教育资源为主的文档平台

当前位置: 查字典文档网> 所有文档分类> 人文社科> 社会学> Official Language in America

Official Language in America

上传者:任继文
|
上传时间:2015-05-07
|
次下载

Official Language in America

Jianhui Hu

Maria de Jesus Estrada; Lon J. Wehrle;

English 101 EL Paper 3 (the first draft)

April 8, 2015

Official Languages in America

Nowadays, most countries set their official languages because of various reasons, such as political interests and economic benefits. Indeed, setting an official language can make it easier for government to manage people or even improve the cultural influence of a country. However, different countries have different circumstances. Taking China as an example, there are different official

languages in different periods or dynasties in the history. Definitely, their function is to help government manage the huge population in China. However, there are some shortcomings because of setting an official language, such as disappearance of languages and decline of some kinds of culture. Therefore, from the example, no one can deny that setting an official language is a double- edged sword, including advantages and disadvantages. Currently, there are not only an English versions, but also Chinese and Spanish versions in the US government documents, as well as election ballots. Some public schools in San Francisco even translate their information to 27 languages, thereby increasing costs in order to let parents know what is going on in school more clearly. On one hand, there are some people who take it as a reason to set English as the official language because if English is the official language of the United States, each year the government can save a lot of public money to translate documents. On the other hand, some other people disagree with it because America is strong because it combines different cultures and different languages. Generally speaking, there are three points to prove that English should not be the official language in America, combining not contributing to the patriotism, the importance of protecting languages and exacerbating discrimination in America.

To begin with, most Americans don’t believe that setting English as an official language can enhance patriotism of every American. As Grant, former vice president of Micorn Technology Corp

said, “Half the grandparents couldn’t speak English and that didn’t make them bad people, didn’t make them bad Americans” (“How Does Language”). It shows that they can be good Americans even though they cannot speak English. It reminds me of an Irish couple. They deeply love America and they tell young people great stories in Gaelic often. Therefore, one’s behavior can show one’s patriotism rather than learning English. Now that there is the official language in China, so there is a joke that why do Chinese still want to immigrate to America, not Americans successfully immigrate to China just because of the issue of the official language? The reason for this mainly is most Americans don’t believe that setting English as an official language can enhance patriotism. Additionally, America is so strong and attractive to global talents, because of its inclusion of every nation and culture. Actually, each immigrant needn’t abandon their own language after arriving in America, and they can carry forward their own features of culture instead. That’s the reason why that kind of society is more active and competitive.

Moreover, some linguists believe that languages and dialects need to be protected. “And when languages are lost most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays we want access to everything but we don't want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world”, said Nicholas Ostler (BBC news). It hints that one’ll fail to know the world if the world loses most languages. Nowadays, the disappearance of languages has caught the attention of the world. The American linguists believe that every dialect or language, are the same as genetically modified organisms (“What’s official language”). There is a special function that must be protected in order to preserve diversity. For example, the language Manchu was once dominant language in Qing dynasty in China. However, after one century passed, the speakers of Manchu dipped to less than 400. There is nothing strange if one goes to Guangzhou and see some Africans speak Cantonese better than native young people. That’s a consequence that the teachers in China push students to learn Mandarin and forget students’ own languages. Although Mandarin is more

popular in China, Cantonese still has its values in literary field and so on. It does not worth it to learn Mandarin by giving up learning Cantonese.

Furthermore, no official language can prevent discrimination against minorities. Through the above analysis, setting English as the official language may not enhance the patriotism. On the contrary, it will be a reason for people with bad thoughts to destroy a language or dialect. To understand that, one should know that there is no speaking standard of English in America. If someone makes a standard, most of Americans will oppose her/him, because English has a different accents from South Africa, India, Australia and England. Additionally, these accents are hard to follow to correct pronunciation of American English. For instance, if one wants to make a standard speech of American English, African Americans may protest first because it discriminates against them. Actually, Black English is not even the dialect, it even tends to be even a language. All in all, it can be a blatant discrimination to make African Americans give up their dialect somehow.

In summary, America will keep its attraction and vitality by not setting English as the official language. What’s more, setting the official language is not contributing to the patriotism, not protecting languages and it will exacerbate discrimination in America. The government of America expects students to learn various languages because they think that preserving and protecting dialects and

languages are related to an important task of civilizational heritage. At the same time, it is also important to prevent the discrimination against minority groups.

Works Cited

“How Does Language Shape Us Web?” “12 Apr. 2015

“http://wendang.chazidian.com”

“Ostler, Nicholas” "Are Dying Languages worth Saving?" BBC News. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

“Why Is the Official Language of the United States to Promote the Attempts Have Failed?" - Education News.

“http://wendang.chazidian.com” Web. 12 Apr. 2015

版权声明:此文档由查字典文档网用户提供,如用于商业用途请与作者联系,查字典文档网保持最终解释权!

