English as official language of the United States Essay

â€Å"News from 2000 Census is that 49 percent of Hispanics in America are not fluent in English. They are the fastest growing minority in the United States, representing 12. 5 percent of the population. The legal picture for Hispanics is also astonishing. EEOC complaints have more. than doubled in 5 years, and settlements have risen to over $50 million. † (Harrop, 2001) The inhabitants of the United States have never had any official language. Over 6 % of primary school children in the United States were instructed in German until the World War I. Over 45 million American nationals still state that their forefathers spoke German. Large scale immigration in the 20th century led to the inhabitance of multilingual people inside the US. Therefore, around 336 different languages are presently spoken which comprise of 176 endemic dialects. More than 47 million American nationals use a language other than English within their homes including 30 million Spanish speakers. Since a significant number of US nationals feel comfortable while speaking a language other than English, the federal government should not make English the official language of the United States. The US Senate voted to select English the official language and prohibited the use of other languages for federal government orders and services. â€Å"The 63-34 vote, on an amendment offered by the Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, split the Senate along largely party lines, with only nine of the 44 Democrats voting for it, and just one Republican voting against. † (Cornwell, 2006) Democratic minority leader Harry Reid identified this amendment as â€Å"racist† whereas Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat of Hispanic origin, described it as â€Å"divisive and anti-American†. (Cornwell, 2006) Such a law neglects any provisions for services in languages other than English. This would be a problematic situation for those Americans who cannot speak English fluently. This would also force new immigrants to have considerable knowledge of English language before they get US nationality. It is surprising to note that English language voted out German by a difference of just one vote when it was selected as the official language of the US by Congressmen in the year 1795. (Cornwell, 2006) â€Å"Enacted at the apex of the Great Society, the Bilingual Education Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Johnson without a single voice raised in dissent. Americans have spent the past 30 years debating what it was meant to accomplish. Was this 1968 law intended primarily to assimilate limited-English-proficient (LEP) children more efficiently? To teach them English as rapidly as possible? To encourage bilingualism and biliteracy? To remedy academic underachievement and high dropout rates? To raise the self-esteem of minority students? To promote social equality? Or to pursue all of these goals simultaneously? The legislative history of the bill provides no definitive answer. † (Crawford, 50) English Only Movement The English Only Movement (EOM), a movement initiated in the 1980s, is a sequel of the procedure of domestic colonialism. This will also lead to the demolition of the other languages which are spoken by minorities. In the year 1979, a Report by Carnegie Corporation pointed out that â€Å"bilingual education was the preeminent civil rights issue within Hispanic communities. † (Penna, Shepherd, pg. 147) Bilingual education also became a key issue creating distress in the Mexican community inside the United States according to different researches carried out by the U. S. Civil Rights Commission ( 1967- 1975). Researches also reveled that the academic system inside the US was thought of as being against the cultural traditions of the Mexican population. This led to negative effects including inferiority complexes amongst the Mexicans. There is no doubt in the fact that the eradication of a community’s traditions and customs is an abuse of the basic civil rights regarding the linguistic and cultural survival of a specific community. On the domestic level, the English Only amendment in the state of California was a triumph for those who support the use of English as an official language. It gave legal status to an issue that goes against biculturalism and bilingualism. During the period between 1986 and 1989, voters and legislators in thirty-nine states took into account plans analogous to the Californian amendment. This led to the appearance of 17 states with English as the official language. The English only third house had been succeeded in bringing bilingual education policy to the leading position of national debate, it includes questions, the approach of scientific teachings of bilingual education and it also contains a federal resolution in this could help English be official language of the United States. Law at the highest point of the great society, the bilingual education act was passed by congress and it was signed to become a law by President Johnson without saying a single word against it. Americans, have spent thirty years in discussing that what it meant to achieve. â€Å"Was this 1968 law intended primarily to assimilate limited-English-proficient (LEP) children more efficiently? To raise the self-esteem of minority students? To promote social equality? Or to pursue all of these goals simultaneously? The legislative history of the bill provides no definitive answer. † (Crawford, 50) Melting Pot Theory The discussion over, if the United States is an assimilationist or form a society embracing many