The history of language in the United States shows trends and movements that embrace and at times reject the accommodation of other languages in public life. However, there has always been resistance to creating an exclusively monolingual society. Instead, a cyclical pattern best describes U.S. language policy through the major periods in U.S.…

There is a growing perception, particularly among Hispanics, of the urgent need to structure a coherent national policy encompassing the rights of language minorities. No such policy can be framed without taking into consideration the unique situation of Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens by birth but who are taught in Spanish in Puerto…

Puerto Ricans have been largely ignored in the current debate over English as a national language. Once the rhetoric of language restrictionists is discarded, the real issue becomes that of the political empowerment of Puerto Ricans. The history of language policy in relation to Puerto Ricans is also reviewed. (SLD)