Amy Tan is the author of “Mother Tongue.” She is a world-class American writer of fiction and nonfiction. She studied at five colleges, two of which were San Jose City College and the University of California at Berkeley. Likewise, she received her B.A. with a double major in English and linguistics, followed by her M.A. in linguistics. “Mother Tongue” explains Tan’s experience with language, coming from an immigrant family. She explained that language comes in different forms in her life, depending on who she is speaking to. In the unconventional form of language, which she usually shares with her mother, she speaks in incomplete sentences without perfect grammar. This form of language, in eloquence, is usually looked down upon and portrays the speaker as simple-minded and unworthy. Her story focused on the need for immigrant children to rely on code-switching to feel like they belong in different environments. Code-switching is when a member of an underrepresented group changes their language, grammar, and social behavior to accommodate the dominant culture. To deepen her audience’s understanding of her experiences, Tan relies on rhetorical appeals. For instance, she was using personal anecdotes and real-life examples as a logical appeal. To accurately share her emotions during her experiences, she applied emotional tones like humor or disappointment. 

Tan began her text by stating, “I can only offer my personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this and other countries.” (Tan 1989. ) This established her credibility as a person who has experienced code-switching first-hand. Her text “Mother Tounge” mostly consists of her personal opinions, stories, and definitions of the English language. Using these rhetorical appeals throughout the text helps the audience relate to and understand her life as a Chinese-American. 

Along with strong logos appeals, Tan effectively makes appeals to pathos in the middle sections. Her text is full of emotionally-charged words and phrases that create a descriptive image. She shared different situations where her mother’s “broken” English impacted their lives. First was a more humorous setting of Tan’s mother being angry at a worker and saying, “What he want, I come to New York  tell him front of his boss, you cheating me” (Tan 1989.) This story shows the light-hearted side of having a parent who does not speak fluent English. Coming from an immigrant family myself, Tan accurately illustrated the playful aspects of language. It can bring family members together and give the speaker a chance to fix their pronunciation for future reference. Using her logos and pathos appeals, Tan is able to accurately describe the peaks and valleys of having a parent who struggles with the English language. 

Her personal anecdotes with strong emotional tones make the audience relive her experiences with her. As she began to share the more upsetting reality of being a Chinese-American, she used words and phrases like “lack of sympathy,” “suffering,” and “daughter with perfect English.” In this portion of the story, Tan shares that her father and brother both passed away from brain tumors. This resulted in her mother being extremely vigilant about her health. When her mother went to the hospital, she used her best English, “no mistakes,” but the doctors still did not apologize for their negligence. Tan’s mother found out she had a brain tumor for a month. She explained that the doctors were immensely uncompassionate when she told them “her husband and son had both died of brain tumors.” (Tan 1989.) These words contribute to the unfairness that immigrant parents face, and they are an appeal to pathos, or the readers’ frustration and anger at injustice. With Tan’s choice of words, personal anecdote, and emotional tone, she connects to the audience on a personal level. Sharing this personal story shines a light on the discrimination struggling English speakers have to face. 

In the conclusion, Amy Tan is able to connect with several types of audiences due to her use of rhetorical appeals like pathos and logos. Her intimate tales and numerous emotions reveal a deeper understanding of her perception of English. She concludes that there are different forms of language and that there is no “wrong” form. Everyone personalizes aspects of their lives, this includes language. Although some may argue Tan’s mother’s way of speaking is inarticulate, it is perfectly clear to her. Her so-called mistakes are what make her way of speaking unique. As she mentioned in her text, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with” (Tan 1989). Her story, including her mother’s CAT scan, settled her point that those who aren’t fluent in English are disregarded. Tan victoriously humanized immigrants and our form of language. A lack of perfection in language does not express a person’s ability or value.