Half the countries of the worldhave an official language. TheUnited States isn't one of them. The debate over whether we need anofficial tongue dates back at least to the 1750s.
Today members of Congress continue to try to pass laws makingEnglish the official language. According to scholar Dennis Barron:
Supporters of the [English-Only measures] say that Englishforms the glue that keeps America together. They deplore the dollarswasted translating English into other languages. And they fear a hordeof illegal aliens adamantly refusing to acquire the most powerfullanguage on earth. On the other hand, opponents of official Englishremind us that without legislation we have managed to get overninety-seven percent of the residents of this country to speak thenational language. No country with an official language law even comesclose. Opponents also point out that today's non-English-speakingimmigrants are picking up English faster than earlier generations ofimmigrants did, so instead of official English, they favor "EnglishPlus," encouraging everyone to speak both English and another language.
The definition of an official language is one that has beenspecifically designated in the Constitution of a country or territory.Officially recognized languages are often mistaken for officiallanguages.
According to the online reference Wikipedia,half the countries of the world have official languages. Some have onlyone official language, such as Albania, France, Germany and Lithuania.Some have more than one official language such as Belarus, Belgium,Canada, Finland, Afghanistan, Paraguay, Bolivia, India, Switzerland,and South Africa.
Some countries, such as the United States, have no official nationallanguagebut do have areaswhere an official language has been adopted. Still other countries haveno official languages at all. These include Australia, Eritrea,Luxembourg, Sweden and Tuvalu.
The Philippines and parts of Africa live with a peculiar culturalparadox. Although the official languages may be French or English,these are not the languages most widely spoken by those countries'residents. Another interesting twist on official language can be foundin the Republic of Ireland. Though Irish is only spoken by a smallproportion of people it is actually the state's first officiallanguage. English, the spoken language of the majority, is the secondofficial language.
Source: Wikipedia
Suggested Reading/Additional Resources
- ANation Divided by One Language, James Crawford of Britain'sGuardian Newspaper reports language policy in the United States.
- List of official languages across the globe.
- Countries where language is a major political issue.
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