Question

read the excerpt from \mother tongue.\
and sure enough, the following week there we were in front of this astonished stockbroker, and i was sitting there red - faced and quiet, and my mother, the real mrs. tan, was shouting at his boss in her impeccable broken english.
what can be inferred from the excerpt?
○ nonstandard forms of english can be as effective as the standard form of english.
○ nonstandard forms of english limit a speaker’s ability to stand up for herself.
○ nonstandard forms of english make communication difficult between cultures.
○ nonstandard forms of english are used more by older adults than by younger adults.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the excerpt: The mother uses "impeccable broken English" (a nonstandard form) to shout at the stockbroker's boss, showing it's effective. Let's check each option:

• Option 1: The mother’s nonstandard English (broken English) is effective in addressing the boss, so this matches.
• Option 2: The mother is standing up for herself with broken English, so this is wrong.
• Option 3: The communication here (mother to boss) isn’t difficult, so this is wrong.
• Option 4: The excerpt doesn’t compare age groups’ use of nonstandard English, so this is wrong.

Answer:

A. Nonstandard forms of English can be as effective as the standard form of English.