English Optional? It Should Be

Ich bin ein Amerikaner.

I am an American, an Oklahoman, a woman,

a member of the Chickasaw Nation. My ancestors were

Irish Native American German

I am a daughter, sister,

wife, mother, and a friend.

I am a writer, a reader, a student, a teacher

The list goes on, it never ends. I am so many things,

All are important, but one that stands out has never changed

I am an American.

Ich bin ein Amerikaner.

Soy una americana.

The United States' status as the 'melting pot' of the world has been in the making since long before the first groups of European settlers began arriving in the early 1800s. Native Americans, who are believed to have migrated to the Americas across the Bering Strait were the first inhabitants of what is now known as the United States. Their languages would not have even been related to modern English, but a collection of early Asian languages. It was not until English settlers began to take over most of the territory along the East coast that the predominant language of North America began to shift toward English, though there were pockets of other immigrant tongues, namely German and French. Even during the framing of the United States' Constitution, no distinct guidelines regarding language were set forth. As a nation, we proudly display the diversity of our citizenry as proof of our open and free society, even "in the face of political, economic, and social strains which prevent other countries from realizing their full potential," but these sentiments are all too often not carried over to our own policies at home (Stalker 19).

As the minority population of the US rises, namely the Hispanic population, some groups of English-speakers feel threatened by the influx of new languages. This is not a new occurrence-"we have been coping with political and cultural diversity since before the Revolution" (Stalker 19). Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to a friend in 1753, expressed his fear that German would be so prevalent in Pennsylvania that the legislature would need interpreters. By1790, German speakers made up about 9% of the population-enough to cause Franklin to view it as a possible German-speaking colony. A petition in 1975 by German Virginians (not Pennsylvania) asked Congress to print laws in German for immigrants who had not yet learned English (Stalker 20). Some members of Congressional committees favored the petition, but were defeated on the floor by a vote of 42 to 41 (Stalker 20). This did not discourage German immigration; millions more German speaking immigrants arrived in the following decade. In 1900, English colonists were greatly out numbered by German-speaking colonists, by nearly 6 million. The numbers began to even out a bit in later years, but German speakers remained more populous than English speakers for many decades.

Spanish and French came into play in much the same manner in other states, namely Texas, California, New Mexico, and Louisiana. Many states whose citizens spoke several languages printed laws and some even published newspapers in several languages-usually Spanish, French, or German, but others were included when there were a significant number of speakers in a given area. As Stalker states in his essay, historically, German has had the best chance to usurp the English language's status in the United States, and it had over two hundred years to do so.

German did not, however, take over English's place as the prestige language, therefore it is highly unlikely that any of the other languages being spoken today will overtake English, as over 80% of American citizens speak English either as their native tongue or speak it fluently, where something like 11% speak exclusively Spanish or Spanish in addition to English, which is even less menacing with the other 300-odd languages spoken in American homes falling below 1% of the population claiming them as native languages.

Fear of 'language death' has become a major motivator in the English Only movement in the United States, much like a similar battle for language rights in Quebec. Francophone Québécois, as citizens of Quebec are called, feared their language was being pushed out of their province, even though their numbers were greater there than in any other Canadian province. In their case, they were right. English was largely the language of white-collar business-from bankers to lawyers-mainly because the bulk of the francophone citizens preferred a rural, agrarian lifestyle.

By 1968, the French speaking population of Quebec realized the grave status of their language's value-many immigrants to the area, as well as Quebec natives, were leaving French speaking schools for English schools, meaning more children would learn English, not French, therefore limiting the growth and expansion of French in Canada. "Bilingualism was becoming a fact of French life, but not of English life" (Ossipov 199). This became evident as laws were passed in attempt to stem the growth of the Anglophone population. They began as weak laws meant to encourage the use of French in Quebec.

Soon after the initial push for language control, frail laws were strengthened by more stable legislation such as Law 22, which limited education in English, mandated that immigrants who spoke neither French nor English should be educated in French, and stipulated that all English students must take French as a second language while francophone students were required to take English courses. The new law also enforced French's position in business, ordering every company to show proof of French language programs in order to receive government subsidies and contracts. Product labels, warrantees, menus, signage, and most other public communication were required to be made available in French as well as English (Ossipov 200). Quebec's current language status is far from what the francophone community probably envisioned. Though they may have fallen a bit short of their goals, the Québécois have succeeded in preserving their language, at least in Quebec, at least for the time being.

Both the shortfalls and the victories of the language laws enacted in Quebec lead to some important suppositions for the future of the linguistic situation unfolding in the United States. While it is apparent that the Hispanic community is growing in numbers, the fact remains that many immigrants, regardless of their background, seek to learn English and 'become American.' In fact, immigrants seeking citizenship must be able to read, write, and speak English to some extent in order to be able to complete the required testing. As legislation for the English Only movement passes in state legislatures, it fails on the national level. The Supreme Court has ruled on various issues regarding language, showing its position on such matters to be one that is, for the most part, against the Federal adoption of monolingualism. Congress has reacted similarly, and has been seemingly ignored by English Only activists. The fact remains that most states, especially those in which major metro areas have developed, have high immigrant populations. These non-native citizens of our country deserve to be treated as what they are: Americans, by choice if not by birth, granted the same rights and privileges as every natural born citizen by law, and guaranteed the same by the very ideals on which this country was founded.

America is a diverse nation; we cannot afford to be so close minded that we disenfranchise so many of our countrymen and women. As a nation we have fought for liberty and justice for many other countries throughout the world-some with distinctly dissimilar views on politics, religion, and other important issues than our own-but we continue to aide those countries because so many of us believe that everyone deserves to be free, happy, and most of all, equal. It is because of the open diversity and acceptance of cultural and linguistic differences that most of us enjoy and cherish that I, as an American citizen, deeply value my freedom of speech.

Works Cited

Ossipov, Helene. "What Official French in Quebec Can Teach Us about Official English in the United States." Rocky Mountain Review (1992): 197-205.

Stalker, James C. "Official English or English Only." English Journal (1988): 18-23.