Learning To Forget: Reflections on Identity and Language

Abstract

This essay uses personal experiences as text for theorizing the regulatory power of language. The author describes how learning English required forgetting Spanish. This "forgetting" is a requirement for successful inclusion into a new culture, as language sets up conditions for belonging and exclusion, for assimilation or acculturation. Even though forgetting one's original language is a condition for such belonging and exclusion, the author critiques those who oppose bilingual education. Forgetting does not mean ignoring the plight of those oppressed by hegemonic structures, and so one must question how language sets the stage for ignoring social inequities.