Official Language Battle

    

        The topic of this posting is designating an official language of the United States.  The reasoning behind this choice of topic is to make an argument that there are good points and bad ones even with the current bills in both the House of Representatives (H.R. 997) and the United States Senate (S.503) to make English the official language of the United States. What both of these pieces of paper are trying to do is to unify the United States into a non diversified country of ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds in which we continue to benefit from the rich diversity. Should these bills pass in both the House and Senate it would mean that all official matters would be written and spoken in nothing, but English. For over 30 years both the Senate and House of Representatives have been trying to make English the official language of the United States. Therefore, I hypothesize that should these bills pass they will effect more than just what language we speak, but also how English learners will be taught in the United States and cause a sever conflict for those trying and wanting to become United States citizens.  

Facts about the language barrier in the United States.

     Looking back in history the founding fathers never would have thought make a law to have English has the official language of the United States, since when they wrote the Constitution it was done in English. The interesting part of this history is that of the fifty-five members of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, only eight were not born in the United States. Even though no information has been found about what language the others spoke it is safe to assume that English was their main language. The only exemptions to the colonies being all English were the few German areas in Pennsylvania and Virginia.(U.S.-English.org, Census 2000) With 322 languages spoken at homes in the United States, the most common of these languages being spoken are as follows: Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Russian, Korean, and Vietnamese to name some of them. Even with the possible passing of the English Language Unity Act of 2011, and the amended National Language Act of 2011, sure it would not only help cut down on the cost of printing bilingual voting ballots and pamphlets, and encourage new immigrants to learn English, (U.S. English.org) stop all of the mixed messages that government is sending, and making it almost impossible to file tax returns, vote, and become U.S. citizens and receive a host of other services in a variety of languages, immigrants will understand that they must have knowledge of English to fully participate in the process of the government. (U.S.English.org) Effective English language instruction is an essential anti poverty tool for working immigrant families. Poverty and the need for public benefits, such as food stamps, are more closely related to limited English proficiency than with citizenship or legal status. According to research done by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute in April of 2002, the number one excuse for not gaining college level knowledge is the current language barrier. 96 percent of Spanish speaking parents asked in the three biggest cities hope their own children will further their education by attending college.     

Introduction about the Bills

            If, the English Language Unity Act of 2011(H.R. 997 and S. 503) passes in both the House and the Senate, not only will it make English the official language of the United States, but it will hamper the education of dual language learners even with Senate bill 1158 introduced to help educators come up with clever ways to teach English learners and to aid States and local

schools with the continual growth of non-English speaking students, seeking an academic education of a high-quality that meets State college and career ready standards.   Under this bill it describes a possible way that teachers will be able to teach students in their own languages. Thanks to the following section of H.R. 1164.  (English Learning and Innovation Act of 2011, pg.15 line 24-pg16 line 11) “DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM- the term ‘dual language program’ means an instructional strategy for English learners in which students are taught literacy and content in English and another language, and use the other language for at least half of the instructional day, and that foster is bilingualism, dual literacy, awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and high levels of academic achievement through instruction in two languages.” Thus, with the passing of H.R. 1158 it would make it difficult for non English speaking people to vote with the loss of this program and not having dual language ballots. 

            Under the amended bill H.R. 1164 written by the Congressional Research Service- The National Act of 2011 would make English the official language of the U.S. Government. Meaning that all business conducted  in Congress would have to be done in English, all paperwork, pamphlets, and  any information, in order to help make English the official language. (H.R.1164 pg.3, line 8-17) “It means that other languages can be used for religious purposes, for training in foreign languages for international communications, or in school programs designed to encourage students to learn another language. It does however; allow the government to provide interpreters for persons over age 62. “(H.R.1164 pg.3 line 21-pg.5 line 16) Although this sounds like a good thing, it rebuts the Voting Rights Act of 1965 concerning bilingual election conditions and findings from Congress of voting discrimination against language minorities,and the banning of English-only elections, and other remedial measures. As of right now the Voting Rights Act of 1965, says that all states or governmental subdivisions have to have some kind of help for voters, if over five percent of the citizens that are of voting age do not speak or understand English well enough to partake in the electoral process, also that the amount of people who did not complete the fifth grade is higher than the national amount of age appropriate citizens voting that have finished fifth grade. This means that 335 jurisdictions in 30 of the states have to have signs, ballots, and registration forms and information in several languages. While, this improves the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that public ceremonies in which the oath of allegiance is allocated to the pursuant to such Act is administered solely in English. The impact of this change will, have a large effect on those learning to speak English in all of the public or private schools.