Spanish, the Second National Language

Essay

Editor's Note: The author of this entry was invited to submit an article reflecting a mix of information and expert opinion. We acknowledge that parts of it could be disputed or given an alternative interpretation. In several instances, we found this approach helpful in more realistically portraying the history and current status of bilingual education in the United States.

The idea of a formal nexus between nationhood and one or more languages is recent. Only within the last 500 years has there been a tight connection between nationality or citizenship and the language or languages one expects residents of particular countries to speak. In the United States, no historical evidence exists that the founders devoted much time or effort to determining what language or languages would be identified with the country. The push to make English the official language did not occur during the formative years of the republic. When it did emerge in the mid-1980s, it was not as a positive statement of nation-building—the United States was already a world superpower—but as an expression of antiimmi-grant sentiment. Perhaps because of its uncontroversial origins, the idea that English is the language of the nation and that it should be safeguarded in that position is widespread and firmly held by many Americans.

English appears to have fallen easily into the role of sole national language even though it was the language of England, the country against which the American Revolution was fought. Although numerous Native American languages existed in what is now the United States before arrival of the Europeans, there is no evidence that any Native American language was ever considered to be honored with a special recognition by the new nation. Of all the European languages spoken here during the colonial period, English and [Page 780]German were the main languages spoken, although other European languages were used in some settlements. The first European explorers and settlers spoke Spanish, but that language was concentrated away from the centers of greatest cultural and political influence, and its use in early colonial history was limited to the Spanish settlements. Today, the use of Spanish has changed dramatically and it is now spoken throughout the country.

Speakers of Spanish are the language group that is most responsible for bilingual education. This entry reviews the current status of Spanish as an important language in the United States. It also suggests factors to consider in assessing the future of Spanish as a cultural element in the country and the place of bilingual education in this.

In the discussion that follows, I make a distinction between official language and national language. The former is a status officially conferred by the political apparatus of a country on the main language in which the bulk of civic and political affairs is to be conducted. The status of official language is usually determined during the formative years of a new nation such that both the country and its language shape each other's history. Importantly, the status of official language does not mean that only one language can have a special status bestowed to it. A national language refers to a language that is in wide use throughout the country and one that, although something less than official, is afforded recognition for use in particular domains or situations such as education, court proceedings, media, public documents, voting, cultural events, or commerce. No conflict is inherent in acknowledging that more than one language is used by the citizenry in their daily interactions and expression. Many modern countries employ more than one language without conflict or difficulty. Some nations designate more than one official language either for the entire country or portions of it. In most cases where conflict erupts between speakers of one language and those of another, it is usually because of repressive or res-trictionist policies by which the speakers of one language seek to restrain or eliminate the use of another language.

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