The Role of Language in Mexican American Identity Construction

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of Mexican Americans who communicate their language in the country. According to Fought, at least 12.5% of Americans are of Mexican descent. (44). According to a 2003 census, Latinas and Latinos had surpassed African Americans to become the nation’s biggest minority ethnic group. Along with mass immigration into the US, they are also dispersing across the nation and settling in previously unexplored regions, like remote Midwest areas. Specifically, the influence of Mexican Americans is increasingly beginning to reshape the demographic, political, and social landscape of the US outside of the Southwestern borderlands. Mexican Americans presence can be seen in large cities, including Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Miami, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles and small cities such as Reno, Omaha, and Greenville. Over the last few years, Mexican Americans have been subjected to increased levels of discrimination as a result of language differences, growth in population, and changes in demographics. Latinos living in the US are not a monolithic group but a combination of cultures, races, and ethnicities. While some of the Latinos speak pure Spanish, others speak only English or “Spanglish”. Language plays a critical role in Mexican American identity construction.

Language and American Identity Construction

When people use language, they do so as individuals with social histories. People’s histories are defined in part by their membership within a broad range of social groups into which they are born such as race, religion, social class, and gender. Contextualization cues, as argued out by Hall include various forms of speech production such as paralinguistic, pragmatic, syntactic, and lexical (37). Contextualization cues provide individual interlocutors with recognizable markers for interpreting and signaling contextual presuppositions. Interactional sociolinguistic assume that people enter into communicating activities with other people as individuals interested in working towards a common goal. Identity is used to refer to how individuals comprehend their relationship to the world, how individuals comprehend their possibilities in the future, and relationship is constructed across space and time. Identity, as argued out by Hall relate to the desire for safety and security, the desire for affiliation, and the desire for recognition. Bourdieu’s notion of habitus places much emphasis on the link between power and identity. According to Bourdieu, value ascribed to speech cannot be comprehended apart from the individual who speaks, and the individual who speaks cannot be comprehended apart from larger networks of social relationship (Norton 411). Bourdieu is of the opinion that an expanded definition of competence should encompass the power to impose reception as well as the right to speak.

Just like African Americans and other ethnic identities in the US, Mexican Americans in most cases like to distinguish themselves linguistically. Mexican Americans point to language is an important element of their identity. A broad range of linguistic codes found in Mexican American communities play a critical role in the construction of ethnic identity and the language attitudes of the community. These linguistic codes include a number of varieties Spanish and English, and a code-switching variety referred to as “Spanglish” (Fought 45). Moreover, within Mexican American community, there exist regional varieties of English such as Southern California English and Appalachian English. This class could also encompass African American English which exists in areas where African American and Mexican American communalities have extended contacts (Fought 45). There is also non-native speaker English which is employed by Mexico immigrants whose first language is Spanish, but who later learned English as they grew up.

A significant number of Mexicans living in the US use “Chicano English” which is mainly spoken by Mexicans born in the US and demonstrate the influence of Spanish. When Mexicans occupied California and other parts of the Southeast, they used English marked by grammar and sounds from their native language. Chicano English has a broad range of features demonstrating the influence of Spanish, particularly in phonology (Fought 46). For instance, Mexican Americans who use Chicano English tend to minimize vowels in unstressed syllables. Code-switching is another linguistic variety which entails the alternations of languages within a single utterance or a single discourse (Ramos-Sanchez 155). Within the Mexican Americans, Spanish is a complicated intermingling of English and Spanish and demands a high degree of fluency in both Spanish and English. A broad range of linguistic code found within the Mexican American communities play a critical role in the construction of ethnic identity.

Owing to its origin, Chicano English does not have many features that demonstrate the influence of Spanish, particularly in the phonology. For instance, in the ending on words such as “talking” and “going”, Chicano English speakers tend to possess a higher vowel, more like the “I” of Spanish, so that the two words end up sounding like “talkeen” and “goween” (Fought 46). Most Mexican Americans are of the opinion that Spanish is important to their identity. in spite of the fact that Chicano English play a critical role in the construction of Mexican Americans’ identity, the majority of second-generation Mexican Americans cite code-switching as the category of language that distinguish them from other ethnic groups in the US. Through code-switching, a significant number of Mexican Americans born in the US are able to index simultaneously their Mexican heritage (Fought 47).

Over the last few years, Spanish-language media has significantly grown in terms of popularity and viewership in the US. Since a significant number of Spanish-language programs are not produced within the US, they may differ from English-language media due to differing cultural ideals and norms (Lee and Hecht 200). Existing studies have demonstrated that Mexican Americans youths who use Spanish-language media more frequently have the highest chance of endorsing their traditional values and norms. However, immigrants from Mexico who prefer Spanish media are less likely to be acculturated than those who prefer English media. Spanish media in the US has rapidly increased the role of ethnic identification within the context of Mexican American youths’ media consumption. When immigrants from Mexico are exposed to ethnic-based media, the impacts of that media may vary depending on the weakness or the strength of their ethnic identification (Lee and Hecht 203).

Immigrants often leave their countries to move to a new place where they are unfamiliar with the social, language, and cultural aspects of the country. Nevertheless, slowly by slowly, they assimilate into mainstream culture and develop their unique identity that is different from the identity they previously held. Acculturation, as argued out by Christ entails assimilating the new and shedding the old (36). Constant exposure to new culture coupled with new standards of living have exposed immigrants from Mexico to thee American practices, language, culture, tradition, institutions, and laws. These new cultural elements have played an integral role in the construction of a new identity that is distinct from ideals and values of their homeland.

