Multilingualism vs. monolingualism: the view from the USA and its interaction with language issues around the world

• Autores: Robert Kaplan
• Localización: Current issues in language planning, ISSN 1466-4208, Vol. 16, Nº. 1-2, 2015 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Multilingual education: language ideologies and attidtudes), págs. 149-162
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Language policy is a mechanism determining the uses of language generally; here it examines the role of the English language in the emerging USA. Inspired by Spanish riches deriving from the �New World� during the sixteenth century, the first English people to settle permanently in North America hoped for similar riches. In North America, the norm of language usage in the colonies remained that of the motherland until approximately the time of the American Revolutionary War (1775�1783). Thereafter, American English was no longer a variety of the English of London, but rather had entered its national period. (The developments in Canada were somewhat different.) Major arguments in defense of American English are presented in this paper to establish the strength of the belief, the names of key historical actors, and responsibility for the fascination with and dedication to American English. Simultaneously, dedication to American English has implied the responsibility of immigrants to learn it immediately, as well as defense against the inroads of any other language. Political independence was soon followed by cultural independence.