On Language Policy Of The United States

This thesis probes into the language policy of the United States, analyzes its two competing policies and offers a window for us to look into the American ideology.Established as a free nation where all the citizens are entitled to the equal rights of speech, learning, voting, education, etc., the United States government has exceptionally ignored minorities'equal rights of using their own languages by enacting laws to prohibit the acquisition or even the use of other languages than English from time to time in its history. The overwhelming majority of the United States, which stands for the grass-root decision-makers, support or even initiate English Only Movements over and again. Even in the 20th century when more and more people have noted the importance of learning a foreign language for economic, political or social benefits, Bilingual Education policy, which helps the minorities to learn English without discarding their native languages, is still severely opposed by most Americans. So what is the real power that ultimately decides its language policy?Inspired by the notion of linguistic culture put forward by Professor Harold Schiffman, the author probes into the issue and finds that the real power of American language policy lies not in its overt policies but in its deeply-rooted American ideologies. The dominating group—American Anglo-whites regard minority languages as a problem which may disintegrate American society and ultimately shake their existing social status. The fear of losing existing social order and the deeply-rooted idea of"English being the most civilized language"make them reluctant to accept or even strongly opposed to any change.However, the language policy of the United States is not consistent, and is decided by struggle over democratic and conservative forces. Ultimately the evidence shows that American language policy serves its political purposes and the present language policy does great harm to the diversity of minority languages.