Second Source

Tyler Benson
Nov. 22, 2009
English 1101

Mujica, Mauro. "Why the U.S. Needs an Official Language." www.worldandi.com. 2003. The World & I, Web. 23 Nov 2009. .

In “Why the U.S. Needs an Offical Language”, Mauro Majica talks about how we as a country need an official language in order to unify us and limit factors brought by the lack of one. Mauro is the chairman and CEO of U.S. English Inc, and is an immigrant themselves. Throughout the article Mauro gives good insight on how the U.S. has required immigrants to learn English in order to fit in the main-stream of society throughout history. Mauro gives census facts and many other things such as a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showing that most countries in the world see it important to learn English in order to succeed in global economics and other things. Mauro also hits the issue on how many native born citizens in the U.S. actually are considered “limited English proficient” which means that they barely speak English. Mauro gives census facts to show how this is increased in the U.S. and expresses that English maybe on its way to extinction due to others saying that, “The government requiring immigrants to learn English is oppressive.”, therefore getting a pass because no one wants to deal with racism. I plan to use Mauro Majica’s article in order to show how English is also a hurting language when immigrants throw the race card around and how it is causing America to become less unified which Mauro also explains in his article.

Annotated Bibliography

Mary Elizabeth Lowe

English 1101

Dr. Hughes


Topic: The United States should not descend into further exclusion or journey down the path of unconstitutional decisions by adopting an official language; furthermore, the United States should continue offering bilingual ballots in order to ensure that fundamental rights are sustained and to strengthen this country.



Zuckerman, Michael A., "Constitutional Clash: When English-Only Meets Voting
Rights" (2009). Cornell Law School Working Papers. Paper 62.
http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clsops_papers/62


This source provides an informative overview of the English Only Movement in addition to facts and stories concerning the voting issue and cites other dilemmas including the Constitutional vulnerability of a purposed English Only Movement. As evidence that English Only is unconstitutional, it brings into consideration the 14th amendment and states that language is the new proxy for race. One extremely compelling quote for both bilingual ballots and against English Only, is stated by the educated Zuckerman as he says, “Furthermore, the fact of a state applying its English-only policies to voter registration is independently suspect because the state is affecting voting rights, which are fundamental, and have historically been used as a tool for discrimination.” Another direct cite from this paper is the quotation from the fifteenth amendment. It guarantees that “[t]he right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This is another solid argument in favor of bilingual ballots and against a national language. I would use this, and the many other facts and stories in this article to my paper by bringing to light the fact that if this nation deemed English it’s national language, it would have to uphold this law in all areas. This would include the removal of bilingual ballots and that would take away many American citizens’ right to vote, which is a constitutional right.



Crawford, James. "The Question of Minority Language Rights." Language Loyalties A
Source Book on the Official English Controversy. New York: University Of
Chicago, 1992. Print.


This article begins with many provoking questions such as, “What would be the legal impact of an English Language Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?” and “Does it seek primarily to make a symbolic statement about the role of English as our common language or to protect the dominant status of English by outlawing all (or all but a few) public uses of other tongues?” These questions are followed by both the pros and cons of English Only and declares that both sides are valid but will certainly have a profound effect on all speakers of this nation. As the chapter progresses he says, “voting in anything other than the national tongue offends the civic assumptions of many Americans.” This is primarily due to our history for the United States is indeed a nation of immigrants.
He also cites the 1987 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which had “prohibited arbitrary language policies on the job – that is, English-only rules that have no demonstrated business necessity – as a form of national-origin discrimination.” I will use parts of this chapter to further develop the idea that the United States is a nation of immigrants and to suddenly state that English must be the official language encroaches upon the very history of our “toss salad” nation.

Annotated Bibliographies

Jennifer Conley
Ms. Hughes
20 November 2009

Thesis Statement:
Many citizens would argue that English should be our official language, but what about those citizens who practice their culture every day? Should these citizens be penalized for their practices in the way they speak or understand language or should we also utilize their abilities in our everyday life too?


“A Nation Divided: The Consequences of Bilingual Ballots.” ProEnglish: Repealing Bilingual Ballots. 4 Nov. 2009 http://www.proenglish.org/issues/ballots/fivereasons.html.

