Blog #4

 “The Place of World Englishes in Composition” by Suresh Canagarajah begins with discussions on what makes someone a native English speaker. Suresh has grown up in Sri Lanka and has been a speaker of English since he was young. Despite Suresh having had learned English at the same time as his other native language, he is still characterized by many as being a non native speaker. In this article Suresh makes the claim that this is only because of his skin color. He demonstrates the argument that there are different variations of modern English that sweep through today's media like wild fire. There is no logical reason why the cut and pasted version of English on MTV is any different (in terms of legitimacy) than the variation of English that Suresh has grown up speaking. He goes on to say that just because we speak different variations of English, does not mean that we are any worse than each other. If we all accept each other and their cultural differences, we would be in a position of better understanding and harmony. Suresh also makes the argument that students should have to learn about other versions of English other than the American, British, and Australian standard. He claims that it would not be very hard to do. A very little amount of time would have to be spent learning this new version of English. Students already pick up on other versions of English outside of the classroom. For example, hip hop English is known by a large portion of American teenagers today. The students could use those intuitive skills to help learn the cultural differences in English languages from other countries. Suresh claims that the normal English we use in academia has very little to do with the way students actually talk to each other. Students learn multilingualism in the real world, not a classroom. American students can not and will not learn every variation in English available; they can however, learn to bounce from one form of language to the next, depending on context. They can use critical thinking to work through unknown lingual obstacles, that may occur. These languages are not all that foreign. They are all based on similar concepts and words. They all work from the same grammar system. They are different sides of the same coin. I agree with Suresh. I think that moving toward better understanding of each other; and being flexible with our language, is only a good thing. I find that many people from America specifically, lack the ability to empathize with people who speak differently than them. "learn English!" is a common phrase that is sometimes tossed around; oftentimes with mass support. I believe that moving toward a better understanding of others languages, can help the us against you mentality that some Americans share. It is important for people at a young age to be exposed to these ideas. I am a grown adult in college, and had only this year even put thought into such concepts. The concepts are important and can shape the way a growing adult thinks. I believe that if young students had a better understanding of the ideas in this article, they would not only be more comfortable around others, but also be more comfortable representing themselves and their culture.