Language Choice in Multilingual Communities

Language is a beautiful tool that can be used to unify or divide. Language brings people together but it can also tear them apart. In “Mute in an English Only World”, Chang-Rae Lee writes about how his mother was impaired from doing simple tasks such as going to the store alone because she could not speak English. Second, in “Lingua Franchise”, by Charles Foran, he shows how English is unifying people across the globe.

Language plays a significant role in defining who we are. It is a method of communication in a structured and conventional way. “Language reinforces feelings of social superiority or inferiority; it creates insiders and outsiders” (p. 242) states Robert MacNeil (2012) in his article “English Belongs to Everybody”.

The increase of immigration in the United States and the influence the Hispanic population on language and traditions are immense. There has been debate for and against English-only language or bilingualism. The issue with language goes beyond immigration issue. The reality is that language discrimination in the work place or even in society have affected the dominant and minority group. In addition, the influence on the cultural traditions and celebrations have impacted both groups in several ways. The issue of language and cultural traditions have created controversy for the usage of English only language or the usage of bilingual language in the United States. The argument of the pro side of bilingualism (English-Spanish) is that society can expand their knowledge and develop better communication skills with other groups that reside in this country. Moreover, living in a globalized world, will help our society to develop relations and create contacts thorough the world. The benefits of speaking two languages also benefit the individual’s economy. Speaking two languages makes an individual a better qualified candidate for a job position and the economy also increase by a significant amount in comparison to English-only speaking individuals. According to the author “They argued that the research of the impact of English-only initiatives showed that the result in negative consequences for psychological development, intergroup relations, academic achievement, and health

To my surprise, the challenges that the minority students experience in the United States have never crosses my mind. However after going through this article, I bet to concur with all the arguments provided by the authors. It is true the high number of people migrating to the United States have significant impacts on the nation at large. This is because many people have known the things that are happening in the schools regarding the perception on minorities and little efforts have been done to deal with the situation. The message writtern in the article is reiablesince the United States as a nation is facing a problem when it comes to its ability to accommodate people who are moving into the country especially in terms of schooling (Commins & Miramontes, 2006). Additionally, there is also an issue about teaching language were the minorities are experiencing a problem in learning linguistics. The fact that the increasing number of immigrants to the United States has posed a challenge to the school system is also interesting. The discussion about the success of linguistic languages in schools is something that has been in mind for a long time.

Becoming an emerging bilingual was a scary experience since I recall my first year as an emerging bilingual. I became an emerging bilingual when I had to transfer elementary schools prior to starting 4th grade. My Kindergarten education through 3rd grade was given to me in Spanish, so when I had to transfer to Kettering Elementary school to start 4th grade I was terrified with the fear of not being able to communicate with my peers and teacher. I recall my first day in 4th grade, arriving to my classroom and realizing that my fear had become my reality. The majority of my peers were White I would say that about 90% of the entire school was white including the staff. There were about three to four Hispanic students in which I was introduced

Currently, school districts statewide are required to identify limited English Proficiency (LEP) students and adopt policies in providing programing which is mainly locally funded with some state aid. The Office for Bilingual Education and Foreign Language Studies were established in 1969. Over the last decade, there has been a growth in the number of dual language programs in the US with goals of bilingualism and biliteracy but many of these programs are expensive and exclusive. (Franklin, 2013) Texas has the second largest ELL population and the largest bilingual education program where there are 7 school districts that offer two-way dual language programs which are offered to both native English speakers and native Spanish speakers. Florida has the Coral Way School, a genuine bilingual program, which has been successful, receiving many accolades since 1936. In 2010, Florida had a population of 227,000 LEP students for which their districts are required to prepare and submit plans for ELL one way developmental bilingual education or dual language services. (Queens University, 2010) California has more than 1.5 million ELLs with LA having the largest population and in November 2016, Proposition 58 was

