Official Language Movement
Week7 ETH125
CheckPoint, Official Language Movement
T. Hill Many immigrants fear bilingual education because it is associated with disadvantage, alienation, and cultural deprivation. Many of them do not want to pass their native language on to their children because they consider English to be more socially and economically valued. (Linton, 2004) The loss of a mother tongue by language minority children has severe consequences. Not only does it threaten to inhibit academic advancement, communication within the family slowly deteriorates because parents and children only speak the same language when it is necessary. Consequently, lacking communication that would normally teach developmental values, children suffer emotionally and feel isolated. In the transition stage of teaching English to these children, they drop their mother tongue, and by this, are at an academic disadvantage. In contrast, fluently bilingual teenagers did better in school, had higher aspirations for their future, and enjoyed better mental health (Yu Lu, 1998). Establishing a national official language opponents say that it is undemocratic and believe it would violate the US constitutions protection of due process and equal protection. Proponents say that English only laws would save the government money in printing fees and single lingual publication (Mount 2010). References Bender, S (2001). Impact of English language movement. Retrieved April 9, 2010, from Race, Racism, and the Law, Speaking Truth to Power: http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/cngonly3htm Linton, A (2004). A critical mass model of bilingualism among U.S.-born Hispanics* Social Forces 83.1, 279 Mount S, (2010) Constitutional topic: official language. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from US constitution online: http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html Yu Lu, M (1998). English-only movement: its consequences on the education of language minority children. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from Erie
CheckPoint, Official Language Movement
T. Hill Many immigrants fear bilingual education because it is associated with disadvantage, alienation, and cultural deprivation. Many of them do not want to pass their native language on to their children because they consider English to be more socially and economically valued. (Linton, 2004) The loss of a mother tongue by language minority children has severe consequences. Not only does it threaten to inhibit academic advancement, communication within the family slowly deteriorates because parents and children only speak the same language when it is necessary. Consequently, lacking communication that would normally teach developmental values, children suffer emotionally and feel isolated. In the transition stage of teaching English to these children, they drop their mother tongue, and by this, are at an academic disadvantage. In contrast, fluently bilingual teenagers did better in school, had higher aspirations for their future, and enjoyed better mental health (Yu Lu, 1998). Establishing a national official language opponents say that it is undemocratic and believe it would violate the US constitutions protection of due process and equal protection. Proponents say that English only laws would save the government money in printing fees and single lingual publication (Mount 2010). References Bender, S (2001). Impact of English language movement. Retrieved April 9, 2010, from Race, Racism, and the Law, Speaking Truth to Power: http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/cngonly3htm Linton, A (2004). A critical mass model of bilingualism among U.S.-born Hispanics* Social Forces 83.1, 279 Mount S, (2010) Constitutional topic: official language. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from US constitution online: http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html Yu Lu, M (1998). English-only movement: its consequences on the education of language minority children. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from Erie
References: Bender, S (2001). Impact of English language movement. Retrieved April 9, 2010, from Race, Racism, and the Law, Speaking Truth to Power: http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/cngonly3htm Linton, A (2004). A critical mass model of bilingualism among U.S.-born Hispanics* Social Forces 83.1, 279 Mount S, (2010) Constitutional topic: official language. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from US constitution online: http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html Yu Lu, M (1998). English-only movement: its consequences on the education of language minority children. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from Erie educational reports: http://find articles.com/p/articles/mi_pric/is_199800/ai310642/225/