An argumentive essay on, `English designated as the offical language of the United States

Half the countries in the world have an official language . The US is not one of them . Recently some attempts were made to designate English as the official language of the United States , though this country is widely known for being multinational and , correspondently , multilingual Nevertheless , at the present there are twenty seven states out of fifty that are claiming English to be their official language either by adopting a law or in their state constitutions . Thus , English language de facto occupies a position of the official language in the United States

, and there are many supporters of the idea to set it in documents , de jure . The question arises : is this so vital ? Should it be done by all means and at any cost

Definitely , there are some clearly stated advantages , pertaining mainly to the issue of immigration , both legal and illegal . Firstly , if English is designated as the official language , it will ensure that all the immigrants become more proficient in English , thus making communication and integration into the society much easier for all the parties . It is difficult to imagine any immigrant achieving the American dream without knowledge of English . This fact , though having little financial of physical impact , will incite people coming from other countries to learn English more zealously . Being forced to learn English , any immigrant will gain access to a full life of an American . Then , English as the default and official language will become a uniting factor for people from different parts of the world . They all came to America from divergent backgrounds , and English language is the tie that can bind them together . The last but not the least is the financial factor . Many states maintain language diversity thoroughly , which can not but call for extensive financial support . There are bilingual ballots , education publications , and similar services provided at public expense Massachusetts offers driver 's tests in more than two dozen foreign languages . Federal voting rights laws provide for ballots in multiple translations . Internal Revenue Service forms are printed in Spanish Elimination of need to translate these from one language into another may save a lot of money

On the other hand , all these advantages can easily turn into disadvantages if regarded from the other point of view . Thus , immigrants coming from all parts of the world will have to abandon their native language and most traditions . Of course , as it has already been mentioned , this would benefit to their integration into the American society , but at the same time weakening of cultural and historical bonds may result in loss of national identity . Moreover , the idea of `English-only ' implies the feeling of linguistic superiority and somehow exclusivity . It can definitely and can be upsetting to people whose native language is not English . Its misuse would be intended to provoke an emotional reaction and in a way irritate anyone who favors making English the US official language , as well as those who simply want to protect its role as the common language of...