English as an Official Language - Essay

English: The Tower of Babel Rebuilt

            According to The Bible, the book of Genesis describes the building of the Tower of Babel which was meant to reach Heaven.  God looked down on this feeble attempt as arrogance, and an attempt by man to reach godhood.  He destroyed the Tower of Babel and confused the languages of Men so that they could not cooperate in their arrogance to attempt such a feat again.  We can glean from this story that a common language has power, and that this was the birthplace of all languages that exist or did exist.  Considering the studies of linguists worldwide, this story is as good an explanation as any for the origin of different languages, because language is an unresolved mystery.  English, one could assume, has always been one of the world languages.  It has changed by region, mixed with other languages, been added to, subtracted from, given accent, and new meaning throughout history.  English is a living language, and so what it is today will continue to evolve.  According to Robert McCrum in his book "Globish" Mandarin is spoken by twice as many people as English (McCrum pg. 5), yet the awareness of the English language, and the desire to speak English has spread worldwide.  One could make a logical assumption that since the English language has already accomplished so much, and traveled so far, and has such great importance worldwide, that it is pointless to make English the official language of the country of largest English speaking population in the world.  We should not make English the official language of the United States because it is an outmoded concept, and demonstrates that those who wish to designate English as an official language likely have an ulterior or malevolent motive.

            Many countries around the world have legislated an official language.  In some cases legislation is created to preserve a language, like the official language created in New Zealand for those few who speak the declining Māori language.  In the case of India there were so many languages spoken that the government needed to make many official languages to make sure everyone had equal access to important information, so the mandate was written into their constitution.  Both of these reasons make sense, but are not necessary.  New Zealand could have provided funding and support for a dying or minority language without legislating it as an official language.  By comparison, preservation of Native American languages doesn't seem to be a priority in the United States, but it should be.  India is a larger country, and there is a caste system with many prejudices and divisions, so in some ways making languages official makes some sense, but the support for these languages and ensuring that information is in the right hands might have been done without official declarations in their constitution. 

Legislation of an official language is not always benevolent or beneficial.  "Scratch most nationalist movements and you find a linguistic grievance." (King Pg. 534)  Nationalism is like a teenage girl with a new Stepmother.  The fear is so great that the child will lose their identity and that the new Stepmother will take over their position in the household that they must act out.  Those who attempt to legislate English as an official language in the United States are so afraid of the quick increase in the Hispanic population, and the propagation of the Spanish language, that they feel threatened.  The attempt at national language legislation seems to be an uneducated knee jerk reaction, and an act of Nationalism that has no benevolent or beneficial purpose.

            English is already an international language, so to declare it as an official language in the United States seems redundant.  India, among many other countries, conducts its parliament and writes its  laws in English.  You can find English spoken more or less in over 100 regions and countries worldwide. (Nations Online)  The international financial world is based on the U.S. dollar and therefore much of the world of finance is conducted in the English language. While native languages are used in the U.N. as a matter of national pride, there are very few representatives that need a translator for English speakers.  That is a complete change compared to all of the translators used fifty years ago.  The

World Court

is conducted in English.  Robert McCrum states "The spread of the world's English in sport, advertising, films, tourism and international finance continues to enjoy a supranational momentum."  He points out that there is no translation for brand names, and coined the term "Globish" which refers to things that have the same translation in every language.  English is bleeding into the international community quickly because we are all consumers.  It is the most unprecedented proliferation of language in the history of the world. 

            The desire for the language of English has been great in many places around the world.  It has created trends and commercial opportunities around the world.  You can see some of the failed translations on products at the Engrish.com website.  Engrish refers to those attempts at English that miss the mark in accuracy, but still create some entertaining alternatives and meanings.  It's good to have a sense of humor about mistakes in the English language because even in this country new and interesting ways of using the language have humorous outcome.  The important thing to take away from all of the humor and fun with the language is that despite failed attempts, there is a strong desire for English.  A Japanese boy or girl may buy a shirt with English words on it, not even knowing what it says, just because it is in English.  The language becomes trend, becomes a consumed product, and becomes an icon.  It's this kind of international pop-culture phenomenon that sends a strong message that we need not fear for our language.  English is still growing as a language.  It may eventually combine with many other languages in many different ways, but the basic English we all use, with all of its grammar, punctuation and spelling will always be alive.  In the book Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language, Patricia T. O'Conner said: "The truth is that English is all about change.  It's as absorbent as a sponge, as flexible as a rubber band, and it simply won't stand still - no matter where it's spoken... English is too ungovernable and too, well, democratic.  Rival words and usages are allowed to fight it out."  With such a mutable language that is constantly changing, a law making English the official language may be outdated eventually by virtue of the fact that it may be a different language entirely before this country is a millennium old.

