Breaking the Borders Between Spanish and English [EN]
An English class reflecting on the reciprocal influences between English and Spanish in the United States as well as the wider Spanish speaking world. A free and modifiable lesson plan that uses US hispanic identities as a starting point to consider diverse language use and its connections to borders and power.
Skills that can be practised / developed
Reading and comprehension
Discussion about culture and politics
Speaking (giving opinions and analysis)
Key Vocabulary
Chicano/Chicana/Chicanxs
Spanglish
Code switching
Cognate
Assimilation
Neologism
Lesson Objectives
Recognise that English and Spanish for many in US hispanic communities have many distinct linguistic features.
Understand some basic historical roots of these features.
Identify some basic grammatical features of English-influenced Spanish as well as Spanish-influenced English.
Overview
This lesson will highlight the linguistic mixing of Spanish and English in the border areas between Mexico and the United States, and more broadly, the wider hispanic communities of the United States as well as more general Mexican Spanish. We will see that although the Mexico/US border has had a huge impact regarding its intention to divide and to segregate, language is one example of how this division has been resisted.
Introduction and social background
Introducing the background to how Spanish and English have mixed, initially regarding the US, is a complicated task. Obviously, not all Spanish speakers speak the same Spanish, and neither do they all speak the same English. Some people speak English as a second language, some a first, and some are purely bilingual. Some identify as Chicano or Chicana, some Hispanic, some a specific country (Mexican, Guatemalan etc), some Mexican-American (or Honduran-American etc). Some speak Spanish at home and work, some only at home. Some people might consider themselves Mexican-American or Chicano but not speak any Spanish at all. Therefore, it’s important to remember the diversity regarding identity, language, Spanish, and English. That being said, there are many linguistic things we can see that many of these people have in common.
There’s a common phrase that is often repeated among those politically active in border communities that is ‘We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us’.
It speaks to the fact that the border is artificial, and that there were people speaking Spanish in what is currently the southern United States before the border was so strongly imposed. Some people have been there for generations and some may have recently arrived. Therefore, whether some people have two languages, or a first and second language more recently learnt, both will impact one another, one of several circumstances giving rise to dialects and accents.
As is widely known, the US has always pushed strong assimilationist policies. That is to say, many latinos experienced racist pressures to integrate into white American society, which has often included pressures to abandon traditional customs and celebrations, heavy policing of communities, participation in civil society outside of the latino community, as well as a reduction in speaking Spanish. An identity which arose in resistance to this hostile social and political environment is what is often known as Chicano. It’s a self-identifying term from the 1960’s for an American of normally Mexican heritage - as the largest and most widespread latino community. It’s an identity with many nuances that are too detailed for here, but generally speaking, it celebrated traditional culture, the strength and defence of the latino community, the use of Spanish (and it’s mixing with English), and slightly later on strong academic, feminist, and queer strands.
So, within the US, what are some linguistic features that Spanish has had on English?
A common feature for many Latino-Americans is code-switching, whereby a speaker alternates between their two languages, this may be words within a sentence or the whole sentence itself.
As a basic example, you might greet a friend with a “¿Qué pasa, man?” or a “What’s up, carnal?”.
Some academics have identified that this is most often prevalent when the Spanish and English constructions are the same or very similar, and code-switching is less likely when the phrases are radically different. A discussion point here might be to consider how this exists with respect to students’ other languages? Particularly with the introduction (and general omnipotence) of English words in other cultures.
A second feature that is very identifiable is accent. Many, but not all, speakers in hispanic communities have developed distinct accents, some generalised accents, but also some much narrower accents specific to geographical areas. It’s also worth noting here, that many people who have such an accent might simply have this heritage, and not actually be a Spanish speaker. The explanation of accent and phonology is too deep for this introductory lesson, so maybe it’s better noticed through examples and songs which will be included at the end. However, some basic things some academics have observed is Spanish intonation and accent when speaking English sentences and words, and the reverse is also common too, English intonation when using Spanish words and phrases.
There are somewhat limited solid grammatical influences that some Spanish speakers have mixed into their English. However, a common observation made by some academics is a tendency to use some Spanish construction more heavily when speaking English.
For example, there is a slight preference to say things like the car of my brother as opposed to my brother’s car, the former being closer to the Spanish translation.
Also worth mentioning is a heavier use of double negatives, for example I don’t have nothing, whereas this would be a correct construction in Spanish - no tengo nada.
What are some of the influences English has had on Spanish?
The most obvious example is the introduction of English words into Spanish, particularly technical vocabulary and more modern words, although this is a global phenomenon and certainly not limited to the Spanish speaking world.
This might include whole phrases, such as buy one get one free or just individual words like man or internet.
A second influence English has had on Spanish is the usage of false cognates or false friends, technically known as reassignment, and this is most dominant in the Spanish spoken in communities in the US.
For example, the word actually (its false cognate would be actualmente in Spanish) is normally expressed as en realidad in Spanish, and the word actualmente would normally mean currently in Spanish. However, some Spanish speakers might now use the word actualmente to mean both definitions. Other examples might be eventualmente, librería or rentar which all have traditional Spanish equivalents that are either not used or might be false cognates.
In a similar vein, there is also the usage of neologisms, often verbs that have been latinised.
Some examples might be googlear, checar, parquear, emailear, hackear etc. The usage of these types of words or phrases varies across the Spanish speaking world, predictably there is a dominance of them in Mexico and much of the Spanish spoken within the US, whereas the Spanish spoken in Spain adopts fewer of them.
Materials
To finish this lesson we’ll leave a couple of songs (that illustrate some of the themes mentioned in the class) for stimulation at the end. These might be useful as some sort of homework task or could be integrated into the lesson to divide it into more than one class. Finally, feel free to use, reproduce, add to, or hack (or indeed hackear) this lesson.