D’Amico 1

Nicole D’Amico

CAS 138H

12 April 2019

Bonjour, Ciao, and Hello: Introducing a Bilingual America

The world is shrinking. This is not in a geographic sense—rather, it is shrinking

through the process of globalization. Globalization, or “the process of ideas, products,

and people moving around the planet with greater ease and efficiency,” (Globalization,

n.d.), includes the increased ease to communicate with people around the world. With

this expansion of globalization, language has become imperative in navigating the new,

global world. Accordingly, as new technologies enable greater worldwide

communication, the ever-evolving globalized world now demands at least some form of

multilingualism. A society limiting itself to one language will soon find itself ineligible to

fulfill the demands of a predominately multilingual world.

Though heavily contested, the societal problems of xenophobia and reduced

global opportunities have emerged as a result of a primarily monolingual American

society. In order to prevent further problems from developing, as well as reap the benefits

a bilingual society can provide, it is essential for the American states to begin

implementing policies regarding language learning in schools. For Pennsylvania,

bilingual education will be enforced, and eventually cultivated, through Pennsylvania’s

Bilingual Education Policy (PBEP).

As a singular language is enforced in a nation of mixed ethnicities—and therefore

languages—a culture of xenophobia emerges, causing cultural fractions within the nation.
 D’Amico 2

Xenophobia, as it relates to linguistic trends, can date back to nationalism during World

War II, in which American society prohibited the “unpatriotic” usage of enemies’

languages (Citron, Walters, & Green, 1990). If associating language with commonality in

national unity, a nation of only English speakers presumably promotes an ideal, united

America. In critiquing this explanation (Lexion, 1987), biases towards certain languages

lead to national unrest while perpetrating xenophobic tendencies. When commenting on

xenophobia of the late 1800s due to an upsurge of immigrant populations, Lexion writes:

Many Americans believed that the immigrants’ “foreignness” made them more

susceptible to ideas and values contrary to those embraced by established

Americans. It was feared that any continuing cultural and linguistic ties to Old

World countries would create a chasm... a crusade began to make the immigrants

“more American.”

Eventually, forced assimilation caused many of these immigrants to learn English

and abandon native languages. By forcing this assimilation, and inevitably removing a

core identity of the immigrant, American culture transformed into a “you versus me”

society; meaning, if one does not change according to American beliefs, he or she must

be anti-American. This thought has consequently developed into a xenophobic trend, in

which vast amounts of Americans oppose cultures differing from their own.

In this globalized world, xenophobia has emerged as a prominent issue.

Xenophobia presents itself through job discrimination, hate crimes, and general tension

towards those of differing ethnicities. As technological advances promote easier

communication methods, in which meeting a person of a differing culture or language

 D’Amico 3

must be expected, xenophobia will only create tension, and eventually, conflict between

cultures. To avoid culture clash caused by xenophobia, it is necessary to promote non-

xenophobic tendencies through the advocacy of bilingualism—and subsequently, cultural

awareness.

By preserving a primarily monolingual society, Americans are deprived of the

global opportunities provided to bilingual speakers. One such global opportunity is the

prospect of jobs both domestically and internationally. In referencing a research project

sponsored by the Employment and Training Administration (Carnevale, 1988),

employers are known to search for certain skills, of which include “learning skills; basic

reading, writing, and computational skills; listening and oral communication; creative

adaptability; personal management; group effectiveness; and influence of leadership”

(Carnevale, 1998). To deny language acquisition, in which these skills (such as learning,

reading, writing, listening, oral communication, and creative adaptability) are often

utilized, is to deny potential employment for monolingual Americans.

In addition to decreased chances of employment, a monolingual America limits

study abroad opportunities. If assuming a student is more likely to study in an area in

which he or she is familiar with the most common language, a monolingual student is

therefore less likely to participate in studying abroad, losing the opportunities granted

through these programs.

As the world economy is globalized, and companies find a greater ease in selling

to customers in their native languages, monolingual individuals will be passed over in

favor multilingual opponents. Though the United States boasts the largest economy in the
 D’Amico 4

world, the American workforce will soon be required to compete with adversaries who

are fluent in English—as well as multiple other languages (Gandára & Acevedo, 2016).

As multilingualism emerges as the standard for the global economy, Americans will soon

witness first-hand the problem of missed opportunities when limited to monolingualism.

In order to combat the problems caused by monolingualism, the first of many

steps is to implement a policy dedicated to enhancing bilingualism in schools. The policy,

entitled “Pennsylvania’s Bilingual Education Policy (PBEP)” will require all elementary

public schools in Pennsylvania to implement bilingual education into the curriculum.

Bilingual education can be obtained in a variety of methods based on ranges of school

district budgets. These options include the employment of language instructors,

incorporation of online language programs, and/or the development of integrative

curriculum into current procedures. By focusing PBEP in the public elementary schools,

students at a critical age of learning languages will be more likely to gain bilingualism or

continue language studies in higher grade levels.