            If we made English the official language of the United States, the growing Spanish speaking community would want us to have two official languages, and they would be justified considering the growing Hispanic population.  Instead of making English the official language, the government could think more about supporting adult education and English as a second language (ESL). Charles Krauthammer in his essay: In Plain English: Let's Make It Official said: "No immigrant presumes to make the demand that the state grant special status to his language.  He may speak it in the street and proudly teach it to his children, but he knows that his future and certainly theirs lie inevitably in learning English as the gateway to American life."  There are so many applicants to work toward a G.E.D. and becoming educated in the English language that the districts nationwide who have these programs are turning people away daily and creating waiting lists.  Instead of increasing funding, or creating more opportunities for people to learn English in this way, the U.S., State, and local governments have cut staff and classrooms.  These Adult Education centers have been forced to take fewer students due to the cuts.  It doesn't take official language legislation to support those trying to learn the language.  It is time for appropriate legislation to support the people who need services related to learning English.

            There is no surprise that the legislative branch of the U.S. Government would waste its time on something as petty as what our official language is.  Legislation has been introduced that is both strange and frivolous.  It's one thing to be a student and introduce pieces of legislation "that legalized state sponsored cannibalism because capitol punishment was too wasteful", or "that would abolish all evil lawn gnomes and their pink flamingo compatriots." (Forensics Online Forum)  Sadly our U.S. government representatives or state governments have not fared much better in many legislative pieces.  There are pieces of state legislation that ban bear wrestling, ban flicking boogers into the wind, and make it illegal to make a false promise.  Some of the funding that the U.S. Government has approved for strange research projects is downright embarrassing.  Making the English language the official language seems just as frivolous as many of State and local examples, but in the wrong hands it could be used as a tool for discrimination or a return to the ideology of Nativism.  Raymond Tatalovich, political science professor at Loyola University of Chicago believed that declaring English as an official language was definitely Nativism.  Ronald H. Baylor spoke about Tatalovich in The Journal of American Ethnic History:  "English is by definition a nativist. Nevertheless, with a few exceptions, he finds no basis either anecdotal or statistical to call today's pro-official English advocates bigots and racists. To do so, he states, requires a leap of faith, especially since their position makes sense to most Americans." 

We speak words in America that come from many different languages.  This is what happens when a living language comes into contact with another living language.  If Singapore is any example, it doesn't matter what language strong governments or rulers try to impose on their people.  Singapore is a hodge-podge mixture of languages.  Despite attempts to force English and Mandarin languages on the population, they primarily use "Singlish" which is a mixture of Mandarin and English, with a few words from other languages thrown in.  (McCrum)

            Some suggest that we could be looking at long term dangers if we do not make English our official language.  They point to the Balkanization in the Shatterbelt.  Countries, and towns whose cultures are separated by language.  Each language spoken in the Balkan region has become a strong and inseparable part of their identity.  This has led to violence, attempted genocide, and the forming and reforming of nations over hundreds of years.    In answer, we can look at the facts in this country, and how all of the different races and languages seen throughout the mass migration to this country have combined into the America we know.  Senator S. I. Hayakawa talked in his essay "The Case for Official English" of the play "The Melting Pot" and quotes from it:  "...in your fifty groups with your fifty languages and histories, and your fifty blood hatreds and rivalries, but you won't be long like that, brothers, for these are the fires of God you've come to... A fig for your feuds and vendettas!  German and Frenchman, Irishman and Englishman, Jews and Russians - into the Crucible with you all!  God is making the American." (Language Loyalties pg. 96)  Evidence 103 years after those words were first spoken on stage, it appears that indeed the peoples mentioned have held on to the roots of their culture, but are inherently American people first.  It is possible that cultures need no longer melt and coalesce on the same level as those early immigrants.  The groundwork has been laid over time to allow predjudices to diminish with each generation.  It is unlikely that what happened in the Balkan region would happen here.

