Speaking of Tongues

Bilingualism is a huge advantage in today’s world. But as a policy goal, it is unrealistic. A response to Cristina RodrÃguez.

Cristina RodrA­ï¿½guez has written an admirably lucid and compelling essay explaining how and why bilingualism strengthens American democracy [“E Pluribus Unum,” Issue #4]. I have no quarrel whatsoever with her claims that ongoing migration flows will replenish the already large group of Spanish speakers in the United States and that bilingualism is a desirable faculty for many economic, cultural, and other reasons, including giving “all Americans the tools to operate in a bilingual world.” I strongly agree with her position that the commentators whom she characterizes as “conservative assimilationists” sometimes exaggerate the threat to American solidarity and culture posed by Spanish speakers. And she is correct to emphasize that the power of the American cultural magnet–particularly its strong and enduring Anglophonic current, and the obvious economic incentives to learn English–is so great that the daily use of languages of descent usually peters out in the second or third generations.

Despite our substantial agreement on these points, however, I question certain elements of RodrA­ï¿½guez’s analysis, especially her insouciance about concerns that the great majority of Americans–liberals, moderates, conservatives, and even immigrants themselves–have regarding government-sponsored bilingualism. To be sure, she is right to think that bilingualism is good for immigrants and for American society more generally. Her late grandfather, as she explains, did her a great service in cultivating her fluency in English and Spanish. But the problem is not with the exceptionally talented children and grandchildren of immigrant doctors. It is with the vast number of immigrant children who struggle at school and are at an alarmingly high risk of becoming limited English proficiency (LEP) dropouts, forever trapped on the margins of American society. For them, the top priority must be to learn English, as well and as quickly as possible. If that can be accomplished while retaining their Spanish proficiency, then I’m all for it. (Who wouldn’t be?) But it would be cruelly misguided to ignore the real tradeoffs facing youngsters who can barely master one language, let alone two.

The virtues of bilingualism–the ability of anglophones to speak a second language–are not controversial, nor is the desirability of linguistic diversity per se. What is controversial is using government policy to make it easier for Spanish speakers to forego learning and using English in the voting booth and in other public venues. For conservative assimilationists such as John Miller and Peter Salins, this sends the wrong signal about the civic importance of mastering English well enough to communicate on public issues with the vast majority of Americans who are anglophones. Many Americans also wonder why bilingual ballots are needed for citizens who, under the law, cannot be naturalized unless they can “speak words in ordinary usage in the English language.” (The naturalization requirements for reading and writing English are even less demanding; “simple words and phrases” will suffice.) Yet in the recent battle over the renewal of the Voting Rights Act, the interests supporting bilingual ballots were strong enough to defeat the opponents who have been demanding their repeal for more than 30 years. If the assimilationists whom RodrA­ï¿½guez fears cannot even repeal bilingual ballots, they can hardly threaten linguistic diversity in the public square. Although she views English-only laws as evidence of assimilationists’ power and of their “impulse toward homogeneity and the suspicion of foreigners,” these laws have broad mainstream support, including from liberal Democrats, not just conservatives. As bilingualism authority Deborah Schildkraut shows, the public has fairly nuanced views on language issues: Over 70 percent favor official English, but only 35 percent favor English-only ballots. In short, public attitudes toward English’s dominant role are more complex and reasoned than RodrA­ï¿½guez allows.

Moreover, geopolitical realities suggest that the risk of language-based social fragmentation must be taken seriously. Bitter divisions over linguistic differences are common throughout the world, and these divisions have often led to harsh discrimination and even violence against language minorities. With an estimated 6,700 languages in the world but only 225 nation-states, such conflicts are inevitable, particularly as globalizing states seek to unify their countries linguistically. For every Switzerland, where a multiplicity of languages are spoken and officially recognized, there is a Quebec and a Belgium, where linguistic diversity actually threatens the survival of a unified polity. The treatment of anglophones in Quebec today is not a reassuring sight, nor is the perpetual discord between Flemings and Walloons in Belgium. This is emphatically not to say that linguistic diversity necessarily leads to such conflicts and repression–the United States so far is proof that this need not be the case. But these struggles form part of the context in which language policy is, and should be, debated. Surprisingly, RodrA­ï¿½guez does not mention them.

• 1
• 2
• 3

Post a Comment