Languages In The United States Research Articles

Multilingual Realities, Monolingual Ideologies: Social Media Representations of Spanish as a Heritage Language in the United States

Abstract Little is known about how monolingual ideologies and their effects manifest in online contexts as compared to offline contexts. We conducted a corpus-assisted discourse study to investigate this, with a focus on Twitter representations of Spanish as a heritage language in the USA. We analysed two corpora (one English and one Spanish—over 30 million words), examining frequencies, collocations, concordance lines, and larger text segments. The results revealed evidence of the same ideologies found in offline contexts: normative monolingualism (drawing on the one-nation-one-language ideology and language purity ideologies) as well as raciolinguistic ideologies. We show how the semiotic processes of iconization and erasure lead to the (evidently erroneous) essentialization of Spanish heritage language speakers as a homogeneous group of un-American, racialized immigrants with broken language. This discursive creation of difference constitutes the basis for the systematic discrimination of Spanish heritage language speakers, thus reflecting and reproducing social inequality. Our findings therefore indicate the necessity of extending planning measures to protect heritage language speakers (and other minority groups) from offline contexts to online contexts.

How Many People Use Sign Language? A National Health Survey-Based Estimate.

An empirical estimate of how many deaf and hard-of-hearing persons use sign language in the USA was obtained a half-century ago, but no study has measured how many people sign regardless of deafness. This study estimated the number of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing adult signers. Concatenation of the 2010-2018 National Health Interview Surveys was required to provide sufficient sample size. Unadjusted and age-by-sex-adjusted sign language use prevalence across the range of hearing acuity was estimated. Adult sign language use was substantial (2.80%), with its rate of use greater for women than men and younger adults than older adults. As a group, deaf respondents had a far higher rate of sign language use than any other hearing acuity group. This study provides the first empirical estimate of adult sign language use generally, and the first update of any sign language use estimate in a half-century.

UKRAINIAN AS A HERITAGE LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS OF UKRAINIAN STUDIES ABROAD

For a long time, we, the Ukrainian Americans, were hesitant about what instructional methods to use while working with our kids in the Saturday or Sunday Ukrainian school abroad, since we simply couldn’t classify our students by their linguistic abilities. The majority of children that attend Ukrainian schools are not native speakers of Ukrainian since the mainstream language that they use in society is English. They are also not foreigners who learn the language from scratch since they hear and speak Ukrainian at home with their families. Moreover, we cannot disregard their Ukrainian origin and roots, which “deny” teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language. The translation of the term “heritage language” was introduced by Prof. Oksana Turkevych at one of the language conferences. This term is not unique as we can see different scholars use different definitions, such as home language, ancestral language, or immigrant language [2:1]. Heritage languages in the USA have been studied since the 1990s. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian language is not part of this research, however, the Ukrainian-American community is largely presented. With this being said, this article aims to introduce the research and experience of our colleagues working on heritage languages in the USA. I also want to explain the difference between native, foreign, and heritage language learning; share our school experience of teaching Ukrainian heritage language students in order to not only improve the quality of teaching but also to enable the Ukrainian language to become one of the languages that are being taught and researched in the USA and the world. Key words: Ukrainian as a heritage language, Ukrainian as a foreign language, Ukrainian as a native language, methodology of teaching Ukrainian as a heritage language, authentic materials, sociocultural situation, sociocultural materials, sequential and parallel bilingualism.

Raising Children to Speak Their Heritage Language in the USA: Roles of Korean Parents

Parents play a significant role in fostering Korean-American children’s heritage language learning. This qualitative inquiry investigates Korean immigrant parents’ beliefs and the language practices they engage in to raise their children to speak Korean. Based on questionnaires completed by 40 parents and in-depth, open-ended interviews with 5 parents, this study specifically focuses on Korean parents residing in an area with a low Korean immigrant population and how they perceive, foster, and advocate for their children’s Heritage Language (HL) learning. The findings show that parents play crucial roles as active advocates of their children’s HL learning and positive belief in HL maintenance, making best efforts to help their children see the value of learning. In addition, the findings show that parents serve as HL educators, who create an HL learning environment, instruct HL reading and writing, and incorporate digital tools and popular culture for HL learning.

Supply and Demand: Association Between Non-English Language-Speaking First Year Resident Physicians and Areas of Need in the USA.

