标题: 请问一句话的意思~~谢谢~~~ [打印本页] 作者: 红叶夕歌 时间: 2012-2-29 11:04 标题: 请问一句话的意思~~谢谢~~~ Immigrants’ adoption of English as their primary language is one measure of assimilation同化，吸收 into the larger United States society. Generally languages define social groups and provide justification for social structures. Hence, a distinctive language sets a cultural group off from the dominant language group. Throughout United States history this pattern has resulted in one consistent, unhappy consequence, discrimination against members of the cultural minority. Language differences provide both a way to rationalize subordination and a ready means for achieving it. Traditionally, English has replaced the native language of immigrant groups by the second or third generation. Some characteristics of today’s Spanish-speaking population, however, suggest the possibility of a departure from this historical pattern. Many families retain ties in Latin America and move back and forth between their present and former communities. This “revolving door” phenomenon, along with the high probability of additional immigrants from the south, means that large Spanish-speaking communities are likely to exist in the United States for the indefinite不确定的 future. This expectation underlies the call for national support for bilingual双语的 education in Spanish-speaking communities’ public schools. Bilingual education can serve different purposes, however. In the 1960s, such programs were established to facilitate the learning of English so as to avoid disadvantaging children in their other subjects because of their limited English. More recently, many advocates have viewed bilingual education as a means to maintain children’s native languages and cultures. The issue is important for people with different political agendas, from absorption at one pole to separatism at the other. To date迄今为止, the evaluations of bilingual education’s impact on learning have been inconclusive. The issue of bilingual education has, nevertheless, served to unite the leadership of the nation’s Hispanic communities. Grounded in concerns about status that are directly traceable to the United States history of discrimination against Hispanics, the demand for maintenance of the Spanish language in the schools is an assertion of the worth of a people and their culture. If the United States is truly a multicultural nation—that is, if it is one culture reflecting the contributions of many—this demand should be seen as a demand not for separation but for inclusion.
请问倒数第二段最后一句话 The issue is important for people with different political agendas, from absorption at one pole to separatism at the other. 中，issue指什么；political agendas指什么？请翻译一下这句话
political agendas = political outlines; political plans作者: xiemuyi 时间: 2012-3-23 11:30
我觉得这句话是将这一段的意思总结了一下，与前面的“Bilingual education can serve different purposes, however.” 一句相呼应：