Question

read the excerpt from \mother tongue.\
lately, ive 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 mothers \fractured\ english.
• tan has trouble thinking of descriptive words when she is writing.
• tans education in the us makes it difficult for her to understand her mother.
• tan winces when she describes her mothers english as \broken.\

Explanation:

To determine the answer, we analyze each option:

• The first option about spending time thinking about her mother’s English only shows she reflects on it, not her view on its validity.
• The second option about trouble with descriptive words in writing is unrelated to the validity of nonstandard English.
• The third option about US education and understanding her mother is also irrelevant to the validity of nonstandard English.
• The fourth option: Tan winces when using “broken” to describe her mother’s English. The term “broken” implies it’s flawed, and her wincing shows she dislikes this implication, suggesting she believes nonstandard English (her mother’s English) is not less valid than standard English (since she doesn’t think it’s “broken” in a negative, invalid way).

Answer:

D. Tan winces when she describes her mother’s English as “broken.”