Should English Be Legislated as the Only US Official Language - Essay Example

Debate on Bilingualism: Should English be Legislated As the Only US Official Language Topic Sentence 1 - Bilingualism has long been part of the linguistic setting in the US as a nation of immigrants, but there is an increasing number of Americans born to the English language who feel that immigrants' languages are threatening to drown their own heritage and culture such that it is time to assert the predominance of English by legal fiat. Bilingualism in America obviously refers to Spanish, which is spoken by more than any naturalized Americans since Hispanics have been the largest group of immigrants into the country and their numbers keep on increasing everyday. Not a few native Americans take this as a threat and efforts to create a monolingual society in place of bilingualism have dated back to 1780 when then President John Adams proposed the creation of a government-funded academy that would "purify, develop and dictate" the use of English among all Americans. Other like-minded movements followed but none has so far prospered because of the chief argument that an attitude of intolerance towards languages other than English is undemocratic and impinges on individual liberties. The policy has nonetheless gained headway in at least 27 states, where pro-English laws or resolutions have already been enacted. On the federal level, two opposing lobbies have been organized represented by the English Plus movement that pushes for bilingualism, and the English Only group that clamors for monolingualism and for English to be declared as the only official national language. This paper dissects the pros and cons of the issue and evaluates which side makes more sense and a stronger case. Topic Sentence 2 - Spanish is perceived to be the biggest threat to English since Hispanics comprise the largest number of immigrants in the US, such that more and more public utilities and documents are inscribed in Spanish especially in areas where there are large immigrant communities. There are over 300 languages spoken in the US by people whose primary language is not English, but Hispanic immigrants easily qualify as the largest group of non-English speakers because of the proximity of the US to Latin America. According to the US Bureau of Census, in a tone that suggests warning, 100 million people of Hispanic origins will be all over the 50 states of the Union by 2050 (Lynch 11). Because of this large-scale immigration of Hispanics, Spanish has become the unofficial second language of the US (Rodriguez 3). This bothers Americans with native roots that perceive the growth of Spanish-speaking communities as a threat to English. Why is this predominantly used immigrant language in America considered a threat to English Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) explains that Spanish is making inroads into the predominant position that should be occupied by English among Americans. This is duality that must be avoided at all costs because "it would weaken American identity and sow the seeds of disunity and conflict." The possible weakening of the American identity and the potential of bilingualism to breed disunity is the battle slogan of such organizations as the English Only movement, Official English and the US English Inc., the latter a political lobby group founded by the late Senator from Alaska Samuel Hayakawa and Dr. John Tanton in 1983. These groups feel that English is losing out to Spanish and call for federal legislation to declare English as the official language, specifying that no other state law or policy shall be enforced that requires the use of any language other than English. English Only advocates point to Hartford in Connecticut to show that English is retreating in favor of Spanish and that the threat is real (Mujica 5). Hispanics comprise 40 percent of the population of this typical American city, where half of its Spanish-speaking people do not speak English at all so Spanish is the language of commerce. In an interview, bakery owner Freddy Ortiz noted: "In the bank, they speak Spanish, at the hospital they speak Spanish, my suppliers are starting to speak Spanish. Even at the post office, they are Americans but they speak Spanish. We have become a Latin city, so to speak. It's a sign of things to come." The English Only movements see the sign as dark and ominous. Obviously, the reason for this fear is that if such use of Spanish is officially encouraged and becomes widespread in a particular area, the time will come when Americans in the place who are native English speakers will be influenced by numbers as to adopt the immigrant language themselves. Language is culture and if that happens, American culture and identify will give way to another culture. Topic Sentence 3 - Under the existing policy of bilingual education and communication, the pro-English groups argue that the US discourages immigrants from adopting English by translating official documents such as ballots and driver's license exams for their benefit. Translating public instructions and documents into the immigrants' languages, according to the English Only proponents, costs the American taxpayers billions of dollars each year in addition to keeping immigrants linguistically isolated (Hayakawa 6). For example, Los Angeles spent $3.3 million for the printing of election ballots and hiring of multilingual poll workers for the March 2002 primary, which ate up 15 percent of the entire election budget for the county (Mujica 2). How bilingualism can be so expensive is demonstrated in Canada, America's immediate neighbor on the north where the dual-language system robs taxpayers of about $260 million per year. If the US maintains its bilingual policy, the estimated cost to American taxpayers will be over $4 billion annually since the US has a much bigger population and many more languages to accommodate (Mujica 3). More than wasteful government expenditures, it will breed a system of linguistic enclaves, language battles that fuel ethnic resentments and, over time, serious ethnic and linguistic separatist movements of the kind that continue to tear Canada apart (Hayakawa 5). Bilingualism was established in Canada way back in 1867 but the French-speaking Canadians refuse to accept English to this day, with business signs banned in