Ever since the discovery of America, languages have mixed on the American continent. Nowadays the proximity of English and Spanish is evident in the large number of Spanish-speakers in the US. The fact that the US borders Mexico and has Puerto Rico under its sovereignty means that Spanish can easily make its way in to the US. According to the 2010 census there are 16 % Hispanics or of Hispanic origin living in the US and the projection is that by the 2050 it will have grown to approximately 30% Hispanics. (U.S census bureau, 2008) In pop-culture we can see Spanish influences, from the days of Miami Sound Machine with their mega-hit “Conga” to today, where artists such as Chris Brown collaborates with Hispanic artists to spice up their songs. These gives evidence to the Hispanic influence in not only in pop culture but also the influence of Spanish in the United States. As mentioned before, the number of Hispanics in the United States have steadily increased in the last decades and so have the use of Spanish, therefore it is more likely that Spanish have more influence and become more prominent, in especially areas in the United States where the concentration of Hispanics of any variety is high. Code-switching is the switch between two or more languages or dialects, also referred to as codes, that occur when different languages coexist within the same community. I believe that code-switching is part of the everyday life for bilingual speakers in every community, which is very evident in the Hispanic communities in the United States, where code-switching is a part of their identity. When we use the term Hispanic communities we refer to a general community, as there are Hispanic communities from different parts of the Hispanic wor... ... middle of paper ... ...ación Española. 6th ed. Madrid: Sociedad general Española de l ibrería, 2002. Print. Sayer, Peter.” Demystifying Language Mixing: Spanglish in School.” Journal of Latinos and Education, 7:2 (2008), 94-112. Web September 13 2011. Seba, Mark et al. Eds. Language mixing and code-switching in writing. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print Spolsky, Bernard. Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print Stavans, Ilian. “Spanglish tickling the tongue”. World literature today, (summer, 2000), 553-558. Web April 23 2012. Vinagre Laranjeira, Margarita. El cambio de código en la conversación bilingüe: la alternancia de lenguas. Madrid: Arco Libros, 2005. Print. Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. 5th ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006. Print. Zentella, Ana-Celia. Growing up Bilingual. Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell, 1997. Print.
As a result of many negative stereotypes associated with certain variations of English many students have adapted codeswitching. When this concept came up in the book it made me think about my own language. I realized that I code switch quite often between what is seen as Standard English and African American English or Ebonics. Usually with family or other friends that speak Ebonics I use that Ebonics to communicate, but when I am in school, in a
Bilingualism should be celebrated and encouraged, rather than stamped out. Anzaldúa recalls that a teacher told her, “If you want to be American, speak ‘American.’ If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (2947). The irony in her teacher’s statement is that Mexicans and Native Americans inhabited North America long before it was colonized; so, technically speaking, Anzaldúa belonged in America more than her teacher did.
Everyone has various styles of speaking and various ranges of vocabulary that they utilize depending upon with whom they speak. This concept, known as code switching, portrays an integral part of our lives in today’s society. The fact that different groups of people speak in different ways necessitates the use of code switching. One would not speak to a group of high school students in the manner that one would speak to a scholar, or speak to a prison inmate in the same regard that one would speak with the President of the United States. Speaking in standard American English and then in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or Ebonics, portrays the most prominent use of code switching in today’s society, especially among American youths. Today, people utilize code switching to associate better amongst a group of people. In William Wells Brown’s Clotel, code switching plays an important role in the escape of two slaves, outwitting a train employee, and simply showing the difference between a slave’s behavior with other slaves and the slave’s behavior in the presence of his owner.
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
When you are eating food, you have taste buds-which are sensitive. The taste buds are on your tongue, which then they send a message to the brain, where the brain receives it. This action tells you what is happening with your body. Looking at Richard Rodriguez And Bell Hooks essays, which they show the struggles that they went through during their time, when they were growing as a people. The ability to code-switch was a struggle for Rodriguez and Hooks, who came from a different discourse community, which the power of language had already perceived their identity. The term code switching means switching personalities among certain discourse communities, and the use of language to define us in every day life. We often face code switching in everyday life, but we must acknowledge- when it is happening. Having the ambition to overcome our struggles is already hard enough, even though it could be in school: work: among our own family. Doesn’t the power of language perceived our identity?
