This 2-3 page paper focused on how my topic from the exploratory paper relates to me and my life. Coming from immigrant parents I decided to write about their English language journey when arriving into the United States. Unlike the exploratory I was now allowed to personalize my work which made this assignment a lot less stressful.

Below is my final draft for the Exigence Essay:

Demetrios Tzanetatos

Professor Rodwell

FIQWS

10/22/20

My Story

            The acquisition of the English language can be a difficult process for many immigrants coming to live in America. Like many immigrants residing in the United States my parents came to this country in search for new opportunities and a better life. The transition from Greek to the English language was a difficult task in which they struggled greatly. When choosing a topic for the exploratory paper I wanted to write about something I could personally relate to. There are many ways to overcome this language barrier such as learning through school, speech therapy, American tv, and other forms of education. I decided to choose this topic because my parents and I were able to overcome the language barrier and learn the English language.

When my parents came into the United States of America, they were dealt with the challenging endeavor of learning a new language. With the lack of English my parents and grandparents found themselves lost living in a new world with no one to help or guide them. This sense of hopelessness is usually shared among immigrants who do not know the language of their new country. As written in my exploratory paper there are many ways immigrants can learn the English language. Upon arrival in the U.S. my mother who was 10 years old at the time did not speak nor understand English. Her and her sister struggled associating themselves into the American culture and making friends. It was not until she entered her first year in an American school where she started to learn the language. She pushed herself to learn English quickly and picked up the hobby of reading as a result. Soon she became bilingual and overcame her former difficulties of acquiring a new language.

My father on the other hand came to the United States at the age of 13. His story is similar to many immigrants living in the states. Entering his first year of high school he was the subject to multiple insults regarding the language he spoke. In an urge to assimilate himself into the American life he started watching American movies and tv shows which helped him learn the language. He also started to play sports which resulted in making American friends. When doing research for my topic I came across countless stories of immigrants being victims of racism due to not knowing how to speak English. I remembered stories my father told me about his early life in the states and how he faced the same problems. My story is slightly different to my parents. I was born and raised in the United States however I still faced linguistic difficulties when learning English. The first language I learned to speak was Greek and when it came time to learn English I struggled. This resulted in me being placed in speech therapy for most of my childhood. It was there where I encountered many people especially immigrants who had the same problem me and my parents faced.

My motive for writing my research paper was to shine light on an issue that has a great impact on immigrant’s life in America. This issue being the necessity of learning the English language in order to assimilate oneself into the American society. I was able to relate to this topic because of my immigrant family who faced first-hand the struggles of not speaking English. There are many ways immigrants can learn English whether it being from the education system or media. I believe that learning English is needed in order to be successful in the U.S.  The language battle my parents and I faced impacted our lives and will continue to play a vital role in every immigrants’ life.

How this assignment relates to my growth? Parts of any CLOs that address this growth?

This assignment relates to my growth as a writer because I was now able to personalize my topic which helped me understand my motive behind the work I have done. This has caused my writing to have a more engaging stance where the readers can understand where I am coming from. Unlike the exploratory paper the exigence essay did not require any research done. This helped me grow as a writer because we were once again changing the genre of our work which has helped expand my writing capabilities. 

The CLO that I addressed this specific growth was CLO#7. This is “composing texts that integrate your stance”.  This applies to the exigence essay because the purpose of the assignment was to write about your topic through your personal stance. Since my topic was about immigrant language acquisition, I wrote about my immigrant parents and they language journey. Another CLO that I relate to this growth is CLO#1. The part I used in the Exigence paper was exploring a variety of genres. I achieved this course learning outcome because we were once again changing the genre of our papers and exploring a new aspect of our topic.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license.