Eventually many languages may be pervasive in this country.  It is easy to imagine Chinese being spoken by as many people as English in the future worldwide.    In the imaginings of Joss Whedon, he visualized a future where we colonized another solar system.  The two primary languages spoken on the colonized worlds of that system were English and Mandarin.  The scripts were written in a way that demonstrated that certain Mandarin words were used mid-sentence while speaking English.  It demonstrates how the two languages mixed over 500 years.  Today that linguistic scenario is completely plausible considering the continued rise of China as a superpower.

            In a recession or any difficult financial time, bilingual language speakers are valuable in the U.S.  We are becoming primarily service oriented as a country, in a consumer driven society.  With the growth of the Hispanic community, most service related companies pay a premium for bilingual workers.  Some writers on the subject suggest that not knowing a second language is socially inefficient.  David E. Bloom and Gilles Grenier in their essay "Economic Perspectives on Language: The Relative Value of Bilingualism in Canada and the United States" said: "Absent other considerations, it would be proper for this type of social inefficiency to be  corrected by the government... regulations designed to encourage... additional language skills..."

One thing is for sure, the English language benefits despite the economy as it continues to spread across the globe.  "Recession may slow the expansion of the global economy, but it will have little or no impact on  the world's linguistic transactions which, facilitated by technology, will continue to expand exponentially.  (McCrum)

            It is difficult to imagine, but with the increase in technology, and the world seeming smaller as we communicate without delay, we may one day trim the fat of all languages, and thousands of years from now, all speak a common language.  People may choose an identity that is common to all men instead of clinging to their deserted language island.  One world language in some far flung future may accomplish things that no country or region of the world could ever achieve on their own.  Many cultures have a lot of catching up to do to make this idea a reality, but it is not beyond imagining. 

            Considering how languages are combining with increasing speed and regularity, it may be more wise to spend our time and money preserving languages that are in danger of extinction for the purposes of cultural heritage, instead of promoting English as an official language.  In the journal: "Language Policy, Language Education, Language Rights: Indigenous, Immigrant, and International Perspectives" Nancy H. Hornberger points out that "The Pan South African Language Board, mandated by the constitution and established in 1996, is charged with the responsibility for promoting multilingualism... (including) development of other languages used by communities in South Africa..."  Something like this could easily be modified to help preserve and appreciate dying or endangered languages.

            The Tower of Babel is being rebuilt word by word.  It is imperative we allow freedom to reign supreme in the world of language so that we are an example to others.  Patricia T. O'Connor said: "Someday the old meanings of 'ironic' and 'unique' and the rest will no doubt be lost forever, mere footnotes in the history of English.  Perhaps in trying to keep them alive, I'm the one who's nurturing myths.  My mind tells me we can't save them, but my heart won't let them go."  We are on a path to new horizons in our language, it has been official for a long time.  Let's be stronger than our fear and put the official language debate to rest.

Bibliography

McCrum, Robert. Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language. New         York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. Print.

Crawford, James. Language Loyalties: a Source Book on the Official English Controversy.            Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992. Print.

            Hayakawa, S.I. Senator, "The Case for Official Language" 1985, pages 94-100

            Bloom, David E, and Grenier, Gilles "Economic Perspectives on Language: The Relative

            Value of Bilingualism in Canada and the United States" 1992, pages 445-451

Eschholz, Paul A., Alfred F. Rosa, and Virginia P. Clark. Language Awareness. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.

            King, Robert D.: "Should English Be the Law?" pages 529-538

            Krauthammer, Charles: "In Plain English: Let's Make It Official" pages 539-541

O'Conner, Patricia T., and Stewart Kellerman. Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language. New York: Random House, 2009. Print.

Nancy H. Hornberger: Language in Society, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Dec., 1998), pp. 439-458 Published   by: Cambridge University Press; Article Stable URL:            http://www.jstor.org/stable/4168870

Ridge, Martin. "Nativism Reborn? The Official English Language Movement and the American   States." Journal of American Ethnic History 16.n1 (Fall 1996): 99(2). Academic           OneFile. Gale. Metropolitan Community College. 28 Apr. 2011 
            http://165.173.252.121:2279/gtx/start.do?prodId=AONE&userGroupName=morekcmetro            ccpv

Nations Online Project :: A Destination Guide to Countries and Nations of the World. Web. 13      May 2011. <http://www.nationsonline.org/>.

Engrish.com. Web. 13 May 2011. <http://www.engrish.com/>.

ForensicsOnline: Where Youth Have a Voice - Home. Web. 13 May 2011. <http://www.forensicsonline.net/>.