a word you would use in daily life to explain a feeling that lies somewhere between good and fantastic? If you can speak like writing, then you might also want to write like you speak. That’s where texting comes in. Texting is an expansion of one’s linguistic ability; it does not take the place of another! One may learn a new language but by no means should this new language impact ones ability to speak the other language. I would encourage schools to shape our youth into intelligent beings whom have a love for education and an appreciation for language.

Sincerely,

Dana Alsuwaidi

Memoir: Umu Kultoom

That little boy, a neophyte to the musical world, whom ran from house to house, hand in hand with his father bellowing his lungs out, that was I. Music made the blood gush through my body. I never cared much for the money; father seemed to appreciate it more than I did, as is his right because he had a family to provide for. By day a boy, by night a girl. Did I ever feel like I lost my identity, no, I was both! That little boy will always be a part of me, that little boy taught me courage, courage that drowned amongst the heavy sexist waves of my time, which buffeted the Arab society.  If I die tomorrow, I will know in my heart that I can die in peace because I had taught the Arab world to sail across these heavy waves. I am an Arab singer, I am also a woman, and there is nothing wrong with simultaneously being both.

My nation, oh how I love my nation. I played the strings of my heart for you even after my body failed me and I could no longer see your mesmerizing beauty. I filled up my lungs with air, and when I sang I used every breath to praise you, my laudable nation.  Wars on wars, and all that was left in the peoples 'bereft of life' hearts was love: for God, for one another and for their nation. When injected into our lives, music strengthened love in people’s hearts. Music brought hope into people’s eyes. I lived for that; I detested the day I saw my nation crumble in the hands of war. These acrimonious scenes were ineffable, they filled me with angst, but I sanguinely believed that my nation was indefatigable and so I sang, I sang with alacrity until Egypt and the Egyptians were unified by love.

As a restive little girl, I loved to do what I was told I could not. I was told I could not become a Quran reciter due to my natural feminine being, determined to prove them wrong I learned and after assiduous effort I became the best in the whole town! My love for the Quran sprouted in my heart before my love for music did. I memorized all seventy-seven thousand, seven hundred and one words of God by a tender age. I was also told that I could not become a successful singer. However, I feasted my eyes and ears on the beautiful arts: poetry and music. With the magnanimous help of great poets and composers such as Mohamed Shawqi, Bayram Altunisis and Mohamed Abd-alwahab, all whom truly believed in me, I became a star in the Arab skies and I was honored with the title “The Voice of Egypt” I was seen as a paragon of the musical arts.

Now as I lie on my deathbed in my time of nadir, I am that little boy again, longing to sing, longing to see the pulchritude of the Arabian land, longing to hear the voices of the love filled admirers. Between these lifeless four walls, all I hear is silence, but when the ebullient final stage lights hit me I will die with love in my heart for God, for my nation and for music.

Eid Reads

Yorkshire named top twang as Brummie brogue comes bottom’ by David Batty

David Batty wrote this article for the guardian, he addresses the issue of language stereotypes: one’s accent impacts the public’s perception of them. He unraveled the study of dialects and perceived intelligence. Batty found that many associated those with a Birmingham accent with stupidity, meanwhile those with a Yorkshire accent were perceived to be intelligent. In a test, three females of similar physical appearances were judged by 48 volunteers on their intelligence, the only difference between them was their accent: one had a Birmingham accent whereas the other had a Yorkshire accent, as for the third female she remained silent. The intelligence ratings: 6.71 for Yorkshire, 6.67 for silence, 5.6 for Birmingham. Dr. Lance Workman, the conductor of the research at Bath Spa University, says that his research investigated regional stereotypes. He also explained why Birmingham had such low intelligence ratings: it is due to peoples association of Birmingham with crime, and the direct correlation between crime and lack of intelligence. Those with a Yorkshire accent are perceived to be winsome, trustworthy and intelligent beings.

