Chapter 7: Canadian Lessons for United States Language Policy and Planning: A Cautionary Tale

In 1981, Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate that would have facilitated a constitutional amendment declaring English to be the official language of the United States. Supporters of the bill claimed that this amendment was necessary to combat increases in language diversity and expenses associated with bilingual ballots, educational programs, and governmental publications. They also argued that such an amendment would encourage immigrants to put more effort into learning English and so strengthen national unity. When their opponents raised objections to what they called heavy-handed governmental interference in personal affairs, proponents of the bill pointed to the many countries worldwide that had granted official status to various languages. Most notable among these was Canada, which had declared English and French to be its official languages in 1971.