Annika Damstedt

4 April 2023

Salma’s Language Acquisition and Assimilation

In The Cry of the Dove by Fadia Faqir, the story follows an immigrant to England named

Salma. Salma struggles to learn the new language, as well as integrate into the new and

confusing culture. This is demonstrated throughout the novel through Salma’s language

acquisition, which reflects how assimilated she has become.

When Salma first immigrates to England, she is just beginning to learn English. She

would be considered to be in the very first parts of language acquisition known as early

production, where she is only capable of speaking very short sentences. This is demonstrated

when she says “‘Yumma! It delicious!’” after eating fried fish she considered gross (Faqir 3). She

makes multiple mistakes in these sentences, such as codeswitching and syntax errors.

Surrounding her language acquisition is the issue of assimilation. These sentences also

demonstrate how Salma is attempting to assimilate by partaking in food, one of the more

noticeable aspects of different cultures. She is trying to connect by saying it is delicious, but her

poor language skills actually get her rebuked by those she is trying to connect to. Salma’s poor

language acquisition skills in this section of the book also represent her poor attempts at

assimilation.

Throughout the book, Salma’s language acquisition progresses, and so does her

assimilation into the England culture. When discussing the weather with Liz, a very typical

England pastime, she invites Liz to enjoy the weather, asking “Do you want coompany?” (Faqir

36). Salma’s language acquisition is clearly further along, as she is capable of speaking longer

sentences. She is most likely in the speech emergence stage of her language acquisition.
However, her phonological error of mispronouncing “company” again makes it clear she does

not belong as Liz corrects her. This is tied to her assimilation, as she is understanding the culture

better by partaking in common conversation topics, but is still unable to speak correctly, clearly

isolating her from those around her. Salma’s language acquisition has improved, and so has her

understanding of English culture.

Salma further develops her language acquisition by speaking on more complex topics

more relevant to English society. When she first meets Jim, Salma discusses her life, saying “I

also do part time degree in English…I taken an elective in Sociology and I to write a paper about

the homeless” (Faqir 58). While there are still plenty of errors in Salma’s syntax, she is able to

use long sentences with more complicated words, meaning she is likely in the intermediate

fluency stage of language acquisition. Her assimilation into English society is also more

advanced as she is studying English itself at college, which is respected in English society. This

is clearly more effective for assimilation, as Jim seems to respect her more once he learns this

information. Salma’s language acquisition has progressed to a point where she is very

assimilated into English society.

Finally, towards the end of the book Salma has almost completely assimilated into

English society, with her language acquisition skills reflecting that fact. She makes the joke

“Northerners are terrible, aren’t they?” (Faqir 257). While the sentence isn’t long, Salma makes

no syntax or phonological errors. Additionally, she is able to make a joke, suggesting that she is

in the later stages of language acquisition, likely the advanced fluency stage. Salma is also in the

advanced stages of assimilation. She is able to understand the intricacies of English culture to

separate different groups of Englishmen and know that Northerners are commonly used as the
butt of the joke. Salma has developed her language, and along the way she became thoroughly

assimilated into the English culture.

In conclusion, Fadia Faqir uses Salma’s language acquisition throughout The Cry of the

Dove as clues to how fully Salma has assimilated. When Salma’s language acquisition is poor

she is only touching on the surface level of English culture, but when her language is better she

is able to better understand the nuances of the culture. This authorial technique provides greater

insight into Salma’s immigrant experience, showing how language can reflect understanding of

culture itself.