Political Economy of Culture: Where Should President Obama Start: By Designing a Consistent language policy or on Imposing English Language as a Requirement to the Path of U.S. Citizenship?

Mon Feb 4 22:37:05 UTC 2013

Hello,

      Here is a brief snipet from a chapter I wrote to appear in R. Bayley, et al. (editors), The Oxford Handbook of Sociolinguistics (2013, p. 540):

"Rumbaut, et al. (2006: 458), relying on data from two published studies and a
survey they conducted themselves in Southern California during 2001–2004,
conclude that “under current conditions . . . the ability to speak Spanish very
well can be expected to disappear sometime between the second and third
generation for all Latin American groups in Southern California.” They also
found that “the average Asian language can be expected to die out at or near
the second generation” (ibid). To account for such a wide discrepancy between
the apparent facts and widely held misperceptions, it is necessary to consider
the influence, and effects, of deeply held beliefs about language and identity
that are resistant to contrary evidence".

It is amazing that someone who has expertise in English language teaching also succumbs to the stereotype that 'Latinos refuse to learn English'.  This
has been the battle cry of Huntington and others (mostly right wing, anti-immigrant advocates) who categorize Latinos as refuseniks.  It's just not true.  Maintaining Spanish (an American Language) alongside English should be viewed as a positive outcome, even though, as Rumbaut and his colleagues demonstrate, Spanish is being lost.  If 'experts' make such claims as Myrna does, it shows that we as applied linguists have a long way to go to educate the broader public.

Tom Ricento
Professor and Chair, English as an Additional Language
Faculty of Education
University of Calgary
________________________________________
From: edling-bounces at bunner.geol.lu.se [edling-bounces at bunner.geol.lu.se] On Behalf Of Myrna Goldstein [myrnaenglishfile at gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 3:21 AM
To: The Educational Linguistics List
Subject: Re: [Edling] Political Economy of Culture: Where Should President      Obama Start: By Designing a Consistent language policy or on    Imposing English Language as a Requirement to the Path of       U.S. Citizenship?

Dear David,

I read your piece with interest, trying to understand the
rationale behind it, beyond the numbers of the Hispanic
population. Fact is, historically, Hispanics are the only ethnic group
immigrating to the U.S. that has resisted learning English. I'm not
sure why this is so, but it might be a good basis for some research if
it has not already been done or if it is not already in the works.

I'm not judging. I'm curious. In order to get decent jobs, immigrants
to any country in the world realize that they must learn the L1. If they
don't, they will always remain in low-level jobs, be isolated from society
at large, and will not be able to study at universities to let their talents bloom.

I'm not sure that legislation is the answer; this would have to be studied.
But common sense is. So rather than compelling people from above (government)
to learn English, it would seem more logical that people themselves would
want to learn the nation's common language if those people have a vision of a
better life that they feel they can achieve. I believe this has always been the
basis of every group's immigration everywhere in the world.

Perhaps after the U.S. gets its fiscal house in order, it could finance
an immigration program that includes ESL courses, thus giving people the option
to attend or not to attend. That way, people who do not want to learn the nation's
L1 would not be compelled to, but people who do, would have free lessons, say,
to get themselves to a B1 (intermediate) level (Common European Frameworks). People
who would like to get to an advanced level could do so either through self-study or
through community language programs.

Let us not forget that non-native speakers must take various standardized tests to
be admitted to many universities and colleges. I'm not sure if community colleges
require TOEFL, GMAT, SAT etc. So, the fact remains, David, that English is the nation's
L1 and the future of every immigrant who wants to better his life and the life of his
children resides in learning that L1.

