The English Language Unity Act was first introduced in 2005. It hoped to establish English as the official language of the federal government of the United States . If enacted it would require that all official functions and proceedings of federal and state government be conducted in English. It would also require that applicants for naturalization be tested on their ability to read and generally understand the English language. They would be tested on the laws of the United States as well as other important documents that relate to the law, including the Declaration of Independence and Constitution . It would also require that all naturalization ceremonies be conducted in English. If a person became injured because of violations of this act, they would be able to file suit in court. Before this act could be considered by the House of Representatives it had to be approved by the House Judiciary, and Education and the Workforce Committees.
31-691: The English Language Unity Act is based on a similar bill, "The Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act", which passed in the House of Representatives in 1999. However, it never became law. It tried to amend Federal law to declare English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. If it became a law, it would have required state representatives to conduct official business in English. It would have required that all officials conduct naturalization ceremonies entirely in English as well. Conservative Republican lawmaker Representative Steve King introduced this act to
62-443: A second language is any language that one speaks other than one's first language. A related concept is bilingualism . One definition is that a person is bilingual if they are equally proficient in two languages. Someone who grows up speaking Spanish and then learns English for four years is bilingual only if they speak the two languages with equal fluency. Pearl and Lambert were the first to test only "balanced" bilinguals—that is,
93-419: A "native speaker" of a language by being born and immersed in the language during youth, in a family in which the adults shared a similar language experience to the child. Native speakers are considered to be an authority on their given language because of their natural acquisition process regarding the language, as opposed to having learned the language later in life. That is achieved by personal interaction with
124-403: A child who is completely fluent in two languages and feels that neither is their "native" language because they grasp both so perfectly. This study found that One can have two or more native languages, thus being a native bilingual or indeed multilingual . The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of proficiency. For instance, if a French-speaking couple have
155-498: A child who learned French first but then grew up in an English-speaking country, the child would likely be most proficient in English. Defining what constitutes a native speaker is difficult, and there is no test which can identify one. It is not known whether native speakers are a defined group of people, or if the concept should be thought of as a perfect prototype to which actual speakers may or may not conform. An article titled "The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?" published by
186-436: A nation built by immigrants, it is important that we share one vision and one official language." H.R. 997 had the support of 73 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 115th Congress (2017-2019), The Senate companion bill to H.R. 997, labeled S. 678 in the 116th Congress, was sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma. It had 7 supporters in the U.S. Senate in the 115th Congress. Repeated attempts to make English
217-583: A nonprofit organization, so long as the product is donated in "good faith," even if it later causes harm to the needy recipient. The national Food Security Wheat Reserve (1980–1996), later expanded to the Food Security Commodity Reserve (1996–1998), was renamed the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust (1998–) in his memory. Mother tongue A first language ( L1 ), native language , native tongue , or mother tongue
248-460: Is quite possible that the first language learned is no longer a speaker's dominant language. That includes young immigrant children whose families have moved to a new linguistic environment as well as people who learned their mother tongue as a young child at home (rather than the language of the majority of the community), who may have lost, in part or in totality, the language they first acquired (see language attrition ). According to Ivan Illich ,
279-462: Is the lingua franca for most post-independence Singaporeans because of its use as the language of instruction in government schools and as a working language. In the context of population censuses conducted on the Canadian population, Statistics Canada defines the mother tongue as "the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census." It
310-480: Is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period . In some countries, the term native language or mother tongue refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than the individual's actual first language. Generally, to state a language as a mother tongue, one must have full native fluency in that language. The first language of a child is part of that child's personal, social and cultural identity. Another impact of
341-528: Is used to indicate the language of one's ethnic group in both common and journalistic parlance ("I have no apologies for not learning my mother tongue"), rather than one's first language. Also, in Singapore , "mother tongue" refers to the language of one's ethnic group regardless of actual proficiency, and the "first language" refers to English, which was established on the island under the British Empire , and
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#1732844157732372-643: The "cradle tongue". The latter is the language one learns during early childhood, and one's true "native tongue" may be different, possibly determined by an inherited linguistic taste and may later in life be discovered by a strong emotional affinity to a specific dialect (Tolkien personally confessed to such an affinity to the Middle English of the West Midlands in particular). Children brought up speaking more than one language can have more than one native language, and be bilingual or multilingual . By contrast,
403-516: The 1970s he worked in governmental affairs for several companies, and formed his own consulting group in 1979. In 1980, he was elected to Congress and was re-elected seven times. Emerson served on the House Committee on Rules . In 1988, after an intervention with his family and friends, Emerson acknowledged his alcoholism and spent a month at the Betty Ford Center . He later helped create
434-555: The English Language Unity Act of 2011 on Friday, March 10, 2011. In a release King defended his proposition by saying "A common language is the most powerful unifying force known throughout history. We need to encourage assimilation of all legal immigrants in each generation. A nation divided by language cannot pull together as effectively as a people." Inhofe added: "This legislation will provide much-needed commonality among United States citizens, regardless of heritage. As
465-593: The House Employee Assistance Program which provides legislative and administrative support services for the House, later expanded to the Senate, and helps alcoholics find treatment. Emerson died of lung cancer in 1996. He was succeeded by his widow, Jo Ann Emerson. The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge , which crosses the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau , is named after him, as is Emerson Hall,
