English A2 HL Broeseker / Moore Language and Culture Unit Focus: Language and Personal Identity

Language Autobiography Assignment

Your objective for this assignment is to write a reflective personal narrative about your experiences as a bilingual person. Drawing on the examples of Amy Tan and Minfong Ho, you are going to produce a piece of work that shows some insight into your own language history. To help you organize your thoughts, we have divided this topic into five categories, each category containing specific questions. As you craft your narrative, we want you to utilize at least four of these categories and choose at least six questions total. Your narrative should not read like a questionnaire; rather, use these questions as a springboard for delving into your language identity past, present, and future. Length: At least two typed pages, 12 point Times New Roman, doublespaced. Due Date: First class back from Chusok, in Hard Copy

Categories: Language Acquisition What are your earliest memories of learning English? Where were you when you began to acquire English? Who taught you? What stands out to you in your memory as you think about the times when your English was not as strong as it is now? In the process of acquiring a second (or even a third) language, have you compartmentalized your languages in a similar way to Minfong Ho? Do you have distinct languages of the heart, hands, and head ? Culture Has learning English changed your cultural values in any way? What are some ways that learning English has helped you better understand your Korean culture? Do the differences between English and Korean illuminate any aspects of the Korean culture that

you had not noticed before? Family and relationships How has learning English changed your relationship with elder members of your family, especially those who are unable to speak English, or unable to speak it as correctly as you do? Do you change the way you use English depending on whom you are talking to? (similar to the various Englishes that Amy Tan uses) Personal growth and opportunities How has learning English challenged you to grow? What kinds of opportunities have been opened to you already? Will be in the future? Is it fair/necessary that a person who only speaks Korean will not have those opportunities? Freedom and Restriction What, if anything, does English allow you to express better than Korean? What can you express better in Korean?