In the wake of a Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling against a mandated English-speaking Oklahoma, another state representative is pushing for English as Oklahoma’s official language.
Rep. Ron Kirby, D-Lawton, proposed the bill to the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
House Bill 1020 will be considered after the Legislature convenes Feb. 3, Kirby said.
“This bill is a preemptive bill. … There is nothing in the bill to prohibit the teaching, speaking, translation or use of other dialects … it is for official business in the state of Oklahoma,” he said. “There is nothing discriminatory in this bill.”
There is no way to know how much is too much when dealing with different dialects and languages, Kirby said.
“Currently we are providing the driver’s examination in Spanish,” he said. “The question is where do we stop … Do we next provide everything in every dialect?
“There is nothing to prohibit the state from disseminating information in any language,” Kirby said. “This simply means if you have any official business it will be filed with the government in English.”
He said nothing in the bill says individuals should not learn other languages or study other cultures.
“I am introducing the bill on behalf of the Spanish club in Lawton,” he said.
“Whatever the state of Oklahoma does in its official capacity should be in English … pure and straight forward … there is nothing clandestine to it.
“I do not see where people have any opposition to the bill,” he said. “I don’t see where everybody sees it as a big horrible bill.”
Tim Huff, manager of the Oklahoma State University International Student and Scholars office, said, “The bill is a vast improvement over its predecessor which was voted down and unconstitutional in ’97. The fact that they are not trying to exclude other languages and cultures is the improvement.”
Huff said he feels the bill promotes the importance of foreign culture on the lives of Americans.
“I also believe that our instruction should be in English and everyone should be proficient,” he said. “I also think that everyone should study a second language and culture. It is imperative to our success in the 21st century.
“From an economic prospective, I am not sure how restrictive this bill could end up being on the state. There are over 6 billion people in the world and only 280 million in the United States.”
With the majority of the world’s population outside the boundaries of the United States, “it seems a little unrealistic that we can expect everyone everywhere to understand our language when we have done so poorly to others,” Huff said.
Marieta Petrova, English literature international student, said, “I think English is the official language of the country. If you live here and study here, then you should be able to read and communicate in English.”
Andrew Williams can be reached via
e-mail at awilliams@ocolly.com
Loading ...
All Articles