1. Researching your family’s background, cultural and linguistic development

Research the history and place of origin of your family (e.g., Cuban, Black, AfroCuban, Native, Asian American), going back several generations.  For most members of this group, what has been their experience with…

• Language
• Culture
• Privilege/oppression
• Migration patterns
• Education
  • Did it happen?
  • Miami? Elsewhere?
  • Monolingual? Bilingual?

1. Interview family member/s to document their past and present around their experiences with…

• Language
• Culture
• Privilege/oppression
• Migration patterns
• Educational experiences
  • Did it happen?
  • Miami? Elsewhere?
  • Monolingual? Bilingual?

How does this family member’s (or these family members’) experiences compare with the typical history of this same group of people?

How do you fit into this group (or how do you not fit in)?

1. Defining/describing your experience/history/identity as a language learner/user

Using your findings and comparisons from above, together with what you recognize to be your own experiences, respond to the following questions using narrative form.

• Who are you as a language user? Do you consider yourself to be monolingual? Bilingual? Multilingual? Why? Think about how we define these terms in this class, how we describe the ways that bi/multilinguals use language, and how you learned any languages that you use (think about the theories and perspectives).
• What are some defining language learning experiences in your life?  
• What assumptions did you hold about your own language use? About the language use of others?
• How has your culture, ethnicity, and/or identity influenced the way that you use language?

Bascically you can use the cuban culture speaking both English and Spanish as a reference, answer everything to the best of your ability, I will go in after and make some adjustments 

 

Cultural and Linguistic Development

            My family’s native language is Cubano, a language popularly known as Cuban Spanish. The research I conducted revealed that Spanish speaking has evolved since its introduction in 1492 by migrants from Spain. Even though Cuban Spanish has remained Cuba’s official language, it has undergone various evolutions, and every ethnic group has unique pronunciations. English speaking in my family is low, with only a few family members having background knowledge in English. The past generations of my family only spoke the local dialect. Still, with the increasing globalization, few of my family members, especially the educated ones, have started to learn English (Pino, 1995).

            Considering the cultural background of my family, I found that my ancestors, who lived many decades ago, practiced cultures like artistic music and dances. The foods such as moros, congri, and mojo were their favorite. My research also revealed that my past generations practiced the Roman Catholic religion. Comparing the culture of the past age with the current generation, there are slight changes that have taken place. The current generation doesn’t participate actively in cultural practices, and most of them have embraced the modern way of life. Native foods are no longer priorities for most of them. Their involvement in religious practices has also declined as compared to the previous generation.

            Speaking Cubano as their first language, the gone generations were privileged to and never faced any lingual bias from the society. However, the current generation is more privileged to learn different cultural practices. My research also revealed that over the years, the gone and present generations had not been oppressed by individuals, institutions, or society due to their language or cultural practices. Additionally, I found that past generations never migrated that much, most of them lived in one locality, and their movement was limited. However, the recent developments that have eased the movement in and out of the Island have influenced the current generation to move from one locality to another, contributing to cultural and linguistic development. Lastly, my research found that the ancestors who lived many centuries ago were never privileged to get formal education. But few of those who lived past the 1960s attempted to acquire formal education though they learned only one language, that is, Spanish (Pino, 1995).

Interview Findings

            I interview one of my family members to understand more about my generation's linguistic and cultural development. I chose my grandparent since he knows more about the era than any other age group. According to him, the very first generation who lived before 1500 spoke the Taino language. The arrival of Spaniards in 1492 introduced Spanish in Cuba, and the generations that lived past this era were privileged to learn and speak Spanish. Cuban Spanish became the primary language and this has passed from generations to date. He again said that English is considered a business language, and only the interested educated family members were interested in learning it.

            Concerning the cultural setup, the grandparent responded that cultural practices have changed over time, ranging from dressing, the foods we eat, the religious traditions, among other aspects. He said that the gone generation reserved the cultural practices and maintained Cubano as their language. But the increased inter-cultural interactions have led to small changes in cultural setup. Concerning oppression or privileges, he said that our generation is privileged to live a peaceful life free from any form of discrimination. Also, he said that the entire degeneration has never complained about being oppressed by external powers.

When I asked him questions concerning migration, he said that the migrations were rare among the earlier generations. Still, as the movement was made easy by introducing modern traveling vessels, few members started migrating within and outside the Island. The migrants were able to discover and learn new languages like English. Concerning education, the grandfather responded that only generations that lived from 1900 were privileged to get education through very few accessed the education due to poverty. The education was monolingual, whereby Cuban Spanish was the only language that was taught then. The grandfather’s experiences go one on one with the typical history of the group I base my research on. I fit into this group only that I am slightly different since other than speaking Cuban Spanish, I also know English. Also, am open to learning new cultural practice by interacting with other people from diverse cultures.

Self-Definition

1. Who am I as a language user?

I am a bilingual language user. I can speak and understand Cuban Spanish as well as English. Cuban Spanish is my first language that defines my culture, while English is a learned language.

2. My defining language learning experiences

One of the significant language learning experiences is that the learning process is challenging and needs more seriousness. Other than this, it is very encouraging to learn a new language.

3. My assumptions

I assumed that my language use and cultural practices are two parallel issues that do not depend on each other. On the other hand, I assumed that other people's languages are complicated and cannot be learned.

4. How culture, ethnicity and identity influence my language.

My ethnicity constrains me from using particular words to communicate with each other. Culture or identity defines the language that I always use when speaking to people from the same culture.

Outline

Title: Cultural and Linguistic Development

Body

• This is the main part of the paper
• It discusses cultural and linguistic developments
• It has three parts
  • The essay
  • Interview findings
  • Personal definition

References: Citation is done in APA.