eBook

Press \one\ for English

Deborah J. Schildkraut

2005,2013,2007

Overview

Press \"ONE\" for Englishexamines how Americans form opinions on language policy issues such as declaring English the official language, printing documents in multiple languages, and bilingual education. Deborah Schildkraut shows that people's conceptions of American national identity play an integral role in shaping their views. Using insights from American political thought and intellectual history, she highlights several components of that identity and shows how they are brought to bear on debates about language. Her analysis expands the range of factors typically thought to explain attitudes in such policy areas, emphasizing in particular the role that civic republicanism's call for active and responsible citizenship plays in shaping opinion on language issues. Using focus groups and survey data, Schildkraut develops a model of public conceptions of what it means to be American and demonstrates the complex ways in which people draw on these conceptions when forming and explaining their views. In so doing she illustrates how focus group methodology can help yield vital new insights into opinion formation. With the rise in the use of ballot initiatives to implement language policies, understanding opinion formation in this policy area has become imperative. This book enhances our understanding of this increasingly pressing concern, and points the way toward humane, effective, and broadly popular language policies that address the realities of American demographics in the twenty-first century while staying true to the nation's most revered values.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Subject: Activism / ADAPT / Affirmative action / Amendment / Americanization / Americans / Balkanization / Ballot / Bilingual education / Bilingual Education Act / Citizenship / Citizenship of the United States / Civics & Citizenship / Confirmatory factor analysis / Cultural assimilation / Cultural Policy / Culture of the United States / Due Process Clause / Education / English as a second or foreign language / English language / English law / English Plus / English-only movement / Equal opportunity / Ethnic option / First language / Focus group / Freedom of speech / Group identity / H-1B visa / Ideology / Immigration / Immigration law / Immigration policy / Individual and group rights / Individualism / Language policy / Language politics / Lau v. Nichols / Legislation / Liberalism / Literacy test / Multiculturalism / Murray Edelman / National identity / National symbol / Nativism (politics) / Naturalization / Of Education / Official language / Opposition to immigration / Original intent / Participant / Peter Brimelow / Political aspects / POLITICAL SCIENCE / POLITICAL SCIENCE / Civics & Citizenship / POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Cultural Policy / Politics / Printing / Proclamation / Progressive Era / Public opinion / Public Policy / Questionnaire / Remedial education / Republicanism / Respondent / Rhetoric / Rogers Smith / Separatism / Seymour Martin Lipset / Society of the United States / Tax / The American Voter / Thesis / Transitional bilingual education / U.S. English (organization) / U.S.A / United States / Voting
• ISBN: 0691130574, 9780691130576, 9781400849338, 1400849330, 0691118140, 9780691118147