Another struggle for identity with Latinos is their struggle with the Spanish and English languages. While some Latinos may speak Spanish in their homes, the language may not be conversationally used in their schools. Some Lat...
Because of internalized racism, Latinos and Hispanics distance themselves from the Spanish language to support the English only movement. They are embarrassed of their inherited language and rather choose English to complete assimilation. “Almost 40% of Latino/a respondents prefer English as their dominant language…” (Padilla 20). Where I currently live, I always see on the day to day basis Hispanics and Latinos that immigrated to the United States from other countries sounding “white.”
Hispanic America language has some strengths and weaknesses as observed in the article and this makes it one of the influential groups in the United States. It is also important noting that those who belong to this group originated from various parts of the world. The strengths in the pattern of communication make this language one of the most adorable languages in the world as many people feel respected whenever they talk to someone from this particular group. The weaknesses that can be identified only show how people tend to believe they are shy, but it is as a result of respect for
Secondly, another area that is highly influenced by American society is the religion of the Mexican Americans. Ninety percent of Spanish speaking people are Roman Catholic (C...
A large number of people in the Hispanic community whether Hispanics are not able to get the English literacy skills that they need not because they want to keep born in Latin America or the United States, speak Spanish primarily. This is basically because in present day time, Hispanics are more likely to pass Spanish to their kids now than they have done in the past. (Ortiz, P.149) This is seen as a social problem, especially because of the fact that there is an increasing demand that English should only be taught in public school and it should also be spoken within the Spanish community. Even though Hispanics do speak a lot of Spanish most of the time, they still do learn English also, especially the young. But, because of the large flow of immigrants, the use of Spanish is used more often because they are constantly encountering immigrants who speak no English. (Ortiz, P. 150) Before hand there has been said to have been lower achievements when Hispanics make frequent use of the Spanish la...
The Hispanic community represents many nationalities and ethnicities, including Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, 15 Central and South American countries, Spain, and the Dominican Republic (Cattan, 1993). Hispanic group are well known in the workforce, politics, education, social economic and religion. The Spanish culture influences a variety of areas such as music, food, language. Most languages are rooted in Latin. It is always good to learn about other cultures if we expect the same consideration when we visit other countries. Differences are what make life interesting. Majority of the United States is built on immigration, which has made this country the most diverse. And the Hispanic group contributes to that diversity.
A lot of people use code-switching for those reasons: to create a connection, say things in secret, etc. That’s why she spoke in Spanish to her family members instead of us, it was something between them a joke about their family, and it wasn’t like we understood fluent Spanish, all we understood was little to know Spanish. She used code switching in order to ensure comprehension with her family members, to make a connection with specifically her cousin. In the textbook, one of the studies under mock Spanish looks at Bonnie Urciuoli’s linguistic study of Puerto Rican bilingualism.
population. Among the Hispanic population there are various subgroups. (figure 1.1) Current projections suggest that, “the Hispanic populous will almost double by 2060 representing 31% of the population” (CDC, 2015). It is typical for these subgroups to share the same traditions, beliefs, and share one common language, Spanish.
She grew up speaking both Spanish and English fluently but I often observed her using code switching with her parents and siblings. Another example is her younger sister, she understands both Spanish and English but never speaks Spanish. Interestingly enough, when her father speaks to her in Spanish, she completely understands it and responds in English. It is very enjoyable to hear them all speak to each other in their own way, using both languages. Until now, I had no word to describe code switching because I thought it was just something that happened in my friend 's household. It would be fun to see my friend 's family learn the concept of code switching because they just use it naturally without
The Spanish language has traditionally been regarded one of the major symbols of Puerto Rican culture. Above, González challenges traditional forms of Puerto Rican "language nationalism" which holds the Spanish language "as a rallying point for Puerto Rican identity, in direct opposition to the English speaking United States" (Morris 162). This philosophy has led to a rejection of the English language by many sectors of the Puerto Rican...