Language in the USA - Essay Example

Running Head: LANGUAGE IN THE U.S Topic: Language in the U.S. Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction America is one of the countries, which up to now does not have an official language as compared to others such as Britain, which has English as its official language as well as France, which use French to conduct official communication. However, it is important to note that unlike France and Britain, American culture is enriched with diversity especially due to the high number of immigrants, who use their native languages instead of English to communicate. Generally, it is observed that approximately 95% of America’s inhabitants either talks English well or very well (Grieco, 2003). Attempts have been made to make English the national language but according to research, this has not been achievable even with the introduction and the amendment of the immigration bills. In America, the percentage of immigrants speaking a native language other than English increased in 2000 meaning that it is becoming even more difficult for the country to achieve a common language of communication. In this case study we base our focus on the Hispanic community since it is the group that has the largest language influence in the United States (Stavans, 2003). Language in the U.S Immigration has been identified as a contentious issue in the United States, with critics basing their arguments on issues such as corrosion of the American culture. This is due to the fact that these people usually bring in their own cultures and in this context, they fail to undergo the process of Americanization. This is why it is common to find that there are numerous languages of communication such as Spanish, German, which has been ranked as the fifth largest commonly spoken language by the census of the year 2000. Other common languages include; Italian, Polish and Greek among others. However, there are those who view immigration as an enrichment of the American culture especially due to the various high morals and standards that these people exhibit, for example in the performing arts, religion and family values, with much credit being accorded to the Hispanic communities, most of whom observe catholic values (Kasinitz & Waters, 2009). Immigrants in the United States have increased their language loyalty capability and are currently speaking their native languages en though there is an upsurge of a generation which is bilingual in addition to another generation that is fluent in English only but according to Samuel Huntington book, who are we? The Challenges to America’s National Identity, the above trend has ceased to exist as Huntington has come to conclude that the Hispanics have departed from their previous habit of linguistic assimilation (Huntington, 2004). Hispanics have increased the capability to retain Spanish or at least convert to bilinguals instead of completely converting to English and there is the danger that not unless the American government resumes its Anglo-Protestant roots, the nation may be divided into two parts where you will find that one party speaks English while the other speaks Spanish but this is to the contradiction of reports released by the US Census in 2000 and the 2002 Survey of Latinos that followed; the latter was conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center in conjunction with the Kaiser Family Foundation (Baron, n.d). Both the surveys indicated a high level of American Hispanic assimilation to the English language and hence there was no difference between the Hispanics and other immigrant groups in terms of assimilation rates (Pew Hispanic Center, 2004). Even though the Pew report confirmed that the Hispanics have an affinity of converting to English, there exist some indicators which show some signs of Spanish language loyalty. Bilingualism has been persistent in the third generation across many borders; this has been as a result of the need of social interaction with Spanish speaking immigrants which is an issue that has raised a lot of attention of late. The Dominicans have also exhibited a higher need of bilingualism; this is due to the fact that they frequently migrate between their ethnic original homes and the United States. The Pew study indicated that the 3rd generation Latinos who are bilinguals exhibit more bilingualism than any other group and they are descendants of immigrants who migrated to the united states prior to the immigration explosion of the 1970s (Pew Hispanic Center, 2004). Recent research has proven that half of this third-generation group is fairly fluent in Spanish in addition to English but only 10% of the bilinguals speak only English or frequently speak English than Spanish. Both Germans and the French are also classified as U.S Immigrants across various generations but the most important factor to put into consideration is that Hispanics are conservative and they preserve their culture and heritage and thus the resistance to assimilation (Baron, n.d). However, there is sufficient evidence that most of the immigrants in the United States are assimilating to English language but the current generation of Hispanics is insisting on retaining their language for a longer period than their predecessors (Huntington, 2004). There is an increased influx of immigrants in the united states but the US Census Bureau continues to insist that the nation is unaffected by both the legal and illegal immigrants however some researchers have stipulated that there is an increase of Spanish