We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Toward the development of a language-competent American society.
- Authors
Tucker, G. Richard
- Abstract
The purpose of this article is to argue for the desirability of developing a language-competent U.S. society, that is to suggest that all residents of the U.S. should have a realistic opportunity to develop the highest possible degree of proficiency in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing English, whether it is their mother tongue or a second language. Furthermore, English-speaking individuals should have an opportunity to develop an ability to understand, speak, read, and write a second language, while those who are not native speakers of English should have an opportunity to develop proficiency in their mother tongue. It is a belief that the development of a language-competent society should be accorded the highest educational priority, and that members of the profession can play an active role in implementing the objective. In addition, it must be considered how to best prepare the language-minority youngsters for life in an increasingly interdependent and competitive world in which tolerance for others, divergent approaches to problem-solving situations, an ability to communicate as effectively as possible with diverse others will demand to place a high premium on sustaining or developing widespread personal bilingualism as a natural resource.
- Subjects
UNITED States; SOCIOLINGUISTICS; ENGLISH language; BILINGUALISM; SECOND language acquisition; LANGUAGE &; languages
- Publication
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1984, Vol 1984, Issue 45, p153
- ISSN
0165-2516
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1515/ijsl.1984.45.153