Immigrants' language skills crucial in era of global economy

[Harold Schiffman]

Immigrants' language skills crucial in era of global economy

By Rep. Mike Honda
Article Launched: 11/05/2007 01:31:33 AM PST


As a teen, I once told my mother to speak only English to me. On the
surface, things Japanese just were not "cool" enough for this
California high school kid. Even more haunting was the stigma of World
War II and the struggles my family suffered through during those years
in an internment camp on account of our ancestry. Years later, as a
Peace Corps volunteer, I realized what I lost by shunning my Japanese.
Learning Spanish in El Salvador opened my mind to a new world view. I
also realized that in losing Japanese, I lost a window to a culture
that has made a major impact on the world.

That is why I find the fear of multilingualism irrational. Some view
it as though it were a disease infecting our country instead of a
cure; in fact, many folks pay thousands of dollars to acquire a second
language. Many foreign policy blunders the United States has committed
in the past, and the not-so-recent past, could have been avoided had
we not looked at the world through a mono-cultural lens. Rather than
English dying, the real tragedy facing our country is the children of
immigrants who lose their ancestral language. I believe that
immigrants should learn English when they come to the United States -
but not lose the language skills they bring with them.

That is why I always support legislation that nurtures
multilingualism. Multilingualism not only culturally enriches our
country, but it makes long-term strategic sense if we want to remain
the leader of the free world in a global era. I recently introduced
the "One America, Many Voices" Act (H.R. 3727) that would give
commensurate pay to federal employees whose official job descriptions
require another language. Currently, most government agencies don't
compensate for these required bilingual skills. The private sector
rewards foreign-language skills because they contribute to their
bottom line. Why should hardworking, skilled public servants deserve
any less?

I am also concerned that many federal agencies are still not complying
with a 7-year-old executive order, which directs federal agencies to
provide proper access to speakers of other languages. For example,
during Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, agencies such as FEMA did not
provide vital information in languages immigrant communities could
understand, resulting in unnecessary harm and suffering. I am urging
that there be a General Accountability Office study to understand why
agencies are not following this executive order and to better
understand the consequences of failing to do so.

We've all heard the sentiment, "Let them learn English if they want
anything from us." I believe effective integration is a two-way
street. The faster we embrace new communities, the faster they become
Americans. The more they are alienated, the longer it takes. Most
immigrant communities in this country were not proficient in English
when they landed. It took the Germans, the Italians, the Dutch and
others more than a generation to absorb the language as a community.
Italian and Yiddish were widely spoken in New York until the 1960s;
some towns in New Jersey still kept official minutes in German into
the 20th century. There was a reason - people can't become a part of
the system if they do not understand it.

Yes, every immigrant needs to learn English, but they should not shed
their language in the process. Contrary to what anti-immigrants argue,
I know Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian, Latino and Chinese children in my
district who have actually lost their family's native tongue. When
they grow up, they would be better equipped to carry out business
relationships south of the border or in the Pacific Rim, had they kept
their native languages. This would be even more important if they went
on to help shape global U.S. policy.

In addition to the economic and strategic advantages we'll gain as a
multilingual country, research shows that fluent speakers of more than
one language have higher cognitive skills than monolingual students. A
2006 study in the San Diego Unified School District found that fluent
bilingual students have a higher grade-point average than English
monolingual students. So why shun multilingualism? Harvard Professor
Samuel Huntington's followers would argue that it dilutes American
culture. Tell that to the great American composer Aaron Copland. What
about "klutz" and "spiel" from Yiddish, or "bunny" and "slogan" from
Scottish-Gaelic? And who has not said "honcho" from Japanese, or
"kowtow" from Chinese? America is a glorious mix of cultures, so how
can cultures that have been part of ours for so long dilute us? For a
country that took world leadership upon its shoulders, it is vital to
have a population that can understand the world. Understanding starts
with language. Let's not regret losing this asset when it is too late.

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_7374151?nclick_check=1


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