Essay on English-Only Movement

Bilingual education has been a debatable subject since its conception during the case of Lau vs. Nichols, in the early 1970’s. However, in that case, the court only ruling was that the children’s

Jarvis encourages the reader to think of language as right, as problem, and as resource. If language was seen as right during the Civil Rights Movement, by focusing on programs to fight social inequality due to language barriers, then in the 1980s, Jarvis asserts, language was seen as problem. Jarvis states that the English-only movement that began in the 1980s, spearheaded in part by John Tanton and California Senator S.I. Hayakawa, contributed to the 1998 passing of California proposition 227. Jarvis asserts that a five-year evaluation of proposition 227 found inconclusive evidence in demonstrating whether “structured immersion” was more effective over bilingual education (pg. 273). This report suggested shifting from the immersion/bilingual debate and focusing on a new paradigm. Jarvis suggests that in search of this new paradigm, focus must be put on viewing language as a resource. For instance, Jarvis uses San Diego County Public Schools as an example of a human capital approach. This approach seeks to preserve and develop students’ first language skills, while further developing their English skills. Jarvis says it is important to recognize that bilingual success is a community

In the article “Should English Be the Law?” the author Robert D. King tell us about several civilizations that were influenced by all different types of language. The point is there are countries out there that don’t want a singular language. Some countries such as India in their constitution nineteen different languages are recognized. But then other countries like America a bill was passed in 1996 making English the national language. Truth is every country is different some want a national language and some don’t I feel no one should be forced. The government should just do as the people request.

In the article, Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracan over language and Culture, Juan Gonzalez, a journalist and broadcaster of the daily show, Democracy Now, describes how bilingualism has impacted the United States’ modern education system. He describes an amendment that would constitute English as the official in the United States, which he believes can be a potential threat to the educational system. Gonzalez suggests that instead of having an amendment that constitutes English as the national language, American schools should implement Spanish to highlight the importance of being bilingualism in the American educational system. A constitutional amendment declaring English as the national language would be damaging to bilingual students because it would limit their capability of communicating in English or their native language, and therefore they have would fall behind in classes and will not succeed in the American educational system. To highlight the importance of bilingualism, even more the educational system should implement a variety of languages.

The fifteenth chapter of Susan Tamasi and Lamont Antieau’s Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US is titled “Official English.” This particular chapter briefly looks into the history of linguistic laws in the United States followed by an examination of whether or not the United States should have English as its official language. Tamasi and Antieau provide multiple convincing arguments for each side of this issue, which consists of those for English as the sole language of government and those against such a measure. Overall, however, there are many underlying beliefs and nonlinguistic concepts—like national identity and history, politics, and economics—related to language and its usage in America. First of all, Tamasi and Antieau debunk

“No Habla English”. “21 million people living in the United States cannot speak English. Citizens are not just speaking Spanish, but Chinese and Russian are rising fast.” (U.S. Bureau of Census, 2009) To force a citizen to speak a new language is discrimination. Non-English speaking citizens and immigrants that are without good English skills will fall academically, in the judicial system and when receiving proper medical care.

Although the founding fathers decided to leave the idea of establishing a national language out of the Constitution, there have been several movements to establish English as the national language since then. Even though none of these movements could garnish enough support to make this into a reality, they have been influential in that English is the official language in 31 states. In recent years, five additional states have considered legislation that would mandate English as well (Schwarz 2014). Since many individual states have sided on the issue, it poses the question of if the national government should follow the trend as well. A strong argument can be made that the United States should make English as the official language because it would promote unity and patriotism among Americans, be economically beneficial for the nation while rightfully placing the responsibility to learn English on the non-English speaking immigrants.

Since the early 1800’s, our nation has been trying to adopt English as a universal language among our citizens. Louisiana, in 1807, was the first state to begin this movement in its constitution as a condition to admittance to the Union. After the Mexican-American War in 1848, there were several tens of thousands Spanish speaking civilians that moved into our country, and this didn’t include the other non-English speaking people who lived among us. While we remain to be a free country, we are a people who needs to be on the same page. Laws and education need to remain consistent throughout.

“Language is power. If you cannot understand or be understood you have no power. You are at the mercy of everyone.” – (Rudat, 1994, Stow, Dodd 356) Should Americans be required to learn Spanish as a second language? The construction of our nation stands on documents written in English, however English is not our official language nor has it ever been. America is a “melting pot” in which English is the most prominent language, followed closely by Spanish. Requiring Americans to learn Spanish is a great controversy; I strongly believe that it should be a requirement, because it improves academic achievements, career success, and cultural and social understanding. The controversy has great counter arguments such as the double standard Americans are held to, and further division of the country. Regarding the counterarguments, I still firmly believe that it should be a requirement because the integration of a second language in our schools is more beneficial to our country’s success as a whole.

Bilinguals in America experience unfair treatment and are looked at differently if English is not their native language. The subject of bilingualism is not a topic many are educated on. Uneducated English speakers use their dominance and popularity of their language to treat Spanish speakers like their language and culture does not belong in our country. Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez speak of bilingualism in their well published essays, and they write about the struggles that American citizens face when they are bilingual in Spanish and English. This essay will clearly show each writer’s definition and arguments on bilingualism and my argument on the topic.

The greatest concern of mandating “English only” schools in California for example is that 80 percent of the population of students is Latino. Miner further explains, “Good bilingual programs are about more than learning a language, it should be about respect for diversity and multiculturalism (Bilingual Education, 1999).”

Many people in the United States have a sense of comfort with their own culture and language to the point where they will not abandon those things in order to pick up a new language and lifestyle. In the article named, “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public,” written by Myriam Marquez, she explains how her family continues to use the Spanish in public in the United States, even though they have lived in the United States for over 40 years. Marquez explains, “For me and most of the bilingual people I know, it’s a matter of respect for our parents and comfort in our cultural roots” (542). People are simply not going to change who they are and where they come from just so they can conform to the normal population of the United States. For the most part, people who come the United States are happy that the country has not implemented a national language law because the people who come here can

The government implementing English as the official legal language of America is imperative because a conformity of communication within our borders is needed to unify the vast diversity. Our mighty country was founded on providing all citizens with equality including inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The United States is a progressive nation that welcomes people from far and wide to come and savor the God-given freedoms enjoyed by all. With all of the diversity from the countless immigrants coming in to our port cities, looking for a more prosperous future, a necessary tie is needed to bring the people of the nation together. Interaction with others

When it comes to demographics, India is home to two noteworthy dialect families. These two languages are Indo-Aryan and Dravidian. The different dialects used in India originated from the Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan dialect families. The discussed country has no designated national language but utilize several more often than not (Dharwadker, 2010). The language with the most amount of speakers is Hindi which has become the nation’s government’s official language. English is utilized broadly in corporate and organizational settings and has been deemed as the alternate language of India. English is also critical in school as it is seen as a level of advancement in education. India’s religious population consists of several different

From the time the Pilgrims landed in this great nation at Plymouth Rock, immigrants have been culturally diverse and have spoken many languages. When the Pilgrims arrived in the New World, they did not know how to communicate with the natives. Through intense study the natives learned the Pilgrims’ language. Even with the common language they were still a melting pot of different culture. Some would say that America has gotten over the language/ cultural barriers and now almost everyone speaks the common language of English, but there are still many immigrants who do not know English. Bilingual education is put into public schools for this reason, so that immigrant children can be assimilated to English gradually. The national language