English First, Critical Thinking Never

One of the problems with language policy issues is that there's only one side out there making any points, and usually it's the wrong one. Linguists, educators, and people otherwise "in the know" have yet to construct an apparatus for making their side known. And this site is supposed to paritally correct that.

But in the meantime, what are people saying about English (and language) in America? I'll let Jim Boulet of English First do the talking:

...Hispanics know that in America, we speak English — even if our elected officials are no longer so sure. - August 6, 2003 on The Corner

So you got that? We here in America speak English and you who don't are simply being rude. And if you happen to disagree about legislatively enforcing such a belief, well you must be confused and unsure about the role of English in the United States.

I read something like this somewhere (reference forthcoming when I find it) but it would seem that if your goal was to get as many people speaking English as possible, you could not improve upon the results of American lassez-faire language policy over the last 230 years.

Useful info on the USE site

There are a few pro-Official English organizations out there, but by far the most advanced is US English. They're the most powerful lobbying group for language policy, which is bad because, well, they're usually wrong. And while I will have plenty to say about them later, I wanted to point you to some of their research. It's a pretty good place to get raw data and statistics. And to be fair, they do occasionally give credence to the opposition (us, I guess).

I especially liked their report on "American Immigration", only because it underlines the fact that for many people, language policy is a subset of immigration policy. If you think about the last wave of language policy debates (official language, bilingual ballots, etc), it was only presented within the context of immigration reform. Unfortunately for our representatives, languages and the people that speak them need attention slightly more than every 20 years, when people get scared of illegal immigrants. I don't want to go to far and say a national language policy should be carved out in the meantime, as congress could only impede progress, but it's important to realize that when the courts say language is strongly identified with national origin, this is why.

Liberty and justice for all

This is a new blog dedicated to tracking language policy issues. Primarily, it will focus on events and policies in the US, but will occasionally stray to other parts of the world.

Our major issue is English as an official language. We'll try to analyze what that means, why some people say we need it, and what effects a reasonable person might expect it to have. Most (if not all) of us that run this blog are against it, so consider that your fair warning.

By and large, the contributors to American English are linguists - people who study the structure and use of language in an academic and (some might say) scientific way. We have created this blog as an outlet for personal opinions about language policy. But it is crucial to remember that we strive to separate our positive observations about how language works from our normative arguments for how policymakers should address it. We are acutely aware that our reputation as serious people relies on our ability to interpret data objectively and we blog accordingly. But we're real people with real opinions, and we're not afraid to tell you what they are based on the evidence.

Here's to cyberspace!