Research paper on English language

ENGLISH

Mei-Yu (1998) asserts that mother tongue and second language development are tightly interconnected, so English learners are more willing to master the language if they have a firm base in their own one. It is proved that they learn better when the primary instruction is given in their mother tongue than if they are thrown into an English-only situation. Researchers trace the correlation between the academic success of English learners and availability of English instruction in the course. Any language shift and complete alienation from mother tongue in the academic environment threatens deterioration of communication between children and their parents, the latter are supposed to contribute greatly to their learning and development. So called equal education introduced in the form of English as the sole instructional language makes it hard for minority population to get meaningful education. Mei-Yu (1998) argues that such English-only policy deprives minority children of the opportunity to learn the cultural diversity of the country and to be fully involved in school activities. They are undoubtedly essential, school being an important microcosm of every society.

On the other hand, English is the language of liberty, commerce and opportunity. It is already an official language in many countries where people speak many languages. English can serve a common ground for the Americans of all backgrounds and prevent government from ignoring the language. Moreover, presently bilingualism harms more than favors, as due to the bureaucracy bilingual education has become very costly and it does not guarantee speedy development of people from international backgrounds. On the contrary, it prevents them from learning English extensively as they feel comfortable with their mother tongue, they just do not hurry to join and unwilling to fully integrate into the American society. The official English laws, if adopted, are said to violate the civil rights and liberties, thus they are inconsistent with the current legislation.

ENGLISH

Dealing with the impact of language diversity on education, it grows evident that there are many children who continue to be educated through their second language. The United States is presently among the countries characterized by multiculturalism where approaches to education involve several languages’ use that has already proved to be effective. Though the idea when everyone speaks one and the same language seems right and facilitates assimilation, people from international backgrounds should respect the laws of the land where they live. We all remember that the American nation is multilingual and so it will stay. No policy should rob people from international backgrounds of the chance to learn the full potential. It is difficult to work out the proper language policy in the US as opposed to small “unilingual” countries like Iceland. The issue of official language does not focus on

language alone, it requires close and careful consideration with ensuring language rights and managing language resources as efficiently as possible.