Transcript Should there be an Official Language of the United States?

Should there be an
Official Language of the
United States?
*Address this question in
notebooks for 5 minutes
free write *
Dialects of American
English
“The rain in
Maine falls
mainly on the
plain”
“Pahk the Cah
in Hahvud
Yahd”
“How ya doin’
y’all?”
Official vs National
 America does not have an Official Language
 Almost every session of Congress has an
amendment proposed to make English the
Official Language
 The ACLU believes that English-only laws can
violate the U.S. Constitution's protection of due
process (especially in courts where no
translation service would be offered) and equal
protection (for example, where English-only
ballots would be used where bilingual ones
were available in the past).
 The debate goes on
Official vs National
 Right now, English is the National Language of
the United States
 the federal government is directed to "preserve
and enhance the role of English as the national
language of the United States of America." It
does not go as far as proposals to designate
English the country's official language, which
would require all government publications and
business to be in English.
The Debate Continues…
2008 Democratic Debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS24s4p
YY28
Review
1.Slang
2.Style
3.Jargon
4.Register
5.Dialect
6.Speech
Community
7.Accent
8.Regional Dialect 9.Sociolect
American Tongues
Documentary clip