In Ana Lucia Gonalez's "Hispanics in the US: A new generation" there is a a very evident presence of spanglish. Most people who speak spanglish are fluent in English and Spanish. Most people tend to speak Spanish at their home with their family while speaking english with their friends and while at school. Both languages are both very important in their lives that they switch between the two languages making spanglish. In one of my pervious blogs I wrote about how authors wrote poems in spanglish having similar lives as these kids speaking Spanish now. Both languages are important to them so they would go back and for in speaking them. An example of real life spanglish is when a 15 year old said, "Por ejemplo, I'm talking with my friends and sometimes Spanish gets mixed in with the English and you're like, hey, como estas, I saw you the other day…". He just switches back and forth between both languages flawlessly. Spanglish is becoming more prominent because more and more people are bilingual in Spanish and English. Now there are more people in the world who's first language is spanish and the second most common first language is English.
2 Comments
2/25/2015 01:48:21 pm
Hi Erica, I like your abstract, it is very thorough and applicable to all of our lives. Most Americans learn at least a little Spanish, either from class, family, or just picking it up from friends. I think you made an interesting point at the end, about how most people prefer English by the time they graduate even if it is not their first language. I wonder how much of this is social pressure, or if it is just necessary? Maybe they feel like for their future lives and jobs in the United States, English will be the most useful. But yes, I am sure there is pressure to speak it in a high school environment, especially with discrimination against minorities.
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Jalyn
2/26/2015 10:39:11 am
I like the topic you bring up Erica! You should look more into the history of speakers of Spanish in California. There was much anti-Spanish political action taken there to eliminate bilingual schools. It was quite unfortunate.. That may help you with your Spanglish topic! Also, I would like to critique Gonzalez on the Spanglish phenomenon. When I studied sociolinguisitcs under Dr. Tamasi, she mentioned that Spanglish is begining to develop into a new linguistic phenomenon that is not Spanish or English! Isn't that fascinating? Some characteristics are not Spanish or English, but the result of the language contact. You should also look into Spanish based creoles to observe this phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is true that language attitudes in the U.S. pressure Spanish speakers to speak English. Probably for more opportunity....
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Erica FischerWriting about things happening in English 101 at Emory University. Archives
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