Essay On African American Language

803 Words4 Pages

When African Americans, European Americans, and Asian Americans migrated to the United States, many of them started to accept English as their first language. English became the dominate language for each of these groups.

Part A:
African Americans – African Americans were first forced to come to the U.S. to work as slaves. The slaves came from many different backgrounds, so they spoke different tribal languages. Once in U.S., they created a pidgin language to talk to each other slave. Most of the slaves in the South would work alongside with servants in the house. The servants, who were allowed an education, would sometimes teach English to the slaves. Also, some slave masters didn’t allow slaves to speak their trial language. They were forced to learn English and teach it to their children. The only slaves that could speak the tribal language were the elders, but they soon died out. “Then the slave masters told them too only speak English, so the children of the African slaves when they became adults and had children. They …show more content…

English has become the official language in India and the Philippines, and there are a lot of English speakers in China. It was said that China and India hold the key to the long-term future of English becoming a global language. So if many people in their home country already speak English, when they move to the United States, they’re most likely to keep speaking it. Asian in American are learning English to adapt to the better means of communication. “Asians in America are learning English for the same reason. It’s not a matter of trying to become like “honorary whites.” It’s a matter of adopting the most effective means of communication to add to our upbringing in Asian heritage and culture”. (Asianweek Staff). This is an example of assimilation because as the Asian Americans learn English, it becomes their primary