Over 25 million US inhabitants are limited English proficient (LEP). It is unknown whether physicians fluent in non-English languages are training in geographic areas with the highest proportion of LEP people. Diversity of language ability in the physician workforce is an important complement to language assistance services for providing quality care to LEP patients. To determine whether non-English language-speaking resident physicians matched in the geographic areas where language skills are needed. Cross-sectional study. Postgraduate medical training applicants to the Association of American Medical College's Electronic Residency Application Service in 2013-2014 (n = 50,766). We included data from the Graduate Medical Education Track database, mapped against American Community Survey data. N/A. We assessed the geographic alignment of non-English language-speaking resident physicians relative to the distribution of the LEP-speaking population. While 37% of resident physicians spoke at least one non-English language, in most cases the languages they spoke were not those in greatest need by the US LEP population. LEP speakers' potential exposure to non-English language-speaking residents varied. For Spanish, the language with the lowest national resident physician to Spanish LEP patient ratio, the ratio was most favorable in New York at 23.7/100,000 LEP population versus 5.1 in Los Angeles. For Tagalog, the group with the highest geographic mismatch, the ratio was 70.4 in New York but 0 in San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle. Among the top five LEP languages in the USA, Chinese-speaking resident physicians were the most geographically matched. We found considerable misalignment of the geographic distribution of non-English language-speaking resident physicians relative to the distribution of the LEP-speaking population. Residency programs in areas of high need could consider better matching the non-English language needs of their community with the language abilities of the resident physicians they are recruiting.

El panorama del español en Estados Unidos

The goal of this paper is to reflect on the situation of the Spanish language in the USA, considering basic concepts in Sociolinguistics such as identity, attitude and prestige. Forecasts indicate that by 2050 USA will be the country with the largest number of Spanish speakers. These forecasts are based almost exclusively on the number of people that will costitute the Latin-community in the coming years. In this paper, we consider that statements like the above may be moot if we analyze the concrete situation in which Spanish speakers are in the USA and the attitudes and opinions arising from the use of this language in the United States. In order to get answers to basic questions -namely, in the USA, regarding the relationship Spanish-English, we find a situation of bilingualism or diglossia?; What is the future of Spanish in the USA? What role will play the Spanish language in the USA in the coming years?-, in this paper we analyze: 1) the presence of the Spanish language in the USA; 2) the language planning of the central government of the USA; 3) the use of the language by the Spanish speakers in USA; and 4) the attitude of English speakers towards Spanish language.

The Development of Mongolian as a Minority Language in digital spaces

Chaklader (1981) argues for adopting a definition of minority languages at the state level. A ‘minority language’, in the most straightforward sense, is simply one language spoken by less than 50 percent of a population within a specific geographic region which is different from the language of the majority community and the language of the state. The crucial point is the proportion of speaker population in the given region or country. In other words, a minority language might be only a minority language in this specific region, but a majority language in other region (Grenoble, 2014). For example, Spanish is the majority language in a group of south American countries, however, it is a minority language in the USA in general. Mongolian, is also an example of this kind of minority language.

Известные американцы и изучение русского языка в США в XIX веке

The article presents data obtained in the course of the study of the process of popularization and dissemination of Russian language teaching in the USA in the 19th century. The author gives facts from the biographies of famous Americans of this period, which prove the manifestation of their interest in learning Russian. The article suggests that the interest in the Russian language in the USA in the 19th century was purely personal. Before the American education system and private foundations paid close attention to the need to introduce teaching Russian into the school and university curriculum, it was learnt by enthusiasts and a small number of Americans who were guided by personal reasons that prompted them to turn to learning Russian language. The article also discusses these reasons, as well as the consequences of this learning.

Cyrus Console’sThe Odicyand epic ecology

This article considers the relationship between Cyrus Console’s 2011 experimental poetry collection, The Odicy (2011), and Homer’s Odyssey. It argues two points: (1) The Odicy’s ecopoetics reframe the stakes of Odyssean recognition for an age on the brink of ecological crisis; (2) by topicalizing the limits of contemporary signification it reworks The Odyssey’s self-reflexive ecological and metapoetic thinking. Its goal as an adaptation is not to tell the Odyssean narrative, but to enact a consideration of Odyssean questions regarding language, signification, and recognition given current political economies of language in the USA. Its experimentation and acknowledgement of experimentation’s limits render The Odicy a σῆμα for our times.

Bilingual benefits in education and health

Abstract Bilingualism is defined as the everyday use of more than one language. Globally, more than half of the population is bilingual, but there are huge regional differences, with only one fifth of the population speaking two languages in the USA and Canada, whereas in some countries, bilingualism or even multilingualism being more or less the norm. The benefits of bilingualism in terms of communicative skills are obvious in the modern society and globalized economy. Additional benefits exist in terms of the extra brain training that comes with mastering two languages. This extra training appears to translate into health benefits at old age, when brain deterioration sets in and its impact on brain functioning, i.e., higher level cognitive functions, depends upon how well the brain had been trained up in childhood and adolescence. The term cognitive reserve is used to denominate this result of brain training early in life, and speaking two languages appears to be a relevant part of it.

