Maternal attitudes toward Spanish transmission in the U.S. Midwest: a necessary but insufficient condition for success
Issue: Vol 7 No. 3 (2013)
Journal: Sociolinguistic Studies
Subject Areas: Gender Studies Linguistics
Abstract:
This paper presents the results of an analysis of maternal attitudes toward intergenerational transmission of Spanish in a group of 19 first-generation Latino families in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. A 12-item Likert scale was employed to survey respondent attitudes as part of a larger study on Spanish maintenance and loss in this Midwestern community. Attitudes toward transmission, perceptions about the viability of transmission in the context of the US, attitudes toward children’s bilingualism and perceptions about children’s development of Spanish as related to their cultural identity were surveyed. Overall results suggest that respondents held strong positive attitudes towards intergenerational transmission of Spanish. As a group, strong positive attitudes were recorded for 10 of the 12 items presented. The two items with the lowest overall scores were related to the belief that children may be confused or cognitively overburdened if exposed to more than one language.
Author: Isabel Velázquez
References :
Ager, D. (2001) Motivation in language planning and language policy. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Baker, C. (1992) Attitudes and language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Baker, C. (2006) Psycho-sociological analysis in language policy research. In T. Ricento (ed.)
An introduction to language policy: Theory and method 210--228. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
De Houwer, A. (1999) Bilingual first language acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Edwards, J. (1999) Refining our understanding of language attitudes. Journal of Language and
Social Psychology 18(1): 101--110.
Elías-Olivares, L. (1976) Ways of speaking in a Chicano community: A sociolinguistic
approach. PhD dissertation. University of Texas, Austin.
Fishman, J. A. (2000) Reversing language shift: RLS theory and practice revisited. In G. Kindell and M. P. Lewis (eds) Assessing ethnolinguistic vitality. Theory and practice 1--26. Dallas: SIL International.
Garret, P., Coupland, N. and Williams, A. (2003) Investigating language attitudes: Social meanings of dialect, ethnicity and performance. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Garret, P. (2010) Attitudes to language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gumperz, J. J. and Hernández-Chávez, E. (1972) Bilingualism, bidialectalism and classroom
interaction. In C. Cazden, V. John and D. Hymes (eds) Functions of Language in the Classroom 74--110. New York: Teachers College Press.
Lambert, W., Hodgson, R., Gardner, R. and Fillenbaum, S. (1960) Evaluational reactions to
spoken languages. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 60: 44--51.
Lanza, E. (2007) Multilingualism and the family. In P. Auer and L. Wei (eds) Handbook of
multilingualism and multilingual communication 45--67. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
McIntosh, R and Ornstein, J. (1974) A brief sample of West Texas teacher attitudes toward
Southwest Spanish and English language varieties. Hispania 57(4): 920--926.
Okita, T. (2002) Invisible Work. Bilingualism, language choice and childrearing in
intermarried families. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Olneck, M. R. (2006) Asimilation and American national identity. In R. Ueda (ed.) A
companion to American immigration 202--224. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Openheim, A. N. (1992) Questionnaire design, interviewing and attitude measurement. London: Pinter Publishers.
Ornstein, J. (1982) Research on attitudes of bilingual Chicanos toward Southwest Spanish:
Progress and Problems. In J. A. Fishman and G. D. Keller (eds) Bilingual Education for Hispanic Students in the United States 241--253. New York: Teachers College Press.
Pérez-Leroux, A. T., Cuza, A. and Thomas, D. (2011) From parental attitudes to input conditions: Spanish-English bilingual development in Toronto. In K. Potowski and J. Rothman (eds) Bilingual Youth. Spanish in English-speaking societies 149--176. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Potowski, K. and Matts, J. (2008) Interethnic language and identity: MexiRicans in Chicago.
Journal of Language, Identity and Education 7(2): 137--160.
Ramírez, A. G., Acre-Torres, E. and Politzer, R. L. (1982) Language attitudes and the achievement of bilingual pupils in English language arts. In J. A. Fishman and G. D. Keller (eds) Bilingual Education for Hispanic Students in the United States 269--288. New York: Teachers College Press.
Schecter, S. R. and Bayley, R. (2002) Language as Cultural Practice: Mexicanos en el Norte.
Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Solé, C. A. (1982). Language loyalty and language attitudes among Cuban-Americans. In J. A.
Fishman and G. D. Keller (eds) Bilingual Education for Hispanic Students in the United States 254--268. New York: Teachers College Press.
United States Census Bureau (2007-2011) American Community Survey 5-year Estimates (n.d.).
Retrieved May 10, 2013, from:
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk
United States Census Bureau. Nebraska. State and County QuickFacts. (n.d.). Retrieved:
May 31, 2011, from:
Velázquez, I. (2009) Intergenerational Spanish transmission in El Paso, Texas: Parental
perceptions of cost/benefit. Spanish in Context 6(1): 69--84.
Velázquez, I. (2013a) Mother’s social network and family language maintenance. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 34(2): 189--202.
Velázquez, I. (2013b, forthcoming) Maternal perceptions of agency in intergenerational transmission of Spanish: The case of Latinos in the U.S. Midwest. Journal of Language, Identity and Education.
Worthy, J. and Rodriguez-Galindo, A. (2006) ‘Mi hija vale dos personas’: Latino immigrant parents' perspectives about their children's bilingualism. Bilingual Research Journal 30(2): 579--601.