English Only

BME637 : The Class : Language and Culture : Languages in Schools : English Only

Debate "English-Only" Legislation

To complete this assignment successfully, you should:

Study the assignment carefully.
Complete the assignment as directed.

There are two parts to this assignment, an individual and group component.

Individual Component: To begin, use the Internet to explore the issues involved in "English-only" legislation and the English-only movement in general. Record the URLs of sites that you find interesting. You will be asked to use these in the class component of this assignment.

Class Component: After your research, go into the VCC "Debate English-Only" and post your position statement on how you feel about the English-only movement. Also post the URL's (websites) that you want to share with the class.

Think about these issues as you prepare your statement. Clearly everyone will agree that all Americans and American immigrants should know English as it is the Lingua Franca of the United States. However, do you feel we should maintain U.S. languages other than English? What are the educational implications of English-only education? Where does Bilingual Education fit in this political discussion? Why?

After you have posted your position statement, please read the statements posted by your classmates. Please comment on the statements of your classmates. Let's try to get a lively debate/discussion going!

Once you have completed this assignment you should:

Go on to Module 4 Second Language Acquisition
or
Go back to Languages in American Schools