English as the Official Language Essay

(447). Dissolving fear in the post 9/11 era is, perhaps, the country?s most pressing need. The inability to help out a fellow American in a time when help is needed brings fear to many Americans. Examples of instances when help would be needed could be an attack on a building or a group of people on a street minding their own business. Communicating in the same language, so the group of people trying to help out can understand each other relieves stress in the minds of frantic compatriots of the situation. English as the official legal language will unite all citizens and will prove communication in a single language really is a unifying factor. To get through the troubled times, communication has eased the fears and heartache, but the separation of languages within cities still keep some of the startled citizens from a feeling of complete comfort since the attacks on the Twin Towers. The dissolved distrust and fear due to unifying everyone with the English language carries a message to the rest of the world that our country is made of an array of backgrounds brought together by a common language, which is not afraid. Immigrants coming to our cities today along with families that past on their heritage for generations need to come to a consensus on a very important concept to our American society: communication in a single language will promote a message that the country is striving forward

Professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois of Urbana-Champaign and published writer, Denis Baron proposes in his essay, “Don’t Make English Official - Ban It Instead,” to not allow the English language to be spoken in the United States of America. His idea sprung from Congress considering passing a law to make English the official language of the United States. Baron’s purpose for writing the article was to put forth his opinion about the debate on if English should become the official language. He adopts a caustic tone while giving all perspectives and examples in order to expose the absurd arguments of others to his wide range audience.

From an economic aspect, immigration is somewhat beneficial since it increases the US work force and it’s economy. According to Camarota Steven on his testimony’’ Immigration and the US economy’’, immigration overall increases the economy of the US due to the fact that more workers and more people mean bigger GDP. He also pointed out that the impact of immigration of the seize of the economy is not a measure of the benefits of natives. That means that regardless of the benefits of natives, Immigration is a tool to increase the economy of the US. On the other hand, it can be detrimental to the US economy. In fact most of the immigrants work “under the table” which make the fiscal

The debate on whether the United States should make English the official language has been raging within the borders of the country for decades. Several bills have been presented to Congress over the years, but have stagnated due to the opposition on either side. Though there would certainly be drawbacks to introducing English as the official language of the United States, there would also be immeasurable benefit. Not only would an official language streamline government processes and reduce government spending, it would also aid the United States by unifying its’ people.

The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.

Many of their learning needs are similar to those of other children and young people learning in our schools. However, these learners also have distinct and different needs from other learners by virtue of the fact that they are learning in and through another language, and that they come from cultural backgrounds and communities with different understandings and expectations of education, language and learning”. (NALDIC, 1999).

It has been said that Immigration damage the economy. This is not true because foreigners help American economy to prosper. Immigration increases purchasing, and increases demand for labor. Immigration not only takes jobs, but also creates them. For instance, a man comes to America from Italy; this man opens a small Italian restaurant, this restaurant becomes prosper during the years. Five years later, this Italian man owns two more restaurants and employs twenty Americans. Similar stories, which help our economy, have happened from the beginning of the immigration times.

The fifteenth chapter of Susan Tamasi and Lamont Antieau’s Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US is titled “Official English.” This particular chapter briefly looks into the history of linguistic laws in the United States followed by an examination of whether or not the United States should have English as its official language. Tamasi and Antieau provide multiple convincing arguments for each side of this issue, which consists of those for English as the sole language of government and those against such a measure. Overall, however, there are many underlying beliefs and nonlinguistic concepts—like national identity and history, politics, and economics—related to language and its usage in America. First of all, Tamasi and Antieau debunk

Although the founding fathers decided to leave the idea of establishing a national language out of the Constitution, there have been several movements to establish English as the national language since then. Even though none of these movements could garnish enough support to make this into a reality, they have been influential in that English is the official language in 31 states. In recent years, five additional states have considered legislation that would mandate English as well (Schwarz 2014). Since many individual states have sided on the issue, it poses the question of if the national government should follow the trend as well. A strong argument can be made that the United States should make English as the official language because it would promote unity and patriotism among Americans, be economically beneficial for the nation while rightfully placing the responsibility to learn English on the non-English speaking immigrants.

