[EDLING:506] Americans fear learning another language

[Francis M Hult]

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/10484125.htm


No joke, Americans fear learning another language

BY MARY SANCHEZ

Knight Ridder Newspapers


(KRT) - Q: What is a trilingual?

A: A German.

Q: What is a bilingual?

A: An Italian.

Q: And what is a monolingual?

A: An American.

This is a standard European joke. The first two countries change,
depending on who is telling the joke. But the punch line never does.
Americans are well-known for their inability to speak any languages other
than English. And they are equally well-known for their discomfort around
people speaking languages they don't understand.

This monolingual culture also distorts American's ability to understand
how language is learned. And, it adds to the ugly scenario where
Americans' spout to immigrants: "If you are in America, speak English!"

Americans are right to insist immigrants master English. But they fail to
realize the difficulty or process of the task.

How could they know; when so few Americans have ever tried to master a
foreign language and have conveniently forgotten their ancestors spoke
another tongue. Americans should not expect immigrant families to lose
their native languages completely. Adding English, not subtracting a
foreign language, should be the goal.

Now, a new study has disproved what the English-only crowd fears: the
societal effects of immigrants who seemingly refuse to give up their
native language for English. The fear is distorted.

The children and grandchildren of immigrants, despite increasing
immigration rates, continue to choose English as their dominant language,
according to a study of Census data. Researchers at the State University
of New York at Albany dissected Census data, looking at immigrant groups
through the generations. Quoted in the New York Times, the lead researcher
tried to put to rest a common fallacy.

"A number of people, whether from the left or right, are underplaying the
contemporary signs of assimilation," said Richard Alba, director of the
university's Mumford center said. "They are viewing American society as
much more fractured along ethnic and cultural lines than really appears to
be the case," Alba continued. "There are fault lines, but they are not as
deep as people think."

Immigrants know their children must master English to succeed in this
country. That has always been true. Whether the immigrants were from
Germany, Ireland or Italy. By the second and third generation, English has
always dominated.

Latino and Asian immigrants are no different.

The findings: 92 percent of second generation Latinos speak English well
or very well even though 85 percent speak at least some Spanish at home.
Among Asians of the second generation, 96 percent are proficient in
English and 61 percent speak an Asian mother tongue at home.

Even the largest immigrant group: Mexicans; follow classic patterns of
assimilation. In 1990, 64 percent of third-generation Mexican-American
children spoke only English at home. In 2000, the numbers had risen to 71
percent.

Pockets in the Southwest, and California seemingly lend credibility to the
idea that Spanish will somehow "overtake" English. But even in the
Mexican-migration heavy California, old patterns of assimilation play out,
the study found.

This country has done great damage in the past under the code of learning
English as a necessity to "become American." Laws in the past put criminal
penalties to teachers who dared to teach in anything but English.

Language has been used as an excuse to segregate children on playgrounds.
And too much public policy has been influenced without the understanding
that true language fluency can take seven years of concentrated study.

Educators used to equate bilingualism with a sort of confusion for
children. Now, it is well understood that the ability to speak more than
one language improves a child's cognitive skills.

Perhaps in the future, the old joke about Americans inability to speak
more than English will cease to be true. Americans in the future will
still prefer English for commerce, entertainment, the major workings of
government. But they possibly may have the gift of other languages as
well. English is not in danger.

But, it is hoped, the American arrogance toward foreign languages is
beginning a slow, long overdue death.