Spanglish - a New American Language - Research Paper Example

Spanglish on the English Language Contamination Issue Thesis: The English language being contaminated by Spanglish is merely a misconception because studies say that only a small percent of the third-generation Americans can speak their native language. I. Introduction A. Presentation of the Argument 1. Spanglish as widely acknowledge language 2. Spanglish contaminating the English language 3. Spanglish as beneficial to the communication and economy II. Brief History of Spanglish A. Arrival of Spanish people in United States B. Spanish explorations and its consequences C. Birth of Spanglish D. Present existence of Spanglish III. Utilization of Spanglish and Its Significance A. Meanings of Spanglish 1. Positive meaning 2. Negative meaning B. Significance of Spanglish to people IV. Spanglish on the Question of English Corruption A. Spanglish controversies 1. Oxford English Dictionary Spanglish meaning 2. Spanglish as an impure language 3. Conducted studies regarding English language contamination V. Conclusion A. Language preservation B. Reflections and thesis restatement Spanglish on the English Language Contamination Issue Introduction Spanish is unquestionably included in the top five most spoken languages by diverse races all over the world. Census reports have openly shown that a huge percentage of Spanish speakers choose to settle in the United States. It is also visible that Spanish-speaking students correspond to the “largest group” of English Language learners (Vaughn et al.). Due to the large Hispanic population interacting with English speakers in the country, Spanglish becomes in existence. Spanglish is well thought-out as an English hybrid composed of Spanish and English speeches that has undergone code-switching due to the application of the two languages. For many years now, there has been a surviving misconception that Spanglish makes English language contaminated and endangered. Due to the arrival of non-English immigrants to the United States, the society becomes bilingual and it can disapprovingly have an effect on the American language and culture. However, a good number of people believe that Spanglish is never a threat to English language. In fact, it gives significant contributions to effective communication and betterment of the economy. It is believed by several linguists that bilingual societies play an indispensable function to improve a particular country’s economy. Short History of the Introduction of Spanglish in United States It is surprising to say that Spanish in some areas in United States has been documented earlier than English usage. In fact various groups that first lived in several parts of United States are Mexicans who purely used the Spanish language in their entire existence. For more than four centuries, the Spanish has been retained and widely used by many civilizations. Nevertheless, Spanish is incomparable to Native American language when it comes to prolonged existence prior to immigration. It was 1515 when the Spanish people led by Ponce de Leon first arrived in Florida. After fifty years, the first Spanish colony was permanently established in San Agustin. At that moment, a number of Spanish explorations in the Atlantic coast have occurred including voyages in Carolinas and Virginia. It was then become probable for Spanish people to influence more coasts including New England. So, the endeavor to create many colonies on the coasts was properly accomplished and as a final point it led to cultural and linguistic combination of the Spanish and native societies. Nowadays, areas in the United States including Arizona and California have become populated with Spanish speakers. New Mexico and Nevada are evenly inhabited by Spanish-speaking citizens too. The incident in the mentioned American societies gave rise to Spanglish or the combination of Spanish and English in English-speaking communities with a good number of immigrants. Utilization of Spanglish and Its Significance Some researchers have stated the probability that Spanglish is just a simplified Spanish or English to make the communication between two different cultures healthier. However, there is no clear evidence that may attest that Spanglish is a bad language for people who cannot speak English smoothly. Linguists have also noticed that most Spanglish words are not erroneous Spanish usage or English usage. Instead Spanglish words deliver clear meanings and may mean different when translated to Spanish or English. One good example is the Spanglish word “actualmente.” It is closest to the word “actually” in English but it means “currently” in Spanish. Based on an interview of Ray Suarez of PBS NewsHour with the author Ilan Stavans concerning his book “Spanglish: the New American Language,” Spanglish can mean “marriage or divorce” to English and Spanish (“Spanglish”). Stavans mentioned in his book that the term was originally “Espanglish” and it was first used in a publication in 1954 by Salwador Tio (Stavans). The etymology however denoted negative effects of the arrival of Spanish culture and language. In fact, Spanglish has been opposed by many writers. However, the arrival of the Spanish language and culture in American societies is unpredictably noteworthy. Spanish has contributed many significant things to English people. When Americans and Spanish speakers crossed paths in Spanish colonies, the latter didn’t fail supplying the former with numerous useful words. It is also not fresh to people that the contact with Spanish speaking merchants launched the Hispanic culture through the goods and services they have offered. In addition, the cuisines that were introduced showed the way to the development of menus as well as vocabulary. Stavans didn’t