Bilingualism in America

To what extent should bilingualism be a part of American society?

This questions implicitly asks what the current state of bilingualism is in the United States while also implicitly asking what it should be in the future. My research will revolve around this question. I am mostly curious to investigate and understand the public perception of bilingualiam. And by bilingualism, this is absolutely not limited to just bilingual education,  though, it is an inherent part of it. Through surveys and interviews I intend on hearing what average, uninvolved citizens think about bilingualism, and how that compares to what people in the field already know or believe about this topic. Through carefully worded questioning, and using control groups, I intend to incorporate a slight aspect of psychological analysis to this study, all anonymously of course.

My personal answer to this question should be obvious, as a bilingual educator and as a bilingual human, so it will not be necessary to explain this further. I do think this is an important question to ask though, as it is an aspect of one of the most hotly debate topics in the United States for decades now: immigration. Much of what prompts discourse and sometimes rhetoric which adversely affects immigrant groups, stems from a linguistic xenophobia, or at least this is my hypothesis. I am interested in finding out if this really is so, and to what extent it may have an affect on the way immigrants are treated, both socially and politically. (AI)