When the ability to express ourselves through language is limited a part of ourselves is taken away. We lose parts of our identities that make up our culture, although we may have not seen it then, we definitely see it now through our communities. Language suppression is often seen through our government especially from our former president Donald Trump who would rather only have the use of the English language in our classrooms stripping away from linguistic diversity and community which is honestly what brings us all together as a whole. Perlin claims that Trump sees this in a negative light and wants to minimize the entry of migrants because he fears that it will take away from the English language but doesn’t see the benefits that having multiple languages brings us to our society. Which validates how taking our right to express ourselves through language strips away from our identity. When a language is seen as more dominant that makes those who are non native speakers discouraged and make them gravitate away from their roots. Sylvester claims that code switching is used as a sense of belonging within our communities, this validates the idea that when not allowed to speak your native language Social stigma, culture marginalization, and media control are all examples of what language suppression can do to us.

When a language is seen as more dominant that makes those who are non native speakers discouraged and make them gravitate away from their roots. This is where social stigma comes into play. In our society it is often assumed that those who speak the English language are the more educated or just because one doesn’t speak English that they don’t understand you. According to Alvarez (2020) being multilingual strengthens how the brain functions. Those who are, are better problem solvers, have better memory, and are more academically successful. Alvarez (2020) observation 1 claims that “families suffered from linguistic discrimination and were discouraged or forbidden to speak their first language”. 

A study validated language discrimination to show how international students perceive language discrimination. Conducted by three international students it is proved that depression is associated with high levels of mental health issues. For example, Wei (2020) justifies that not only does language discrimination contribute to depression, it also has negative effects on anxiety. Although language discrimination contributes to a lot of mental health issues, racial discrimination is also a big part. Wang (2020) perceived that language discrimination has negative association with self esteem as well as racial discrimination because of a moderate association with English proficiency. This reveals how the study measures a significant predictor of mental health outcomes.

Another study reveals that refugees that are part of the youth had a far more dysfunctional experience compared to the non refugee immigrant youth. This is due to the discrimination they went through. Buchanan reveals that language played a big role in the psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. For non refugee immigrants, already knowing the English language helped them psychologically, while knowing their native language helped them in the social aspect. In other words English is the language that will benefit their emtotioanl well being and health while knowing their own language will only benefit them around others that also know their language. 

This article that I am going to talk over discusses the act of code switching. Code switching is the practice of changing one’s language, dialect, or even behavior to fit a specific social context. In other words it is when people change the way they speak depending on who they are speaking to or are around . Code switching is a common act all around the world on a daily basis. This article claims Kamala Harris often code switches naturally because it is a part of her culture and identity (McWhorther 2024). To add on, the media judges her a lot on these acts without understanding that it is important to connect with others and some ways people do that is by the use of language (McWhorter 2024). 

In conclusion, when a Language is seen as more dominant that makes those who are non native speakers discouraged and makes them gravitate away from their roots. When talking about language discrimination, how do language policies in other places prevent these kinds of Discrimination.

               

Work Cited 

Source 1: Wei, Meifen, Wang, Kenneth T., Ku, Tsun-Y ao. (2012) A scale of perceived

language discrimination. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, Vol 18(4), Oct

2012, 340-351

Source 2: Zachary E. Buchanan (2017). Comparing discrimination and language

proficiency between refugee and non refugee immigrant youth in Australia.

Source 3: John McWhorther (2024). Discussing the effects of code switching within the

political parties by comparing Kamala Harris to other politicians.