Linguistically yours,

Myrna

Myrna Goldstein, B.S.J., MATESL
Founder, Director
Are You in Your English File?®
Second Language Learning Research Center
Eilat, Israel (formerly Milan, Italy)

Member:
TESOL
Linguistic Society of America
American Association for Applied Linguistics

e: myrnaenglishfile at gmail.com<mailto:myrnaenglishfile at gmail.com>
Skype: myinmi
c:  ++972 053 525 5360

On Feb 3, 2013, at 2:35 AM, David Balosa wrote:

Political Economy of Culture: Where Should President Obama Start: By Designing a Consistent National Language Policy or by Requiring illegal Immigrant to Learn English as a Path to the United States Citizenship?
                                                                  By David Balosa
                                             University of Maryland Baltimore County, (UMBC)

        Spanish is currently spoken as a first language by approximately twenty-two million people
         in the United States. The Hispanics are currently America's fastest growing ethnic
         community and their numbers are set to rise to 96.5 million by 2050. This is not without
         problems as the United States does not have legislation which states that English is the
         official language of the Union; it has always relied on the desire of immigrants for social
         assimilation and mobility to consolidate the pre-eminence of English.
                                                                                            (Miranda Stewart, 1999: 6-7)

In his address regarding "Fixing broken immigration system" entitled "Vision for winning the future" President Obama mentioned four key points which he calls accountabilities and responsibilities: 1. Responsibility by the federal government to secure our borders, 2. Accountability for businesses that break the law by undermining American workers and exploiting undocumented workers,
3. Strengthening our economic competitiveness by creating a legal immigration system that reflects our values and diverse needs, and 4. Responsibility from people who are living in the United States illegally. My question for discussion and my reflection will  focus on the president's point number 4. I think that the President plays too much politics here and that he is undermining the scholarship on the everlasting debate on language policy in the United States. Fixing broken immigration system is one thing, but requiring illegal immigrants to learn English as one of the requirements is tantamount to English-Only America movement. Until there is a coherent language policy, by coherent I mean agreed upon by the United States citizens, a unidirectional language requirement by federal officials, especially the president of the United States is getting out of the house through the back door. I am not saying that illegal immigrant should not learn English or Spanish, the point is that so far there is no legal basis to require any one to learn English for what so ever in the United States. If the President is going to initiative a path to language policy weather English or English and Spanish as official languages, then the United States will make a big step forward in solving big issues regarding intercultural relations. To clear understand my point, let's analyze the president approach to learning English as a requirement to illegal immigrant path to the United States Citizenship.

     One of the key requirements that the represent mentioned that illegal immigrants living in U.S. must fulfill to the path of U.S. citizenship is learning English. The president's statement reads: " Those people living here illegally must also be held accountable for their actions and get on the right side of the law by registering and undergoing national security and criminal background checks, paying taxes and a penalty, and learning English before they can get in line to become eligible for citizenship. Being a citizen of this country comes not only with rights but also with fundamental responsibilities. We can create a pathway for legal status that is fair and reflects our values." Wait a minute! Is Mr. President here trying to have his cake and eat it too? Since the president favorite sentence in this immigration debate is "We are a nation of law and a nation of immigrants", is the president telling us that English is going to become the fundamental language of American values? How about the 55 millions U.S. Spanish -speakers? Do their language and culture also contribute to the American Values? Should U.S. citizens working for Univisions, Telemondo, UNI-MAS, etc. who may also contribute to the economic competitiveness of U.S. be required to learn English for U.S. citizenship?  According to Stewart (1999:6-7), "The Hispanics are currently America's fastest growing ethnic community and their numbers are set to rise to 96.5 million by 2050 (quoting, The Guardian, 16.07.98)." Stewart observes that "This is not without problems as the United States does not have legislation which states that English is the official language of the Union; it has always relied on the desire of immigrants for social assimilation and mobility to consolidate the pre-eminence of English."
     During the 2008 Democratic presidential election primary debate, President Obama, Senator Obama at that time articulated, when he was asked by a CNN journalist weather English should be the Official language of the United States that, "We should not focus on issue that divide us, instead we should focus on how to fix our broken immigration system." It has been the politics of escape goat forever when it comes to regulating language policy in fair and realistic way in the U.S. President Obama, after winning 75 % of Latino votes without questioning weather they spoke English or not at the time they went voting now is suggesting learning English as a requirement for legal immigration status. If learning a language was an easy task, most college graduates U.S. would be speaking Spanish fluently. Since President Obama likes to look at fair game plays, would not t be a fair game to say all illegal immigrants must learn both English and Spanish as a requirement to citizenship?
     One may infers that requiring learning English alone is a support to English -Only movement. This approach undermines the substantial contribution of Hispanic culture to the values of the United States. The "Latinazization" (Benitez, 2007) of illigal immigrants may also be a valuable inference if we don't require illegal immigrant to learn Spanish as well. Will various English dialect speakers be required to learn American Standard English if that what Mr. President meant? The "World Englishes" (Mesthrie & Bhatt, 2008) as well as the world Spanishes (Stewart, 1999; Lorenzo-Dus, 2011) can only be used as requirement for national immigration legal status after they have been adopted as Official language of the nation. Otherwise they should not be mentioned in the fixing broken immigration system.