496-410: The House of Representatives on March 1, 2005 it was known as the English Language Unity Act of 2005. Before the 109th session of Congress ended, the bill accumulated 164 sponsors. The last action on this bill was the introductory remarks on the proposed bill on May 19, 2006. The bill did not come up for debate during this session of Congress , so it is said to have died. Representative King reintroduced
527-612: The United States, 12% did not. In 2021, a Rasmussen poll found that 73% of Americans thought that English should be the official language. Only 18% disagreed. Bill Emerson Norvell William Emerson (January 1, 1938 – June 22, 1996) was an American politician. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri from 1981 until his death from lung cancer in Bethesda, Maryland in 1996. He
558-505: The bill also argue that the legislation is unconstitutional. They assert it would limit the government's ability to correspond with all its citizens, and that by restricting federal and state employees from communicating with citizens in a language other than English, the bill violates First Amendment rights. Some further contend that the bill would call for changes to the Voting Rights Act by eliminating all non-English ballots, despite
589-495: The bill also posit that the ability of immigrant groups to speak English will give them an increased political voice and allow them to participate more fully and effectively in the democratic process. Thirty-one states currently have adopted legislation similar to the English Language Unity Act: In 2018, an Rasmussen poll found that 81% of American Adults thought that English should be the official language of
620-539: The bill as the English Unity Act of 2007 on February 12, 2007. This time it gained the support of 153 cosponsors. The last action on this proposed bill was on June 5, 2007 when the House Committee on Education and Labor referred the bill to the subcommittee on Early Childhood Education, Elementary and Secondary Education. Congress adjourned before further action could be taken, so the bill died again in 2007. Representative King alongside Senator Jim Inhofe introduced
651-486: The emotional relation of the speaker towards the language, and even its dominance in relation to the environment. However, all three criteria lack precision. For many children whose home language differs from the language of the environment (the "official" language), it is debatable which language is their "native language". In some countries, such as Kenya , India , Belarus , Ukraine and various East Asian and Central Asian countries, "mother language" or "native language"
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#1732844157732682-476: The fact that nothing in the bill's language modifies the Voting Rights Act. Supporters of the legislation take the position that accommodation of non-English speakers discourages assimilation . They acknowledge that the ability to speak a language other than English is valuable, and that its use in the home, church or private place of business should in no way be discouraged. At the same time, they argue that
713-504: The first language is that it brings about the reflection and learning of successful social patterns of acting and speaking. Research suggests that while a non-native speaker may develop fluency in a targeted language after about two years of immersion, it can take between five and seven years for that child to be on the same working level as their native speaking counterparts. On 17 November 1999, UNESCO designated 21 February as International Mother Language Day . The person qualifies as
744-699: The government should not bear the responsibility of guaranteeing that non-English-speaking individuals can participate in government solely using their mother language . They contend that as more immigrants learn English, the language barriers that divide the country into separate groups will disintegrate and lead to a decrease in racial and ethnic problems. They also believe that by learning English, individuals can become more productive citizens and members of American society. They argue that immigrants who are fluent in English have better economic opportunities, and assert that non-English speakers tend to find themselves restricted to low-skilled, low-paying jobs. Supporters of
775-526: The importance of knowing English since the language is already spoken by a majority of Americans. Opponents of the legislation question why there is a sudden need for an official language, given that the United States government has flourished without one for the past two hundred years. They argue that it is not an official language that binds Americans together as a country, but rather the freedoms and ideals that are enjoyed by its citizens. Some opponents of
806-550: The language and speakers of the language. Native speakers will not necessarily be knowledgeable about every grammatical rule of the language, but they will have good "intuition" of the rules through their experience with the language. The designation "native language", in its general usage, is thought to be imprecise and subject to various interpretations that are biased linguistically, especially with respect to bilingual children from ethnic minority groups. Many scholars have given definitions of "native language" based on common usage,
837-773: The main assembly room in the House Page School in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress and Emerson Hall, an upperclass residence hall at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, his alma mater. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996 was named after the congressman, who fought for the proposal but died of cancer before it was passed. This act encourages the donation of food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations for distribution to needy individuals by protecting donors from liability when donating to
868-432: The official language of the United States have failed time and time again, though the issue never fails to spark heated debate. While appearing to focus solely on language, these attempts trigger issues related to financial burden, discrimination , patriotism , and unity . Those against the legislation argue the bill deals with a non-issue. They claim Congress does not need to establish legislation in order to teach others
899-450: The term "mother tongue" was first used by Catholic monks to designate a particular language they used, instead of Latin , when they were "speaking from the pulpit". That is, the "holy mother the Church" introduced this term and colonies inherited it from Christianity as a part of colonialism. J. R. R. Tolkien , in his 1955 lecture " English and Welsh ", distinguishes the "native tongue" from
930-501: Was also a captain in the United States Air Force Reserve from 1964 to 1992. He was serving as a congressional page serving on the floor during the 1954 United States Capitol shooting incident involving Puerto Rican terrorists. While in law school, Emerson served as a Congressional aide to U.S. Representative Robert Ellsworth , and after graduation he served on the staff of U.S. Senator Charles Mathias . Throughout
961-595: Was succeeded in the House by his widow, Jo Ann Emerson. Emerson was a Republican . Emerson was raised in Jefferson County, Missouri and attended public schools in nearby Hillsboro . He served as a House Page and graduated from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri in 1959. Emerson attended law school at the University of Missouri and the University of Baltimore , graduating with his LL.B from Baltimore in 1964. He