fail to detail more figures about Spanglish. He pointed out how widely used it is as he noted that Google search for the term has reached three million hits. As it means pride to its speakers, Spanglish is also adopted to describe the contact of English and Spanish speakers and the cross identity. The encounter can perhaps be illustrated as advantageous or not. Thus, Spanglish can generally be used to coin positive and negative meanings. Whatever the reason of usage is, the term is known all over the world. Every Spanish speaker recognizes the term Spanglish. Though the term Spanglish may sound libelous to lots of people, it is still broadly used because it is less offensive compared to other expressions. Spanglish on the Question of English Corruption Many authors have defined Spanglish in different modes. This led to the extensive language utilization that shaped numerous arguments. One of the most controversial definitions of Spanglish comes from the Oxford English Dictionary. Spanglish was linked with contamination of English words and expressions. Thus, it simply means that Spanglish is an impure language. Similarly, González-Echevarría, a literary critic, defined Spanglish as “invasion of Spanish by English” (A29). He is then supporting the fact that there is a perceptible imperialism that can take over and it may impose potential dangers. Nevertheless, there is no truth that English is endangered despite a huge number of immigrants inhabiting the place. It is factual that Spanish immigration is large in extent. However, the immigrants are not as many as English speakers to create essential transform in American culture. The myth that English is in danger because of Spanish speaking immigrants doing contamination of the language is believed by many people. However, the myth becomes less accurate because of the research conducted from the University of California and Princeton University that scrutinized the acquirement of English language among Spanish speaking immigrants. It is then proved that most Mexican Americans are not fluent in speaking their native language Spanish. According to Ruben Rumbaut, from the Sociology Department of University of California, the study simply implies that the extinction of English language is unfeasible and that there is nothing to fear (qtd. in Mellon). Because most families have lived in areas in the United States, history proves that Spanish speaking immigrants’ children grow up not having enough knowledge about their native language. They tend to abandon Spanish for English according to Professor Rumbaut (qtd. in Mellon). This proves the fact that English is totally not threatened by any other language. Only about three percent of the Mexican American immigrants will speak Spanish while living in the foreign country. The idea was also supported by Ericka Mellon whose work was published in Houston Chronicle. She mentioned that Massey Villarreal as the president of Houston-based Precision Task Group is having difficulties finding skilled workers who are fluent in both English and Spanish. The vice chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce informed that when he finds workers who are Mexican Americans, they are poor at speaking Spanish and even unknowledgeable about the language. He also noted the importance of the bilingual society despite the fact that many people find it insufferable. To Villarreal, bilingual people can be a great help to better economy as they are competitive (qtd. in Mellon). Conclusion It is never harmful to preserve the language whatever it is. It was quoted by Don Soifer of the Lexington Institute that, “No one is saying that language preservation is not a noble goal” (qtd. in Mellon). Therefore, Spanish preservation and usage in areas in the United States is never prejudicial. The English language being contaminated by Spanglish is merely a misconception because studies say that only three percent of the third-generation Americans can speak their native language. It is also not correct to say as well that non-English immigrants turn societies into bilingual communities because a huge percentage of them has grown up and interacted with English speakers causing them to abandon their mother tongue according to Ruben Rumbaut in his study (qtd. in Mellon). In fact the study conducted to scrutinize the achievement of the English language among Spanish speaking immigrants proves that the existence of Spanglish cannot cause the extinction of English language. As a recall, Tio and Stavans called Spanglish a “new language” (Stavans). This is due to the fact that Spanglish is not a contamination of English but a different language. It is known to all that many Spanglish words create different meaning when translated to English or Spanish. It is in reality affecting the American language and culture but not in an unconstructive way. As noted by Villareal, bilingual society is even necessary for the betterment of the economy as third generation Americans can be more globally competitive than one-language speakers (qtd. in Mellon). Works Cited González-Echevarría, Roberto. "Is "Spanglish" a Language?" New York Times 28 March 1997: A29. Print. Mellon, Ericka. "Study Says English is Alive, Well." Houston Chronicle 14 Sep. 2006. Print. "Spanglish." Online News Hour. Public Broadcasting Service, 23 Oct. 2003. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. . Stavans, Ilan. Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language. 1st ed. New York City: Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 2003. Print. Vaughn, Sharon, et al. "Effectiveness of a Spanish Intervention and an English Intervention for English-Language Learners at Risk for Reading Problems." American Educational Research Journal 43.3 (2006): 449-487. Print. Read More