Journal article: Spanish heritage language maintenance

[sm167]

With thanks to Donna Christian for the tip....

JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL & MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 23.6

The Paradox of Linguistic Hegemony and the Maintenance of Spanish as a
Heritage Language in the United States

Debra Suarez, University of Maryland, USA

It is instructive to interpret patterns of language use in light of the
interaction between language use and an individual's awareness of, and
resistance towards, linguistic hegemony. While heritage language
maintenance is often described as language use motivaated by antihegemonic
ideologies, this paper suggests that the paradox of the resistance to
linguistic hegemony is that in order to be successful, this resistance
necessitates acquiescence to this hegemony on a certain level, namely
proficiency in the dominant language. This paper contends that a key element
influencing the dynamic between these existing factors and language
maintenance is the speaker's awareness of, and response to, the paradox
of the resistance to linguistic hegemony. Awareness of and conviction
towards this paradox seems to supply a dynamic in an individual's conviction
towards heritage language maintenance. This paper reports the results of a
study that examined this interaction in the case studies of families
maintaining Spanish across generations in a rural town in upstate New York,
USA. The displays of power illustrated on a personal exchange level, on
the media level, and within institutions seems to illuminate the awareness
of and response to the paradox of linguistic hegemony - successful
resistance that leads to heritage language maintenance.

www.ingentaselect.com/rpsv/ingentaselect/mm/01434632/v23n6/s5/p512