Project 2:
Jai Oberoi
ENG 101
Living Multilingualism
Abstract:
My project 1 impacted me in such a way that it made me question the best way of communication. With reference to my experience in project 1 and using the concepts of coming to terms and forwarding the essay discusses how exposure to distinct cultures and languages has an effect on one’s personality. The essay relates William’s identities of writing to personality and how these can be influenced by culture and language. Also, I will explore the kind of effect exposure to languages and cultures have on ones personality. Using the concept of countering the essay portrays the best way for individuals to choose their personality through being open to new cultures and languages. The essay only subtly compares communication skills of being aware of different languages and cultures and the art of hybrid languages. I explore, in my analysis how one can gain better opportunities with being open minded and my thoughts and conclusions both inside the classroom (project 1) and outside.
ENG 101
Living Multilingualism
Abstract:
My project 1 impacted me in such a way that it made me question the best way of communication. With reference to my experience in project 1 and using the concepts of coming to terms and forwarding the essay discusses how exposure to distinct cultures and languages has an effect on one’s personality. The essay relates William’s identities of writing to personality and how these can be influenced by culture and language. Also, I will explore the kind of effect exposure to languages and cultures have on ones personality. Using the concept of countering the essay portrays the best way for individuals to choose their personality through being open to new cultures and languages. The essay only subtly compares communication skills of being aware of different languages and cultures and the art of hybrid languages. I explore, in my analysis how one can gain better opportunities with being open minded and my thoughts and conclusions both inside the classroom (project 1) and outside.
Jai Oberoi
ENG 101
Living Multilingualism
Project 2: Publication Draft
Personality Chase
In my Project 1, I described a story about how I entered the wrong classroom in school, only to find myself immersed in a totally different culture, one I knew nothing about. The French culture, for a young Indian boy like myself, was really befuddling. I portray myself as an intimidated individual, trying to make sense of the alien language and culture that I was so suddenly drowned in. Being immersed in such a different environment made me feel like there was so much outside of my environment that I was oblivious to. There were so many languages and cultures that I had never thought about. I thought I should appreciate these new language cultures. However, I had no idea how to approach a culture other than my own. This led me to contemplate the way people can identify foreign language cultures, and I finally I reached some conclusions. Just like Sedaris, by the end of the class the “world opened up” (Sedaris 173). We both had feelings of realization. However, Sedaris’ emotions were more about how he gradually understood the content of the class. I on the other hand grew more open minded and curious about other languages and cultures. I could pick out key words or phrases in languages and relate them to my memory of different cultures. By doing so I could identify a language with ease. This form of communication really appealed to me. It allowed me to reflect on my old ways of communication: Ever since I can remember I have used polyglot dialogue (Canagarajah 5), a style of language that Suresh Canagarajah talks about in his book Translingual Practice. The perfect combination of English and Hindi, popularly known in my community as “Hinglish”, has allowed me to communicate with all sorts of people and form relations I never thought I would make. My experience in that French classroom led me to raise questions against this hybrid way of communication and for my open minded way. Is a universal way of communication better than being able to understand languages through cultural concepts? After reading the Williams narrative, a new idea filled my thoughts. The fact that I noticed some personality changes in myself due to being exposed to distinct cultures and languages lead me to further specify my question I will analyze how exploring new languages and cultures can change one’s personality, just like how drowning in a sea of French culture and language made me more open-minded.
My experience made me realize that there is more out there than “Hinglish” and maybe I could amalgamate various cultures to form a unique identity for myself, one that was not confined to the very “Hinglish” city of Bombay. Williams very clearly says that one can see the kind of identity represented by the author through his or her writings (Williams 343). “Every writer in every piece of writing constructs an identity for the audience”, however, how does this change with cultural concepts? Heroes, rebels and victims, are student identities in writing, according to Williams. I agree with his template of identities and think that they relate to the author’s personality. For example, in my Project 1 narrative, I was initially a victim because I was overwhelmed by new culture and language. My obliviousness made me succumbed to my teacher, my classmates and French itself. As I contemplated about language and culture I became a rebel personality, thinking outside my little bubble, and when I suddenly realized what was happening I feel I became a hero in identity. My transition from victim to hero was not due to the fact that I spoke a hybrid language, but simple because I dived into new understandings because of my exposure to different cultures.
