The Sociolinguistics of Spanish in America
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Many non-Latin Americans are concerned about the English language and how much it is spoken in immigrant communities. They were hopeful that previous waves of immigrants from Mexico would learn English, but in fact they tended to stick to just Spanish and refused to speak English. However, statistics show that things have changed. Currently, 94% of immigrants raised in close-knit communities like South Florida and Southern California speak English “well” or “very well” by 8th grade (roughly age 13). The language that Latino children, who grow up in America, don’t speak so well is Spanish. As English has become better through the generations, Spanish has become worse. |
Guadalupe Valdés, a professor at Stanford University, examined the strategies adopted by Spanish-English bilingual youngsters and found they used a number of methods to convey essential information, including tone and stance. They were also able to compensate for linguistic limitations. Valdés concluded that the traits and abilities they exhibited were characteristic of cognitively competent children.
Another issue is that divides public opinion is bilingual education for immigrant children. In his post, the American linguist John McWhorter explains that children get a leg up in early learning when taught first in their primary language and then in English, contrary to what many people think. Mr. McWhorter recommends the book “Condemned Without a Trial: Bogus Arguments Against Bilingual Education” which makes the case for bilingual education.
Despite the fears of many non-Latin Americans, English is not being rejected by the American Spanish-speaking population of today. What’s happening is that a larger bilingual population is developing and will be a part of America’s future.