下载文档

热门试卷

2016年四川省内江市中考化学试卷
广西钦州市高新区2017届高三11月月考政治试卷
浙江省湖州市2016-2017学年高一上学期期中考试政治试卷
浙江省湖州市2016-2017学年高二上学期期中考试政治试卷
辽宁省铁岭市协作体2017届高三上学期第三次联考政治试卷
广西钦州市钦州港区2016-2017学年高二11月月考政治试卷
广西钦州市钦州港区2017届高三11月月考政治试卷
广西钦州市钦州港区2016-2017学年高一11月月考政治试卷
广西钦州市高新区2016-2017学年高二11月月考政治试卷
广西钦州市高新区2016-2017学年高一11月月考政治试卷
山东省滨州市三校2017届第一学期阶段测试初三英语试题
四川省成都七中2017届高三一诊模拟考试文科综合试卷
2017届普通高等学校招生全国统一考试模拟试题(附答案)
重庆市永川中学高2017级上期12月月考语文试题
江西宜春三中2017届高三第一学期第二次月考文科综合试题
内蒙古赤峰二中2017届高三上学期第三次月考英语试题
2017年六年级(上)数学期末考试卷
2017人教版小学英语三年级上期末笔试题
江苏省常州西藏民族中学2016-2017学年九年级思想品德第一学期第二次阶段测试试卷
重庆市九龙坡区七校2016-2017学年上期八年级素质测查(二)语文学科试题卷
江苏省无锡市钱桥中学2016年12月八年级语文阶段性测试卷
江苏省无锡市钱桥中学2016-2017学年七年级英语12月阶段检测试卷
山东省邹城市第八中学2016-2017学年八年级12月物理第4章试题(无答案)
【人教版】河北省2015-2016学年度九年级上期末语文试题卷(附答案)
四川省简阳市阳安中学2016年12月高二月考英语试卷
四川省成都龙泉中学高三上学期2016年12月月考试题文科综合能力测试
安徽省滁州中学2016—2017学年度第一学期12月月考​高三英语试卷
山东省武城县第二中学2016.12高一年级上学期第二次月考历史试题(必修一第四、五单元)
福建省四地六校联考2016-2017学年上学期第三次月考高三化学试卷
甘肃省武威第二十三中学2016—2017学年度八年级第一学期12月月考生物试卷

网友关注

2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题答案8.28
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题8.29
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练资料分析练习题答案09.07
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练判断推理练习题09.06
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题8.31
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练言语理解与表达练习题09.11
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练常识判断练习题09.12
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题9.6
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练资料分析练习题答案08.31
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练常识判断练习题09.05
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题9.5
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练常识判断练习题答案09.12
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练数量关系练习题答案09.01
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练言语理解与表达练习题答案09.04
2018宁夏区考面试模拟题:如何看待英雄被质疑
2018宁夏区考申论每周一练答案:尊重医生 建设良好医疗环境
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题9.4
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题答案9.7
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题答案9.6
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练判断推理练习题答案09.06
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题8.28
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练判断推理练习题答案08.30
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练数量关系练习题09.01
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练常识判断练习题答案08.29
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题8.30
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题答案8.30
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题答案8.29
2018宁夏区考面试题库:面试每日一练结构化面试模拟题答案9.1
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练资料分析练习题08.31
2018宁夏区考行测题库:行测每日一练判断推理练习题08.30

网友关注视频

沪教版八年级下册数学练习册21.3(3)分式方程P17
第8课 对称剪纸_第一课时(二等奖)(沪书画版二年级上册)_T3784187
沪教版八年级下次数学练习册21.4(2)无理方程P19
8.练习八_第一课时(特等奖)(苏教版三年级上册)_T142692
二年级下册数学第二课
【部编】人教版语文七年级下册《老山界》优质课教学视频+PPT课件+教案,安徽省
冀教版英语三年级下册第二课
外研版英语三起5年级下册(14版)Module3 Unit2
青岛版教材五年级下册第四单元(走进军营——方向与位置)用数对确定位置(一等奖)
冀教版英语四年级下册第二课
第19课 我喜欢的鸟_第一课时(二等奖)(人美杨永善版二年级下册)_T644386
冀教版英语五年级下册第二课课程解读
冀教版小学数学二年级下册1
【部编】人教版语文七年级下册《过松源晨炊漆公店(其五)》优质课教学视频+PPT课件+教案,江苏省
沪教版牛津小学英语(深圳用) 四年级下册 Unit 3
冀教版小学英语五年级下册lesson2教学视频(2)
【部编】人教版语文七年级下册《逢入京使》优质课教学视频+PPT课件+教案,辽宁省
精品·同步课程 历史 八年级 上册 第15集 近代科学技术与思想文化
人教版历史八年级下册第一课《中华人民共和国成立》
外研版英语三起6年级下册(14版)Module3 Unit1
沪教版牛津小学英语(深圳用) 四年级下册 Unit 8
七年级英语下册 上海牛津版 Unit3
化学九年级下册全册同步 人教版 第25集 生活中常见的盐(二)
冀教版小学数学二年级下册第二周第2课时《我们的测量》宝丰街小学庞志荣
第五单元 民族艺术的瑰宝_16. 形形色色的民族乐器_第一课时(岭南版六年级上册)_T3751175
苏科版数学 八年级下册 第八章第二节 可能性的大小
外研版英语三起5年级下册(14版)Module3 Unit1
七年级英语下册 上海牛津版 Unit9
沪教版八年级下册数学练习册20.4(2)一次函数的应用2P8
每天日常投篮练习第一天森哥打卡上脚 Nike PG 2 如何调整运球跳投手感?