Plunging into different cultures exposes one to many different kinds of traditions and practices. Williams mentions that that a student’s identity adopted through his or her writing can be observed as both positive and negative (Williams 344). I believe that exposure to new cultures has a positive impact on a students personality. It could open the gates to a new mode of thinking itself and thus transform the student’s thoughts, leading to different perspectives that can be analyzed and hence a conclusion can be drawn based on the given ideologies that the student is exposed to. This would correspond to the identity of a “heroic personality” that is adopted by the student writer. The quality of confidence could be introduced here. Exposure to distinct cultures can give a student confidence. With reference to my project 1, initially I was overwhelmed by the novelty of the French class, understanding the cultural context, not only helped me identify the language, but also instilled within me, a change in personality due to a change in ideology. I let go of my thoughts that “Hinglish” was the best form of communication and, because I was inside a culture that I knew nothing about, adapted to find a new quality instilled in me: Confidence. This quality allowed me to think beyond the confined ideologies of the regular Indian in Mumbai. This opposes the idea that my hybrid language was the best form of communication, but abides by Canagarajah’s policy that “communication involves diverse semiotic resources; language is only one semiotic resource among many, such as symbols, icons and images” (Canagarajah 7). I would also like to add cultural understanding to Canagarajah’s list as I feel it aids communication to such an extent that has become a vital part of good communication. It integrates knowledge of different cultures to provide a good foundation of both language and culture that can influence one’s comprehension skills aiding them to communicate well.
Knowledge like this does not or cannot always come to someone in the form of an epiphany or my observation. Sometimes it needs to be taught. Williams also says that students present “fascinating connections and conflicts” (Williams 344). He goes on to say that students should be taught about the various identities of writing before hand. However, I believe that simply teaching students about the identities would confine students to the personality that they already have, disallowing them to develop new writing styles and identities. Instead of being taught he various identities, students should just be taught about different cultures. If a student is taught about different cultures, he or she would imbibe so much new information, that would enhance his or her experience of the world, give him or her new perspectives and hence allow the student to create their own writing identity from what they imbibe from distinct cultures. Williams wants “important opportunities for student writers” (Williams 344), and I feel that this cultural exposure would provide them with enough opportunity, in terms of identity, to build up their own writing personality, absorbing numerous aspects of different cultures. For example, in my project 1, had I already been exposed to the French culture, I could have chosen my own way of thinking and hence writing: As a Hero, rebel or victim. However, since I was oblivious, I was coerced into being an initial victim, then a rebel and only then after serious contemplation and a hint of good luck I was able to be a sort of hero. If only I knew about the culture and language before hand, I could have instantly chosen an identity. The ability to chose an identity or personality while writing or thinking acts as an advantage as it gives one the feeling of being in control and hence improving skill and thought process. In this situation I would disagree with Williams exercise (Williams 345), in which students write from different perspectives to identify their own vision because identification will be based on the choices they make while taking up perspectives from different cultures. This would also contribute to linguistic success better than hybrid communications because it works in both identifying ones personality and also different languages which in turn makes better communication.
Works Cited:
Canagarajah, Suresh. Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations. Oxon: Routledge, 2013.
Williams, Bronwyn T. Heroes, rebels, and victims: Student identities in literacy narratives. International Reading Association , 2013.
Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One day. New York: Little Brown And Company , 2000 .
ENG 101
Living Multilingualism
Project 2: Publication Draft
Personality Chase
In my Project 1, I described a story about how I entered the wrong classroom in school, only to find myself immersed in a totally different culture, one I knew nothing about. The French culture, for a young Indian boy like myself, was really befuddling. I portray myself as an intimidated individual, trying to make sense of the alien language and culture that I was so suddenly drowned in. Being immersed in such a different environment made me feel like there was so much outside of my environment that I was oblivious to. There were so many languages and cultures that I had never thought about. I thought I should appreciate these new language cultures. However, I had no idea how to approach a culture other than my own. This led me to contemplate the way people can identify foreign language cultures, and I finally I reached some conclusions. Just like Sedaris, by the end of the class the “world opened up” (Sedaris 173). We both had feelings of realization. However, Sedaris’ emotions were more about how he gradually understood the content of the class. I on the other hand grew more open minded and curious about other languages and cultures. I could pick out key words or phrases in languages and relate them to my memory of different cultures. By doing so I could identify a language with ease. This form of communication really appealed to me. It allowed me to reflect on my old ways of communication: Ever since I can remember I have used polyglot dialogue (Canagarajah 5), a style of language that Suresh Canagarajah talks about in his book Translingual Practice. The perfect combination of English and Hindi, popularly known in my community as “Hinglish”, has allowed me to communicate with all sorts of people and form relations I never thought I would make. My experience in that French classroom led me to raise questions against this hybrid way of communication and for my open minded way. Is a universal way of communication better than being able to understand languages through cultural concepts? After reading the Williams narrative, a new idea filled my thoughts. The fact that I noticed some personality changes in myself due to being exposed to distinct cultures and languages lead me to further specify my question I will analyze how exploring new languages and cultures can change one’s personality, just like how drowning in a sea of French culture and language made me more open-minded.
