Unilinguaphobia - Fear of monolingualism?

What is 'unilinguaphobia'? Although here in the USA, there is no official national language, there are organizations that do promote the idea that English be the only language used in any official context. Most Americans do not see the point of learning other languages because English has become the tourist lingua franca throughout the world. So, we definitely are not worried about unilingualism. Then, what would make our neighbors to the north - also predominantly English speakers - suffer from unilinguaphobia?

In Canada, there has been a long-term battle to ensure that French be recognized as a national language along with English. Thus, if you want to be employed by the Canadian government, you need to be bilingual in English and French. Apparently, if you are conversant in only one of these languages, you can lose your job. This phenomenon prompted me to consider our own language policy. Do we have one?

It is not my purpose to discuss the sense or nonsense in enforcing a law that mandates bilingualism in another country. The USA has tried to balance the racial make-up of the government workforce with quota-like systems and has also experimented with bilingualism in areas, such as the Southwest (Title VII). Since 2002 and the No Child Left Behind policy, we have begun to focus attention back on performance in English by instituting Title III programs.

The question remains, however, of the effectiveness of any federal program that funds schools at the local level in order to achieve some loftier goal, such as (American) English only in the classroom, which should lead to competence in this ubiquitous language. The problem Americans seem to face is not a fear of unilingualism but of multi-lingualism.

Is that English?

I happened to run across this amusing clip while I was searching for information about non-human primates. It is part of an interview between Ellen DeGeneres and Actor Hugh Laurie where they test each other's knowledge of British and American English slang. Not all of the expressions were familiar to me, but the exercise highlights the difference between these two Englishes.

Colorful English in Southeast Asia

Some friends who have been traveling throughout Asia for more than two years have a blog (Contemporary Nomad) which recently posted some more examples of English from the 'field.' Some of the signs are amazingly similar to others posted in European hotels, warning guests not to use accommodations for indecent or inappropriate behavior. One wonders if the abusers can understand the funny English. It's a good thing they have some pictures too.

Song Playlist Gadget for Blogs

I'm a big fan of using songs in the classroom to teach pronunciation, rhythm, and vocabulary, so I was very excited to discover this gadget to attach to my blog. It comes from Playlist.com and allows the user to put a music player into his/her blog, website, facebook, or just about anywhere else on the internet - and it's free!

I put one of my favorites on the list, Kenny Rogers' 'The Gambler', which I've actually got a lesson plan for on this site. Unfortunately, I couldn't find another popular one for lower level students, called 'Sing' by Karen Carpenter. Nevertheless, check out all the songs and this gadget/widget. You may find that you like it well enough to put it on your own blog.