Official Language Debate?

[Alexandre Enkerli]

Not sure the debate itself should be official but the issue of an 
"official language" in the U.S. could make for an interesting debate.
[Disclaimer: I'm a non-immigrant legal alien in the U.S. and a 
non-native speaker of English.]

Geoffrey Pullum's Eskimo hoax book includes interesting pieces about 
that debate, set in a previous period of U.S. history:
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/7197.ctl

While we seem to be agreed on the general consequences of the possible 
implementation of English as an official language in the U.S., we could 
still debate these issues publicly.

It seems to me that the "English-only" dimension of some U.S. citizens' 
language ideology connects with important aspects of U.S. cultural life, 
such as the notion of a free-market for ideas (and languages) or the 
"founders' rights" approach to public policies. Would the existence of 
an official language necessarily change people's attitudes toward 
immigration? Are political entities with national languages usually less 
"welcoming" of non-native speakers than political entities without an 
explicit language policy?

As for Geno's story and public comments on that story, there might be 
disturbing sights but even those are displaying the diversity of 
viewpoints on the issue. Some comments are rather thoughtful, funny, 
and/or representative of a specific language ideology frequently found 
in the U.S. and in other places. Perfect for our courses.
Thanks to Justin Garcia (by way of Ken Ehrensal) for that link!

Alexandre from Montreal (currently in Cambridge, MA)
http://enkerli.wordpress.com/