Should English Be The Official Language Of The United States?

Cons

Some people believe that English should not be the official language of the United States. This is because the United States prides itself for its high rates of immigrants who stream in every day. How then should America be the great melting pot if they start enforcing innocent people to speak and write in a language that is strange to them? One of the reasons why proponents of English to be made the official language of the United States is that they do not understand the difference between the main language and the official language (Ray 235). English is the main language of America. Making it the official language might affect the immigrants and most of them might find themselves in between bars just because they are not familiar with this foreign language, which would be very unfair and prejudiced. It is worth noting that language is a fundamental aspect of every culture. Therefore, making English as the official language would necessitate the American administration to enforce legal immigrants to learn the new language, which is a factor that would affect their culture.

Another reason as to why English should not be made the United States’ official language is that it would deny immigrants their freedom of speech (Del 135). Why do people of all nationalities and occupations come to this land in the first place? It is because of the bounteous prospects that the country has to offer. One of these things is the liberty and freedom of speech. Indeed, people of diverse nationalities come to settle in the U.S. to enjoy not only the nation’s social freedom, but also the political liberty it offers. Therefore, passing a bill on English as the nation’s official language would defeat the entire purpose of this nation. It would also render the works of our forefathers, the founders, and establishers of our constitution that indicates that we have a freedom of education and speech, impractical and unrealistic (American Council of Learned Societies 1). The fact that English has never been the official language for more than two centuries that have passed should lay a platform for understanding why the status quo should remain. In fact, a multicultural engagement that is described by the many languages and cultural background that this country has are very beneficial and valuable as it not only fosters diversity, but it also helps individuals to preserve their cultural identities (Fischer 78).

Despite the fact that learning English is beneficial at some point for immigrants, legislative measures are not necessary. When immigrants reach the United States of America from more than a hundred and sixty different countries, it is widely known that they must know how to read and write in English in order to function in this society (Dick 227). On overall, this is true, but one wonders why the government should dictate and enforce the language that people speaks, including the innocent immigrants. In fact, the government should not interfere with this area. Proponents argue that making English the official language actually benefits immigrants, as they are able to acculturate easily not only in the general society, but also in the United States’ systems of education, which makes them develop and fit within American society. True to say is that affluence in the English language makes it easy for immigrants to acquire jobs and hence, become productive members of the American society. However, many disagree with this school of thought. Although they need to find a way of surviving, throwing them into a situation where they have to learn a strange language is not justified. With time, they adapt to the new culture; for instance, as illustrated by the Spanish immigrants who cross the borders without knowing English and still get jobs, which promote their lives as compared to how they lived in their country of origin.

Another argument that surrounds the idea of making English the official language in America is that it can cut down the expenditure of the government to a degree. This is because the government will save the money it could otherwise spend on making or translating copies of government documents into multiple languages that every citizen of the United States can understand. Generally, this appears to be a noble idea, but at a closer look, the argument is baseless and one-sided. It considers the insignificant returns when compared to the huge amounts of money that non-English speaking immigrants will incur in their struggle to learn the new language. The question is how much will it cost these immigrant citizens when seeking for translations? The United States’ government should exercise the good will, which can only happen when it does the legislation work (Baron, 67). Moreover, assisting the immigrants to learn English will not solve the problem of translating government documents into various languages as even the native English speakers usually encounter problems in their attempt to understand the government forms. Ensuring that forms are available in different languages would go a long way in ensuring that they are understood and filled correctly.

Lastly, making English the official language in the United States would perpetuate stereotypes and would accomplish nothing at all. The debate for having English as the national language has caused a division among the citizens of the United States by exposing the dissimilarities that exist between individuals, which was initially minimal or never existed. Although English-only laws do not explicitly endorse stereotypical attitudes, the debates and movements can cause a negative impact by making individuals look down upon by persons who speak other dialects other than English. Therefore, the individuals who hold this opinion might assume that immigrants who do not speak English are there illegally and should not be in America, making the English language have a detrimental trait (Schildkraut 457). Moreover, making English the national language would not magically make all persons living in the United States to speak English. It would not even make other dialects cease from making appearances and would not stop remove various accents such as marquee echoes and Para Espanola. Therefore, it is better to let people make use of the languages they best understand amongst themselves.

What one would expect is that America tops this list, but this is not the case. The United States of America has never had an official language since the time it was founded. Proponents of English as the national language hold that it would empower immigrants, promote unity and national cohesion, and significantly reduce government expenditure. On the other hand, some individuals feel that making English the national language is a means of trying to find the basis for sending immigrants back to their countries of origin, leaving the opportunities the country offers to the Whites. Indeed, English as the official language would send an unambiguous message of unwelcome to non-English speaking nations as well as absolutely counter the melting pot notion that makes America so great.

Works Cited

American Council of Learned Societies. Report of the Committee on Linguistic and National Stocks in the Population of the United States. In Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1931. Washington, DC: American Historical Association. 1931. Print.

Baron, D. E. The English-only question: An official language for Americans?. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1990. Print.

Del, Valle S. Language Rights and the Law in the United States: Finding Our Voices. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2003. Print.

Dick, H P. “Language and Migration to the United States.” Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol 40 40 (2011) : 227-240.

Fischer, Wyman E, and Donald L. Barnes. Tackling the Issues: Critical Thinking About Social Issues. Portland, Me: J. Weston Walch, 2002. Print.

Ray, Saumyajit. “Politics over Official Language in the United States.”International Studies 44.3 (2007): 235 -252.

Schildkraut, D. J. “Official-English and the States: Influences on Declaring English the Official Language in the United States.” Political Research Quarterly 54.2 (2001): 445-457. Print.