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Date: Fri, 03 Nov 95 12:35:39 EST
From: "Johnson, Alice" <ajohnson@SMTP.nifl.gov>
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To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov
Subject: Re: RE English only gets a hearing..
Status: RO
X-Status:
The following is the test of the best argument against "English Only"
that I have come across:
"Official"or Not, English Is the Nation's Language
by Senator Paul Simon
"Periodically one issue arises that has superficial appeal: Make
English the official language of the United States. (A few go even
further and want to make "American" the official language.)
The reality is that English is the official language of our country.
Anyone who lives in the United States and wants to participate in any
meaningful way in our economy or in our political process has to learn
English.
Exactly what it would mean to declare English the official language I
don't know -- and neither do its sponsors.
When I appeared in a debate with the person promoting the idea in
California, I asked: Does this mean there could be no court
interpreters for someone in a California trial who speaks on only
Chinese? Does this mean that we would prohibit New Mexico from
printing documents in both English and Spanish?" And on and on. No
these things were not meant.
It is unclear precisely what is meant, other than the same vague
anti-foreign feeling that has been part of our country since its
earliest days.
Many believe that today we have the highest percentage of our
population speaking English than at anytime in our history.
But that misses a basic point. Years ago, you could come into this
country and easily get a job swinging an ax or a sledgehammer, and if
you spoke Swedish or Italian or Polish in stead of English, that was
no great obstacle to getting a job.
Today, we are a vastly different society. To get most jobs, you have
to fill out an application form, impossible to do if you don't read
English.
If you are a custodian in a plan or school, your employers want you to
be able to read and understand the instructions for using cleaning
compounds and chemicals.
Farming in no longer relatively simple chores. Farming today means
operating milking machines and computers, in addition to the more
routine duties.
In the world of 1989 and beyond [NOTE: This column was first
published on March 26, 1989] acquiring an adequate education is
increasingly important. And almost as essential is being able to
speak and read and write English.
The way to really deal with the problem for those who do not have this
skill is not to advocate making English the official language, but
providing classes for those who do not speak English.
And one of the ironies of the campaign to make English the official
language is that many of those who back it are the same people who
vote against funding classes to reach people how to speak English.
In Los Angeles, there are about 35,000 on the waiting list to get into
classes to acquire English skills and approximately 83,000 in
California.
There were 4,749 on waiting lists last year to get into these adult
education classes in Illinois. New York City has a waiting list of
10,000.
Yes, learning the English language is important in our nation with so
many immigrants.
But the way to handle the problem is not pious-sounding proclamations
that English is out official language. The way to deal with the
problem is to provide funding for classes so that those who do not
speak English can learn it."
(Published March 26-April 2 1989 in numerous Illinois newspapers.)
Copies of this column are available (free of charge, of course) from
Senator Simon's press office (202/224-2152).
It is clear that Sen. Simon is in the minority on this issue on
Capitol Hill -- support for English Only is gaining momentum rapidly
and there is a good chance that Congress will soon pass English Only
legislation.
If those of you in the places he mentioned (or other areas with long
ESL waiting lists, for that matter) provided Sen. Simon with an update
on the current number of people on waiting lists in your community, I
suspect he would write another column on this that could be
disseminated widely. (He writes one once a week and is always happy
to provide copies, upon request, to anyone who is interested.)
-- Alice Johnson (former education staffer for Sen. Simon)
National Institute for Literacy
202/632-1516
alice_johnson@ed.gov
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: RE English only gets a hearing..
Author: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov at INET
Date: 11/3/95 11:17 AM
Meg Gam's anecdote about her intermediate ESL class with 8
different languages represented, and learners from all walks of
life (businessmen, gan members, cooks, factory workers, etc.) and
their unilateral desire to learn and speak English just proves
how unnecessary and mean-spirited the English Only position is.
Immigrants want and need to learn English. They don't need
legislation to force them into the classes; what they (and, by
extension, we as adult ESL educators) do need are more resources
to provide enough programs to meet their needs, so they don't
have to learn in classes of 50, and they don't have to wait years
(really) to get in a program.
I agree with Rep. Engels - the English Only amendment is
"shameless immigrant-bashing." And I wonder why Congress doesn't
focus on real issues, like how can we provide educational
services for all adult learners, how can we make affordable
health care available to everyone, and why is a supposedly
ethical, "civilized" society considering providing a tax cut for
the wealthy while attempting to balance the budget on the backs
of the poor, the elderly, the sick?
Why are they wasting their time on an amendment that serves only
to slap those on the face who have the audacity to have a native
language other than English (and who, gasp, might actually prefer
to use this native language at times, sometimes even in public!)?
Now I'll duck.
Miriam Burt
Center for Applied Linguistics
Washington, DC
miriam@cal.org
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