topic: What should the language policies of the United States be? Should we have an official language? Should the US offer bilingual ballots? Should the US include bilingual education in its public school systems?

Source 1: Randall, Vernallia R.. "Race, Racism and the Law". Professor of Law The University of Dayton. November 19, 2009 http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/engonly1.htm.

• In this article the author discusses how the language someone chooses to speak often dictates the view of the listener. He believes that someone's, or a group of people's, language is their symbol."Different languages have very different prestige values in our society. These differences in prestige manifest themselves through bias, conscious or unconscious, for or against certain languages." he says. He later goes on to say that if people who speak a certain language have power and prestige then that the speakers of the particular language are, generally, looked at as having power and prestige. I intend to use this, and the way people view English, as a reason to make English the official language of the United States. There are many languages in America and can be described as a "melting pot", but I believe that English stands out as the most prestigious out of all the languages. Having said this, if we continue to call America a "melting pot" and do not designate English as the official language, American will not, fully, be seen as the prestigious power that it really is in the world.

Source 2:Krashen, Stephen. "Why Bilingual Education?." ERIC Digest. 2006. Stephen Krashen, Web. 19 Nov 2009. http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-3/bilingual.html.

• In this article Stephen Krashen discusses why America should offer bilingual education in public school systems. He argues that teaching an individual their primary language in turn allows them to better understand a second language more simpler. He discusses how someone who can speak in a language other than their other language is better equipped to succeed in life. I find this to be true and intend to discuss that teaching another language in schools, primarily Spanish-the second most spoken language in the US, will allow Spanish seekers to move towards speaking English. I believe requiring every US citizen, of a reasonable age, to be able to communicate in a basic, average, English conversation should be the goal of the US. Offering bilingual education would allow this to happen and would, in turn, designate English the official language of the United States.

Thesis: The United States should designate English as the official language of the country. This is because the majority of the country already speaks English. English is considered to be a very prestigious language. Therefore, making English the official language would make the US appear to be a very intelligent country and contribute to the fact that it is already a very powerful nation and many other categories. As prejudice as it may sound, the United States should do away with bilingual ballots that are currently offered in all elections. Also, bilingual education should be offered in public schools, nationwide, because it would allow non-English speakers to more easily learn to speak English and result in English speakers across the nation.