   In Conclusion, It is not only the immigration system that is broken, it is the entire public policy system that is broken. If Mr. President wants to start fixing this broken system of public policy the workable strategy would be looking at the policy of that public or social sector setting, fix it, that is, make it if it is a commonsensical argument and truly reflective of U.S. values, a law of the nation. Since thee is no federal law regulating languages in U.S., it would  illegal to require a given language learning as a requirement to U.S. citizenship. Requiring learning English will sound like a cultural hegemonic strategy and  it will not reflect what the president calls "A smart 21st century" - a century of  people and communities cohesion by consensus, that is people decide their intercultural democratic rules of governance not bias policy makers. Either English alone or English and Spanish as co-official languages for the United States- why not create a referendum on this issue and stick to what the U.S. diverse population decide. It will make more sense after people will look at these two global languages - both spoken by significant numbers of legal U.S. citizens in the ballot and let the people decide. It is only after that referendum that all cultural groups will live with the decision weather they like it or not. Because it will become the law of the land. Leaving the issue on the policy makers whose bias attitude and cultural hegemony have been demonstrated through centuries will never lead the U.S. to the Smart 21st century language policy. Should not a true vision for the future of the United States plan also for a language which the numbers of its speakers will reach 96.5 million in 2050? Should the U.S. language policymakers understand that a language policy that reflects the cultural reality of the country makes the country more prosperous economically and culturally? May be the example of Luxembourg, South Africa, Paraguay, and Switzerland will inspire us as we plan for a "smart 21st century". What do you think?

References

Benitez, C. (2007). Latinization: How Latino culture is transforming the U.S. New York: Paramount
     Market Publishing.
Donnelly, J. (2003). Universal human rights: In theory and practice (2nd. ed.). New York: Cornell
     University Press.
Lorenzo-Dus, N. (ed.) (2011). Spanish at work: Analyzing institutional discourse across the Spanish-
     speaking world. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Mesthirie, R. & Bhatt, R. M. (2008). World Englishes: The study of new linguistic varieties. New York:
     Cambridge University Press.
Stewart, M. (1999). The Spanish language today. New York: Routledge.

www.whitehouse.gov/issues/fixing-immigration-system-america-s-21st-century-Economy<http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/fixing-immigration-system-america-s-21st-century-Economy>

--
*David M. Balosa*
*Doctoral Student, PhD Program in Language, Literacy and Culture (LLC)*
Research Focus: Intercultural Communication & Cultural Exchange
Interculturalists GSO President 2012-2013
*University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
**1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250*

_______________________________________________
Edling mailing list
Edling at bunner.geol.lu.se<mailto:Edling at bunner.geol.lu.se>
http://bunner.geol.lu.se/mailman/listinfo/edling

_______________________________________________
Edling mailing list
Edling at bunner.geol.lu.se
http://bunner.geol.lu.se/mailman/listinfo/edling