#60 The English- Only Debate by Alejandro Portes
• Immigration has brought a growth of foreign language → English language may lose predominance→ cultural unity may be undermined
• High immigration rates give rise to nativist movements
New Threats to English
• 1990 census found that 92% of the US spoke only English
• Survey shows 94% spoke English fluently by the age of 14 and the figure rose to 98% 3 years later
• People preferred English over their native tongue
Losing Mother Tongues
• Few retain their parental tongues
• If one defines fluency as the ability to speak, understand, read, and write well , no 2nd generation group was fluent in the mother tongue by the age of 17
• English-Spanish bilingualism was the most common, but 65% lost their parental language
• 90% of children lacked fluency
Is Complete Language Assimilation Desirable?
• These trends raise the question of whether complete language assimilation (acquisition of fluent English and abandonment of native languages) is desirable
• Madorah Smith declared bilingualism to be a hardship devoid of any advantage
• Study did not distinguish between fluent bilinguals and limited bilinguals whose command of one language or the other was poor
Are Bilingual Students Better?
• Bilinguals outperformed their monolingual counterparts in almost all cognitive tests
• Bilingualism at an early age influenced subsequent cognitive development
• Bilinguals’ enhanced cognitive performance is explained by their having more than one conception for a concrete thing
Greater Self-Esteem
• Positive association between bilingualism and better academic performance
• Children who were fluent bilinguals had significantly higher educational aspirations and self esteem
• Retaining the parental tongue allows children to better understand their cultural origins
• Bilingualism also increases communication