Native American language education as policy-in-practice: an interpretative policy analysis of the Native American Languages Act of 1990/1992

This paper reports on findings from an interpretive policy analysis of the development and impacts of landmark federal legislation in support of Native American languages: the 1990/1992 Native American Languages Act (NALA). Overturning more than two centuries of federal Indian policy, NALA established the federal role in preserving and protecting Native American languages. Indigenous languages in the USA are currently experiencing unprecedented language shift. This shift is largely the result of past language education policy for Native Americans which included repressive policies intended to eradicate Native American languages. NALA as it supports and protects Native languages is a reversal of these past policies. Although some argue that NALA has come too late and is largely ineffectual (funding has been limited and most Native American languages are already in serious decline), others link NALA to the twin goals of enhanced tribal sovereignty and academic achievement. This is the first in-depth study that examines the development, implementation, and impact of this policy initiative.

Khmer as a Heritage Language in the United States: Historical Sketch, Current Realities, and Future Prospects

Cambodian Americans are a fairly recent language minority group in the United States; most families arrived in the United States as refugees during the 1980s. Over the past 30 years, there has been great concern in the community regarding the maintenance loss of their native Khmer language. This article provides an historical and contemporary sketch of the Khmer language in the United States, and discusses implications for its future survival. Data are drawn and analyzed from the U.S. Census, the 2007 American Community Survey, and other statistical sources, in addition to research conducted in Cambodian American communities, and the author’s experiences and observations as a (non-native) Khmer speaker. The findings indicate that the Khmer language is alive and well in the United States, and most school-age youth continue to speak Khmer, although few speak it with high levels of proficiency and few have literacy skills in the language given the lack of opportunities for Khmer HL education. Nonetheless, there are some positive factors that Khmer communities and educational institutions can draw on to ensure the future of Khmer as a HL in the United States. In the early 1990s, I attended a forum held at California State University, Long Beach sponsored by the United Cambodian Students of America. The distinguished guest speaker was Mr. Neou Kassie, a well-known Cambodian American and an outspoken human rights advocate. Mr. Neou began speaking elegantly and powerfully in Khmer, describing his advocacy work in Cambodia. A few minutes into his animated speech, one of the young college student leaders, with an embarrassed look on her face, interrupted him: “Excuse me Mr. Neou, can you please switch to English? Most of us are having a very hard time understanding you in Khmer.” Cambodian Americans are a fairly recent language minority group in the United States; most families have been in this country for less than 30 years. However, as the vignette above illustrates, issues have already emerged related to the maintenance or loss of Khmer as a heritage language in the United States. Even within the first ten years of refugee resettlement, Cambodian parents and community leaders expressed concern at what they perceived as rapid Khmer language loss among their youth (Smith-Hefner, 1990). Nonetheless, Khmer continues to be widely used in Cambodian American families and communities across the United States, and there are some efforts to provide opportunities for the next generations of Cambodian Americans to develop and maintain their native Khmer language. The purpose of this article is to provide a historical and contemporary sketch of the Khmer language in the United States, and to discuss implications for its future survival. Data for this article are drawn from the United States Census, the American Community Survey, and other statistical sources, in addition to research conducted in Cambodian American communities, and my own experiences and observations as a (non-native) Khmer speaker. It is my hope that these analyses will be useful to policy makers, educators, and researchers, and also to Cambodian American community leaders, educators, and others who are actively working to preserve the Khmer language in the United States. In this article, we first will look briefly at the history of Cambodian American immigration to the United States, including the tragic events in Cambodia leading to the large exodus of political refugees. Next, we will explore demographic information related to Cambodian Americans and the Khmer language in the United States, followed by a discussion of Cambodian Americans’ relationship with Cambodia. We then consider issues related to Khmer language maintenance and loss in the United States, including community and institutional efforts that provide opportunities for the learning and use of Khmer. The article concludes with a discussion of the future of Khmer as a Heritage Language in the United States.

Whose Rules Rule?: Grammar Controversies, Popular Culture and the Fear of English from Below

Like a controversy should In 1954, the host of CBS‘s Morning Show and broadcast-journalist icon, Walter Cronkite, refused to read the then new advertising jingle for Winston cigarettes. Given today‘s consensus on the negative effects of cigarette smoking, a present-day observer might assume that Cronkite‘s reluctance to endorse the product was connected to some prescient knowledge about the health hazards related to nicotine consumption. This, however, was not the basis for Cronkite‘s reaction; the actual reason is perhaps harder to grasp—Cronkite simply did not approve of the grammar in the slogan he was supposed to read, i.e. ―Winston tastes good like a cigarette should‖. The prevailing traditionalist prescription at the time was that like should not be used as a conjunction—the correct conjunction, according to that view, should have been as. The reactions of one, perhaps linguistically conservative journalist, do not necessarily confirm a usage as controversial, but the commotion involved more than Cronkite‘s refusal to read the jingle as written. According to Geoffrey Nunberg (2004: xiii) in his preface to Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century, when MerriamWebster published its Third New International Dictionary (referred to henceforth as W3) in 1961, it included the use of like as a conjunction in a way which suspiciously echoed the Winston ad. 1 Many critics were

