Research Paper on:
Conscious Choice of Language

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Written by for the Paperstore, Inc., October 2000 Introduction Two articles "English in Multicultural America" by Dennis Baron and "Racism in the English  Language" by Robert B. Moore from The Meaning of Difference are compared. Personal opinions concerning their importance are discussed. "English in Multicultural America" by Dennis Baron The United States  has had a multicultural base since day one. Yet for as long as immigrants or "furrinerrs," or newcomers have attended our schools, their language as non-native English speakers  has been in question. Indeed one psychologist as late as the 1920s claimed that "the use of a foreign language in the home was a leading cause of mental  retardation (446). Spanish, now our second largest minority language, had a negative linguistic past, as well as did most other languages. The State of New Mexico petitioned the government  for admission to the Union for over sixty years, and was denied, due to its demand for Spanish language inclusion. Language, and its appropriate use can be about power.  There are those who associate bilingualism with a lack of patriotism, and there have been attempts to make English the official language since the eighties. Yet pushing for English  as an official language, or the use of "literacy laws" to determine rights, are"thinly-veiled measures to disenfranchise anyone not like "us" (with notions of "us," the real Americans changing over  the years" (447) Ideas have changed concerning the teaching of English to minority-language children: going from a sink-or-swim attitude to realizing that a dual language speaker, may have a  learning advantage over an English only speaker. We have come to pride ourselves on our diversity as a nation, and applaud those who can assimilate into the American mainstream.