World War I and its Aftermath

1917-20 attacks: US entered war in April 1917. Anti-German sentiment erupted immediately, and German was prohibited in many states for all educational institutions. Some states prohibited German, others prohibited German for ``regular" subjects", or all non-English instruction; some prohibited non-English in elementary schools only.

1.

Louisiana: 1918-21

2.

Iowa: governor's proclamation

3.

South Dakota: State Council of Defence

4.

Nebraska: resolution of legislature (later challenged in case that went to the US Supreme court Meyer v. Nebraska and was not decided until 1923.

5.

After the war the campaign of ``Americanization" began: ``right of the child" to an education in English.

6.

``Foreign" languages were chased from the elementary schools in state after state, relegated to high-school only. Remember that in this period only 5 to 10% of grade-school graduates went on to high school.

7.

Covert assumption: `foreign' language not necessary part of any child's education; useful only for adults, especially college-bound adults.

8.

See Mertz's article on folk-Whorfian ideas in American language policy, as exemplified by immigration and naturalization policy.

9.

See also Haugen's Bibliography and Reference Guide for early research on harmfulness of bilingual education.

Notice that only English is not a foreign language but all others are ``foreign".