The Peculiarities Of Bilingualism

In “It’s time for Miami to embrace bilingualism”, published in the print edition of Diario las Americas, author Phillip M. Carter, a professor of linguistics in the FIU Department of English discusses the importance of bilingualism and why we need to embrace it as much as possible. In this article, Phillip M. Carter talks about Spanish as a rich language and how Miami should embrace it because they flourish from the language. In this essay, I will further evaluate and challenge Phillip M. Carter’s reasoning and writing structure through a rhetorical analyze.

Phillip M. Carter (PH.D., Duke University, 2009) is a sociolinguist and scholar of language and culture in U.S. Latino communities. Carter has authored and co-authored multiple chapters in books and papers in leading international journals. He mainly focuses on sociolinguistics, anthropology, critical discourse analysis, ethnography, social psychology, Latina/o studies and critical theory. Carter designed research projects to understand the complexities of language dynamics in sociolinguistic rich Miami. Carter has also studied language perceptions and attitudes in Miami and conducted research on them. On top of that he works as a language expert in the media and has appeared on CNN en Espanol, Noticiero Univision, Noticiero Telemundo, and Inside Edition.

“It’s time for Miami to embrace bilingualism” was first published on a Spanish dominated news outlet. Diario las Americas intended audience are those who are interested in finding out about relevant issues in places such as Venezuela, Cuba, Miami and Puerto Rico. On the website Diario las Americas focuses more on urgent issues happening around us instead of social and opinionated issues. Even though Diario las Americas is considered to be one of Miami’s oldest news outlet, publishing “It’s time for Miami to embrace Bilingualism” first wasn’t a good idea due to that. This is an important reason Carter’s topic of conversation doesn’t match the websites material and intended audience.

The intended audience for Professor Phillip M. Carter’s article is mostly bilingual young adults and people living in Miami. This article was somewhat effective to the audience and I say “somewhat” because Carter didn’t really have a focal point when writing. He needed supportive evidence to support his purpose which was unclear to me until I reread the article a few times. The article was too short, I wanted more persuasion to the topic. Carter mentions over and over that bilingualism is beneficial economically without truly saying it. He studies the language and does extensive research but his only reason behind keeping the language alive here in Miami was money. I believe Miami is fine how it is. We are embracing the perfect amount of bilingualism. Do we need to embrace it even more?

Phillip M. Carter’s article, “It’s time for Miami to embrace bilingualism” explains the significance of embracing bilingualism in Miami. In my point of view Carter explains bilingualism as an economical advantage to Florida and the United States. Carter’s views on bilingualism are subtle but cleverly used throughout the article. For example, “They are in general far more persuaded by the economic, sociocultural, and cognitive advantages of bilingualism than by outmoded notions about the righteousness of English Monolingualism.” (Carter). Before reading this article, I thought Carter was going to talk about embracing bilingualism in a cultural standpoint rather than an economic and financial standpoint. At one-point Carter says, “The Spanish-language media and entertainment industries in the U.S. are largely based here…”, (Miami) in part because of the ease of getting around in Spanish.

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Professor Carter uses Miami’s school system as a reason why today’s generation of kids lack bilingualism. He states that schools do not focus on bilingual education as much as they are supposed to. Carter says, “My undergraduate students at FIU, who are mostly Miami born Latinos, are native bilinguals who should have equal working capacity in English and Spanish. But after thirteen years of compulsory education in English, they very often lack literacy skills in Spanish and generally feel unprepared to use Spanish in professional settings”. There are both pros and cons to bilingual education. Learning a second language provides children with future opportunities and creates an opportunity for early diversity. Bilingual education takes a backseat in public and private school education, so student’s focus can shift, and they might not be getting the proper education they need to be successful.

Carter uses pathos when discussing the poor education children get when it comes to a foreign language. Throughout paragraph three and four, he makes the new generation, “Miami- born” as he calls it, seem like English is the only language they want to speak. He states in paragraph three, “… generally feel unprepared to use Spanish in professional settings. Some even feel ashamed of their Spanish.” and then follows up by mentioning that his non-Latino students “…desperately wish they had access to it.” The students want to learn and even though his student’s motivation to learn Spanish is money driven, their efforts are still there.

Carter is very creditable when it comes to the topic of language. He does extensive research, he has been featured in multiple forms of local media such as the Miami Herald and international media such as CNN. Dr. Carter argues throughout the article that bilingualism is slowly dying out and tries to convince readers that Spanish is dying out because the locals aren’t trying hard enough to keep is around. Carter unknowingly explains that economically speaking, Spanish should be around because it’s going to help people in their pocket. Stating “In fact, the economic value of bilingualism in Miami is so tremendous that one wonders if the city could exist in its current form without it.” He doesn’t give true reasoning behind saving the language like the article leads you to believe.

The term logos is a literary device that can be defined as a statement, sentence, or argument used to convince or persuade the targeted audience by employing reason or logic. Throughout the article Professor Carter adds some supportive ideas to his claim to help convince the reader why bilingualism is so important to Miami. Paragraph two opens up explaining how and why Miami thrives on bilingualism. Carter states that bilingualism expands the Spanish-language media and entertainment industries, it creates jobs for people and attracts tourist “because of the ease of getting around in Spanish”. (Carter) Adding supportive information into the author’s claim helps improve the validity of his or her argument. Using this type of information also allows your paper or article to both look and sound more professional.

Phillip M. Carter mainly wrote his article from his point of view. His style of writing was based on his own logic of the argument. Carter used his own thoughts and beliefs of the topic causing his technique of writing to be weak. This article also lacked a strong focal point, causing the reader to easily misinterpret the article if it’s not read clearly. Carter briefly spoke about how or why bilingualism helps Miami economically, giving the reader little knowledge to why it helps economically. Rather than telling the reader why Miami needs to embrace bilingualism Phillip M. Carter mostly complained why Miami doesn’t embrace bilingualism as much as they need to.

Work Cited

1. Phillip M. Carter | Florida International University - Academia.edu, fiu.academia.edu/PhillipMCarter.
2. “Phillip M. Carter: It's Time for Miami to Embrace Bilingualism.” FIU News, news.fiu.edu/2015/05/its-time-for-miami-to-embrace-bilingualism/87909.
3. “14 Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education.” Vittana.org, 22 Nov. 2017, vittana.org/14-pros-and-cons-of-bilingual-education.