US Language Policy, part one - the notes

 As promised, here are the notes for the first part of the lecture about US language policy.

The notes appear  below the jump (click where it says czytaj więcej)

"We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house."

Theodore Roosevelt, 1914.

"The passage of English as the official language will help to expand opportunities for immigrants to learn and speak English, the single greatest empowering tool that immigrants must have to succeed."

US English, advocate group for "Official English".

"The validated and persuasive linguistic evidence is that African-Americans ... are not native speakers of black dialect or any other dialect of English. Moreover, ... African-American people and their children, are from home environments in which a language other than English language is dominant within the meaning of "environment where a Language other than English is dominant"

Oakland Schoolboard, 1996.

"Wherever America's armies and navies have been, English was left behind as an enduring legacy which has stood the test of time and utility to those who still speak it and teach it in those many far off lands... America can arguably make the case that it has continued in modern times what its mother country; Great Britain began 400 years ago when it spread the English language in its quest for Empire."

Ben in Virginia - internet

"Remember that spreading English is as important as spreading democracy or the dollar; even as foreign currencies and governance models compete with America, English remains the world’s reserve language."

Parag Khanna, 2011

Intro : Problem: Complaints that foreign Teaching Assistants (graduate students from other countries) were difficult to understand for first and second year university students taking basic courses and learning was being impaired.

A dean (of journalism) says the university shouldn't have teachers with 'horrible accents' while debate centers on how difficult to understand various non-native speakers are and questioning whether those complaining are simply looking to blame someone for their academic problems.

Result: Non-native speakers involved in teaching have to take additional classes in "Academic English". Citizens of former British colonies including India (the focus of the strongest complaints) are exempt as 'native' speakers.

In other words a (possible) problem is raised, there is a lot of stupid things said before a workaround 'solution' is found that makes the bureaucracy happy but doesn't actually address the initial problem.

This is pretty much how most language policy questions are handled in the US.

Kinds of non-English language in the US:

Indigenous : (Amerindian, Eskimo) : Navajo, Choctaw, Hopi, Mohawk, Ojibwe etc

Pre-US European languages : Spanish (in Southwest, parts of Florida); French (parts of New England, Louisiana); Formerly included Dutch (parts of the Northeast) and Russian Alaska which are no longer spoken by pre-American communities.

New languages (Creoles) : French based-  Cajun Creole (Louisiana); English based - Gullah (Georgia, South Carolina Coast), Seminole Creole (Texas, probably extinct)

Hermetic transferred languages : Pennsylvania Dutch (among Amish); Yiddish (among some Orthodox Jewish communities in and around New York)..

Mainstream Immigrant languages : Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, etc etc  etc

Sign Language : ASL (American Sign Language)

Divergent dialect : AAVE (African American Vernacular English, also known as Black English, Ebonics etc)

Factors influencing language policy discussion and implementation:

Poor first language education:

English speakers are hindered by a dysfunctional grammatical tradition that doesn't work but which cannot be replaced for various political reasons.

American folk language theories:

         View of language knowledge as a zero-sum game:

Knowledge of any other language decreases one's knowledge of English.

"Americanism" as pseudo-religion.

Immigrant model of (all?) non-English speakers

         Generalized belief that American values and American English are a model for everyone.

         Increased use of English in other countries seen as validation of American values.

http://www.languagepolicy.net/  - site of James Crawford, author of numerous books on US language policy.