Should English be the Official Language Term Paper

Should English be the Official Language - Term Paper Example The politicians have always avoided the issue and there has always been a silent agreement that English is the official language. Nevertheless, during the history, there have been a few moments where the debate gained significant attention and discussion. For example, it was in the year 1907 when President Roosevelt wrote, â€Å"We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house† (Garcia, 2005). Furthermore, during the First World War, as an attempt to sideline the German language, along with removing the books in the German language from the libraries, people were feeling the need of one common language. However, over the past few years, this debate has gained momentum and experts fear that the issue of national language that is alien to the culture of the United States may tear the country apart, as it has done in many other nations in the world (Simpson, 2009). As of 2010, thirty states had adopted English as the official language with laws protecting the same. It is interesting here to note the struggle in the state of Arizona where English recently became the only official language with full force. ...   Nevertheless, in the year 2005, another bill regarding making English as the official language was passed by the legislature but the Governor vetoed it. Finally, it was during the fall of 2010 when the struggle of the campaigners in Arizona bore fruit and English once again became the only official language of the state. A national language is very much like a national flag or a national anthem whose sole purpose is to protect the identity of the nation. Furthermore, the national language is symbolic of the nation and their culture and considering the diverse cultures in the United States, English as the official language will allow these diverse people to develop a sense of identity and association with their culture and country through the language (Cummins, 2000). Important here to note is that by making English as the national language, the country will save billions, if not trillions, every year from the money spent in the educational system. The governments spend a huge sum of money in order to improve the reading and speaking skills of students who are non-native speakers. In fact, for many years, this has remained a weak spot of our educational system. Making English as the official language will help the governments save the money spent on reading bills, translations and teaching more than one languages at schools (Simpson, 2009). Opponents of the current stance believe that by making English as the official language, one would suppress the other languages and the native languages of the immigrants thus making them lose the part of their culture. However, the same is not true.