Question

Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as "broken" or "fractured" English. But I wince when I say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no other way to describe it other than "broken," as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. What best supports the inference that Tan believes nonstandard English is no less valid than standard English?

Answer 1

it is not a matter of inference

the reason for Tan believing that "nonstandard English is no less valid than standard English" is related to the fact that Standard English’  was considered as a  form of the English language, universal or common in the nineteenth century. By the 1930s, however, it was  associated with social class and was seen by many as the language of the educated. On the contrary, speakers from lower classes in the past and today, tend to use nonstandard dialect features  because they are more likely to have left education earlier, have non-professional jobs and  have no need to associate themselves with a ‘prestige’ way of speaking.