The following excerpt is pulled from The Chronicle of Education's daily
e-mail/Web page announcements, FYI:
A glance at the April issue of "The Atlantic Monthly": Is "official
English" a threat to U.S. unity?
For centuries, countries around the world have been divided over the
disparate languages spoken by their citizens. Language as a divisive
social and political force is a concept alien to Americans, but is that
changing? asks Robert D. King, a linguistics professor at the University
of Texas at Austin. In spite of many state and local laws designating
English as the "official language," and despite the conservative "English
Only" movement, "America is not threatened by language," Dr. King writes.
Language is a potentially explosive issue in countries like Canada and
Belgium because it is the defining characteristic of nationality, he
writes. But countries such as Switzerland, which has four official
languages, and India, which recognizes 19, are not divided over language
because they have strong national identities, Dr. King writes. In the
United States, issues such as immigration, the rights of minority groups,
and bilingual education fuel the English Only movement. "I suggest that
we relax and luxuriate in our linguistic richness and our traditional
tolerance of language differences," he writes. "Benign neglect is a good
policy for any country when it comes to language, and it's a good policy
for America." (The magazine may be found at your library or newsstand.)
_\ /_
( o o )
-----------------------oOO----- (_) -----OOo----------------------
When an artist reasons, it's because
he [she] no longer understands anything.
Andre Derain
_______________________________________________
David O. Born, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Division of Health Ecology
15-136 Moos Tower
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
612 - 625-9438 Voice 612 - 626-6096 Fax
e:mail dborn@tc.umn.edu
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Comments from NativeNet listowner, Gary Trujillo (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us):
The following query on a related subject was sent to me personally.
Perhaps someone on the list can help Erin. If so, please reply to the
address "ejanis@sunflowr.usd.edu"
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 13:14:34 -0500 (CDT)
From: Erin Janis <ejanis@sunflowr.usd.edu>
To: Gary Trujillo <gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us>
Subject: Lakota language information
Dear Mr. Trujillo:
I am writing a manuscript speech on English NOT becoming official language
of the US. I am dealing mostly with my language (Lakota) and arguing that
one reason english cannot become the official language is because of the
loss of ours and culture etc. etc.
If you have any information that might help my I would appreciate it it
you could send my some? This is due on the 15th of April so as soon as
you can get to it would be great!
Thank You
Sincerly,
Erin R. Janis