1 Essay Assignment #3 Length: five-to-six pages not including Works Cited Argumentation with thematic synthesis of materials – In this assignment, you are required to show your ability to argue a controversial issue by taking a position and persuading your readers with convincing evidence that your position is more valid than that of your opponents. For this task, you need to draw on your abilities to succinctly and accurately summarize different writers’ points of view and to make connections among source materials, and between your own ideas and those presented in sources. Generally, bilingualism can be defined as “the ability to speak two languages easily and naturally” or “the regular use of two languages in everyday communication.” In the context of the USA and as a topic of controversy, however, bilingualism refers to the use of another language besides English in public services to accommodate immigrants, including voting ballots, government documents, court proceedings, and education in public schools in the form of bilingual education. Among these services, bilingual education is particularly controversial. Although these are various forms of bilingual education, as a topic of debate it is defined as teaching non-English speaking students all school subjects in their native language, instead of English (not besides English), before they move to English mainstream classes. This means that teachers use students’ native language only as their medium of instruction in classrooms. Please remember that bilingual education, as a topic of debate, does not refer to teaching or learning two languages. Against the movement of bilingualism, many people in the U.S. have attempted to make English the nation’s official language in part because that would mean the discontinuation of bilingual public services. Proponents of the “English Only” movement such as S. I. Hayakawa and Mauro Mujica argue that English should be made the official language of the U.S. by law because bilingualism leads to national disunity, places a large financial burden on government, and sends a wrong message to newcomers about the importance of learning English. They also claim that besides its financial burden and lessening of non-English students’ motivation to learn English, bilingual education impedes these students’ mastery of English, their academic progress, and their assimilation into mainstream America. On the other hand, opponents of the “English Only” movement such as James Fallows and James Crawford claim that it is not necessary to declare English the official language of the U.S. “because it already is that” (Fallows 263), that bilingual services do not reduce the incentive of immigrants to learn English and will not cause America to lose its national unity like such countries as Belgium and Sri Lanka. They further argue that when non-English speaking students receive several years of instruction in their native language (i.e., bilingual education), they l.

1. 1
Essay Assignment #3
Length: five-to-six pages not including Works Cited
Argumentation with thematic synthesis of materials – In this
assignment, you are required to show your ability to argue a
controversial issue by taking a position and persuading your
readers with convincing evidence that your position is more
valid than that of your opponents. For this task, you need to
draw on your abilities to succinctly and accurately summarize
different writers’ points of view and to make connections
among source materials, and between your own ideas and those
presented in sources.
Generally, bilingualism can be defined as “the ability to speak
two languages easily and naturally” or “the regular use of two
languages in everyday communication.” In the context of the
USA and as a topic of controversy, however, bilingualism refers
to the use of another language besides English in public
services to accommodate immigrants, including voting ballots,
government documents, court proceedings, and education in
public schools in the form of bilingual education. Among these
services, bilingual education is particularly controversial.
Although these are various forms of bilingual education, as a
topic of debate it is defined as teaching non-English speaking
students all school subjects in their native language, instead of
English (not besides English), before they move to English
mainstream classes. This means that teachers use students’
native language only as their medium of instruction in
classrooms. Please remember that bilingual education, as a topic
of debate, does not refer to teaching or learning two languages.
Against the movement of bilingualism, many people in the U.S.

2. have attempted to make English the nation’s official language in
part because that would mean the discontinuation of bilingual
public services. Proponents of the “English Only” movement
such as S. I. Hayakawa and Mauro Mujica argue that English
should be made the official language of the U.S. by law because
bilingualism leads to national disunity, places a large financial
burden on government, and sends a wrong message to
newcomers about the importance of learning English. They also
claim that besides its financial burden and lessening of non-
English students’ motivation to learn English, bilingual
education impedes these students’ mastery of English, their
academic progress, and their assimilation into mainstream
America.
On the other hand, opponents of the “English Only” movement
such as James Fallows and James Crawford claim that it is not
necessary to declare English the official language of the U.S.
“because it already is that” (Fallows 263), that bilingual
services do not reduce the incentive of immigrants to learn
English and will not cause America to lose its national unity
like such countries as Belgium and Sri Lanka. They further
argue that when non-English speaking students receive several
years of instruction in their native language (i.e., bilingual
education), they learn English more rapidly and improve overall
academic progress. Finally, they argue that these students can
maintain their native language, which will only be beneficial to
themselves and the U.S “in enlarging its ability to deal with the
rest of the world” (Fallows 263).
What do you think? Should the U.S. continue to provide
bilingual services to its immigrants?
Do the benefits of bilingualism outweigh its costs? Write an
essay in which you argue for or against bilingualism. While
arguing for your position, make sure that you introduce
opposing views and counter them to make a strong and

3. convincing argument.
To complete this assignment successfully, you will first need to
decide on several points about which you can write substantially
in this essay. These points are called your “points of argument,”
or your reasons, and you are expected to include them in your
thesis statement and to develop each point in your body
paragraph(s) by providing detailed account of your evidence.
In your introduction, introduce the topic (bilingualism), not
authors, although you can write about different views by
different authors. End your introduction with a focused thesis
statement that reflects the argumentative purpose of this
assignment.
In your body paragraphs, support your points with various kinds
of evidence, including textual evidence, experts’ opinions,
statistics or data, analogy or comparison, and personal
experience. Also, because your essay is argumentative, you
need to introduce opposing views and counter them
successfully.
In your conclusion, restate your focused thesis and write other
insightful concluding remarks.
Provide at least five sources, two of which should be outside
sources. Here, the sources mean different ones; citing one
source five times does not meet the requirements.
PEER REVIEW DRAFT DEADLINE: Monday, April 13 (bring
two printed copies of your essay draft for peer review)
CONFERENCE DRAFT DEADLINE: Wednesday, April 15
(bring one printed copy of your essay draft to your individual
conference with me)
FINAL DEADLINE: Wednesday, April 22 (by 12pm, email me a

4. digital copy of your revised essay, and hand in printed copies of
your 1) revised essay, 2) conference draft, 3) peer response
draft and form, and 4) free writing to me in person in my office)