Chapter 1: “English Is All I Need”: Teaching World Languages in the United States

This chapter begins with a discussion of the many different labels that can be used to describe “world language education,” and explains why each label makes a difference. It then considers what is meant when we talk about both “language” and “a language,” such as English, French or Spanish. It describes the nature of language change and evolution, especially as it applies in the case of the Romance languages. As an example of language change, it discusses the growing popularity of nonbinary pronouns in English as well as in several other world languages. Next, it explores the nature of mutual intelligibility, and suggests ways of distinguishing languages from dialects. It then considers the implications of linguistic diversity in the world language classroom, and explains why such diversity matters. Finally, it cloases with a description of the implications of the artificial nature of world language teaching and learning for the world language classroom.