Some Mexican Americans perceive themselves as shaped by using English more often than Spanish. Latino English, as pointed out by Peart and Lescher is easily differentiated from other Spanish dialects in the US due to its influx of Anglicism. Mexican Americans who were raised in the US or who have lived in the country for a prolonged period of time tend to mold partial or false cognates into Spanish words associated with education and urban setting. Borrowing from Peart and Lescher, the amount of Anglicism employed when speaking Spanish in most cases depend on the group of speakers (1). The decision whether to use or not use Anglicism when speaking Spanish is settled by the members of the group collectively or individually. The utilization of Spanglish sends a significant message that can be equivalent to the decision they make in style they decorate their room or in clothing. In most cases, fluent bilingual speakers switch between English and Spanish within the confines of a single conversation. This is often referred to as code-switching and is only seen with fluent bicultural, bilingual Mexican Americans. Intrasentential code, as argued out by Peart and Lescher takes place when there is a favorable combination of sociolinguistic factors, typological hierarchy, and grammatical structure. Mexican Americans who like switching between English and Spanish have faced criticism from traditional members who often feel that the speakers should strictly employ one language within a given conversation. Some scholars have argued that Spanglish poses a grave danger to Mexican American or Hispanic culture. For instance, Gonzalez-Echeverria cited in Peart and Lescher asserts that Spanglish is mainly the language of poor Mexican Americans, most of them who are barely literate in their language (2).

Just like Oral Spanglish, Peart and Lescher observe that a written version of Spanglish has increasingly become widespread via internet communication and computer technology. Written Spanglish can be twisted creatively with an aim of portraying specific cultural idea. There are essays, poems, and novels available in Spanglish and it has provided Mexican Americans with an opportunity to appreciate their own cultural identity in the US. According to Peart and Lescher, the literature expression of bilingual identity permits readers and writers to examine what it means to belong to a given cultural or ethnic group that shares a common dialect. Sandra Cisneros, a famous and respected author of contemporary Chicano literature has produced several works that demonstrate how the choice of language and switching between Spanish and English embodies the speakers’ perceptions of themselves as well as how they relate with others (Peart and Lescher 3).

Implications

Mexican Americans and instructors and Mexican American community unanimously agree that the needs of Mexican Americans students are not adequately addressed or met. A significant number of Mexican Americans students do not complete high school. Some Mexican American teachers are of the opinion that most Mexican Americans do not complete high school largely because of their deficiencies in academic abilities influenced by insufficient training (Baker 241). However, Anglo administrators and teachers argues that Mexican American parents are to blame for increasing cases of dropout among Mexican American students since most Mexican American parents do not join Parent Teacher Association, the family speak Spanish at home, and the parents are not educated. Some schools in the US have expelled a significant number of Mexican Americans and Mexican American leaders believe that the school administrators have little or no respect for Mexican American parents and students.

Most Mexican parents and leaders are pushing for a curriculum that is flexible enough to modify existing courses in which Mexican American music, history, literature, and culture support the identity of the Mexican American students. Specifically, Mexican American students need instructors who respect them and will offer additional help as people who come from a non-Anglo culture. A significant number of Anglo-students perceive Mexican American students as troublemakers since they fight and they finally get suspended or expelled from the learning institution.

Teachers need to recognize the importance of teaching Mexican Americans culture as opposed to rejecting it. Mexican Americans cannot learn from instructors who do not respect their cultural identity and who think they have little academic skills and abilities. Learning institutions in the US need to accept cultural democracy where each culture is respected and appreciated. Teachers who teachers English as a second language need to recognize the problems and the needs of Mexican Americans and attempt to address them. In order to minimize dropout rates among Mexican American students, Mexican American teachers must be incorporated in bilingual and minority educational training programs. Learning institutions should also implement a curriculum that embraces and make use of Mexican American culture.

Conclusion

Conclusively, Chicano English play a critical role in expressing Mexican American identity. Both Chicano English and code-switching offers an iconic reflection of the second-generation culture. However, Chicano English does not require fluency in Spanish the way code-switching does. Among the Mexican American community, code-switch entails a complicated intermingling of Spanish and English. The findings of this research paper have a far reaching implication in education sector. Instructors Teachers who teachers English as a second language need to recognize the problems and the needs of Mexican Americans and attempt to address them. In order to minimize dropout rates among Mexican American students, Mexican American teachers must be incorporated in bilingual and minority educational training programs. Learning institutions need to adopt a curriculum that embraces and make use of Mexican American culture.

Works Cited

Baker, Richard. Dos Mundos: Rural Mexican Americans, another America. University Press of Colorado

Fought, Carmen. “Language as a representation of Mexican American identity.” English Today 103.26(2010): 44-48.

Lee, Jeong Kyu and Michael Height T. “Media influences on Mexican-heritage youth alcohol use: Moderating role of language preferences and ethnic identification.” The Howard Journal of Communication 21(2010): 199-223.

Norton, Bonny. “Language, identity, and the ownership of English.” TESOL Quarterly 31.3(2997): 409-429.

Peart, Silva M and Dale Lescher C. “Spanglish and the negotiation of Latina identities in Sandra Cisneros’s Caramel.” Label Me Latina/o 6(2016): 1-8.

Ramos-Sanchez, Lucila. “Language switching and Mexican Americans’ emotional expression.” Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development 35(2007): 154-168.

Christ, Stephen. On being a Mexican American: An autoethnographic analysis of identity construction. Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference, 35-40.

Hall, Joan Kelly. Teaching and researching: Language and culture. London: Routledge