Spanish Language Shift Reversal on the US-Mexico Border and the Extended Third Space

Hidalgo, Margarita

doi:10.1080/14708470108668063

Cited by 38 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…This continuum was characterized by the economic and political control by an Anglo minority and the social and economic segregation of a Mexican-American majority until the last half of the twentieth century (Timmons 1990). Today, the city presents one of the highest indices of ethnolinguistic vitality for Spanish, Mexican-Americans, and Mexicans and, according to Hidalgo (2001), is undergoing a situation of language shift reversal in favor of Spanish.…”

Section: The Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergenerational Spanish transmission in El Paso, Texas

Velázquez¹

2009

SiC

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This study examines the beliefs held by a group of adult Spanish-English bilinguals from El Paso, Texas regarding the vitality of Spanish in their community and the ways in which their own experience of being bilingual on the US-Mexico border has influenced their perceptions of the benefits and costs of fostering Spanish development in their children. Results show that parents’ positive attitudes toward Spanish did not translate into the investment of time and resources to foster Spanish development in their children nor, ultimately, into the use of Spanish by their children. Households where the mother perceived herself as having an active role in her children’s linguistic development and where she perceived both Spanish and a bilingual/biethnic identity as desirable for her children’s future were also households where children were expected to speak Spanish at home and where more opportunities for linguistic development were present. The author argues that these beliefs must be understood as a consequence of the underlying tensions present in the community, where intense linguistic and interethnic contact takes place every day.

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Section: The Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergenerational Spanish transmission in El Paso, Texas

Velázquez¹

2009

SiC

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“…Due to its border location, El Paso has been a site of intense ethnic, linguistic and dialectal contact, with historical interaction ranging from conflict to accommodation (Hidalgo 1995;Teschner 1995). Today, the city presents one of the highest indices of ethnolinguistic vitality for Mexican-origin Spanish and, according to Hidalgo (2001), is undergoing language shift reversal in favor of Spanish.…”

Section: The Context Of the Study: El Pasomentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Among the most notable is that maintenance of Spanish is not necessarily associated with the lowest economic returns, or that even when this pattern still holds, it is less powerful than in the past (Mora et al 2005;Mora et al 2006;Jenkins 2009;Martínez 2009a). Hidalgo (2001) identified a linguistic change favorable to Spanish -"language shift reversal" (LSR) -especially evident in the use of Spanish in the public domain as a consequence of unintentional factors. Demographic factors (growth of the Hispanic population) and market factors, particularly "consumer demands for goods and services in the ancestral language, and the ready response to these demands on the part of providers of goods and service" (2001: 63), stand out.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From ``Spanish-only'' cheap labor to stratified bilingualism: language, markets and institutions on the US-Mexico border

Alarcón

Heyman

2014

International Journal of the Sociology of Language

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Recent sociolinguistic research adds new economic sectors, such as the service economy, to the list of key forces that shape unequal, dynamic and complex diglossia (e.g., Spanish in the United States). However, little detailed work has been done on the linguistic characteristics of specific labor sectors in the wider contexts of "debordering" and "rebordering". In this article we develop in depth the market mechanisms and institutional constraints that shape the valuation and social expansion of Spanish in El Paso, Texas. The study finds that in sectors with low skills and low linguistic intensity, linguistic management policies are effectively "Spanish-only". However, as skills increase and there is a greater need for regulated communication in the occupational role, more constraints are observed on how Spanish functions in work use and professional careers.

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“…This resistance may lead to heritage language revitalization, whether as a result of mostly subconscious changes in individuals' patterns of language use or due to implementation of language policies and planning (Hidalgo, 2001). Whatever the source or impetus for language shift reversal, according to Suarez (2002) resistance to language loss is expressed in the sustained co-existence of the minority and the majority language, i.e.…”

Section: Theoretical and Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 98%

Home Style Puerto Rican: A Study of Language Maintenance and Use in New England

Urzúa

Gómez

2008

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

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This study explores Spanish language maintenance in Southbridge, Massachusetts, a suburban town with a vibrant Puerto Rican community. The investigation focuses on the extent to which Southbridge Puerto Ricans use Spanish and English at home, and their attitudes toward Spanish language maintenance. Survey data, especially the impact of factors affecting language loyalty, are analyzed and interpreted in light of historical trends, previous research, and first-hand knowledge of the community. Statistical analyses (correlations, ANOVA, t-tests) indicate that age and percentage of life span spent on the mainland play a significant role in language maintenance. For US-born Puerto Ricans, living in a dense and relatively small Puerto Rican enclave appears to arrest but not stop language shift and heritage language loss at home, the domain in which minority language speakers can exercise the most control in terms of which language to use. Given the particular characteristics of this Puerto Rican community (e.g. continued influx of immigrants, positive attitudes toward Spanish language maintenance), it is possible for Spanish to continue to be used at home, although not as the exclusive or dominant language. Ethnic enclaves, though, do not seem to provide a safe harbor for heritage languages, as previously hypothesized in the literature.

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Spanish Language Shift Reversal on the US-Mexico Border and the Extended Third Space

Cited by 38 publications

References 4 publications

Intergenerational Spanish transmission in El Paso, Texas

Intergenerational Spanish transmission in El Paso, Texas

From ``Spanish-only'' cheap labor to stratified bilingualism: language, markets and institutions on the US-Mexico border

Home Style Puerto Rican: A Study of Language Maintenance and Use in New England

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