language and a declining use of English and thus this is an indication that Spanish may replace English in the near future (Baron, n.d). According to the Chicago Tribune, 30% of the residents in Chicago do not speak English at home but instead they purely speak Hispanic. The tribune added that “…for the Barrazza family, life is conducted mostly in Spanish…” (Kasinitz and Waters, 2009). Many couples have reported to be working under supervisors who give them instructions in Spanish additionally when they get home they discuss family matters with their children thus is a strong indicator that the use of Spanish is on the increase. This situation is not applicable to one family only; it is a phenomenon that has been observed in several families across the metropolitan area. The introductions of Spanish-English broadcasting radio stations, newspapers, as well as cable channels, entrepreneurs have identified the opportunity to utilize the fastest growing opportunities (Stavans, 2003). For instance, the Prince William County which is located in the suburbs of Virginia issued a report which indicated that it was an amazement that the students who were enrolled in the institution were unable to speak English and the problem has increased for an estimated 273% within a period of 5 years and statistics have proven that 80% of the students who enrolled on the program were speaking Spanish an indicator that the language is influential in the region and this issue is supported by the website of the Census Bureau which indicates that in Prince William and Chicago areas there exist an abnormal growth of non-English speaking residents (Pew Hispanic Center, 2004). Extending the research to California, the country’s largest state, recent research has indicated that 42.4% of the residents don’t use English to communicate at home and an estimated 28% purely speak Spanish. The terms and questionnaires of the Census Bureau have been criticized to be ambiguous since they failed to create the difference between speaking English and fluency in speaking English (Kasinitz & Waters, 2009). The table below gives a summary of an analysis the demographics of English and Hispanic languages in California; Table of Hispanic Vs English Speaking Americans (California) Category Region Non-English speakers (home) Spanish Speakers (home) Fluent-English Speakers (home) Los Angeles 60.8% >44% 31.3% Orange County City 84.7% >75% 50.8% Miami 78.9% >69.8% 46.7% N.J (Passaic) 72.7% >62.9% 45.4% The data above indicates that the Americans are heading towards a cultural confusion, the failure of the government to enforce non-immigration laws coupled with several multicultural ideologies creates an opportunity for immigrants, their children, as well as their grand children to migrate to American and further retain their cultures as well as their heritages; this could eventually change the language heritage of America. In real sense, there exist no wrong with Spanish and immigrant language in America; the mistakes occur within the political elites as they have been reluctant to enforce immigration terms such that they retain and maintain American English language culture, this can be achieved through the enforcement of U.S borders immigration laws as well as promoting public policies which are geared towards reducing the supremacy of multiculturalism (Stavans, 2003). Conclusion Whether English is being spoken or not by immigrants, it remains a fact that the American society has the duty to still protect its cultural heritage. It does not make sense for a foreigner to come in a country and introduce a foreign culture on the basis of the fact that he/she is preserving his/her culture. The issue of immigrants migrating to America is not a problem but the problem lies within what the immigrants come along with, the issue of cultural and traditional virtues is a sensitive one and it should be addressed before it becomes chronic as it may result to detrimental consequences. This does not mean that the Americans should either ignore or condemn the immigrants who speak a different language rather than English since for language policies in the United States to be efficient, the solution should not be based on theories of protectionism and nativism but it should be based on both social and linguistic realities. The truth lies from the fact that immigrants can lose their culture and heritage as children, regardless of whether they are Hispanic, Arabic, Korean, etc. however as they get educated they gain the curiosity to discover their cultural background and belonging something that takes them back to their native languages and culture. Rather than protecting the English language which can after some time protect itself, the Americans attempt to impose the language to immigrants who after some time revolt and return to their native languages thus the reason of the increased foreign language in surge at the expense of English (Kasinitz & Waters, 2009). References Baron, D. (n.d). What the 2000 Census Tells Us about Language in the USA, Retrieved 31 march 2010 From Grieco, E. (2003). English Abilities of the US Foreign-Born Population, Retrieved 31 March 2010 From Huntington, S. (2004). Who are we? The Challenges to America’s National Identity, Simon & Schuster Kasinitz, P. & Waters, M. (2009). Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age, Russell Sage Foundation Publications Pew Hispanic Center. (2004). Assimilation and language, Washington, D.C Stavans, I. (2003). The Making of a New American Language, Rayo Publishers Read More