This is a pro-English article that discusses their opinion upon bilingual ballots. In this article five main points are brought to attention. The first point talks about the justification and election materials. Their response is that citizens are suppose to know English to become citizens, so why not keep practicing English as the official language. The second reason is that the requirements of bilingual ballots are arbitrary and wasteful. Citizens believe that the requirements of making ballots in another language are unnecessary when facts show a majority of citizens can speak English. Third, the local governments have to make the ballots and they are unfunded and mandatory. In their defense, the assistance amendment to the Voting Rights’ Act is provided. Fourthly, the likelihood of errors and vote fraud are increased. This reason is provided with the statistics of previous elections and how the vote was swayed to the poll workers bias opinion. The last point is simply that bilingual ballots are a growing burden. Citizens think that too much money is being spent to provide the materials and help needed, especially when the help provided has ended up causing confusion at the polls. Since my argument is not set to one side or the other, some of these points will be argued against while others will help prove my reasoning.


"Bilingual Ballot Laws." ProEnglish: The English Language Advocates. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. http://www.proenglish.org/issues/ballots/overview.htm.

This web page shows an overview of the Bilingual Ballot Provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It states that, “The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was originally enacted to prohibit state and local governments from denying or abridging the right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude," a right guaranteed by the 15th Amendment.” At the time it was enacted to protect the right of voting for black Americans. “But in 1975 Congress greatly expanded the Voting Rights Act's original intent by inserting special protections for "language minorities.” By doing this Congress made voting available to any individual who was an American citizen. The only set back with this act is that it was passed as a temporary adjustment and not officially a concrete adjustment. Since this is temporary Congress has renewed this act twice in 1982 and then again in 1992. If this bill was not renewed in 2007 then it will have expired. If amendment made it fair for citizens to vote with bilingual ballots and it keeps getting renewed by Congress, why not just make it official? Voting is a right that every American citizen should be able to practice. Limiting voting to citizens who speak English very well does not make it fair. This is unjust to what this country was founded on and keeps America from being united.

Annotated Bibliography

Rebekah Medford

Topic: Should the US offer bilingual ballots?

ACLU of Florida. "English Only." ACLUFL.org. May 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2009http://www.aclufl.org/take_action/download_resources/info_papers/6.cfm

In the a article by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida over the "English Only" debate, the ACLU states its reasonings behind why they oppose the "English Only" laws. They believe the laws take away the rights of individuals as well as create false stereotypes of immigrants or people speaking different languages. The material in the article is very informational, focusing not just on now but also where the idea of "English Only" derivied and just how long its been around. Viewing the counterargument, several points are brought up on why some people believe, or have believed in the past, that "English Only" would help. Following their paragraphs about the history of "English Only," ACLU has a question and answer portion. These question and answers allow the ACLU to get their views on the "English Only" debates across, focusing on topics such as: who is affected; what the consequences are; and the false ideas behind it. There are several points I would like to use from this article. Though it is against "English Only" I would liketo use the history it provides where the idea derives from in my counterargument. Using John Adams idea and words, would help me show how people believe it to be very unifying at that time. I agree that if at that time, they had made Englsih the national language, I would have been unifying. Now it would not be. Too many cultures have come here, making English Only laws now would only seperate cultures amd people in America. If English was already the National Language, then getting rid of billingual ballots would be okay but since it is not, and we are a free country, you cannot take away peoples' rights.

The Washing Post Company. " Yes on Bilingual Ballots: Encourage non-English speakers to make informed choices." The Washington Post. 10 Jul. 2006. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/09/AR2006070900553.html

This Washington Post article is pro view on Bilingual Ballots. In their article they discuss the Voting Rights Act as well as doing a deeper study of the argument. They take arguments that could be made against bilingual ballots, like: one already has to know English to take the citizenship test. The Washington Post then rebutes the arguments and states why they are not strong enough, or accurate enough to prove the counterargument. Other issues covered in the article are cost,and voting particpation. I will be able to use The Washington Post's answers towards the debate of the citizenship english to prove that this is not the same level of required when reading a ballot.

