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美国移民语言政策的转变 The change of American language policy
Introduction            
English is indisputably the primary language of the United States of America. However, contrary to the belief of over two-thirds of Americans, the United States does not have an official language. The language policy towards the immigrants in the second half of the 20t" century experienced an alternation from "bilingual Education" to "English-Only Movement."
 Owing to the lift of previously rigid restrictions on immigration as well as an upsurge of Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the United States took a relatively tolerant attitude towards the immigrants. Under the protection of the Bill of Civil Rights in 1964, Voting Rights Act in 1965, as well as the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 language minorities were able to maintain their native languages in multilingual America.
The  1980s witnessed a large influx of immigrants from Latin and Asian countries. Much of the surge was among Hispanics, who comprised 48 percent of immigrants during the 1980s (Schimid 34). This added to the country's linguistic diversity and multicultural makeup. Besides, due  to economic recession,  anti-immigrant sentiments began to creep in. The natives feared more and more about crime rates, welfare dependency, and competition for scare jobs. These were often accompanied by a sense of injustice that today's newcomers appeared to be getting a better deal than those who arrived at the turn of the 20t" century and allegedly struggled to succeed without help from government (Crawford 27). Resentment focused on the rising costs of public schools, which featured bilingual programs. Since then, English-Only forces have attempted to limit bilingual services and encourage  English-Only laws  in  the public  and private  sectors.  English-Only Movement, also known as Official English Movement, refers to a political movement for establishing English as the sole official language of the United States by legislation. It is a movement that aims to maintain the central status of English and exclude the  use  and  instruction  of  other languages  (Cai  237).  English-Only
Movement formally began on a national level on 27 April, 1981，when then U.S. Senator S.I. Hayakawa introduced into the Senate a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would have designated English as the sole official language of the United States (Schmidt 198). After his proposition failed, he teamed up with Dr John Tanton and founded U.S. English, an organization which spearheaded the Official English Movement. Owing to the work of U.S. English and other similar organizations, bilingual education was constantly under attack of English-Only Movement. Up to now, 30 states have adopted English as their official language, and several more states are on the way to make similar legislation. In 2002, the passage of the English Acquisition Act, also called No Child Left Behind Act terminated the Bilingual Education Act of 1968. From then on, American language policy was turning into English-Only direction.

Works Cited
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Baker Colin.Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.Clevedon,Ontario and NY: Multilingual Matters,2006.
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