On the Question of 'Standard' Versus 'Dialect:' Implications for Teaching Hispanic College Students

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the theoretical and pedagogical issues emanating from the practice of teaching Spanish to Hispanic bilingual college students. First, it addresses the distinction between standard and dialect and the educational implications of this dichotomy. Second, it addresses the major structural dissimilarities between standard Spanish and the two most important varieties of U.S. Spanish (i.e., Chicano and Puerto Rican). Finally, using current sociolinguistic theory, it makes suggestions to teach the standard language to speakers of Chicano and Puerto Rican Spanish. It presents examples of dialect drawn from students enrolled in Spanish for Native Speakers courses.

Student Voices: The Missing Link in the Spanish Heritage Language Debate

“…In the early years, Spanish heritage language classes attempted to eradicate stigmatized varieties of U.S. Spanish (Valdes, 1981;Hidalgo, 1990;Villa, 2OO2a, 2002b). Valdes's 1981 publication on the pedagogical implications of teaching Spanish to the Spanish speaker discusses three common approaches toward the treatment of language in the Spanish heritage language context: (1) eradication, (2) biloquialism, and (3) appreciation of dialect differences.…”

“…Under these pedagogies, student varieties serve as a natural starting point, building from that which the students already possess in the hopes of both maintaining and reaffirming ethnic identity and dignity (Aparicio, 1993;Gutierrez, 1997). Such an additive policy of multiple dialect acquisition would seem to respect both student and standard dialects, thus further empowering the student (Hidalgo, 1990). Though Aparicio (1993) asserts that such a push to acquire other dialects would also result in a devaluation of the student dialect, I respectfully disagree.…”

Learners' attitudes toward regional dialects and destination preferences in study abroad

“…The place of nonstandard varieties or dialects in the foreign language curriculum is long‐standing and widely debated (e.g., Hildago, ; Villa, ; Wieczorek, ). Arabic is no exception—the debate about whether to teach a dialect and which one to teach remains widely discussed in teaching Arabic as a foreign language in the United States (Abdalla, ; Al‐Batal & Belnap, ; R. Allen, ; McCarus, ; Ryding, , , ; Shiri, ).…”

Chicano Spanish: The Problem of the “Underdeveloped” Code in Bilingual Repertoires

“…Although much attention has been given in the past several years to the teaching of heritage languages to bilingual students in the U.S. (Colombi & Alarcon, 1997;D'Ambruoso, 1993;Faltis, 1981Faltis, , 1984Faltis & DeVillar, 1993;Gorman, 1993;Hidalgo, 1987;Hocker, 1993;Politzer, 1993;Quintanar-Sarellana, Huebner, & Jensen, 1993;Roca, 1990;Valdes, 1989Valdes, , 1992Valdes, , 1995Valdes, Lozano, & Garcia-Moya, 1981), there is no general consensus about how to work with students who have majored in such heritage languages in academic departments and whose production in the language-after many years of formal studystill appears to be flawed seriously. For some members of the profession, the issue involves what is considered standard versus nonstandard language.…”

“…For some members of the profession, the issue involves what is considered standard versus nonstandard language. Much attention, therefore, has been given to a discussion of standard and nonstandard varieties of Spanish and the position to be The Modern Languagejaurnal 82 (1998) taken by the profession in teaching bilingual students (e.g., Colombi, 1997;Garcia & Otheguy, 1997;Hidalgo, 1987Hidalgo, , 1993Hidalgo, , 1997Porras, 1997;Torreblanca, 1997;Valdes, 1981;Valdes-Fallis, 1976). However, little research has been carried out on Mexican-American university students that specifically focuses on the characteristics of the different levels and styles of language found in the repertoires of bilingual speakers or about the awareness that they may have about the existence of different registers or levels of language.…”