"Why My Mother Can't Speak English" Assesment.

      Identify the obstacles that prevent Engkent's mother from learning to speak English. According to Engkent, what responsibility does he attribute to his mother for her inability to learn English? What responsibility would you attribute to Engkent's mother for her inability to learn English?

Engkent’s mother is a Chinese woman in her seventies who has never learned English in the thirty years that she has lived in Canada.   His mother immediately blames her deceased husband for never letting her learn English.  It is true that her husband strongly persuaded her to never learn the new language, most likely out of fear of her changing into a non-Chinese woman.  Engkent does not blame his father for his mother’s lack of English, though.  Engkent does, however, believe that perhaps her heritage is playing a very strong role in her never learning.  Engkent believes that his mother is afraid of losing her “Chinese soul” if she were to learn English.  By only speaking Chinese she is somehow holding onto her traditions and her heritage.  

I personally look to her deceased husband for the reason for her never learning English.  She was incredibly loyal to her husband and always listened to what he told her.  When he told her she should never learn English, she listened to him.  Another factor is her only socialization being with Chinese speaking people.  It would be very difficult to learn a new language if you never heard it spoken and never spoke it yourself.  Her only ever socializing with Chinese speakers is her husband’s doing, though.  The husband is than also responsible for her never conversing with an English speaker.  I indeed put the responsibility for Engkent never learning English on Engkent’s father.