Social Attitudes towards the Spanish Language in Georgia
Subject Area
Hispanic Linguistics
Abstract
In certain cities where there are large populations of Spanish speakers, the Spanish language is viewed as a respectable and vital language to speak but not in all cities. In the city of Miami, due to the high position of many Latinos in the fields of business, politics and education, Spanish is seen as a language necessary to know. However, Spanish is not seen in this same positive manner in other cities with large Spanish speaking populations in, for example, Los Angeles or El Paso.
This investigation intends to showcase prior research conducted on the attitudes of the Spanish language in the United States from the perspective of both Hispanics and non-Hispanics. Using this review of prior research, a similar methodology is implemented via a pilot study to evaluate social attitudes towards the Spanish language in the state of Georgia. The origin of the participants is expected to generate differentiation in their attitudes and perspectives. The semi-guided interviews reveal similar opinions regarding the benefits of knowing Spanish but differentiation regarding at which level of education should it be mandatory to study a second language and whether or not there should be an official language of the United States.
Brief Bio Note
Dinshaw K. Anklesaria is currently a second year graduate student in the Master of Arts in Spanish/Master of Arts in Teaching Spanish at Georgia Southern University. He graduated from The University of Georgia magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Business Administration and a minor in Spanish. In July 2013, he graduated from Georgia Southern University with his Master of Business Administration. He currently resides in Pooler, GA with his parents, Dr. Kaiomars P. Anklesaria and Mrs. Tehmi K. Anklesaria. Dinshaw aims to be a foreign language educator, either in high school or in post-secondary education, teaching both Spanish and French.
Keywords
Sociolinguistics, Social attitudes, Linguistic attitudes, Georgia, Spanish, pilot study
Location
Room 218
Presentation Year
2015
Start Date
3-27-2015 9:00 AM
End Date
3-27-2015 10:15 AM
Embargo
5-23-2017
Recommended Citation
Anklesaria, Dinshaw K., "Social Attitudes towards the Spanish Language in Georgia" (2015). South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL). 19.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/seccll/2015/2015/19
Social Attitudes towards the Spanish Language in Georgia
Room 218
In certain cities where there are large populations of Spanish speakers, the Spanish language is viewed as a respectable and vital language to speak but not in all cities. In the city of Miami, due to the high position of many Latinos in the fields of business, politics and education, Spanish is seen as a language necessary to know. However, Spanish is not seen in this same positive manner in other cities with large Spanish speaking populations in, for example, Los Angeles or El Paso.
This investigation intends to showcase prior research conducted on the attitudes of the Spanish language in the United States from the perspective of both Hispanics and non-Hispanics. Using this review of prior research, a similar methodology is implemented via a pilot study to evaluate social attitudes towards the Spanish language in the state of Georgia. The origin of the participants is expected to generate differentiation in their attitudes and perspectives. The semi-guided interviews reveal similar opinions regarding the benefits of knowing Spanish but differentiation regarding at which level of education should it be mandatory to study a second language and whether or not there should be an official language of the United States.
