Based on Tan's reflective essay, how does her mother's English shape Tan's own identity?

Tan's mother's English shapes Tan's own identity because it made her more aware of certain sociolinguistic systems present in society, and more aware of language itself. For example, she explains that when she was younger, she had to pretend to be her mom in order to be taken more seriously or to be treated fairly, since her English sounded "normal" while her mother's sounded "broken."