Steven Holland
Engl 1101
Dr. Hughes

Topic: The Ebonics Controversy

Oubré, Alondra. “Black English Vernacular (Ebonics) and Educability A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Language, Cognition, and Schooling” 1997

http://www.aawc.com/ebonicsarticle.html

Dr. Oubré states that one of the main causes of scholastic shortcomings of African American youth was the Oakland Public Unified School Board's attention to Ebonics. Dr. Oubré states that Ebonics brings down those who use it by saying, “The sad reality is that Blacks' poor performance in school only further reinforces for many Americans stereotypes of the intellectual inferiority of Black Africans” and “African American students who speak traditional Black dialects of the English language are less apt to do well in school because they generally cannot comprehend standard English.” Dr. Oubré obviously thinks that Ebonics is the cause of the academic downfall of many African Americans. Dr. Oubré also states that ”Black Americans earn IQ scores averaging 85 points compared to scores of about 100 for Euro-Americans and about 106 for Asian Americans of East Asian descent. IQ scores may not be an absolute or totally accurate measure of innate intelligence. But certainly they do say something about a person's cognitive ability to successfully function in American society,” which would suggest that the use of Ebonics could potentially bring down Black Americans’ intelligence. I plan to use this article to introduce the topic and to back it up with statistics. The article shows how Ebonics has caused controversy over African American education.


Rickford, John R. "The Ebonics controversy in my backyard:A sociolinguist's experiences and reflections" 1999.

http://www.stanford.edu/~rickford/papers/EbonicsInMyBackyard.html

This article basically explains the topic of the Oakland School Board Ebonics controversy. John Rickford explains what happened during the 1996 Ebonics controversy and provides background information about the controversy. I plan to use this article to provide information that is directly linked to the Oakland School Board Ebonics Controversy.

Bilingual Ballots

Tyler Gunnin
Dr. Hughes
English 1101
11/20/09

Topic: Why we should discard all bilingual ballots

1. Blum, Edward. "A Nation Divided: The Consequences of Bilingual Ballots". 5 Reasons to Oppose Bilingual Ballots. 2006.

Edward Blum summarizes the debate of discarding bilingual ballots into five key points in this article. The five major ideas in the writing are: There is no justification for bilingual ballots and election materials, bilingual ballot requirements are arbitrary and wasteful, bilingual ballots are an un-funded mandate on local governments, bilingual ballots increase the the likelihood of errors and voter fraud, and bilingual ballots are a growing burden. A few key points that are made in this article are: since 1907 the United States has required immigrants to learn English in order to become a citizen and finish the process of naturalization, the illiteracy rate of language-minority-group citizens is higher than the national illiteracy rate, Los Angeles County taxpayers spent over $1.1 million in 1996 to provide bilingual, and the number of states and counties required to provide multilingual election materials is growing voting. The article also stresses the importance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the amendment made to it in 1975. The writing gives many viable points to argue against the pro-bilingual ballot supporters. I want to use this article in pointing out key facts that show how and why bilingual ballots should be gotten rid of. By zoning in on the five key points mentioned in this article, including the Voting Rights Act, I believe I can get my main argument across in a way that has supporting evidence and back-up.


2. English First Foundation. "Bilingual Ballots: Election Fairness or Fraud?". English First Foundation Issue Brief. 22 February 2000.

The English First Foundation goes more in depth about many of the key points of why we should get rid of bilingual ballots. It starts off by mentioning the Voting Rights Act. This is one of the main arguments that I want to stress in my writing. A second key point the article makes is the question of legal and illegal aliens triggering bilingual requirements. There would be a huge possibility of creating two separate sections of "citizen" and "non-citizen" for the voting. Cost is another major idea that I want to focus on. In this article it also makes a point that unneeded bilingual ballots are quite expensive. Another interesting point made is that the accurate translations cannot be taken for granted. This and the point that bilingual ballots might not even be enough to guarantee an informed vote are two ideas that can be brought together in an argument I am trying to make. Also, the article backs these two points up with the very reasonable argument that private sectors and volunteer translators are very capable of making mistakes. I believe this article will help me in backing up multiple points I am trying to make evident in my paper. The writing is very in-depth and has a lot of information that should be easy in supporting the idea that bilingual ballots should be discarded for good.

Making English the Official Language of the United States

Jonathan Dishon
ENG 1101
Dr. Hughes
November 20, 2009

Inhofe, James M. "Should English be declared America's national language? A nation of immigrants considers the pros and cons of giving English official status". New York Times Upfront. FindArticles.com. 19 Nov, 2009. <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BUE/is_4_139/ai_n17215363/>.

