Official American English: Examining its Impact on Diversity

This essay critically examines the proposal to establish English as the official language of the United States, drawing upon Steven Alvarez's arguments against such a policy. It emphasizes that making English the official language would negatively impact cultural and linguistic diversity, potentially marginalizing minority groups and undermining the benefits of plurilingualism. The essay highlights the importance of respecting and valuing all languages and cultures within a democratic society, advocating for policies that support language diversity rather than enforcing linguistic conformity. It further explores the economic advantages of multilingualism in a globalized world, suggesting that encouraging a wide range of language skills can enhance economic opportunities for immigrants and foster a more inclusive and prosperous society. The author concludes that the government should prioritize creating an environment where all languages are respected and valued, ensuring that no biases arise due to linguistic differences.

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The Steven Alvarez article "Official American English is Best" mainly talks about the
notion of making English the official language of America Ball, Cheryl E, and Drew M Loewe
(100). As per the opinion of Alvarez, Sonia, and Arturo Escobar (15) it is really a bad idea as it
will harm the independence of the minority. It will be a bad idea to make English as the official
language of America as it will ruin the cultural and the linguistic diversity.
Americans often have this view that schools must have their teachings only through
English language. This will help in teaching the students properly and making them job ready.
“The narrow-minded view that English-only is the only model for literacy learning should be put
to rest. English-only does not contribute to meaningful education on any grounds. Decades of
research into bilingual learning strongly advocates for all students' plurilingual learning” (Ball,
Cheryl and Drew M Loewe p-97). It can be said that making English the official language is
indeed a bad idea. This quote mainly signifies that people who are against the viewpoint of the
author that making English the official language of America is of a very narrow mind. English
only policy cannot educate all the employees and neither can create a proper ambiance. All the

immigrant students have to be given the full freedom to carry on with their language. This will
be helping them the immigrants in order to stay properly.
It is essential to financially boost up the nation. This can be done by making the
immigrants earn their living ‘’Immigrants on one level believe in more economic opportunities
with English’’ (Ball, Cheryl and Drew M Loewe p-97). This can be done if they can develop a
good English speaking competency. This will help them to find good employment opportunities.
English is a Global language and is accepted in all the different parts of the world. However, this
must be noted in this context that there can be many immigrants who do not want to give up their
own native language. Just because the state is providing shelter to refugees they cannot really
impose any strict laws on them regarding the language that they speak. The immigrants would be
feeling threatened if they are asked to learn English under any kinds of compulsion. However,
there are some economic advantages related to the learning of the English language.
The utilities of English in this modern world are undeniable. However, in the same
context, it also has to be noted that the country must try to encourage plurilingualism and cultural
diversity ‘’Consider this plurilingual gift of writing as a way to move away from the
misconceptions about English-only ideologies’’ (Ball, Cheryl and Drew M Loewe p-97) .It has
to be noted that the universities must appreciate the plurilingualism as a gift and not as a
problem. Apart from this Nuna David and Jack (4) have stated that the multilingualism is also
needed for the purpose of expanding into the market. The modern day business enterprises will
get customers from all over the world. Thus, they will be able to deal with the customers coming
from all the different parts of the world. However, English has been started as the official
language places of America, there is still a majority percentage of people who are against this
view. In order to make sure that the customers are getting a complete economic boost up they

need to learn about all the different languages rather than learning only English. Though English
will be helping people to connect all over the world but having a wide range of knowledge
regarding the languages will be helping the immigrants in getting a good job.
Thus, it can be said that the State must make sure to provide proper training to all the
members of their country so that they can know how to respect each other irrespective of their
language. This is the sole duty of the Government of America to make sure that they are not
creating any biases among people due to their language. Thus they must support language
diversity. At the same time, it is the duty of the State to maintain the dignity of the English
language as well as many of the citizens is comfortable in that.

References
Alvarez, Sonia E., and Arturo Escobar. "Introduction: theory and protest in Latin America
today." The making of social movements in Latin America. Routledge, 2018. 1-16.
Ball, Cheryl E, and Drew M Loewe. BAD IDEAS ABOUT WRITING Official American English
Is Best. 2019. Web. 28 Feb. 2019. 93-118
Nunan, David, and Jack C. Richards, eds. Language learning beyond the classroom. Routledge,
2015. 1-15

Bibliography
Ball, Cheryl E., and Drew M. Loewe. "Bad Ideas About Writing." West Virginia University
Libraries Digital Publishing Institute (2017).
McKay, Sandra Lee, and Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng. International English in its sociolinguistic
contexts: Towards a socially sensitive EIL pedagogy. Routledge, 2017.
Tsui, Amy BM, and James W. Tollefson, eds. Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian
contexts. Routledge, 2017.