Times Square, Manhattan, Photo by Chensiyuan via Wikimedia Commons
That we speak, understand, act, and reach out to each other comfortably in a common language has long been the case, and it remains so in the age of the mass and social media.
But why is language so important to our national identity? Perhaps more than any other attribute language, both written and spoken, represents the soul and essence of a culture.
A latest survey by Pew Research Center sheds some light how people view their cultural and identity attributes. Of the national identity attributes included in its study of people in 14 countries, “language far and away is seen as the most critical to national identity.”
In the United States, about half of all immigrants were proficient in English as of 2014. Most Americans consider such language facility to be an important attribute of U.S. nationality.
A wide majority – 70% of the public – says that “to be truly American it is very important to be able to speak English.”
An additional 22% believe proficiency is somewhat important. Just 8% assert that English is not very or not at all important.
In each of the 14 countries polled by Pew majorities say it is very important to speak the native language to be considered a true member of the nation.
In the United States, generations differ on whether English proficiency matters to being an American. Among people ages 50 and older, 81% say such language ability is very important. Only 58% of those ages 18 to 34 place an equal premium on speaking English, the findings say.
Moreover, Americans with a high school education or less (79%) are more likely than those who have graduated college (59%) to voice the view that speaking English is very important to being a true American.
Similarly, white evangelical Protestants (84%) are much more likely than people who are religiously unaffiliated (51%) to strongly hold such views.
“There are virtually no racial or ethnic differences on the importance of speaking English to be truly American,” Pew finds. Roughly seven-in-ten whites (71%), blacks (71%) and Hispanics (70%) agree it is very important.
Regarding culture the prevailing view among Amereicans is that culture plays a role in defining national identity.
More than four-in-ten (45%) believe that for a person to be considered truly American, it is very important that he or she share American customs and traditions. Another 39% say such identification with U.S. culture is at least somewhat important. Only 15% voice the view that this embrace of cultural Americanism is not very or not at all important.