Quebec. This disturbing scenario can be avoided if there is an incentive for immigrants to learn and embrace English, which is only possible by declaring it as the official language. It will not trample upon anybody's civil rights because people can still speak whatever language they choose at home and in private life, except that all laws, public proceedings, orders and regulations, publications, programs and policies will be written and conducted in English (Mujica 4). This is the platform of the English Language Unity Act of 2003 as filed by Rep. Steve King of Iowa, which aims to reform the assimilation process for immigrants and reduce the level of linguistic separation in America. In effect, it will encourage all non-English speakers to participate in government, with everyone, non-English and native speakers alike, getting the same basic services and opportunities (Mora 3). Topic Sentence 4 - An English-only regime will not make the US a monolingual society intolerant of immigrants' languages and neither will it create an unhealthy fear or hatred of immigrants among Americans. The US is a melting pot of culture that has prospered on diversity and pluralism, which means that after having resolved the racial equality issue on the Negroes Americans can co-exist with any other minorities and their languages. This disputes the argument that enacting English as the official language would make the US a monolingual society intolerant of minority languages, whose people display a xenophobic fear or hatred of immigrants (Hakuta 5). Many other countries look to an official language the same way they assign a national anthem or a national hero but they keep second languages, which do not make them less universal, pluralistic and multilingual as a fact of life in the increasingly globalized world (Rovira 4; Lynch 7). On concerns that Spanish might someday dislodge English, this can never happen because Hispanics integrate perfectly in US society, the way the Italians and Japanese have done, and no immigrants have ever displayed a desire to establish a different linguistic entity (Lynch 6). According to Rodriguez (2), the allure of English is such that it can easily overwhelm any other language brought into America. To illustrate, Hispanic parents pound into the heads of their children the importance of mastering English so they can compete in the American mainstream and succeed in life. This point was underlined in 1999 when Walt Disney released the animated film "The Emperor's New Groove" with a Spanish version shown in 16 theaters located in Hispanic-dominated cities. What happened was the Latinos came in droves to watch the English version such that Walt Disney had to withdraw the dubbed version for lack of interest (Rodriguez 3). The same phenomenon is believed to have caused the closure of many Spanish movie theaters in southern California. From studies of the linguistic behavior of immigrants, Mora (4) concludes that languages other than English used in the US are only transitional in character that weakens during the second generation of speakers and practically disappears during the third. In addition, English is believed to be firmly ensconced in America and even in most part of the world and can never be threatened by any other languages. No language has ever held such a stronger position in the world (Rodriguez 4). However, there is a need to enshrine English as the official language not to protect it against the perceived onslaught of Spanish, which is considered a losing proposition anyway, but to put it in its proper place. It does not mean that immigrants cannot retain or speak their own languages but not as instructions or information on billboards or pay phones, which properly belong to English since these facilities are located in the US. Topic Sentence 5 - English should be legislated as the official language without discouraging the study of immigrants' languages since America subscribes to the idea that bilingualism and multiculturalism improves learning and intelligence. . Latest findings of psycho-linguistic experts show that bilingualism stimulates the development of intelligence by substantially multiplying the neuronal connections in certain regions of the brain. This was confirmed by subsequent research measuring and comparing the intelligence quotients of monolingual and multilingual people, which show that the more one acquire languages, the higher his IQ. So the best thing to do is encourage Americanization by enabling immigrants to study and work because the school and the workplace are the aggregating factors and the means by which to acquire habits and values that are predominant in the mainstream. In a multilingual world, the US has consistently demonstrated in policies that it has no intention of becoming a monolingual society speaking of only one language. The English only advocates admit that knowing a second language is useful because it opens up people's horizons to the richness of cultural diversity and becoming active participants in today's global society (Rovira 4). In learning English, however, the law should encourage immigrant students should not forget to use the language they bring to school with them. The reason is that language expands a child's cognitive development, and denying students that right is not only a mistake that a state can make but also a grave injustice (Rovira 4). In sum, the best policy for the US is to legislate English as its official language but without necessarily rejecting the immigrant languages, which will then serve as the immigrants' second language. Works Cited 1.Hakuta, Ken. The Mirror of Language: The Debate on Bilingualism. New York: Basic Books, 1986. 2. Hayakawa, Samuel Ichiye. Bilingualism in America: Should English be the Only Official Language USA Today, July 1989. 3. Lynch, William. A Nation Established by Immigrants Sanctions Employees for Requiring English to be Spoken at Work. Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review, 2006. 4. Mora, J.K. Debunking the English Only Ideology. San Diego State University, 2006. 5. Mujica, Mauro E. Why the US Needs an Official Language. The World and I, December 2003. 6. Rodriguez, Gregory. The Nation: The Overwhelming Allure of English. New York Times, 7 April 2002. 7. Rovira, Lourdes. Let's Not Say to Bilingual Education. US Catholic, 1 November 1998. Read More