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From: riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.nlang
Subject: Re: Official Language Of USA
Message-ID: <924@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 8-Feb-85 20:01:38 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.924
Posted: Fri Feb  8 20:01:38 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 10-Feb-85 04:38:27 EST
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> I heard on the radio last week that two senators ... are trying to pass a
> law that will make English the official language of the United States. All
> I can say is "It's about time."
>
> As I understand it, if passed, all public school classes would be taught
> in English. This means no more bi-language programs where students are
> taught in a language other than English.

I've seen only one other response to this, so I guess I'll have to be the
one to bite.

You seem to be pretty confused as to the purpose of bilingual education.
There may be a few school districts left in the country somewhere that
really try to maintain a full curriculum in more than just English, but the
vast majority of bilingual programs are aimed precisely at doing just what
you claim to want, namely, to teach people English.  You may find it
surprising, but I don't, that if you take a bunch of kids from non-English-
speaking backgrounds (and most likely the children of poorly educated
parents to boot) and put them in an English-speaking classroom, they're not
going to do very well at first.  The idea behind bilingual education is that
if you let them get used to the fundamentals -- like reading, writing,
arithmetic, and the discipline and habits of going to school -- in their
native tongues and then introduce them to English gradually, they'll have
far more success at it.

Personally, I'm enough of a pluralist at heart that I'd love to see *truly*
bilingual education in the parts of the country where it is appropriate.  In
parts of the Rio Grande Valley, for instance, most people of all ethnic
backgrounds speak both English and Spanish, and I think it would be great if
the school system encouraged them to be literate in both languages.  But the
fact is, that's not what existing bilingual education programs are all
about.  As far as I can tell, this flap about "making" English the official
language (it seems pretty official to me already) is just another bunch of
traditional U.S. jingoism, and bilingual education is a convenient scapegoat.

> Hopefully this will also end the printing of official signs in foreign
> languages, as this is an expense taxpayers can do without. If the
> government took the money that they spend on printing signs & teaching in
> foreign languages & used the money to teach people English the problem
> would be solved at the source.

"The problem will be solved at the source?"  What do you want to do, teach
everybody in the whole world English?  Boy, you're sure going to have to rip
down an awful lot of bilingual signs to pay for that!  :-)

--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
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--- riddle@ut-sally.UUCP, riddle@ut-sally.ARPA, riddle@zotz.ARPA