James Inhofe discusses how according to several polls done of both Americans and of immigrants that the overwhelming majority of both groups believe that English should be made the official language of the United States. According to the polls about 85 percent of Americans are for English becoming the official language and 71 percent of immigrants are for English becoming the official language as well. Another thing that Inhofe brings up is how many immigrants want to learn English because it will help them succeed in school, increase their earning potential, and enhance their career options. Inhofe also brings up a court case of an immigrant woman named Martha Sandoval who tried to sue the state of Alabama because they did not allow the test to get a driver’s license to be taken in a foreign language. The final verdict sent down by the U.S. Supreme Court was that Mrs. Sandoval was not allowed to sue the state of Alabama. Inhofe also brings up that many federal courts have upheld that there is no right to foreign-language based government forms, deportation notices, and civil service exams. And that there are about 30 years worth of cases related to this subject piled up. This will help out in my paper by giving me some statistics to support my view that English should become the official language. It also will help because it shows that the immigrants, who many may think do not support English, actually are for making English the official language. Another topic Inhofe brings up that will be beneficial to my paper is the court case in which the lady was not allowed to sue the state of Alabama because they did not offer the driver’s license test in a foreign language. I will be able to use this to show that the federal courts have agreed on several occasions that government forms and other forms or documents are not required to be translated into a foreign language.


King, Robert D. “Should English Be The Law?”. The Atlantic Online. April 1997. 55-64. The Atlantic Monthly Company. 18 Nov. 2009. < http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97apr/english.htm>.

In this article Robert King discusses how the language debate is already tearing apart many countries around the world and that the United States could be headed down that path if we continue to try and make English our official language. This is the opposite stance from which I am coming from. My view is that by making English the official language it will unite us and not pull us apart. King makes a very interesting statement in his article when he says that traditionally the American way has been to make English the official language, but to do so quietly and without any fuss. And that there was no rush from the Founding Fathers to make English the official language because it was always taken for granted that English be the national language and that everyone learn English in order to succeed in America. I will be able to use this statement in my paper because it shows that the original plan for the United Sates was to make English the official language. It also says that the Founding Fathers thought of it as a given that people would learn English when they came to America in order to succeed, because it is the language spoken by all native people. This goes along with my view because I believe that if you want to succeed in a country then you will learn that countries official language, and while English is not official quite yet it is still the language spoken by the majority of people in the country. Also in his article King quotes Theodore Roosevelt’s statement that, “We have room for but one language here, and that language is English, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans. We must have but one flag. We must also have but one language.” I will be able to use this quote to show that by making English the official language it will in fact help to unify us as a country. It will take all the groups of English speaking people in America and unify them under one name, Americans.

Tyler Benson (Bilingual Ballots)

Tyler Benson
11/19/09
English 1101

Hayduk, Ron. Democracy for All. New York, NY: Taylor &
Francis Group, 2006. 250. Print.

In Ron Hayduk’s Book, Democracy for All, he defends the rights of non citizens in terms of rights including the right to vote. He gives very reasonable arguments talking about how noncitizens have the same stake and interest in America as regular citizens and they deserve the right to vote so their views and beliefs can be displayed in the individuals they vote for in the elections. Another argument of Hayduk’s is that noncitizens are denied rights by America because of laws that were set up by immigrants themselves. Hayduk argues that since the country was founded by people who were not locals of America themselves, noncitizens should be able to have a chance to secure rights. I plan to use this in a counter argument against Hayduk. I will state how noncitizens are given opportunities by the United States. They have an opportunity to learn basic English and other various requirements to become a citizen through naturalization. I will also state that through naturalization the noncitizen will receive voting rights and other rights that are given to everyone. I will mostly be using the works of Hayduk to argue that noncitizens have as much opportunity as any other immigrant to become a citizen and that they have to be citizens to vote anyway.

Language Variation

Carmen Solis
Engl
Dr. Hughes


Thomason, Sarah. "Language Variation and Change". Linguistic Society of America. November 19, 2009. <http://www.lsadc.org/info/ling-fields-change.cfm>.


