Language+Diversity+in+the+U.S.


 * From learning module ESL and Bilingual Program Models from course CIL 751**

In the article //Myths about Language Diversity and Literacy in the United States,// I learned that in 1990, about 32 million U.S. residents spoke languages other than English. This number represents almost 14% of the total population. The author states that, “the United States is most appropriately described as a multilingual nation in which English is the dominant language.” I was encouraged to read the author’s perspective on literacy in the U.S. I had never heard it said that people’s literacy in languages other than English should be included in statistics of our country’s literacy rate. I was also surprised at the extremely high number of people who are often on waiting lists to get English language instruction.