Question

Select the excerpt from "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan that best describes language bias.

1. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited-English speaker.

2. I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us as well, and he didn't notice any switch in my English.

3. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language--the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.

4. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech, using the kind of English I have never used with her.

Answer 1

The question is asking us to select the excerpt from "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan that best describes language bias and the answer is that it is the first excerpt " I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited-English speaker.". The bias being described here is that people with limited English would also be in other ways inferior to fluent English speakers, and the excerpt criticises this statement. Other options don't shor any bias, although 3. for example discusses the power of language - but it does not show a bias in favior or against fluent or non-fluent speakers.

Answer 2

In her book “ Mother Tongue “ Amy Tan describes how she used a different English for different situations. When she spoke to her mother or her friends or at school, her English differed. In the 1st excerpt the bias is expressed that speaking English differently, is bad English.

Question: Select the excerpt from "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan that best describes language bias.

Answer: 1. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited-English speaker.