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?

Thu Feb 7 22:08:36 UTC 2013

You are welcome, Raquel!
David

On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Raquel Sanchez <raqsan at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> I appreciate the civil dialogue going on regarding David's post.
> Thanks, David, for generating some lively discussion on this list.
>
> I just want to make an observation that Myrna and David are not quite
> talking about the same issue.
> David's point was one of human and civil rights of linguistic minorities.
> In the case of Spanish in the U.S., it is also a case of an historic
> minority group.
>
> Myrna is talking about educational opportunity and language learning as a
> good in itself.  I don't believe David would disagree with any of the
> values she has expressed.  However, these are different values from those
> of language rights.
>
> Think about the role of Arabic language in Israel.  It is an historic
> minority language that has value beyond any practical benefits it may bring
> to its speakers.  I believe it is an official language of Israel, despite
> its unequal social status.
>
> Language policy is different in the U.S.  We do not have an official
> language because of our immigrant, polyglot, republican (with a lower-case
> r)  history.  This is often difficult for people in other countries, and
> for many so-called Americans, to understand.  Hopefully, this dialogue will
> help us clarify the situation so we can better present it to our contacts
> in other communities.
>
> Best wishes,
> Raquel
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 4:49 AM, Myrna Goldstein <
> myrnaenglishfile at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear David,
>>
>> I am a cognitive applied linguist and have made my home in two foreign
>> lands.
>> I learned the local languages. In fact, it never occurred to me not to.
>> And if
>> I hadn't, I would never have been able to accomplish anything. If someone
>> living
>> in Little Havana (as you describe it) wants to stay in Little Havana
>> his/her whole
>> life, then you are correct in saying that learning English is not really
>> worthwhile
>> on a local level.
>> However, I would imagine that people in Little Havana might want to be
>> able to understand
>> our politicians, business leaders, and the English language media as well
>> as see the world,
>> not just the U.S.. English is the lingua franca these days the way French
>> was in
>> the 18th Century. I know lots of people who speak another language in the
>> house and with
>> their friends who are of the same ethnicity. But they also desire to
>> communicate with
>> everyone and so then they speak English.
>>
>> I feel that people need to decide the parameters of their lives and only
>> then decide
>> which language(s) they want to speak. In Italy, where I lived for 30
>> years, I had an
>> interview with the prefect of police when I applied for Italian
>> citizenship. The interview
>> was in Italian, but I never thought twice about it as I had been speaking
>> only Italian for
>> quite a number of years (as well as English with English native
>> speakers). I found out later
>> that knowing Italian was a requisite for gaining citizenship.
>>
>> As for the sociolinguistics end of the spectrum, I admit total ignorance
>> so
>> do not feel qualified to comment further. I am an expert in L2 learning
>> and I
>> know how difficult it can be for everyone in every language.
>>
>> That said, I hope you are able to find your way out of this quagmire and
>> send my best regards,
>>
>> 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
>> Skype: myinmi
>> c:  ++972 053 525 5360
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 5, 2013, at 5:06 AM, David Balosa wrote:
>>
>>
>> Dear Myrna,
>>
>> Within the perspective of intercultural cohesion (which many have thought
>> the election of President Obama was going to create the landscape) and the
>> history of politics of language in the United States, it is important to
>> acknowledge that only the legislation can help create a clear path to
>> a national linguistic identity for the United States.
>>
>> In his book *"Hold your tongue: Bilingualism and the politics of English
>> Only"* James Crawford*  *talks about how for centuries, politics in the
>> United States has played a robust game of ethnocentrism through the
>> politics of language. As a result, the United States has decided to adopt a
>> language policy of "no policy at all" ( the equivalent of "self-deportation
>> policy for illegal immigrants as suggested by the Republican Presidential
>> candidate, Romney). Paul Lang's *The English language debate: One
>> nation, one language* (1995) may also be a relevant reading in
>>  understanding how historically the language issue is serious in the United
>> States.
>>
>> If president Obama sustains that the illegal immigrants in the United
>> States must lean English as a requirement to the path of the Citizenship,
>> then he has to have a legal basis for that requirement. An immigrant living
>> in Little Havana in Florida for example, needs to learn Spanish than
>> English. It is not the issue of ethnocentrism anymore, it is the social
>> reality of the "New United States". Romney's son did campaign in Spanish
>> rather than in English. It is no longer a guess, it is serious that no
>> candidate can win the presidential election without winning the Latinos'
>> votes. It seems commonsensical that an individual who becomes president of
>> the United States thanks to the votes of this cultural group listen to
>> their voice when  planning for the future.
>>
>> English as a means of better job, better education, and better life is a
>> myth. Cuban literacy level is higher than the United States. High School
>> students in the United States are yet to make to the 10th world countries
>> in Math and Sciences. In Global economy, any language should be encouraged
>> not required or imposed. It is more the issue of human dignity, cultural
>> right, and linguistic coexistence. In the case of language contact, like in
>> the case of the United States, it is encouraging to expect that legislation
>> should step up to regulate the linguistic identity of the country.
>> Whether English or English and Spanish (Bilingual United States) as
>> official languages - let the people decide; the worst is not to have any
>> language policy at all.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 5:21 AM, Myrna Goldstein <
>> myrnaenglishfile at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> 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
>>> 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
>>>
>>> --
>>> **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*
>>> *
>>>  _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> **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*
>> *
>> _______________________________________________
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-- 
*David M. Balosa*
*Doctoral Student, PhD Program in Language, Literacy and Culture (LLC)*

Interculturalists GSO President 2012-2013
Member of International Academy for Intercultural Research (IAIR)
*University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
**1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250*
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