The English-only question : an official language for Americans?

書誌事項

The English-only question : an official language for Americans?

Dennis Baron

Yale University Press, c1990

  • : cloth
  • : pbk

大学図書館所蔵 件 / 57

この図書・雑誌をさがす

注記

Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-216) and index

内容説明・目次

巻冊次

: cloth ISBN 9780300048520

内容説明

Should the United States declare English its official language? The "English only" question, which has plagued American citizens since the founding of the country, is the focus of heated debate, with an English language Amendment to the Constitution pending in Congress since 1981. This book provides an historically based discussion of this issue. The author explores the philosophical, legal, political, educational, and sociological implications of the official-English movement, tracing the history of American attitudes toward English and minority languages during the past two centuries. He describes how battles to save English or minority languages have been fought in the press, the schools, the courts, and the legislatures of the country. According to Baron, the impulse to impose English and limit other languages has repeatedly arisen during periods of political or economic ferment, when non-English speakers have been targeted as subversive, unemployable, or otherwise resistant to assimilation. However, says the author, many supporters of the English Language Amendment are not xenophobic but are people who believe in the ideal of one language for one nation and who argue that mastery of English is the only way to succeed in America. He discusses the recent background of the English Language Amendment, explains the arguments on each side, and assesses its future.
巻冊次

: pbk ISBN 9780300056600

内容説明

Should the United States declare English its official language? The "English-only" question, which has plagued American citizens since the founding of the country, has once again become the focus of heated debate, with an English Language Amendment to the Constitution pending in Congress since 1981. In this lively and engrossing book, an often-quoted authority on the English language provides the first comprehensive, historically based discussion of this troubling issue. Dennis Baron dispassionately explores the philosophical, legal, political, educational, and sociological implications of the official-English movement, tracing the history of American attitudes toward English and minority languages during the past two centuries. Baron describes how battles to save English or minority languages have been fought in the press, the schools, the courts, and the legislatures of the country. According to Baron, the impulse to impose English and limit other languages has repeatedly arisen during periods of political or economic ferment, when non-English speakers have been targeted as subversive, unemployable, or otherwise resistant to assimilation. However, says Baron, many supporters of the English Language Amendment are not xenophobic but are people who believe in the ideal of one language for one nation and who argue that mastery of English is the only way to succeed in America. Baron discusses the recent background of the English Language Amendment, explains the arguments on each side, and assesses its future. His book will enable policymakers, voters, legislators, and educators to better understand the complex issues that surround the question of an official language for America.

「Nielsen BookData」 より

詳細情報

ページトップへ