Due to the variety of ways in which school districts can support PBEP, costs

associated cannot be measured prior to successful application of the policy. However,

school districts possessing the local funds necessary to afford the full extent of the

policy—one which includes instructor employment as well as cultural integration

techniques into classrooms—will be urged to use any available funding for this policy.

Understanding this could cause significant financial stress, PBEP will allocate necessary

state funding towards these bilingual language programs, with school districts of low

income receiving a majority of the funding. For school districts displaying smaller
 D’Amico 5

budgets, PBEP will be incorporated through one of the low-cost alternatives, as well as

through need-based state funding. School districts that express interest in expanding

bilingual programs, yet lack the necessary funding to do so, will receive a greater portion

of possible funds.

Employing language instructors in every public Pennsylvania elementary school

may at first seem unattainable; after all, providing all 2,235 public elementary schools

(Pennsylvania Elementary Schools, 2018) in Pennsylvania with at least one instructor

alone demands a significant portion of a budget. In general, this funding issue exists often

for foreign language departments, an area of education commonly excluded from

curriculum due to budget concerns (Hu, 2009). Fortunately, PBEP exists to circumvent

these concerns. The first low-cost option of PBEP involves a “traveling instructor”

program, in which a single instructor travels between school districts based on pre-

decided days in marking periods. This “traveling instructor” could, in turn, receive

compensation and benefits from various school institutions, rather than one district

providing all the funding for the instructor. A “traveling instructor” could work to

introduce a new language, therefore sparking later interest in bilingual development. If

the “traveling instructor” option is unobtainable for budgetary reasons, online language

assistance programs from reputable sites can provide low-cost—and potentially free—

alternatives. Yet another option of PBEP involves the integration of multi-cultural

resources into classrooms. These resources include lessons geared towards students

learning basic phrases of another language, listening to music of different languages in

music classes, or even adding ethnic dishes to the cafeteria menu. While not exactly
 D’Amico 6

promoting state-wide bilingualism, this offers an alternative approach to enhancing

American globalization, therefore supporting PBEP.

PBEP requires school districts to provide evidence of bilingual education. School

districts will have two options in presenting proof of bilingual incorporation: the first

option is to allow for a Pennsylvania Board of Education-appointed official entrance into

the school, where he or she will witness the bilingual programs first-hand; the second

option involves student performance index, through which schools will report bilingual

test scores from students. The second option does not necessitate proficiency; rather, a

report demonstrating an attempt to incorporate bilingual education will fulfill PBEP

requirements.

With the growing case of global multilingualism, America will soon be seen as

“behind”, when typically seen as the forerunner for change. While America is considered

one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, the evident language barriers

prevent cultural awareness from successfully occurring. As a result, studies have

attempted to measure both cultural awareness and the benefits of global-centrism. One

study (Berno & Ward, 2000) focused on measuring “emotional resilience, flexibility and

openness, perceptual acuity, and personal autonomy” of a group of participants. The data,

gathered from 24 college students prior to and post-study abroad, attempted to relate the

previous measurements to the socio-cultural adaptation of the students. In concluding this

particular study, “significant differences were found in the students' attitudes and

behaviors that foster international understanding... These differences suggest that the

study abroad students increased their ability to deal with the stresses of the cross-cultural
 D’Amico 7

experience, and developed more flexible role behavior, cultural empathy and respect for

the host culture” (Kitsantas, 2001). In summarizing these findings, studying abroad not

only enhances cultural awareness and appreciation, but also leads to personal qualities

necessary in today’s job market. By increasing support towards a bilingual society,

America can send more students abroad, therefore increasing cultural awareness and

enhancing the possibilities for global opportunities.

Efforts towards cultural appreciation can even be felt domestically; for example,

though a family in rural Pennsylvania might not see the immediate benefits of their child

learning another language, the child will be introduced to an entirely separate world from

what he or she is accustomed to. If that child ever wishes to leave rural Pennsylvania (or

if anyone of another culture ever chooses to live in that area of rural Pennsylvania), the

child’s developed cultural awareness will lead to reduced conflict between the native

culture and the foreign culture. Any type of increase towards cultural awareness will lead

to a decrease in the current xenophobic culture apparent throughout America.

According to research compiled by Marian and Shook (2012), the benefits of

bilingualism far outweigh those of monolingualism; these benefits involve improved

attention span, enhanced executive functioning of the brain, and conflict management

skills. Studies testing these findings compared bilingual individuals to monolingual

individuals of all age groups. In one study (Kovács & Mehler, 2009), infants raised from

birth as bilingual, and as young as seven months old, were shown to demonstrate

enhanced cognitive ability when compared to monolingual infants of the same age.

