English Language Quotes
Although Jefferson was a strong immigration enthusiast, he and others were concerned about the ghettoization. The early German immigrants did not universally adopt English, just as today’s immigrants do not all. This was a concern of Americans since the first immigrations. Yet it has always occurred despite concerns about it. However, the second and third generations all become fluent and literate in English.
Most of us are surprised that such an enlightened leader as Franklin could have such a strong anti-immigrant bias. Franklin was a strong supporter of immigration as the economic characteristic of America at the time was a plethora of land and a dearth of labor. But Franklin was a cultural chauvinist of the first order.
This was another of the radical reforms of Queen Victoria. Most counties were terribly sensitive about the language used by their citizens. Where there were different ethnic language groups, the dominant group tended to make the use and teaching of other languages illegal. So it was in Great Britain where Gaelic, traditionally spoken in Scotland and Welsh, spoken in Wales, were discouraged and not taught in the schools. The Queen shocked the right wing language nationalists with this letter making a major language and cultural reform in Great Britain. Victoria herself had learned a number of languages when she was a young girl and realized that the schools were the ideal place to develop multiple language facilities. Lansdowne promptly instituted the queen’s desired language reforms to the delight of the Scots and the Welsh. Rather than create disunity, the Scots and Welsh became more loyal to the Nation that recognized them, their culture and their rights.
The Catholic Church had ordered that the Bible only be written and read in Latin. Individual reading by laymen was not considered desirable. Tyndale wanted to bring the Gospels and the Old Testament to every Englishman, and he did just that. He was, however, burned at the stake for his “heresy.”
He was speaking metaphorically here. Literally dreaming in English is not his requirement. What is required is an outlook, perception, value system, and national identity that is American. Lack of English language proficiency makes that much harder to achieve.
He was interviewed by PBS and asked why he introduced and financed California Proposition 227 the severely limited and curtailed bilingual education. Based on his success getting Proposition 227 passed in California, he tried to follow suit with Arizona Proposition 203, Colorado Amendment 31, and Massachusetts Question 2 which were not so successful. The research on Bilingual Education is mixed with some studies showing benefits and others not. Intuitively, the case against it was easier to sell as the objective was to develop English Proficiency and it was hard for many people to understand how that would better be accomplished if other classes were taught in a native language like Spanish. The other side point out that students who come the the United States very competent in Mathematics, Science and History get thrown into English speaking classes in those subjects and the fall behind very quickly. By the time their English is sufficient to take instruction in English, they have already failed the courses in which they used to be good and have to take them again if they are still in school which is rare since the lack of English skills causes them to fail all subjects if a Bilingual program is not available for their math, science, and history courses. Both sides of the argument have a point, but in many anti-Bilingual campaigns, the educational arguments gets lost and the issue becomes whether or not America should be an English speaking country, and Hispanic chauvinism and anti Hispanic racism end up driving much of the debate.