minority groups and culture traditions which are very old. There were some exchanging of views forcefully that United States is a melting pot, which means that people of various nations settle in America and forced to resemble which means to become an American completely. â€Å"The March 14 to 16 poll of 1,007 likely voters with a margin of error of three percentage points showed that 63 percent of Americans would like to have ballots and voting materials only in English, compared with 35 percent who wanted them printed in English and other languages. † (Lawmakers Push Official English, A06) Because these declarations repeat the study of Myths of the Melting Pot, as well as spread throughout wrong ideas about languages which are mostly not challenged but nothing is supported by the record of history. In fact, history of the US language policy – or lack of one – both work at lower price than the logical basis for official English and provide warning lessons about teaching actions to restrict languages which are rarely use. 1. Unfavorable to myth, the United States has never been a basic speaking and/or using only one language country. By the period of time, one from eight of permanent inhabitants reported a languages background other than English in 1976, this is variety of nothing new but some skilled persons in languages or study of languages believe that the United States has been the habitant of more persons able to speak two languages than any other nation in the history of the world. As early as 1664, when the colony of the New Netherlands came into possession of British, eighteen different languages were spoken on Manhattan Island, not including the language spoken by the local inhabitants of America which were numbered more than five hundred in North America at the time. 2. Considering the US history, the prevailing federal policy on languages has only maintained tolerance and adjustments. In spite of the language variety in 1787, the famous took no interest to protect or encourage English: United States constituents. Because discussion were held in private and we must depend on James Madison’s informal notes, it is not clear, if any language issues came up during the federal agreement on social behavior in Philadelphia (Farrand 1913). But available facts strongly suggest that our early leaders regarded language laws of any type as a cause of harm to civil freedom from captivity. 3. Recognizing about rarely spoken languages reflected bilingual and non-English – language schools which were ordinary in many districts until the long time period of World War I. In 1710, British missionaries were invited to maintain schools among the Iroquois League of Ally States, with the demand that students should be informed or taught with their national languages. Parts of bible which were translated in Mohawk language were included in the texts used. In 1802, Congress began a yearly devotion of ($15,000) to encourage â€Å"civilization among the old inhabitants (before the arrival of colonists). † This money was devoted to religious schools in which many schools were bilingual. 4. The liberation policy on languages was the best and ideal policy for this country, but it is no upheld especially among people conquered and angry for supposed un-justice; people living in colonies and some racial people. Attitudes of the 19th centuries towards their right of language were considerably less tolerant than say towards speakers of German, French or Scandinavian languages Conclusion As written in this paper, there are many ways that lower class is being saved from being forgotten in the US. For his reason, it is important to be known by the mysterious ways in which this is happening. Language is another simple of making sure that the class’s position in society is prevailing. â€Å"English as the nation’s dominant language is no more threatened at the turn of the 21st century than it was at the turn of the 20th. To the contrary, it is all the other languages that are endangered – and would soon die out, if not for the replenishing effects of immigration. † (Official English/English Only, n. p. ) It has been as issue for decades that some influential groups/people have been trying to restrict other languages and promote English Language. On the other hand, this policy has not been accepted and approved by the majority of Americans as it is discriminatory. This idea is not hidden that making English as the US official language is the agenda of White Americans – it also unveils the approach of White American as they don’t want more immigrants from the third world countries. Works Cited Cornwell, Rupert. May 20, 2006. At last, America has an official language (and yes, it’s English) Independent, The (London) James Crawford. Language Politics in the U. S. A. : The Paradox of Bilingual Education. Journal Social Justice. Volume: 25. Issue: 3. Year: 1998. Page Number: 50 Maureen E. Harrop. Managing a Non-English-Speaking Workforce – Hispanic Americans – Brief Article – Statistical Data Included. Modern Machine Shop, Nov, 2001 http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m3101/is_6_74/ai_79900955 Accessed, April 21, 2007 Lawmakers Push Official English; Bills Tied to Immigration Reform. The Washington Times. Publication Date: April 3, 2006. Page Number: A06. Official English/English Only . n. d. http://www. elladvocates. org/englishonly. html Accessed, April 21, 2007 David Penna and George W. Shepherd Jr. Racism and the Underclass: State Policy and Discrimination against Minorities. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: New York. Year: 1991. Page Number: 145.