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.

how does tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt?

• tan discusses her thoughts about language to build the idea that the english language does not have words to match some chinese terms.
• tan discusses her relationship with her mother to build the idea that mothers and daughters in all cultures often have misunderstandings.
• tan discusses her mothers use of english to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard.
• tan discusses the english language to build the idea that there is a lack of appropriate synonyms for the word \broken.\

Explanation:

Tan reflects on labeling her mother's English as "broken" and expresses discomfort with this term, as it implies the language is flawed. Her focus is on her mother's nonstandard English and her realization that this form of language has validity despite not fitting conventional standards, which aligns with one of the options. The other options are incorrect: there is no mention of Chinese terms, mother-daughter misunderstandings across cultures, or a lack of synonyms for "broken" as the core idea.

Answer:

Tan discusses her mother's use of English to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard.