Language Frustration

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Language Frustration

The article titled “Language Use in Family and in Society” written by Lee Thomas and Linh Cao, is about how language can affect a single family in a terrible way. Thomas teaches linguistics at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Cao is an English teacher at Sparks High School located in Sparks, Nevada. Cao has much background information on the topic because she herself is part of the family discussed in this essay. Their concern with a language barrier is that it leads to confusion and frustration within the family. They give examples of families becoming more distant due to miscommunication and their sense of loss. Imagine trying to speak with your mother and only understanding half of what she says. Sure you would get the idea, but what if you needed to respond with emotions and feelings that weren’t understood? This article gives you a better sense of acceptance to the many dialects in the world today. Rhetorical appeals called Pathos and Ethos were used in order to convince the readers that communication is an important part of a family. By using a problem / solution argument, this article presents a problem and suggests a solution.

Authors Lee Thomas and Linh Cao write this essay to inform people of the struggles multicultural or bilingual families face when communicating. It does so by stating specific examples from personal experiences and effects it has on families. The intended audience, to which this appeals, is mainly the people of the United States. However, a broader appeal is to people from around the world, who suffer from or understand the situation faced by the family in the story. This was not written to change a person’s mind or influence ...

... middle of paper ...

...er’s dialect and societal influences.

As this article informs, it is essential that people begin learning the importance of language. It gives examples of how and why private languages are not effective in society and the problems it may cause. By understanding and observing one family, this story depicts how lack of interest or inability to speak another language can result in family discomfort and individual isolation. The family described is only one of many currently facing these problems. It is difficult to manage a family without respectable communication and makes a person feel secluded not only from society, but their family as well. Through dedication and perseverance a solution for better communication will come within families and in the community. This would decrease the anger and frustration found in today’s multilingual families.

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