    Many people have questioned why the United States does not have a national language, and more specifically, why English is not the national language. Among these people is Dennis Baron, who publishes his thoughts on this topic very often. One of his essays, considered a proposal, is titled “Don’t Make English Official - Ban It Instead” and discusses a new way of approaching English as the national language: banning English completely in America. Baron examines other opinions and their flaws and then establishes contrasting points that are subtly sarcastic. He is immensely effective in addressing his points and argument through the use of various techniques. The author conveys his ideas not only through his words, but through

Immigration has fueled the American society from the beginning of its creation. Without immigrants, there would be no America. From ones searching for religious freedom to others seeking economic prosperity, America would not be the successful country it is today without its foreign-born masses. This country has thrived on its people’s diverse contributions, and it has stimulated our economy greatly. It is the place, no matter who one is, to thrive in the acceptance of one another’s differences. Unfortunately, there are others that oppose the very thing that has made America what it is today. Despite certain disapproval, the impact immigration has on America is remarkably beneficial to the economy; this is evident when analyzing its positive effects on gross domestic product (GDP), wages and employment, and other economic contributions, which in turn has stimulated colossal economic growth for America.

The great thing about America, is that it’s a country that accepts people of all different cultures as citizens of the country. This is a distinguishing quality that no other country in the world shares. By having this unique quality, it drew in nearly every imaginable kind of person to this country, a country with just one primary language, English. With that came hundreds of new languages spoken by the immigrants. To this day there’s still people who isolate themselves within their ethnic groups, instead of learning to speak English, the most prevalent language used in America. There’s something to be said for learning at least a little of a language whether someone is visiting a country for a day or planning to live there for the rest of their life. It shows that person cares about the place they’re in, and that they respect its residents. According to Brice, “Making English the official language would encourage new migrants to learn the language of the country they have adopted as theirs. The end goal is to unite the American people, while improving the lives of immigrants and native born inhabitants.” Speaking and

For ages, the United States has seemed to be the country where people seek to move to for a better life. The United States was built on immigrants. People have always migrated to the United States both legally and illegally. The main problem the country has face with immigrants is the amount that trespass the border illegally. Illegal immigration is the unlawful act of crossing a national border(Illegal Immigration Pros and Cons). The illegal immigrant population keeps growing at an annual average of about 300,000 people(Currie 10). In the recent year of 2014, there were about 11.3 million undocumented people living in the United States(Krogstad). Many have asked what harm they do to both the economy and the American citizen. Although there are many arguments as to how much harm they cause, there are as many arguments stating illegal immigration benefits the United States. Illegal immigration has a positive impact in the United States within the consumers, the working class, and the overall economy.

Many people in the United States have a sense of comfort with their own culture and language to the point where they will not abandon those things in order to pick up a new language and lifestyle. In the article named, “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public,” written by Myriam Marquez, she explains how her family continues to use the Spanish in public in the United States, even though they have lived in the United States for over 40 years. Marquez explains, “For me and most of the bilingual people I know, it’s a matter of respect for our parents and comfort in our cultural roots” (542). People are simply not going to change who they are and where they come from just so they can conform to the normal population of the United States. For the most part, people who come the United States are happy that the country has not implemented a national language law because the people who come here can

Anyone wanting to make a profit in these communities is forced to acknowledge the fact that the language of that community must be accepted. It is just like the rules of supply and demand. There’s a tremendous market in many U.S. areas that speaks mainly Spanish, Korean, etc. Particularly, in the southwest, the main foreign language is Spanish. The single largest foreign-language population in the U.S. is Latin Americans, both native born and not. (Sassen p16) It was not until December of 1996 that the Supreme Court agreed to hear Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona. This was on the issue of whether or not government services must be in English.(Clark p56) Now, considering how long the debate has been at hand, wasn’t 1996 a little late in the game?