practice whichever language they wish; they would just have to be able to speak English when necessary to be able to connect to and have a common link with the rest of the country. By making an English-only policy, I believe it will unify the people and bring everyone’s differences together.
As said in the Washington Times, “Making English the official language would encourage new migrants to learn the language of the country they have adopted as theirs… to unite the American people, while improving the lives of immigrants and native-born inhabitants” (Brice). This explores the ways in which English brings the whole country together, while actually bettering the lives of immigrants. In the long run I believe immigrants will create a better live for themselves by learning English because it opens up so many more doors and opportunities once they can communicate and have a common tie with the rest of the country. With this policy, it will require them to learn English, which will end up actually improving their lives in the English-dominated America. On a political blog I found, there are major questions being asked that compare the pros and cons of having an English-only policy versus not, and I’m going to be discussing the question “Does having one official language facilitate assimilation or does it just marginalize those that do not speak it well” (“English as an
Official Language in the U.S.: Pros and Cons”)? The pro of this question states that “People can still learn other languages if they want, but institutionally a common language will help unify Americans” and will also help immigrants establish their English to help them with political participation and economic reasons (“English as an Official Language in the U.S.: Pros and Cons”). The first part of this answer expresses that by making an English-only policy, in no way does it make the inhabitants stop practicing a different language or tell them not to communicate or use it. It is simply saying that everyone is free to practice whatever cultures and languages they want, but by having a set national language, it benefits everyone through communication. The second part of the answer talks about how it can benefit immigrants politically and economically. Politically, since our country is a democracy, in order to vote in elections and know what the candidates stand for, knowing English is a necessity. Even if the ballots are printed in another language, immigrants still wouldn’t fully understand the candidate’s intentions or beliefs, and on top of that, it costs a lot of money to print ballots in difference languages, which could be solved with the English-only policy, so everyone can speak and understand English. Economically, in order to have a successful future and obtain jobs, speaking English is usually mandatory because most of the customers or clients will be English speaking and need to communicate with you to do their job or so you can do yours. Here the policy will benefit everyone because it allows there to be less discrimination against immigrants or people that don’t speak English, if they actually do learn English because of this policy. Having better access to jobs, careers and connections by speaking English will significantly make immigrant’s lives better in my opinion. Having an official language throughout the country not only links the people together, but also creates a connection. Mauro E. Mujica “claims that as a nation of immigrants, if we don’t have ‘a common thread to unite us in our diversity, we become divided’” (Coren). Mujica, who was quoted in this article, is an immigrant from Chile who supports the idea of making English the official language. You can see that not only native-born Americans support this policy, but also immigrants when they see the reasons behind making an English-only policy. Even though as a nation we support immigration, or order to keep a nation at peace and united, there needs to be a ‘common thread’ between all, and having an official language is essential and is that tie to connect everyone together. In contrast with the English-only policy, the other side believes in multilingualism to embrace diverse cultures. In an article by Lauren White, she paraphrases from an article written by T. Wiley saying, “Official English…prevents successful integration of minority children, does not promote the study of foreign language for diverse job opportunities, … and furthermore promotes and normalizes dislike of non-English speakers” (6). Although I respect her opinion, I would have to disagree because an English-only policy still wants ESL programs to be effective, and minority children who aren’t fluent in English would be put into these programs so they can be successful in fluently speaking English eventually. Making English the official language would also not do any harm to ‘the study of foreign language for diverse job opportunities’ because in no way does the policy devalue the study or communication of other languages, it just makes it mandatory for everyone to also speak English in addition to other languages among our diverse population. Having a common language links people together, so when immigrants move to this country, I think that everyone should have a unifying tie by speaking the national language. Once everyone learns English, there will be no discrimination against those that are non-English speakers, because there will be none. In conclusion, I advocate for an English-only policy that requires all inhabitants to speak English because having a common national language connects and unites everyone together and will construct a more functional country. For economical and political reasons, immigrants will benefit more from learning English and being a part of the country then everyone being separated and not being able to adequately communicate which each other. I do believe that making it mandatory to speak English does not prevent individuals or families from practicing different languages, and it still embraces everyone’s cultural and ethnical differences, it just creates a tie in this nation of immigrants and differences in identities. Making immigrants learn English is a key way to integrate them into society and give them equal access to economic success. With this policy, I believe it will improve the lives of both immigrants and current English speakers in the U.S.