The context of this article is ‘How language can transmute one’s identity’, a topic we have thoroughly analyzed and discussed in our language and literature class. We have studied how language can shape the way you think. Similarly, this article has analyzed how language (dialect to be exact) can impact ones intelligence “Those with a Yorkshire twang were considered clever” However; Dr. Lance Workman seemed to disagree “Can I just say that whenever I’ve been to Birmingham I’ve found people to be very bright and friendly.” In class we have analyzed how language and racial stereotypes associated with that language impact relational identities and interactional identities. “Yorkshire residents were now perceived as wise, trustworthy, honest and straightforward.” Meanwhile “people associate Birmingham with criminal activity, and they associate criminal activity with low intelligence.” In this specific situation, there has been a public image created for those who speak a certain dialect, if you spoke the Yorkshire accent you were clever and trustworthy, however if you spoke the Birmingham accent you were unintelligent and possibly a criminal. This impinges upon social relations: communicating with others, and presenting one’s self appropriately to the public.

You Say Up, I Say Yesterday’ by Joan O’C. Hamilton

Hamilton discusses Lea Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist’s research that has taken the linguistic world by storm. The Stanford researcher believes that language shapes the way we think; she has spent a significant amount of her time proving her theory. Boroditsky tested her theory in many different situations in which her hypothesis has been proven positive. Russian and English speaking MIT students were put to a colour distinguishing test to see whether the Russian language’s large variety of words that attain to all of your colour and colour shade needs impacted a students ability to distinguish between different colour shades. Spanish speakers and English speakers were asked to observe contrasting events and recall them, this test was to see if Spanish speakers memory was impacted due to the Spanish verb to indicate actions based on intention.  All these tests proved Boroditsky’s hypothesis and her veracity; language does indeed impact the way we think! However, many scientists believe languages do not impact the way we think, they merely impact the way we present what we think. Lilia Gleitman, professor emerita of psychology and linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, has abjured the neo-Whorfian research. She defiled Boroditsky’s research and says it is flawed because it is very much reliant on the context of the experiments. Therefore due to the vicissitudes of the experiment, it cannot be applied to real life situations. Was Gleitman’s surmise inaccurate, I am unsure, however Boroditsky restively strives to prove her theories to be true. Boroditsky’s proclivity for how language shapes the mind, the psychological concept of “framing” and how it is impacted by language, how cultures perceive and communicate ideas about time, and the accuracy of translations (especially in court rooms) are what drives her research.

The context of this article is ‘How can language shape our mind’. This is a very familiar topic to language and literature students. We have studied how different expressions vary in different languages “In Japanese or Spanish, …intent matters” (p.463). Hamilton however takes it a step further and asks “What might linguistic differences tell us about cognition, perception and memory- and with what implications for such perennial debts as the influence of nature versus nurture?” (p.463). Boroditsky is answering questions viewed as most captivating by poets, philosophers, linguists and many others. Due to her research she is now known as a neo-Whorfian. However many people decry the neo-Whorfian research “Those scientists believe that languages express thinking and perception in different ways but do not shape the thinking and perception.” (p.464) However Boroditsky has found that the way people of different languages and cultures perceive the world around them is indeed diversified and the linguistic differences must have had a major role in the making of these manifold ways of thinking.

 ‘Bilingual Mind: Understanding how the Brain Speaks Two Languages’ by Jeffery Kluger

This article discusses how bilingualism can affect your brain. Kluger says that being bilingual can affect learning, behavior and the structure of the brain. He says that humans were born linguists and the human brain has the capacity to learn many languages. Children whom grow up learning two languages generally don’t feel the heavy weight that comes along with bilingualism. Children would find it easier to learn a new language in comparison to an adult. Bilingualism can benefit one’s mind greatly. In one of Sean Lynch’s experiments he found that bilingual students showed great proficiency in interpretation skills in comparison to monolingual students. However, a detriment of bilingualism would be that bilingual kids tend to have a small vocabulary and smaller production vocabularies. These short-term disadvantages are not incredibly significant because children often catch up to their peer’s language levels. These brusque short-term disadvantages are also insignificant because they are incomparable to the long-term benefits. Bilingualism can delay age related dementia 4.1 years later than monolinguals and it delays Alzheimer’s disease by 5.1 years. “Bilinguals were faster as well as more metabolically economical in executing the cognitive mission, using less energy in the frontal cortex than the monolinguals.”

