The Effects of Designating English as the Official Language of the United States
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.
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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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 into the curriculum so that it isn't lost from the African American roots; however it is argued that it shouldn't be considered as proper English. In 1996, the Oakland Unified School District opted that African American student's language needs be addressed in schools. This dispute reflected the success of African American children, and how Ebonics is simply a result of neglect. (Hartman, 2005). Though Ebonics can have negative stigma, it does reflect the African American culture. No one should ever forget where they come from however; sacrificing communication in this nation in order to focus on racial identity and self-esteem is not the answer. Even though Ebonics is a side dialect from English, no matter how you want to put it, it is still considered as English. It is still a way of communication. Ebonics/slang is all some African Americans know, and with English being the primary language of Americans, if you take that away then you might as well say you it would take away the way that some African Americans speak today.
Immigrants come from other countries (such as China and Vietnam) not speaking English at all, or speaking very little, and this has increased the most recent efforts to promote English as the official language (Mount, 2001). If they do become citizens, they tend to just accept the fact that they don't have to learn English, which they don't have to adapt to us, because America is adapting to them. The government puts billboards, voting ballot, stop signs, restaurant menus, etc., in many different languages just to accommodate the modern immigrant. In the graphs below, New Yorkers for Verified Voting gives a little description on how much it cost one county in New York and some states to print ballots ( Paper Ballot Costs and Printing," 2005). In order to gain citizenship, they have to know proficient English. They want full possibilities when they become a citizen, from a high paying job, to being able to run for congress, even being able to vote, then they should at least be able to speak English. They get jobs in the country, and people that are citizens here and speak decent English can't even get those jobs. Companies know most immigrants are willing to accept less pay for most work.
Ballot Printing Costs from several states:
Alabama
Less than 30¢
Colorado
29¢ to 50¢
Arizona, Cochise City
28¢
Iowa, Chickasaw Co.
Less than 10¢
Arizona, Maricopa
28¢
Minnesota
4¢ to 17¢
Arkansas
27¢
Vermont
22¢
California
8 inch - 40¢, 11 inch - 31¢
Washington
31¢
Price Quote for Schenectady County (New York)
Above is a quotation obtained from Dayton Legal Blank, a certified ballot printer in Ohio, to supply optical scan ballots for Schenectady County. The price quoted is 29¢ per ballot, not including shipping and taxes. This quote assumed a full face ballot (an example of a 2004 New York City optical scan ballot for absentee voters was provided as an example). It also assumed that for each of Schenectady's 80 Election Districts, there would be down ballot differences for local races, so there would be a total of 80 different ballot styles.
With a competitive bidding process, there is good reason to believe that New York could pay far less. New York State has over 11 million registered voters. If the state were to designate and certify printers around the state to print optical scan ballots, the quantities of scale for New York's 11 million voters would ensure low ballot costs. (Paper Ballot Costs and Printing," 2005).
On the other hand, there are some that feel that having English as the official language is just taking away the person's first amendment rights. Making English the official language isn't a way for them to take away a person's freedom of speech, or ask them to change their ethnic traditions; we're just asking them to incorporate English into as well. They see it as a way for the government to try and control America even more. Some even feel that it will drive some of the immigrants out of the country. There are plenty of Hispanics who oppose bilingual education because they think it hurts kids by making it more difficult to learn English. Yet at home, many Hispanics tend to switch effortlessly between Spanish and English and make an effort to ensure that their children maintain their command of Spanish (Navarrette, 2007). They say that making English will accomplish nothing. It won't make everyone in the world speak English magically. It won't even stop people from speaking their language here. They fail to realize that just the presence of another language brings in money, more than the U.S. might be willing to give up. Some even feel that English is just a very hard language to learn. English isn't as easy to learn as it may seem. Majority of Americans don't even speak fluent English. Some words can be spelled one way, but then are pronounced totally differently!! You have to think about vowels, consonants, synonyms...etc. English is classified as a language, but if it's not what you have learned to speak then it's still a foreign language. They think that we haven't had an official language for so long, and there is no reason to have one now. Isolating a country to one language wouldn't be good for anyone. Have many different languages and many cultures is what makes American different. People flock here because it is the land of opportunity, where we have many rights and privileges that other countries have even yet to consider.
A majority of Americans support the idea of making English the official language. In some states this support has been translated into policy, while in others it has not. One factor that helps determine whether this translation will take place is the opportunity to bypass the state legislature and let the people decide on the proposals for themselves. This issue just adds onto more issues that already divide us as a country. This issue causes most immigrants to flock to one area of the country, and form their inner community inside of another or community. For example, it seems that most immigrants go to the following states and set up their own community, their own way of life (New York, Florida, California). The immigration law in Arizona is a great example of how one thing can divide or cause a major issue in one country. This topic is important, because it can go so many ways. Having an official language can change the way we interact with one another. Hopefully, the language crisis for many Americans will trigger a merger of various disciplines to craft long range solutions. In the meantime, the future American language requires collaborative effort by all sectors: community, academic, economic and political.
REFERENCE PAGE
Aubry, Larry. Sentinel. Los Angeles, CA. Mar 6, 2003. P. A7
Ebonics: Black Students still Awaiting Equity
Baldwin, James. "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What is??
Across Cultures, Eds. Sheena Gillespie and Robert Singleton. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. 128-131.
Hartman, Andrew. (2005, May). Language as Oppression: The English-Only Movement in the United States. Poverty & Race, 14(3), 1. Retrieved September 27, 2010, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 875232251).
Mount, Steve. "Constitutional Topic: Martial Law." USConstitution.net. 30 Nov 2001. http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_mlaw.html (3 Dec 2001). Retrieved September 27, 2010 from www.UsConstitution.net
Navarrette, Ruben. (2007, December 9). The right to speak Spanish. Daily Breeze. Retrieved September 27, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 1395676081).
New Yorkers for Verified Voting, "Paper Ballot Costs and Printing," 2005 http://nyvv.org/reports/PaperBallotPrintingCosts.pdf. Retrieved September 27, 2010
Schildkraut, D.J. (2001). Official-English and the states: Influences on declaring English the official language in the United States. Political Research Quarterly, 54(2), 445-457. Retrieved September 26, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 75495432).
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