Though well before the arrival of speech for the infants, the findings indicated “domain-
 D’Amico 8

general enhancement of the cognitive control system” (Kovács & Mehler, 2009), proving

bilingualism can provide cognitive benefits. Bilingual individuals typically perform better

on conflict management tests, such as the classic Stroop task. The task, in which people

are shown a word and asked to say just the color of the word, utilizes cognitive

functioning called “inhibitory control” (Marian & Shook, 2012). Maintaining the balance

between two languages demonstrates control of inhibitory control, therefore allowing for

strengthened conflict management skills. When comparing lifelong bilingual speakers to

monolingual speakers—both sets of people having been diagnosed with dementia—

bilingual speakers were shown to have first displayed signs of dementia about four years

later, as compared to monolingual speakers (Bialystok, Fergus, & Freedman, 2006).

These studies present overwhelming benefits to bilingualism—benefits Americans will

miss out on if limited as a monolingual society.

To some (ProEnglish, 2019), adding another language to American public-school

systems would only decrease efficiency of English learning. Contrasting this argument,

second language acquisition is shown to enhance “conceptual mapping” (Marsh, n.d.) of

the thinking process. Moreover, secondary language education will not weaken first

language learning; rather, successful integration of the secondary language will result in

improvement of both languages. A study conducted at the University of Texas at

Brownsville (Iliana & Alanís, 2000) focused on both native-Spanish and native-English

students in a bilingual program. When compared to non-participating peers, the majority

of bilingual program students performed as well as, if not greater, than non-participating

peers on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. Additionally, participants were

 D’Amico 9

shown to have increased English literacy skills. In drawing conclusions, second language

learning would not be detrimental to first language learning; instead, learning a second

language can only benefit the learner.

Though problems associated with monolingualism are numerous, PBEP will work

to ameliorate two crucial problems. Referencing the xenophobic culture of America, as

well as the missed global opportunities for Americans due to a monolingual society,

PBEP will provide the first imperative steps in fixing aspects of a society. Though PBEP

exists primarily to resolve these problems, the benefits associated with bilingualism

cannot be ignored; bilingual education has been proven to enrich student learning

processes, cognitive development, and social skills, all of which are crucial in today’s

globalized economy. With the competition due to a globalized economy continuously

extending, bilingualism will only multiply opportunities for American workers.

By incorporating bilingual education into every public elementary school in

Pennsylvania, students will gain greater cultural awareness, thereby making progress

towards a more cohesive—and ultimately—a more united America. As the benefits of

bilingualism far outweigh any potential consequences, a policy regarding bilingualism in

schools will only be advantageous for all those involved. Pennsylvania’s Bilingual

Education Policy will be successful in mending the problems caused by a monolingual

America.

Word Count: 2213

 D’Amico 10

Works Cited

Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I.M., & Freedman, M. (2006). Bilingualism as a Protection

against the Onset of Symptoms of Dementia. Neuropsychologia, 45 (2), 459-464.

Carnevale, A. (1988). Workplace Basics: The Skills Employers Want. n.p.

Citrin, J., Reingold, B., Walters, E., & Green, D. P. (1990). The "Official English"

Movement and the Symbolic Politics of Language in the United States. The

Western Political Quarterly, 43 (3), 535-558. doi:10.2307/448703.

Gandára, P., & Acevedo, S. (2016). Realizing the Economic Advantages of a

Multilingual Workforce. Economic Advantages of a Bilingual Workforce.

Globalization - Dictionary Definition. (n.d.). Vocabulary.com.

Hu, W. (2009). Foreign Languages Fall as Schools Look for Cuts. NY Times.

Ilanguages. (2018). Multilingual People. Ilanguages.

Iliana, A. (2000). A Texas Two-way Bilingual Program: Its Effects on Linguistic and

Academic Achievement. Bilingual Research Journal, 24 (3), 225-248, doi:

10.1080/15235882.2000.10162763.

Kitsantas, A., & Meyers, J. (2001). Studying Abroad: Does It Enhance College Student

Cross-Cultural Awareness? Paper presentation at the combined Annual Meeting

of the San Diego State University and the U.S. Department of Education Centers

for International Business Education and Research.

 D’Amico 11

Kovàcs, AM., & Mehler, J. (2009). Cognitive Gains in 7-month-old Bilingual Infants.

PubMed. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0811323106.

Lexion, V. A. (1987). Language Minority Voting Rights and the English Language

Amendment. Hasting’s Constitutional Law Quarterly, 14 (3), 657-682.

Marian, V., & Shook, A. (2012). Cognitive Benefits of Bilingualism. Encyclopedia of

Bilingual Education. doi:10.4135/9781412963985.n65.

Marsh, D. (n.d). Using Languages to Learn and Learning to Use Languages. European

Centre for Modern Languages.

Pennsylvania Elementary Schools. (2018). ElementarySchools.org.

ProEnglish (2019). Official English Facts. ProEnglish.

Ward, C., Berno, T., & Main, A. (2000). Can the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory

predict sojourner adjustment? Paper presentation at the XVth International

Congress of the International Association for Cross-cultural Psychology, Pultusk,

Poland, July 16-21. Cited in: Studying Abroad: Does It Enhance College Student

Cross-Cultural Awareness?