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'''El moviment només anglès''', també conegut com '''Moviment oficial anglès''', refers to a [[political movement]] for the use only of the [[English language]] in official government operations through the establishing of English as the only [[official language]] in the [[United States|United States of America]].

==Earlier English-only movements==
In 1803, as a result of the [[Louisiana Purchase]], the United States acquired [[French language|French]]-speaking populations in [[Louisiana]]. After the [[Mexican-American War]], the [[United States]] acquired about 75,000 [[Spanish language|Spanish]] speakers in addition to several [[Native Americans in the United States|indigenous language]]-speaking populations.

An 1847 law authorized Anglo-French instruction in public schools in Louisiana. In 1849, the [[California constitution]] recognized Spanish language rights. French language rights were abolished after the [[American Civil War]]. In 1868, the [[Indian Peace Commission]] recommended English-only schooling for the [[Native American in the United States|Native Americans]]. In 1878&ndash;79, the California constitution was rewritten: "All laws of the State of [[California]], and all official writings, and the executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings shall be conducted, preserved, and published in no other than the English language."

In the late 1880s, [[Wisconsin]] and [[Illinois]] passed English-only instruction laws for both public and parochial schools.

In 1896, under the [[Republic of Hawaii]] government, English became the primary medium of public schooling for [[Hawaii]]an children. After the [[Spanish-American War]], English was declared "the official language of the school room" in [[Puerto Rico]]. In the same way, English was declared the official language in the [[Philippines]], after the [[Philippine-American War]].

During [[World War I]], there was a widespread campaign against the use of the [[German language]] in the US; this included removing books in the German language from libraries. (A related action took place in [[South Australia]] as well with the Nomenclature Act of 1917. The legislation renamed 69 towns, suburbs or areas that had German names.)

==English and reasons behind English-only movement==
In 1907, [[US President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] wrote, "We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American [[nationality]], and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house."

[[ProEnglish]], the nation's leading advocates of "Official English," summarizes their belief that "in pluralistic nation such as ours, the function of government should be to foster and support the similarities that unite us, rather than institutionalize the differences that divide us." Therefore, ProEnglish "works through the courts and in the court of public opinion to defend English's historic role as America's common, unifying language, and to persuade lawmakers to adopt English as the official language at all levels of government."
Another "Official English" advocate group, [[U.S. English (organization)|U.S. English]], summarizes their belief with "the passage of English as the official language will help to expand opportunities for immigrants to learn and speak English, the single greatest empowering tool that immigrants must have to succeed."

==The modern English-only movement==
In 1980, [[Dade County, Florida]] voters approved an "anti-bilingual ordinance." However, this was repealed by the county commission in 1993, after "racially orientated redistricting"
In 1981, English was declared the official language in the state of [[Virginia]].

In 1983, Dr. [[John Tanton]] and [[U.S. Senator]] [[S. I. Hayakawa]] founded a political lobbying organization, [[U.S. English (organization)|U.S. English]]. (Tanton was a former head of the [[Sierra Club]]'s population committee and of [[Population Connection|Zero Population Growth]], and founder of the [[Federation for American Immigration Reform]] (FAIR), an [[immigration reduction]]ist group.) In 1986, Tanton wrote a memo containing remarks about [[Hispanics]] claimed by critics to be derogatory, which appeared in the ''[[Arizona Republic]]'' newspaper, leading to the resignations from U.S. English of board member [[Walter Cronkite]] and executive director [[Linda Chavez]]; Tanton would also sever his ties to the organization as a result. That same year, 1986, [[Larry Pratt]] founded English First, while [[Lou Zaeske]], an engineer from [[Bryan, Texas|Bryan]], [[Texas]], established the American Ethnic Coalition.

In 1994, Tanton and other former US English associates founded [[ProEnglish]] specifically to defend [[Arizona]]'s English-only law. ProEnglish rejects the term "English-only movement" and asks its supporters to refer to the movement instead as "Official English".

The U.S. Senate voted on two separate changes to an immigration bill in May 2006. The amended bill recognized English as a "common and unifying language" and gave contradictory instructions to government agencies on their obligations for non-English publications.

In what was essentially a replay of the 2006 actions, on June 6, 2007 the US Senate again voted on two separate amendments to a subsequent immigration reform bill that closely resembled the amendments to the 2006 Senate bill.
Ultimately, neither the 2006 nor 2007 immigration reform bill has become law.

On January 22, 2009, voters in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]] rejected [[Nashville Charter Amendment 1 (2009)|a proposal]] under a referendum election to make "Nashville the largest city in the United States to prohibit the government from using languages other than English, with exceptions allowed for issues of health and safety." The initiative failed by a vote of 57% to 43%.