Throughout my childhood, it was a normal occurrence to hear three different languages in a single conversation. My father’s native language is Korean and my mother’s native language is Chinese. From my upbringing, I got to witness one of the struggles of an immigrant, which is learning English. Although my parents’ English is very good now, it took many years of practice. I often had to serve as a translator for my parents in public settings early on in my life. Not knowing English should not have to be a source of shame for an immigrant. However, I saw the embarrassment on my parents’ faces when I had to translate publicly for them. They worked endlessly every night in their college classes to become proficient in English, a skill that is easy for native speakers to take for granted. It made me realize the obstacles that immigrants face. To this day, my parents are still self-conscious about their speaking abilities. It has even influenced my mother’s career prospects. She has decided not to progress in her career, which requires teaching because she is afraid people will not like being taught by her because of her accent. Language is required to gain friendships, good jobs, and ultimately the power to

Before reading chapter one, I was unaware of how many acronyms are used to describe emergent bilingual students. LEP, ELL, EL, CLD, ELCB, ESL, LM, NCLB and LEP were some of the acronyms used, and I was only familiar with one (ESL). I also found it interesting how they explained why they believed Emergent Bilingual was the best term to use. Even when we discussed the topic of acronyms in class, I enjoyed listening to everyone’s opinion on which acronym they found most appropriate to use. After reading chapter one and being involved in the class discussion, I found Emergent Bilinguals and English Language Learners the most appropriate acronyms to use.

As language diversity in our country steadily increases, there is a clinical need for bilingual speech-language pathologists. Being bilingual and coming from a multicultural background I can personally relate to the struggles these populations face. Currently, misdiagnosis among bilinguals and culturally diverse populations diminish the quality of life experienced by this group. This can be attributed to inadequate diagnostic assessments. It is my firm belief that the amount of research needs to increase regarding diagnostic assessments in order to better serve these populations.

An ongoing battle of culture, freedom, and language occurs in America today. The battle is commonly called Bilingualism. The dictionary definition: being able to speak multiple languages. Though, when you dig deeper, you discover the hunger of differing tongues. Many people believe bilingualism should have a certain role in the public and education. One of these figures is Martin Espada, who believe that bilingualism is also respecting one's culture. He believes that more effort be put into understanding different cultures and languages. An opposing figure to this is poet and author, Richard Rodriguez, who believes bilingualism should not be emphasized in the public

In a globalized world, English is and has been universal language for communications around the world. For that reason, U.S. has never had an urgency to learn and appreciate foreign languages. Most of school systems treat language classes not important as the core curriculum. According to the current positions on bilingual education, schools in the United States teach languages at exactly the wrong time and exclude children from all the benefits that extend beyond pure communication. It’s extremely important to be bilingually educated to adapt into increasingly globalized world. Moreover, even necessary, for those who should reach out and speak at least one other language. Being bilingual comes with various advantages and immeasurable benefits.

Historically, the United States began as a nation that valued language diversity due to the fact that in the 1789 Constitution, no official language was designated. As the years progressed, English became the popular language and was a way to keep power in the dominant English speaking white population, while keeping power away from the non-English speaking minority groups. However, now that times are changing and the Spanish population is rising, Spanish and being bilingual are becoming more valued.

To become bilingual, must you lose a piece of your identity? Or can the cultures of language coexist in a person? In the essays by Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez, the ability to maintain identity as a bilingual speaker is challenged. According to Espada, Spanish should be permitted everywhere to prevent losing a piece of one’s identity. However, Rodriguez believes that a piece of your identity must be sacrificed in order to be accepted into a new culture. For others, such as myself, there is a happy compromise; bilingualism should be encouraged and supported in public to communicate and spread understanding.

Immigrants are one of the most challenged groups of people concerning employment in the United States. Migrants have a much more difficult time with native-born Americans finding a job for many reasons. Cultural factors play a large role in job availability for immigrants. Language barriers, educational differences, and cultural differences are all among reasons immigrants and door difficulties when trying to get a job. it has been found that language barriers have the biggest impact on jobs available to immigrants. The fact that education varies from country to country most degrees and qualifications are equal in different countries. Assimilating to a new country can be very difficult and can cause major setbacks for immigrants. Western media can give immigrants an negative connotation in the workforce.

Talking about “dialects”, a term often mentioned along is “standard language”. When being brought into comparison with “dialect”, “standard language” usually serves as a legitimate variant with the highest level of excellence (Bex & Watts, 1999). Though positive in nature, standardization - the procedure of standardizing a language – often raises heated controversy because of its consequences on not only linguistics field but also the society. In the second part of the essay, I will focus on the disadvantages of language standardization.