Language Policy Argumentation and Rhetoric, Pre- and Post-9/11

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Author(s): Janice Snow Rodríguez (Tennessee Foreign Language Institute, USA)
Copyright: 2014
Pages: 22
Source title: Communication and Language Analysis in the Public Sphere
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Roderick P. Hart (University of Texas - Austin, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5003-9.ch003

Keywords: Communications Theory / Information Science Reference / Literacy and Language Studies / Media & Communications

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Abstract

In the post-9/11 era, the debate on the necessity of an official language has resurfaced. While the historical context for the policy push has changed, have the underlying arguments for official English? To consider this question, the content of legislation, discourse, and media coverage of state-level English language policy debates before and after September 11, 2001 was analyzed. Nearly 2000 texts spanning 1994 through 2008 were examined to return composite scores for 5 overarching semantic features and 35 sub-features. Statistical analyses indicate significant differences between the pre- and post-9/11 legislation in the variable commonality. In the post-9/11 groupings of news stories and opinion pieces, the variable certainty decreased significantly, while realism and the sub-variables denial and blame increased significantly. This study provides an additional perspective on the events of 9/11, examines the role of persuasive argumentation in the policy process, and expands the tools available to the policy analyst.

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Language Policy Argumentation and Rhetoric, Pre- and Post-9/11

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