In March 2012, Republican presidential candidate [[Rick Santorum]] was [[Puerto Rico Republican primary, 2012#Santorum remarks about use of English in Puerto Rico|criticized]] by some [[Puerto Rico Republican primary, 2012|Republican delegates from Puerto Rico]] when he publicly took the position that Puerto Rico, a Spanish-speaking territory, should be required to make English its primary language as a condition of statehood.

==Criticism==
The modern English-only movement has met with rejection from the private organization [[Linguistic Society of America]], which passed a resolution in 1986–87 opposing "'English only' measures on the grounds that they are based on misconceptions about the role of a common language in establishing political unity, and that they are inconsistent with basic American traditions of linguistic tolerance."

Linguist [[Geoffrey Pullum]], in an essay entitled "Here come the linguistic fascists" charges English First with "hatred and suspicion of aliens and immigrants" and points out that English is far from under threat in the United States, saying "making English the official language of the United States of America is about as urgently called for as making [[hot dog|hotdogs]] the official food at [[baseball]] games."

The [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU) has stated that "English Only" laws are inconsistent with both the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] right to communicate with or petition the government, as well as [[Freedom of expression|free speech]], and the right to equality because they bar government employees from providing non-English language assistance and services. Many academics{{who|date=November 2010}} seem to agree. On August 11, 2000, President [[Bill Clinton]] signed [[Executive Order 13166]], "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency." The Executive Order requires Federal agencies to examine the services they provide, identify any need for services to those with [[limited English proficiency]] (LEP), and develop and implement a system to provide those services so LEP persons can have meaningful access to them.

While the judicial system has noted that the laws are largely symbolic and non prohibitive, supervisors and managers often interpret them to mean English is the mandatory language of daily life. In one instance, an elementary school bus driver prohibited students from speaking Spanish on their way to school after [[Colorado]] passed its legislation. In 2004 in [[Scottsdale, Arizona|Scottsdale]], a teacher claimed to be enforcing English immersion policies when she allegedly slapped students for speaking Spanish in class. In 2005 in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], a student was suspended for speaking Spanish in the school hallways. The written discipline referral explaining the decision of the school to suspend the student for one and a half days, noted: "This is not the first time we have [asked] Zach and others to not speak Spanish at school."

Some English-Only Movements have been classified as [[hate group]]s by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].

==Current law==
{{Official languages of U.S. states and territories}}
The United States federal government does not specify an official language; however, all official documents in the U.S. are written in English, though some are also published in other languages.

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Languages}}
*[[Bilingual education]]
*[[English language learning and teaching]]
*[[Languages in the United States]]
*[[List of countries where English is an official language]]
*[[Spanish in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Lynch, William. "A Nation Established by Immigrants Sanctions Employers for Requiring English to be Spoken at Work: English-Only Work Rules and National Origin Discrimination," 16 ''Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review'' 65 (2006).
* Olson, Wendy. "The Shame of Spanish: Cultural Bias in English First Legislation," ''Chicano-Latino Law Review'' 11 (1991).

==External links==
*[http://www.us-english.org/ U.S. English (advocates for Official English)]
*[http://www.languagepolicy.net/excerpts/anatomy.html Anatomy of the English-Only Movement], by [[James Crawford (educator)|James Crawford]]
*[http://www.elladvocates.org/ Institute for Language and Education Policy]
*[http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=lingo_jingo Lingo Jingo: English Only and the New Nativism], by [[Geoffrey Nunberg]]
*[http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/2/26/164010.shtml Iowa Passes "English Only" Measure (2/27/02)]
*[http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-4/english.htm English-Only Movement: Its Consequences on the Education of Language Minority Children]
*[http://www.languagepolicy.net/archives/langleg.htm Language Legislation in the U.S.A.]
*[http://www.aclu.com/immigrants/relatedinformation_press_releases.html Statements and legal actions against English-only law]{{Dead link|date=November 2009}} by the [[American Civil Liberties Union]]
*[http://www.scribd.com/doc/334176/English-as-the-Official-Language-of-the-United-States-Legal-Background-and-Analysis-of-Legislation-in-the-110th-Congress English as the Official Language of the United States: Legal background and Analysis of Legislation in the 110th Congress]

{{DEFAULTSORT:English-Only Movement}}
[[Category:English language-only movement in the United States| ]]
[[Category:Politics of the United States by issue]]

[[da:English-only movement]]
[[es:English-only movement]]
[[fr:English-only movement]]

Revision as of 11:32, 25 February 2013

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