An American Language Policy
Should there be an official language policy that needs to be adopted such as in other countries? The United States was created by immigrants that left their countries due to many reasons. With such a diverse crowd of ethnicities full of culture and traditions, it would come as no surprise that these ethnic groups would have their own languages. One reason some feel that there should be a language policy is that of communication problems between two different language speakers. This problem could be solved by using translators, but they are often used in occasions varying in importance such as parent-teacher conferences or at United Nations diplomatic meetings. The only time they are available in a casual setting …show more content…
With this freedom, one can express themselves in any way they may like, say what they may like, and decide for themselves how they should live. This is the one appeal that sets the U.S. apart from other countries that are under strict government rule and this could be why we are so diverse. With an implantation of a language policy such as China (where the main focus of its ideology is unification and Mandarin preference), the United States would look very different. Looking at the smaller aspects of this change, franchises and small business stores would have to change their signs to just English. It would mostly affect heavy ethnic centers such as Chinatowns or Koreatowns across the U.S. as their language is based on symbols that represent words. Jobs that once preferred qualified certain language speaking or bilingual individuals would now only hire English speaking individuals. One of the biggest problems that could come from such a policy is discrimination as employers could discriminate on the basis of language superiority and will not face any legal actions (Fashold 402). On a larger scale, the language policy would only distribute English-only government paperwork, changes in road signs and directories near airports or any international tourist attractions, and most likely in educational terms, no second language courses unless they learn it themselves from outside sources. All television channels and videos showed anywhere would only be in English. Although the possibility of arresting those not speaking English would never happen because it is unconstitutional, a possible situation such as the arrests in Turkey because of strict laws on the use of the Kurdish language might happen (Fasold
Should there be an official language policy that needs to be adopted such as in other countries? The United States was created by immigrants that left their countries due to many reasons. With such a diverse crowd of ethnicities full of culture and traditions, it would come as no surprise that these ethnic groups would have their own languages. One reason some feel that there should be a language policy is that of communication problems between two different language speakers. This problem could be solved by using translators, but they are often used in occasions varying in importance such as parent-teacher conferences or at United Nations diplomatic meetings. The only time they are available in a casual setting …show more content…
With this freedom, one can express themselves in any way they may like, say what they may like, and decide for themselves how they should live. This is the one appeal that sets the U.S. apart from other countries that are under strict government rule and this could be why we are so diverse. With an implantation of a language policy such as China (where the main focus of its ideology is unification and Mandarin preference), the United States would look very different. Looking at the smaller aspects of this change, franchises and small business stores would have to change their signs to just English. It would mostly affect heavy ethnic centers such as Chinatowns or Koreatowns across the U.S. as their language is based on symbols that represent words. Jobs that once preferred qualified certain language speaking or bilingual individuals would now only hire English speaking individuals. One of the biggest problems that could come from such a policy is discrimination as employers could discriminate on the basis of language superiority and will not face any legal actions (Fashold 402). On a larger scale, the language policy would only distribute English-only government paperwork, changes in road signs and directories near airports or any international tourist attractions, and most likely in educational terms, no second language courses unless they learn it themselves from outside sources. All television channels and videos showed anywhere would only be in English. Although the possibility of arresting those not speaking English would never happen because it is unconstitutional, a possible situation such as the arrests in Turkey because of strict laws on the use of the Kurdish language might happen (Fasold