Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Language diversity in the USA
- 2 Language contact in the USA
- 3 Native American languages in the USA
- 4 Spanish in the USA
- 5 Chinese in the USA
- 6 Tagalog in the USA
- 7 French in the USA
- 8 Vietnamese in the USA
- 9 German in the USA
- 10 Korean in the USA
- 11 Russian in the USA
- 12 Italian in the USA
- 13 Arabic in the USA
- 14 Portuguese in the USA
- 15 Polish in the USA
- 16 Language policy in the USA
- Notes
- Media resources related to the top twelve non-English languages in the USA
- References
- Index
16 - Language policy in the USA
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Language diversity in the USA
- 2 Language contact in the USA
- 3 Native American languages in the USA
- 4 Spanish in the USA
- 5 Chinese in the USA
- 6 Tagalog in the USA
- 7 French in the USA
- 8 Vietnamese in the USA
- 9 German in the USA
- 10 Korean in the USA
- 11 Russian in the USA
- 12 Italian in the USA
- 13 Arabic in the USA
- 14 Portuguese in the USA
- 15 Polish in the USA
- 16 Language policy in the USA
- Notes
- Media resources related to the top twelve non-English languages in the USA
- References
- Index
Summary
In recent years, public policy debates regarding language in the USA have centered largely on the acquisition of English and the extent to which speakers of “other” languages should be accommodated if they do not speak English. The focus on English dominates public discourse so much that even the mere suggestion by a presidential candidate that there are advantages for Americans in learning languages such as Spanish has been met with ridicule (Sidoti 2008), although the presence of Spanish in North America predates that of English (Chapter 4, this volume) and the USA is the fifth largest Spanish-speaking country in the world (González and Wiley 2007). In its history, the USA has had many policies related to language. Many educational policies at the state level focus on the promotion of English, which is certainly important because it is the dominant language that is necessary for social, economic, and political participation. But the issue of the value of promoting other languages is rarely addressed. Thus, the country lacks a comprehensive policy for the promotion of languages other than English. This chapter addresses the need for a comprehensive national language policy and what such a policy might look like.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Language Diversity in the USA , pp. 255 - 271Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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