My experience made me realize that there is more out there than “Hinglish” and maybe I could amalgamate various cultures to form a unique identity for myself, one that was not confined to the very “Hinglish” city of Bombay. Williams very clearly says that one can see the kind of identity represented by the author through his or her writings (Williams 343). “Every writer in every piece of writing constructs an identity for the audience”, however, how does this change with cultural concepts? Heroes, rebels and victims, are student identities in writing, according to Williams. I agree with his template of identities and think that they relate to the author’s personality. For example, in my Project 1 narrative, I was initially a victim because I was overwhelmed by new culture and language. My obliviousness made me succumbed to my teacher, my classmates and French itself. As I contemplated about language and culture I became a rebel personality, thinking outside my little bubble, and when I suddenly realized what was happening I feel I became a hero in identity. My transition from victim to hero was not due to the fact that I spoke a hybrid language, but simple because I dived into new understandings because of my exposure to different cultures.
Plunging into different cultures exposes one to many different kinds of traditions and practices. Williams mentions that that a student’s identity adopted through his or her writing can be observed as both positive and negative (Williams 344). I believe that exposure to new cultures has a positive impact on a students personality. It could open the gates to a new mode of thinking itself and thus transform the student’s thoughts, leading to different perspectives that can be analyzed and hence a conclusion can be drawn based on the given ideologies that the student is exposed to. This would correspond to the identity of a “heroic personality” that is adopted by the student writer. The quality of confidence could be introduced here. Exposure to distinct cultures can give a student confidence. With reference to my project 1, initially I was overwhelmed by the novelty of the French class, understanding the cultural context, not only helped me identify the language, but also instilled within me, a change in personality due to a change in ideology. I let go of my thoughts that “Hinglish” was the best form of communication and, because I was inside a culture that I knew nothing about, adapted to find a new quality instilled in me: Confidence. This quality allowed me to think beyond the confined ideologies of the regular Indian in Mumbai. This opposes the idea that my hybrid language was the best form of communication, but abides by Canagarajah’s policy that “communication involves diverse semiotic resources; language is only one semiotic resource among many, such as symbols, icons and images” (Canagarajah 7). I would also like to add cultural understanding to Canagarajah’s list as I feel it aids communication to such an extent that has become a vital part of good communication. It integrates knowledge of different cultures to provide a good foundation of both language and culture that can influence one’s comprehension skills aiding them to communicate well.
Knowledge like this does not or cannot always come to someone in the form of an epiphany or my observation. Sometimes it needs to be taught. Williams also says that students present “fascinating connections and conflicts” (Williams 344). He goes on to say that students should be taught about the various identities of writing before hand. However, I believe that simply teaching students about the identities would confine students to the personality that they already have, disallowing them to develop new writing styles and identities. Instead of being taught he various identities, students should just be taught about different cultures. If a student is taught about different cultures, he or she would imbibe so much new information, that would enhance his or her experience of the world, give him or her new perspectives and hence allow the student to create their own writing identity from what they imbibe from distinct cultures. Williams wants “important opportunities for student writers” (Williams 344), and I feel that this cultural exposure would provide them with enough opportunity, in terms of identity, to build up their own writing personality, absorbing numerous aspects of different cultures. For example, in my project 1, had I already been exposed to the French culture, I could have chosen my own way of thinking and hence writing: As a Hero, rebel or victim. However, since I was oblivious, I was coerced into being an initial victim, then a rebel and only then after serious contemplation and a hint of good luck I was able to be a sort of hero. If only I knew about the culture and language before hand, I could have instantly chosen an identity. The ability to chose an identity or personality while writing or thinking acts as an advantage as it gives one the feeling of being in control and hence improving skill and thought process. In this situation I would disagree with Williams exercise (Williams 345), in which students write from different perspectives to identify their own vision because identification will be based on the choices they make while taking up perspectives from different cultures. This would also contribute to linguistic success better than hybrid communications because it works in both identifying ones personality and also different languages which in turn makes better communication.
Works Cited:
Canagarajah, Suresh. Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations. Oxon: Routledge, 2013.
Williams, Bronwyn T. Heroes, rebels, and victims: Student identities in literacy narratives. International Reading Association , 2013.
Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One day. New York: Little Brown And Company , 2000 .