Workforce Language Services

South Carolina’s State Senator Glenn McConnell has proposed a plan which would require all state agencies and local governments to offer all services and materials in an English-only format. 

A Beaufort Gazette editorial states:

This proposal would make South Carolina a part of a growing English-only movement that thinks it is a repair kit for the state if not U.S. immigrant problems. They see them as a threat to language, culture and financial resources.

The message is that if immigrants want to be part of U.S. society, they will learn the language, the driver’s manual and street and highway signs, the laws and the minutiae of regulations that seek order in this country. Never mind that the native population can’t navigate many of these regulations already.

Proposals such as this fail to take into account that assimilation and English acquisition does take place, but it’s a process that takes time.  In the meantime, having documents translated into one’s native language facilitates understanding and a smooth transmission of information.  Even those immigrants who speak English may need documents with specific and advanced vocabulary provided to them in their native language. 

Providing document translation and interpreters to assist in accessing services doesn’t preclude learning English, but facilitates the process of engaging in community life for immigrants as they work toward proficiency in English.

To read more commentary, click here.