Language Planning and Policy

Due to the advances in technology and many other attributes which make uniform English more possible.  The question keeps rising, “What is standard English?”  The standard is set by highly educated people.  In my opinion most of the population does not speak this English.  This aligns with the belief of monolingualism.  Everyone should learn to speak Standard English.  We focus on teaching Standard English in schools.  In schools we are teaching students these best practices will give the students the skills necessary to promote higher education.  In turn this will hopefully provide them access to higher opportunities.  How much focus should be spent on drilling Standard English?  There are many debates around making English the official language. English is what is focused on in school and the language that is spoken to communicate in most settings.  In my opinion English is already the unspoken official language.  What would change by making it the official language? 

Politics rule all.  Language politicking often rules the decisions made with language.  Many times the decisions about language have less to do with language and more to do with worldly issues.  I often wonder if those people in the big buildings ever spend a day in the life of the people who are affected by the decisions they make.  It often feels like the people who make such important decisions have no idea what a classroom is like, and all of the issues the teachers and students are facing.  The article said that teachers affirm or disconfirm language policies every day when they allow the use of one language variety rather than another.  We are making such important decisions so regularly.  Where is the support?? 

Bilingual programs were discussed very heavily in chapter 4.  There are so many ways to implement a bilingual program.  Even the same program can be implemented differently in the same building but different classrooms.  How do we know what is best for the students?  Regardless of which method is used it is important to build one what students already know which is L1 in order to become proficient in L2. 

                I have one remaining question after reading all of this information:  It doesn’t matter what language or dialect children are speaking at home.  How can we use what they already know to learn what is not known?  How can we do this without ruining self esteem?  Can we help them be English proficient with encouraging students to keep their mother tongue?  The article states, “one-fifth of the total U.S. population speaks languages other than English.”  This is something every teacher will face in their career.  What has been done to prepare these teachers for these students?