OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

Designating English as the Official Language of the US

Designating English as the Official Language of the US

It is common for a country to have an official language. However, the US is one of the few countries that do not have an official language. The late 1970s saw a movement come forth in Miami and Florida to accept English as a national language (Macedo, 2000). The movement gained popularity across the country and the movement soon moved towards a voter's initiative. However, the voter initiative was eventually overturned by the courts. This is only one instance in which the movement to make English the official language gained momentum and met with failure.

There are several probable reasons that the fathers of the nation of the USA chose not to designate English as the official language. One of these may have been that the dominance of English was self-evident, rendering an official policy unnecessary. Another possible reason may be that the fathers of the nation respected linguistic diversity and minority rights (Appiah, 2005). The third reason may be that the fathers of the nation were hesitant to offend minorities who had supported the revolutionary cause. The founders opted for a tolerant approach. While the nation did not adopt an official language, the close nexus between English and the preferred national identity was clear from the outset. The idea of a nation composed of White, English-speaking people was openly supported by several of the so-called founding fathers. Some went even further and proposed that the new nation should limit certain privileges and opportunities only to White citizens who were born in America. Election to the presidency, for example, is reserved for persons born in the US. A willingness to embrace English and abandon other languages of origin soon became a symbol of national loyalty by immigrants. This early ideology may be compared to that of those who fear large-scale immigration today and advocate for ending it by building walls along the southern border of the country.

Regardless of the original thinking of the fathers of the nation, English has functioned as if it was the official language throughout the history of the USA, and it has often been designated as official for specific purposes (Coulmas, 2005). Thus, English has generally possessed the status of the official language and this is functionally more important than its official designation. This point seems to be missed by many who support official English policies.

National languages can be promoted through centralized official governmental planning or by the efforts of language strategists. Official language policies are imposed in deliberate attempts to influence language behavior by means of official codes.

It is imperative to highlight at this point that although there are fewer native speakers of English than of Chinese, English Is by far the most commonly found language outside of China. Some estimates suggest that as many as one-third of the world's people can speak English—which means four billion people cannot speak English. From the island kingdom in northwest Europe the ...