Arguing for English-Only Legislation

(Even though I don't agree with it--but I'll explain why tomorrow. This is also a partial-answer--tongue-in-cheek though it may be--to a comment from my last post).

Decir “Sí” por solomente Ingles

We are an English-speaking nation. As a nation, it is in our best interest to pass laws and promote legislation that will ensure our cohesiveness as a nation, culture, and society. If our government were to issue English-only legislation, then this would aid our nation-building and draw us closer together as an American society. For those that wish to be American citizens and participate in American democratic processes, speaking English should be a party of those activities.

This would not eliminate the ability of cultural groups to maintain their languages in their own homes and communities; instead, it would help new immigrants to acquire English, which would then open the door to their future success in American society. If the ability to communicate and read government documents to receive aid required one to learn English, then immigrants would have greater incentive to do so. Additionally, if English-only legislation were to be passed on the national level, then Congress would have to give greater funding accordingly to programs that teach English as a Second Language for both public schools and adult education programs. As it stands now, many government documents are in languages other than English, and so immigrants can scrape by without learning the language, thus they are unable to participate in American society and culture to the fullest degree and are unable to realize their fullest potential.

Finally, English-only legislation is equivalent to the practices of other countries world-wide. An American would not expect to immigrate to Spain or France and believe that he or she could function without learning the native language. While monolinguism is rampant in the United States, English-only legislation would not hinder that from changing, but perhaps encourage polylinguism as the necessity to teach immigrants English increases. We can still encourage knowing a diversity of cultures and languages while endorsing English-only legislation.

The Times of Illness

I've spent much of the last week doing everything in my power to not get sick. I thought I'd gotten past it, but then this morning, I wake up with a sore throat. And since I have to turn in my admission ticket, and it's only the third meeting of our class, I feel as though I have to drag myself to class, feeling poorly or not. We'll see about tomorrow.

We were prompted this week to write about a tense or embarrassing situation involving language. I decided to talk about how my mom and I can never argue.

Never Argue With Your Mother

An embarrassing or tense situation involving language: the last time I had a discussion/argument with my mother. Since much of my college education was discussion-oriented, I learned to debate and think using language, playing off of others’ comments on a topic. My mother, however, views any conversation involving a difference of opinion as an “argument”, which, in her world, is something awful.

Since my parents and I differ politically and religiously, differences of opinion are inevitable. I will try to explain my viewpoints to my mother, and suddenly we’re arguing about Iraq or how I disagree with certain political stances. For me, this isn’t a problem—it’s just a discussion, right? For my mother, it strikes to the very soul of who she is—disagreeing with her becomes a reflection on her as a parent. She manipulates language to make it fit into this perception. What begins as me wanting to share my beliefs and opinions (and have them respected) ends with me trying to tell my mom that she’s not a bad mother.

I have since learned not to discuss politics or religion with my mom. She just gets too upset, and doesn’t allow my intended meaning to shine through, even if I attempt to explain it. Our ideas of how language interactions should work are too different for us to ever have a meaningful discussion like I have with my fellow students and professors.