Linguagem: ensinar novas paisagens/novas linguagens

bell hooks relaciona as opressões veiculadas pela apologia ao inglês padrão com os usos das variantes da língua inglesa nos Estados Unidos. A autora discute o lugar da linguagem nas relações de poder, especificamente nas hierarquias raciais, e propõe a ressignificação dos usos lingüísticos para a emancipação dos oprimidos.

Korean as a Foreign Language in the USA: The Instructional Settings

The article describes the development of Korean as a foreign language (KFL) in the USA, from its modest beginnings in the 1940s, through a period of rapid growth that began in the late 1970s, to its present strong position at all levels of the educational system, including elementary and secondary school, the universities, and the government sector. Recent growth is attributed to three main factors: the increasing visibility of South Korea on the international stage, greater number of Korean immigrants in the USA, and increasing involvement of the Korean government in the teaching of Korean internationally. An examination of instructional settings shows a growing conflict between the needs of learners of Korean as a heritage language and those who are learning it ‘from scratch’. The implications of the current situation for future research and development in the teaching of Korean in the USA are discussed.

Language Learning, Heritage, and Literacy in the USA: The Case of Arabic

Over 3 million people speak Arabic as a first language in the USA and almost all of them are native-born Americans. Efforts in recent decades to provide support, at both local and governmental levels, for the teaching of Arabic as a heritage language are described. Reflecting on the development of his own personal literacies and his teaching experiences, the author develops a rationale for the acquisition and teaching of languages in general, whether first, second, foreign, global, indigenous, or heritage, and applies it to Arabic as a heritage language of the USA. Three general themes emerge: (1) the unique demands made by heritage languages on parents, (2) the central role of culture and literacy in the maintenance of heritage languages, and (3) the need to think of heritage language learning as a variety of language learning that must constitute a ‘dialogue’ in a deeper-than-usual sense if it is to be successful.

Native American Languages as Heritage Mother Tongues

This article examines current efforts to revitalise, stabilise, and maintain Indigenous languages in the USA. Most Native American languages are no longer acquired as a first language by children. They are nonetheless languages of identity and heritage, and in this sense can and should be considered mother tongues. The article begins with a discussion of the concept of heritage mother tongues. This is followed by an overview of the present status of Native American languages, the historical and ideological bases of Native American language shift, and the policy framework for current language reclamation efforts. I then discuss four cases of grass-roots or ‘bottom up’ language planning that illustrate the ways in which Native American communities are working around and through historical and institutional constraints to reclaim and maintain their heritage mother tongues. I conclude with a reflection on the challenges and possibilities these efforts raise, their significance as part of a global language rights movement, and their potential to strengthen linguistic and cultural diversity in the USA.

Language in the USA: Themes for the twenty-first century (review)

Language in the USA: Themes for the twenty-first century (review)

EDWARD FINEGAN & JOHN R. RICKFORD (eds.), Language in the USA: Themes for the twenty-first century

Edward Finegan & John R. Rickford (eds.), Language in the USA: Themes for the twenty-first century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pp. xiii, 502. Hb $85.00.Language in the USA: Themes for the twenty-first century, edited by Edward Finegan and John R. Rickford, consists of 26 articles commissioned from prominent language scholars. The collection offers brief chapters covering a wide variety of issues relevant to the sociolinguistic situation of the 21st-century United States. The chapters are organized into three sections: Part 1, “American English,” Part 2, “Other language varieties,” and Part 3, “The sociolinguistic situation.” The editors hope that the volume's “perspectives will launch inquiries into the topics of interest among student readers, policy makers, and the educated public” (p. xviii). The primary intended audience seems to be undergraduate students who have some background in linguistics. However, despite some use of IPA and a small amount of field-specific terminology, the editors and contributors have created a volume that is accessible to a wider audience that includes the general public.

Equal treatment as exclusion: language, race and US education policy

This paper examines the political meanings of language in the USA, from the perspectives of both majority‐ and minority‐language groups, and focuses especially on Mainstream US English, African‐American Vernacular English, and Spanish. It briefly traces the history of language policy in US education and argues that because language serves as a proxy for race, power and identity, language policy alone is not sufficient to address exclusionary practices. As long as the issues underlying language are not addressed, the rhetoric of equal treatment and language policies based on such rhetoric will continue to be manipulated to serve an exclusionary agenda that reinforces traditional social hierarchies.