The English Only Movement - Essay Example

Schools should provide the language classes our immigrants and their families need, as long as their purpose is the teaching of English but we must stop the practice of multilingual education as a means of instilling ethnic pride or as therapy for low self-esteem or out of elitist guilt over a culture built on the traditions of the West." Those who support English Only tend to be United States citizens interested in preserving our long-held common language, those who want to avoid ethnic strife, those fighting civil rights improvements for minorities, those who long for national unity and civic responsibility, those who fear assimilation will be discouraged by bilingual education and voting, those with animosity towards immigrants, those who believe Hispanics and Asians already enjoy unfair advantages, those in political leadership attempting to set a tone of isolation, racists, and those who are threatened by the concept of diversity (Crawford, 1997).

According to the National Education Association. My Personal Opinion I tend to take the neutral stance on highly controversial debates because I am not one to willingly face a strong confrontation. However, if I had to choose aside, I would support the English only initiatives. The reasoning that opponents to the issue give actually supports the very reason why the initiative should go through. They say it is important to preserve native culture and language, and that's one of the main reasons why they are opposed to it.

Well, what about the people that were raised in the United States Do they not deserve to have their culture and language preserved as wellConclusion The purpose of this assignment has been to compare and contrast both sides of the controversial issue and explain the writer's opinion on the English Only debate. Whereas both sides make convincing arguments, it still seems only natural that a country would get to keep its native language as its own. If too many cultures and languages are supported, the United States will become something it is not and may very well come apart.