Americans think that it’s important to learn languages. As long as the language is ‘English’, and the learner is ‘someone else‘.
Americans believe by large majorities that it is more important for newcomers to learn English than it is for their fellow citizens to become bilingual.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey reveals that 83% of likely voters place a higher priority on encouraging immigrants to speak English as their primary language.
Just 13% take the opposite view and say it is more important for Americans to learn other languages.
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Broken down along party lines, 79% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats reject the idea that all Americans should know multiple languages. Among unaffiliated voters, 68% say their fellow citizens do not need to know a language other than English.Last fall, a Rasmussen Reports survey found that 77% of Americans believed that employers should be allowed to require employees to speak English while on the job.
We tend to feel very attached to our language. It’s our tool for expressing who we are. We might not even be able to think without it. As a linguist, I’ve noticed that even smart, aware people aren’t very good at examining their language attitudes. That means it’s an area where our darkest urges can pool and simmer. And that means that we can frequently find xenophobia lurking here.
An antidote is to learn to talk the way someone else does. Not only do I want to see official documents available in other languages, I want to see second language instruction promoted more aggressively in schools. It’s not just a way to expand the mind, it’s a way to combat the more pernicious kinds of intolerance.
17 June 2008 at 10:57 am
I wouldn’t say that it’s important for immigrants to Australia to speak English as their primary language, but I do think it’s important for immigrants to learn a common language of whatever country they migrate to. More signage and official documents in different languages would surely help ease the transition for migrants, but to really be integrated into a country, you’d have to be able to converse with the other inhabitants.
As a side note, all of the primary schools I have attended had compulsory second-language classes in Italian, and my highschool had compulsory second-language classes for year 8s (Italian or Indonesian). But these were all private schools, I don’t know what the situation is in public schools here.
17 June 2008 at 8:59 pm
It seems pretty straight forward to me. I don’t see the problem with multi language nations. I’ve always liked that the states didn’t have a formal language: we are a nation of many.
I think in a democratic pluralistic sociaty if half or more of a community speaks a certain language they have the right to have their street signs in that language.
A bit off topic but I also think that the idea of it being too hard for adults to learn a new language is hooey. I learned reasonably sufficiant spanish in three months while in Chile to have in depth conversations. I think too many of us use this excuse because we are simply lazy.
17 June 2008 at 11:20 pm
It’s just too tempting to write something about how Americans should learn to speak English first … But the English are even more foreign language averse – it’s no longer compulsory for children to learn another language in the National Curriculum.
18 June 2008 at 3:48 am
Now thats just cruel Snowqueen.:) Please don’t use me as an example, I don’t even speak American very (good. Well), the truth is that the repubtards have done a good job of stirring up the hatred of The Other as a way of staying in power and have also tied the “English” language into patriotism. During parades the italian americans wave their flags, the polish americans wave theirs et al but god forbid mexican americans wave the mexican flag or speak spanish in schools were 80% of the students are spanish speaking.