The Effects of Designating English as the Official Language of the United States

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Running Head: Language

Designating English as the Official Language of the United States

Shakea Ricks

English 122

Trillium Sara Hinton

October 3, 2010

Designating English as the Official Language of the United States

English is spoken by the vast majority of the population of the United States. It serves as the language in which most government business is carried out. English can certainly cause enough differences to have occasional misunderstandings, usually surrounding slang or region dialect differences. In some instances it should be called the language of survival. In his essay, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me What Is," James Baldwin defines language by pointing to its unparalleled power. He writes, "Language is also a political instrument, means and proof of power. It is the most vivid and crucial key to identity (Baldwin, 2009). Language conflicts have come and gone throughout American history, but language has never been as big of an issue in the United States for as long a time as in the past 20 years.

This paper will show how the English has affected certain cultures, and how non English speaking citizens (as well as immigrants that do speak a little English) how it affect non English speaking citizens in certain ways, and how the fact that they do not speak English affects the United States. To date, twenty-six states have declared English their official language. Of these 26 declarations, 21 have been since 1980 (Schildkraut, 2001). English should be designated as the official language of the United States to not only preserve unity for us as Americans but to improve overall communication. America has a language barrier issue that over the years has turned a few heads. There are many people that come to the United States every year, in which case this is why this topic is so important, and why it really needs to be addressed. Congress has tried to pass many laws, but still til this day we have yet as a country to have an official language.

This study was limited to how English being broken off into certain dialect has affected one culture. This culture has been affected by certain standards of English, due to their past history and communication skills. It shows how it affects non-English speaking citizens in certain ways. Data was collected through various news/magazines articles, journals, and educational websites that hold an extremely amount of pertinent information.
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English plays a major role in the culture of the United States. Language plays a drastic role in how cultures are perceived and African American ancestors gave so much that our culture is no longer defined by the color of our skin but the language in which we speak. English is a language of its own, but in majority of the African American community, Ebonics (slang) has become the forefront in which most speak. Some would define Ebonics as "Black English". Although Ebonics has been declared the "genetically based" language of black students, Ebonics can still be incorporated ...

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