In the Linguistic Society of America, Mrs. Thomason explains that language is always changing. There are various examples of this fact which one of them is the mother tongue which is Latin. Latin is the mother tongue of the Roman Language, Spanish, French, and Italian. With time, language has change and has brought many new variations and words into the language. Currently, researchers are trying to connect the origin of all the languages but it is difficult to accomplish this since languages are changing rapidly. There are people who are bilingual and multilingual while others only speak a language they might be able to speak in a dialect. As we look on our own society and community, we can distinguish the different variations that people today are speaking. Those people talk differently when they are around their boss, friends, family, and elderly people. Also in this website, it shows us that people are coming up with new words, and changing the meaning of the words. While we progress, we find and make up words that seem to be naturally correct, and here is where “Language change inevitably leads to variation, and variation within a speech community often leads to social valuation of particular features as 'good' or 'bad'.” We tend to group words as been correct or standard or as been incorrect and have negative reactions. One of those words is the word “ain’t.” Most people deceived this word as being illogical. Also, grammatical constructions change; we have come to replace the word “thou,” which was used in Old English, with the word “you.” I planned to used this website to explain that there has always been a change in language and that there are different types of language variations.



Gibbon, Dafydd. Language Variation. May 7, 1996. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. <http://coral.lili.unibielefeld.de/Classes/Summer96/textdesc/node8.html>.


This website explains the various dimensions that a language has. There is a difference between how a people speak base on the environment and their class. Basically, there are three dimensions which are the regional social, and functional. The regional is a dialect within their community; social is the way that someone speaks based on their social standard or class; and functional is how someone speaks either formal or informal. Many people respond in a regional or social variation meaning that they would tend to respond back based on this terms because it is whom they are and where they come from. But on the other hand, the function variation can be switch on and off within a conversation. For instance, someone can be speaking to a boss and they might be speaking on their social dialect but the functional variation is turn on causing that someone to speak in a formal way. Contrary, someone might be speaking to a friend and they might be talking to his friend on their social dialect but the functional variation is turn off causing them to speak in an informal way. The way someone communicates depends on whom one is talking to and the use of the words rather than where the user comes from. I tend to use this website to explain that people should keep their origin which makes them unique and have diversity in this country, but, also, they should incorporate the Standard in the way they communicate to be able to succeed in the world.

An Example Annotated Bibliography Entry

Dear All,

This week, your blog assignment is to lay the groundwork for your final paper by doing research. By assessing and summarizing research, you prepare yourself to use it in your paper. This is what an annotated bibliography entry looks like (you will be doing two of these):

Topic: The use of dialect for humorous and moral commentary in nineteenth-century literature.

Cox, James M. “Toward Vernacular Humor.” Critical Essays on American Humor. Ed. William Bedford Clark and W. Craig Turner. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1984, 107-120. Print.

James Cox analyzes the humorous projection of Huck Finn's voice, asserting that Huck’s illiterate writing of the book is another element of the inversion that leads to the climactic statement of “All right, then, I’ll go to hell!” Cox links the ability to discover the right moral choice (to steal Jim out of slavery) with the lack of rationalizing education which is reflected in Huck's ungrammatical speech. Cox also traces Holden Caulfield's (from J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye) improvement of grammar as he matures and learns. However, Holden is not a typical bildingsroman because of his sexualized humor and his “protective” swearing. Cox's article offers nuanced arguments for the use of dialect in the nineteenth century (and the twentieth) as a way of establishing the “natural” morality of a character. I would use Cox’s article to suggest that one can romanticize a non-standard dialect to the point that it achieves a form of elitism – it is viewed as more natural, and therefore more moral. However, I want to argue that while this sort of romanticizing can do positive work on people’s language ideologies, I believe that the work of linguists to prove the equal validity of all dialects to be more important.

Ebonics: Dialect, Not Language

Steven Holland
Engl 1101
Dr. Hughes
Extra Credit Blog

The number one issue of the 1996 Ebonics controversy was that of is Ebonics a dialect of the English language, or is it a completely different language? This may possibly be a difficult question to answer, but the fact is that Ebonics is not its own language. It is merely a dialect of English. If you think about the roots of Ebonics, you will see that Ebonics was derived from English around the time of slavery and the Civil War. Ebonics was developed from English just as other dialects, such as the Southern dialect, many years ago. Since Ebonics is so close to English, there is no way that Ebonics can be considered its own language. If Ebonics were to be considered its own, language, then the Southern dialect should be its own language also.