The context of this article is ‘How bilingualism can impact one’s mind’. This is a topic that has been heavily discussed and debated in our language and literature class. We studied how bilingualism can impact our identity “Humans are crude linguists from the moment of birth” (p.125), how we are often raised with two languages that become imbedded into our being. We studied how two languages can impact the way our mind works “Influences learning, behavior and the very structure of the brain itself.” (p.125). We also studied how bilingualism could have short-term disadvantages on an individual “smaller comprehensive vocabularies… smaller production vocabularies- or words they could pronounce” (p. 127) However the long term advantages were more dominant  “In one study, bilinguals experienced the onset of age-related dementia 4.1 years later than monolinguals, and full blown Alzheimer’s 5.1 years later.” (p.127). In conclusion bilingualism is a boon to the mind of bilingual speakers.

Opinion

Amy Tan's article, 'Mother Tongue' discusses the issue of fallacious stereotypes and how they can make life incredibly enervating. Her Chinese mother is often disregarded and not taken seriously due to her language abilities which are often perceived as lacking. Amy Tan expresses her exigent thoughts on how and why society may perceive her mother as unintelligent, although her mother is in fact profoundly well read. I can connect to Tan's struggle because I have come across such deleterious generalizations regarding my parents as well! What I find to be the most unbearable are the sanctimonious stares that are a bonus to the package, how convenient. 

Through this opinionated post I will decry the stereotypes plastered on those whom feebly speak the English language. Excuse my candor, but I find it exceedingly acerbic to believe that those whom cannot speak the English language as eloquently as you do lack intelligence. In fact, they may very well be bilingual or trilingual speakers thus the English language cannot mark a lack of language skills. My father for one speaks Arabic incredibly fluently; in his time of leisure he enjoys reading poetry, novels, newspapers, and many other linguistically challenging forms of media. My father can also speak English, although it may not be as cogent as when he speaks Arabic, I would say that he is fluent. If anyone were to deprecate my father by telling me that he lacks intelligence due to his English language skills, I will alacrity rejoin to their criticism and I will rebuke their incredibly ignorant surmise because it is unjust to label people in such a barbaric manner. My father studied law, an incredibly rigorous and intellectually demanding course and I will not stand for such censure. I will intransigently vilify their acrimonious criticism.  

My father is very proud of the Arabic language; he always insures that his language skills are precocious. My father believes that the Arabic language is the most important thing in our lives, and with mass globalization we must strive to preserve it. It is the language of the Quraan, it is the language of our ancestors, it is the fragile string that holds our culture together. Arabic, unlike English, is incredibly complex with an immortal set of rules that you must abide by in order to be a well spoken individual. This is the reason why so many of the younger generations repudiate it and choose to steer themselves towards the English language. With all my respect and love for the English language aside, they cannot abandon their mother tongue because through doing so they unconsciously abandon their identity. Thus, they will always feel lost.

I am proud of all the languages I speak, and I must admit: I continually make mistakes in both. However, I am proud of my bilingual abilities and I will not accept calumnious criticism projected towards me by people whom cannot appreciate the true beauty of language.

What English is Good English?

The English language is incredibly complex. Although it has some structure, this structure would often be applied to English in a rather illogical manner. English is a “fluid and democratic” language. It evolves and transmutes with civilization in order to make communication as trenchant as possible. Setting the English language in stone and creating a set of concrete rules will harm the language. Consequently English will no loner have the ability describe modern concepts or objects, thus it will no longer be a valuable communication tool. As result, people will seek another language, one that would make socializing and communication easier; in their modern lives.

