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? Tan spends a lot of time thinking about her mother’s “fractured” English. Tan has trouble thinking of descriptive words when she is writing. Tan’s American education makes it difficult for her to understand her mother. Tan winces when she describes her mother’s English as “broken.”

Answer 1

Answer:

Tan winces when she describes her mother's English as "broken".

Explanation:

Tan states that she has trouble describing the English her mother uses, the only way she can describe it is as "broken". But when she does this, she "winces", this means this hurts her, and that pain is visible in her face. We can say Tan doesn't have the sufficient linguistic resources to explain in a correct way what she thinks.

As she tells us, she doesn't believe her mother's English is broken, or damaged. She wants to state that although it's different, it is as valid as regular English.