"Speaking the language where you life" is an opinion piece (blog entry) in which the author makes an argument (diatribe) against immigrants who live in the USA but are not yet proficient (fluent) English speakers.
The author of the blog supports her argument with some valid points. A language barrier makes it more difficult to communicate/order food/change a phone plan/handle an emergency, and it would be much more convenient if all parties spoke the same language. She closes with the argument that if she were a foreigner, she would hold herself to the same standard, and work to learn the native language.
Her argument is not without holes, however. For one, phone services are often outsourced to foreign countries where labor is cheaper and English is not the first language. This could explain a phone services correspondent who speaks with an accent. Does this girl expect people in other countries to speak perfect English, just because it would make her life more convenient?
Furthermore,
"Research conducted in this country in the 1930s and 1940s showed that bilingual people demonstrate greater social tolerance and are more likely to have academic success than monolingual people are. This research lay unnoticed for more than half a century. It is now being supported by research conducted in other countries, such as North America, Australia, India and Scandinavia. Thus from both socially cohesive and educational perspectives, the promotion of multilingualism is likely to have important advantages for the entire South African Society." (Pansalb, 1998)
"Dolphinqt" may want to try learning a second language in order to understand a little more about tolerance.
The idea of many "official languages" within the US made me curious to know more about other countries that have multiple “official languages” deal with this controversial issue.
In countries such as South Africa, where there are now a total of 11 official languages, a single official language was actually the cause of many problems. Involvement in the government, and understanding legislation would have been more difficult as non-fluent English speakers, creating the hegemony of English. English as an official language worked as an oppressive social force, creating socio-economic barriers for non-speakers.
There are problems associated with so many official languages, (which languages to teach in school, which language the government should use, etc.) however, South Africa is an extreme case. Does being tolerant of Spanish speakers, and living in harmony along side them really as problematic as this blogger is making it seem?
Maybe, we could even benefit from this mixture of culture and languages.
Speaking the language where you live:
http://www.progressiveu.org/170641-speaking-the-language-where-you-live
Multiligualism and Minority Languages in South Africa:
http://www.inst.at/trans/13Nr/thorpe13.htm
Language Policy Issues in South Africa:
http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED391354&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED391354
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2 comments:
I think that this topic is only going to become more and more relevant in the coming years. I was particularly interested by the research about bilingual people being more socially tolerant and academically successful than monolingual people. I wonder if learning a new language causes these benefits or if people who are more socially tolerant are simply more inclined to become bilingual.
Great post, and Pranav raises a good question about the direction of causality in some of these research studies. That is, does tolerance make you more likely to learn a second language or vice versa? What are your thoughts on this matter? Why might learning a new language actually cause and increase in academic success and social tolerance?
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