In the past I would get an overwhelming sensation of guilt and shame when I would make grammatical mistakes, I liked to think of myself as a punctilious language purist. I sought to venerate the English language 'till I drew my last breath.

I have always had a profound admiration for the English language; I loved it as if it were my own. Clearly, I am not a native speaker; in fact I only learned English in the third grade. The English language has had an incredible impact on my life. It has filled it with ebullience and largess: enabled me to have friends, given me the ability to upbraid those who treated me unfairly and most importantly it has exposed me to cultures and ideologies derived from all around the world.

My plethora of respect towards the English language left me extremely circumspect towards my pejorative grammatical mistakes. I felt an obligation to preserve the pulchritude of the English language.

However now I have come to the realization that the outer beauty of the English language is pernicious because it has blinded us from its true yet latent beauty: it is the string connecting the whole world together. Besides, what is language? Language in its essence is communication. If we are able to effectively communicate in a manner that juxtaposes the rules of (any) language, who gets to say it is bad use of language? Back to my initial point, I am no longer ashamed of my mistakes. I was never given an instruction manual filled with do's and don’ts of the English language. To me it was an artistic journey that was influenced by others, yet some things I had to figure out on my own. So yes, I am human, and yes I will continue to make more grammatical mistakes, but I will take my time to devour the English language, to acknowledge my mistakes and to learn from them.

Now ladies and gentlemen, next time someone begs the question of

you will know exactly what to say.

A Good Name

My name is Dana Obaid BinGadeem Alsuwaidi دانة عبيد بن جديم السويدي, pronounced Daa-nih Ih-beed Bin-jadAim Isoow-Ahdy. All my names are of Arabic decent. My first name, Dana, means the big pearl: the source of wealth for many Arabic people long before the discovery of petrol. Emirati culture finds it imperative to designate a newborn’s name based on meaning and personality traits, which the name would grant. The name Dana is known to give an intelligent and powerful personality, it certainly is not a coincidence that the name Dana in Urdu means ‘the intelligent’.

 As for my last name, it is a big part of my identity. Prior to the UAE’s burgeon, there were no ID’s nor were there any passports, so your tribal name (family name) represented who you are. It has the power to venerate you or vilify you in the scrutinizing eyes of society. When you come across strangers, they would innevitably ask you for your last name, they would then proceed to ask you about your ancestors and your father paying little to no attention to your trivial first name. Hundreds of years of accomplishments that you could never personally take credit for shape and mold your identity. People feel a great sense of pride due to the status of their family name, as they should, because the venerable family name holds all the military, political and economic success of a family. Family names impinge our lives dramatically hitherto, even in conjugal affairs. In almost all arranged marriages in the UAE, people marry based on family reputation.  

Our names are a big part of our identities. When someone calls me by my name, I often stop and gawk at the significance of the mixture of vowels and letters that flow with the wind into my ears. “That’s MY name.” I would often say to my self. This may be deemed nominal and fatuous of me, however through meticulous observations I can truly appreciate the beauty in fine print that is often swallowed by the ephemeral ebulliently busy lives we lead. My name is of great significance in my life. It is what people identify me as; it is what I identify myself with. It is the name that will be printed on all my achievements such as my diploma and my university degrees. Likewise, it is the name that would be printed on my wrong deeds such as a car ticket, or (God forbid) a jail sentence. That name is given to you, yet it becomes yours. You grow with it, it changes you and you change it. There will come a day when you hear your boss call your name and your tongue will betray you and it will release an acrimonious taste in your mouth. However, there will also be a day when your name will be the first words your nephew utters at the sight of your smile and it will feel like a winsome zephyr on a warm day. Despite the good and the bad days, your name will stay the same and rarely would you ever find yourself wanting to expunge it. Through life you and your name live together, and when the time comes for your petals to vapidly wilt, your name will go and live with another, taking part of you with it.

(Sadly, I have no images of my Bedouin grandparents, this image is from www.deyaralnagab.com)