The Amy Tan Blogs, Take 8 (McCormick)

the McCormick approach...

Blending cognitivist, expressivist and socio-cultural theories (but leaning heavily toward a meta-cognitive socio-culturalism), McCormick would approach “Mother Tongue” as an example of the intersection of cultures and the way that language use reflects, reacts against, enables and interferes with cultural assimilation. Pre-reading would come at the topic from multiple angles, including a history of Chinese immigration to the United States, controversies over creating a national language, sociological studies on code-switching. Students would keep journals chronicling their reactions to each text being studied and interspersing quotes from the readings with their own responses.

Class discussion would lead students to explore the different ideologies at play in Tan’s account—the context in which she is writing, the reasons behind her varied uses of language according to her own account, and the larger cultural pressures that require mastery of such diverse kinds and styles of language use. Students would be asked, in a paper, to explore their own experiences of language use and the ideologies, historical and cultural pressures that make them necessary. 

A research paper mid-semester may ask students to explore the controversial term “Standard English.” – What is Standard English and what role does it play in American society today? 100 years ago? 200 years ago? To what extent should new immigrants seek to master Standard English? Why? How have your own background and experience influenced your views on this subject?