Students will examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards and differences empower and oppress language users.

This CLO is where I’ve had the most trouble. But from what I understand from the discussions that we’ve had in class and from the literacy narrative assignment is that those who learn any form of literacy, whether that be learning a new language or, in my case, learning how to write and improving on my writing after years of feeling stuck and not knowing where to go, will feel empowered by this.


While the feelings of oppression may come from stereotypes like “Puerto Rican kids these days don’t know Spanish”, as noted from a discussion in class, the feelings of empowerment may come from moments like in the excerpt I provided. I was surprised and relieved at the fact that I was now able to write so neatly and that I finally understood why I wrote so sloppily.

 

It was the feeling of being rushed. I was conditioned to write like I had no time at all. I wanted the reader to feel what I was feeling this whole time. I could have done this with a first person point of view, but I felt that the same effect would be achieved if I used the second person point of view. I simply wanted to take a different approach when conveying a feeling that I’m sure a lot of people could relate to. But, when I realised this, I felt like a huge weight was carried off of my shoulders. I was confused for so long as to why I wrote the way I did. Sometimes, I shrugged it off. Sometimes, I gave myself a headache over it. But, realising all of this was a huge relief because now I know what to do to make it better and clearer.