Reading Response

The memoir is an explicit depiction of the crisis which is often faced by ESL learners in the context of the American social and educational system. Those whose native language is not English, but have to go through an academic process in which the foreign language, English, dominates almost each and every sphere, are the ones who know how language can bring about social and cultural barriers, hindering the overall development of an individual. The problems, which can be faced by a child conversant in a native language other than English while trying to cope with an academic and social regime (dominated by the English language), have been thoroughly depicted in that section of the memoir in which Rodriguez states that, “During those years when I was first conscious of hearing, my mother and father addressed me only in Spanish; in Spanish I learned to reply. By contrast, English (ingles), rarely heard in the house, was the language I came to associate with gringos” (Rodriguez). This particular section explicitly brings before the eyes of the readers the central theme of the memoir – the struggle of a non-English speaking child in the context of growing up and adapting to a culture in which English language is the common means of communication.

Rodriguez’s memoir has pointed to the fact that, quite often the cultural background of an individual with all its linguistic aspects determines whether that individual is going to experience a prosperous life in an alien society, or is going to experience isolation that can be attributed to social rejection.

Works Cited

Rodriguez, Richard. "Aria: A Memoir Of A Bilingual Childhood". Web. 26 Jan. 2016.