[lg policy] White House meets with group urging English as official US language

Thu Mar 8 16:52:58 UTC 2018

Hello all,

I thought folks might find the actual survey mentioned in this article of
interest. The English Only questions is #31. #17 is also interesting, as
are most of the questions. The survey seems to me to lend itself nicely to
discussion in a socio-linguistics course or perhaps a discourse analysis
exercise.

https://action.donaldjtrump.com/listening-to-america-2018-survey/

Regards,
Shannon

On Thu, Mar 8, 2018 at 10:25 AM, Harold Schiffman <haroldfs at gmail.com>
wrote:

> White House meets with group urging English as official US language
> [image: President Donald Trump speaks at the Latino Coalition Legislative
> Summit, Wednesday, March 7, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)]
> President Donald Trump speaks at the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit,
> Wednesday, March 7, 2018, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
> By Debra J. Saunders Review-Journal White House Correspondent
> March 7, 2018 - 2:05 pm
>
> <https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reviewjournal.com%2Fpost%2F1328712>
> <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Flvrj.com%2Fpost%2F1328712&via=reviewjournal&text=White%20House%20meets%20with%20group%20urging%20English%20as%20official%20US%20language>
> <?&subject=[Shared+Post]+White+House+meets+with+group+urging+English+as+official+US+language&body=You+may+be+interested+in+the+following+post:+https://www.reviewjournal.com/post/1328712>
>
> Updated March 7, 2018 - 7:39 pm
>
> *WASHINGTON —* Advocates to make English the official U.S. language met
> with White House staffers recently, before President Donald Trump’s
> re-election campaign posted an online survey that asked supporters if they
> back the idea.
>
> “We’ll take Trump’s question seriously when he learns to speak English,”
> responded Latino Victory Deputy Communications Director Monica Garcia.
>
> Stephen Guschov, the executive director of ProEnglish, told the
> Review-Journal that he and ProEnglish Director of Government Relations Dan
> Carter have met with staffers who work under Trump and Vice President Mike
> Pence.
>
> An official from Pence’s office confirmed that a staffer met with
> ProEnglish “for an informational meeting to hear out their policy
> priorities,” while an official from Trump’s press office confirmed that “a
> mid-level staffer from domestic policy met with (Guschov) as a courtesy
> measure.”
>
> During a GOP primary debate, Trump famously chided former Florida Gov. Jeb
> Bush for speaking a foreign language on stage. “This is a country where we
> speak English, not Spanish.”
>
> As a congressman, Pence was a repeat co-sponsor of legislation to make
> English the federal government’s official language. Proponents frame the
> English Language Unity Act as a common-sense law that would codify English
> as the official language, but still allow the federal government to use
> other languages in areas such as international relations, trade, tourism,
> public safety, health and to protect the rights of victims and criminal
> defendants.
>
> Indiana, where Pence was governor when he joined the Trump ticket in 2016,
> is one of 31 states for which English is the official language.
>
> Guschov told the Review-Journal his group is “particularly urging” aides
> to advise Trump to repeal an executive order signed by President Bill
> Clinton in 2000 that directed federal agencies to offer translation
> services for residents with limited English proficiency.
>
> Guschov said the group wants to change the rules only for U.S. government
> operations – not in the home or private businesses. “I encourage people to
> learn other languages,” he said.
>
> ProEnglish also wants Trump to sign the English Language Unity Act — Sen.
> James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, have introduced bills —
> if a measure makes it to the president’s desk.
>
> In addition, the group supports the Reforming American Immigration for
> Strong Employment (or RAISE) Act, promoted by Trump aide Stephen Miller,
> because it favors would-be immigrants who are fluent in English.
>
> Guschov would not reveal the names of aides with whom he met, other than
> to stipulate, “It was not Stephen Miller.” Guschov added that he and Carter
> talked to an aide whom they believed passed on their material to Miller.
>
> Trump’s re-election campaign has posted a 32-question online survey that,
> among other things, asks if supporters think English should be recognized
> as the official language of the United States.
>
> “This is disgusting,” Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Maria
> Cardona reacted, “but not surprising from the most anti-immigrant, bigoted,
> and racist president who listens to his white nationalist advisers. This
> questionnaire is clearly political crack for his base whom he must maintain
> the support of since he is losing support left and right and from
> independents.”
>
> Cardona said the campaign survey’s English language question, and a
> question asking supporters if they are concerned about the spread of Sharia
> law, are “designed to distract and remind his base that Trump still
> believes in the divisive issues he talked about during the campaign.”
>
> Hector Barajas, a Republican political consultant whose parents immigrated
> from Mexico, thinks that the ProEnglish approach makes sense. When he was
> young and his mother saw that he had been enrolled in bilingual education,
> she told the school she wanted her son in English language classes. She
> said she’d teach her kids Spanish; schools should teach them English.
>
> If Trump pushes the idea, will it hurt him with Latino voters? “I think
> the problem has been with his whole discussion on immigration,” said
> Barajas. “The damage is done. This adds more fuel to the fire.”
>
> Guschov rejected critics who frame ProEnglish as anti-immigrant.
> Immigrants fare better in the U.S., he argued, when they speak English.
> When he lived in Peru, Guschov added, he spoke Spanish.
>
> Contact Debra J. Saunders at <dsaunders at reviewjournal.com>
> dsaunders at reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391 <(202)%20662-7391>. Follow
> @DebraJSaunders <http://www.twitter.com/DebraJSaunders> on Twitter
>
> *Trump campaign survey*
>
> Questions 27 and 31 from the Trump campaign’s survey
>
> *27. Are you concerned by the potential spread of Sharia Law?*
>
> Yes
>
> No
>
> No opinion
>
> Other, please specify:
>
> *31. English is currently not recognized as the official language of the
> United States. Do you think it should be?*
>
> Yes
>
> No
>
> No opinion
>
> Other, please specify:
>
> -From Trump Pence Make America Great Again! survey
>
>
> --
> =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
>
>  Harold F. Schiffman
>
> Professor Emeritus of
>  Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
> Dept. of South Asia Studies
> University of Pennsylvania
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
>
> Phone:  (215) 898-7475
> Fax:  (215) 573-2138
>
> Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
> http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/
>
> -------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
> lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
> To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format:
> https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20180308/ffc1d800/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list