Speech, Language and the Developing Child - Essay Example

Language and speech of a person builds a connection with those who speak the same way, and significantly distinguishes from others who speak differently. The way we speak relates us to certain ideas, certain people, certain region we have lived in and a certain culture we are accustomed to. The words that we speak reflect our beliefs and point of view. Language is one of the things reflected by our culture that bring many of us together as a community. (Kramsch, 1998)I have seen in my life how by language and speech we can differentiate different people.

Having studied and lived all my life in Berkeley, I have seen a very diverse set of people-Anglo Americans, North Americans, British, Canadians, Indians, Chinese, Arabs and many others. Berkeley is a home to people belonging to different regions, cultures, having different skin colour and speaking different languages (or at least speaking English in a different accent).When I joined school, I found a lot of children who spoke differently than I and other Native Americans did. These children had moved with their families to Berkeley.

Some of them who were born here or were living for many years had adapted the same accent as ours that one could never distinguish between them and Americans-unless you go for the physical appearance. Whereas there were many who had different accents and spoke different languages in their own communities. Apart from the people belonging to different regions, there were also a few Native Americans who spoke differently than most of us. There was a boy in my class who had a squeaky voice that resulted into a lot of bullying from other kids.

One kid had a loud and harsh voice that terrorized a few. There were a few kids who stuttered as well in their speech and were therefore always a target of fun and bullying by other kids.In the beginning it was difficult for me to look at those with different accents and ways of speaking, the same as I did with people who spoke like me. There were some who appeared stubborn from the way they spoke; some gave signs of arrogance, some gave impressions that they were always frightened or nervous and whereas some sounded really nice.

However, it took me not very long to adjust with the diverse crowd and accept their sometimes amusing, and sometimes intimidating accents and get used to it. This was not however, easily acceptable by many. These children were sometimes treated with distinction. When they spoke, a few children made fun of them and humiliated them by imitating their accents. But nonetheless, this was not true for everyone. Because of the diversity Berkeley had, people are naturally used to it, and are more acceptable and encouraging of the fact.

As a grown up now, I believe that language and speech are very important in individual human’s personality. In America, although there are people belonging to different regions and cultures, there should be one language spoken throughout. The reason is not to discourage diversity, but language is much more than some words that make you belong to one community. Language is a way of expression and this expression should be understandable enough for everyone. By keeping one language in the entire region, we can ensure that everyone understands each other clearly.

This however does not mean that we should discourage people speaking in their own accents and languages among their communities. People should have freedom to speak freely but a practice of speaking one official language should be the norm to make it easier for everyone. BibliographyKramsch, C. J. (1998). Language and Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.