To recognize the historical fact that the United Sates has been an overwhelmingly English speaking nation since it was created and that its constitution and foundational documents are in English. 5. To recognize that while the people of the United States value and respect diversity, they want to preserve English as their common language and therefore immigrants have the responsibility to learn English. 6. To conform to the majority of the states (31) that already have made English their official language.
In the essay “A Nation Divided by One Language” by James Crawford and “Viva Bilingualism” by James Fallows, they both claim that it is not necessary to declare English the official language of America. On the other hand, in the essays “English Should Be the Only Language” by S.I. Hayakawa and “Why the U.S. Needs an Official Language” by Mauro E. Mujica, both of them argue that English should be made the official language in America. I am in support of making English the official language of America.
Recently Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi created headlines by saying, “achieving world-class excellence demands that all Japanese acquire a working knowledge of English.” (Masci, N.p) He not only went on to say that English should be the nation’s official second language but also suggested the alternative was to be left behind in the global race to prosperity. (Masci,N.p) So while other countries are clearly embracing English as a necessary language of the future, the United States continues to embrace multiple languages and, in fact, encourages it. In a recent article by Joe Castaldo, he states that German and Japanese based companies choose English as a primary language of their business and employees. (Castaldo, N.p) In fact, deviating from the “English Only” policy has severe consequences. (Castaldo, N.p) The article concludes that companies with global aspirations have no choice but to use English as the language of business.
The usual argument made by U.S. English, an organization that advocates for English as the official language of the U.S., is that making English the official U.S. language would unite Americans around one common tongue so that they could communicate much better with each other. As President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "We have one language here, and that is the English language, and we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans." It is estimated that 322 languages are actively spoken in the United States. The idea is that, if everyone speaks different language, people develop their own cultural enclaves instead of assimilating. (Krauthammer) And as a result, racial and ethnic conflicts arise.
No doubt, words like ‘jugaad’, ‘fixing’, ‘contacts’ have invariably crept into the lingo of the average middle class guy. Another quite peculiar identifier of this new middle class culture has been the fixation with English. Puts Vikram V. Garg[ 5],“Knowledge of English, together with mass media and the internet puts middle India in a very interesting position. It is in some sense, ‘pre-western’. The combination of comfort with English, combined with the relatively liberal political and media environment of India, is resulting in a huge American influence on this middle class.
Do you believe that discrimination in communication is ethical? Why or why not? It has been proven that the more education one receives the better there language becomes. This is true even if they have an accent. In America, English is the national language in a sea of multi-languages.
Even though the Constitution was written up by some of the most well educated people of the new country, the rights given under the document were given to all American citizens. My interpretation of the preamble "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide
A defining feature of the United States of America is the fundamental idea, established by the founding fathers, that all men are created equal. If each person is equal, that means each religion, ethnic group, set of ideals, and culture is equal as well. This idea of equality plays a big part in why the United States of America is populated with such a diverse set of people. Immigrants move to the United States to seek the basic freedoms given in the Bill of Rights and the United States as a nation tries to make multiculturalism work. While the United States is home to many different people with all different beliefs, lifestyles, and places of origin, multiculturalism is merely an illusion for the nation as a whole.
Reading Response to “ S.I. Hayakawa is a former senator and an immigrant originally from Vancouver. He believes it should be a law that everyone must speak English in America as the official language. As a linguistic professor whose parents were Japanese immigrants, this is a strong statement. For an immigrant to believe English should be the official language is surprising and a powerful statement, because it is not even their natural language and yet they still believe it should be the official language of the United States.
The Fight For Our National Language It is almost normal today to see directions, instructions, and signs printed in English and Spanish, and even sometimes French. Today, when one wants to buy an American flag, they will now find on the front of the package “U.S. Flag,” and “Bandera de EE. UU.” written on the back of the package. This is becoming a problem across America, it is showing immigrants and foreigners that it is alright to speak their own language and not worrying about learning English.