The Official English Question - Reading Response Journal
The Official English Question page: 88-90
James Crawford, in his article “The Official English Question,” evaluates whether it is proper to declare English as America’s official language. Historically, there has not been much success in trying to declare English as the official language. In 1923, there was a bill designating the national language to be “American,” designed to offend the British Empire but the bill was never passed. In 1780, John Adams faced opposition when he tried to set up a Language Academy to set standards for English. His idea was seen as a threat to individual liberty. In fact, there was no English proficiency requirement to become a U.S. citizen until 1906; Continental Congress printed its Journals in German and French and bilingual education was common in many areas. However, the onset of greater language diversity and immigrants preferring their native language to learning English, validate the necessity to declaring an official language. On the other hand, social changes due to industrialization, migration, mass media etc Anglicize minority groups. They act as assimilative forces and help immigrants lose their native tongue and English quicker than before. Crawford concludes with the opinion that in a country like America, where minority language are already secondary to English, it is not enough to declare a single official language; America needs a more extensive plan to manage all its languages.
Making English the official language would surely change a lot of things for better or for worse. The benefits of it would be that the whole government system and all official systems would not have to resort to any other language but English to conduct any business or official matters such as legislation, official documents, contracts, public meetings, events and more. In terms of budget this is a good thing, and it also promotes a sense of unity to the people regardless of their cultural background. It encourages their
James Crawford, in his article “The Official English Question,” evaluates whether it is proper to declare English as America’s official language. Historically, there has not been much success in trying to declare English as the official language. In 1923, there was a bill designating the national language to be “American,” designed to offend the British Empire but the bill was never passed. In 1780, John Adams faced opposition when he tried to set up a Language Academy to set standards for English. His idea was seen as a threat to individual liberty. In fact, there was no English proficiency requirement to become a U.S. citizen until 1906; Continental Congress printed its Journals in German and French and bilingual education was common in many areas. However, the onset of greater language diversity and immigrants preferring their native language to learning English, validate the necessity to declaring an official language. On the other hand, social changes due to industrialization, migration, mass media etc Anglicize minority groups. They act as assimilative forces and help immigrants lose their native tongue and English quicker than before. Crawford concludes with the opinion that in a country like America, where minority language are already secondary to English, it is not enough to declare a single official language; America needs a more extensive plan to manage all its languages.
Making English the official language would surely change a lot of things for better or for worse. The benefits of it would be that the whole government system and all official systems would not have to resort to any other language but English to conduct any business or official matters such as legislation, official documents, contracts, public meetings, events and more. In terms of budget this is a good thing, and it also promotes a sense of unity to the people regardless of their cultural background. It encourages their