Making English Official: Writing and Resisting Local Language Policies [Hardcover]

An inside look at the movement to make English the only official language in local communities around the US.Contributing to the field of language policy, this book offers readers a window into the little-known history and strategies behind the English-only movement in the US. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.Contributing to the field of language policy, this book offers readers a window into the little-known history and strategies behind the English-only movement in the US. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.In communities across the US, people wrestle with which languages to use, and who gets to decide. Despite more than 67 million US residents using a language other than English at home, over half of the states in the US have successfully passed English-only policies. Drawing on archives and interviews, this book tells the origin story of the English-only movement, as well as the stories of contemporary language policy campaigns in four Maryland county governments, giving a rare glimpse into what motivates the people who most directly shape language policy in the US. It demonstrates that English-only policies grow from more local levels, rather than from nationalist ideologies, where they are downplayed as harmless community initiatives, but result in monolingual approaches to language remaining increasingly pervasive. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.Introduction; 1. The Origins of the English-Only Movement; 2. Creating English-Only Policies: Ghostwriting, Templates, and Genre Choices; 3. Emphasizing the Local in Language Policy: From Upscaling to Downscaling; 4. Resisting and Rewriting: How People Undo English-Only Policies; Conclusion.Its sometimes easy to gloss ovelcË