Hispanohablantes en el mapa rural de Georgia: datos demográficos, uso de inglés y español y la necesidad de un estudio sobre prácticas lingüísticas en la región del Medio -Atlántico.
Subject Area
Hispanic Linguistics
Abstract
While between 2000 and 2011 the Hispanic population decreased in the states of New York, New Mexico and Texas (Pew Research Center, 2013), in the Mid-Atlantic Region it augmented between 96% and 148% (Passel et al., 2011). As a result, Georgia is now among the ten fastest growing states by Hispanic population increase and the state with the largest Latino population in the region. According to Escobar and Potowski (2015), such increase in the latino population occurs mostly in semi rural areas. For example, Statesboro and Tifton are among the ten cities in Georgia with a population of less than fifty thousand but with the fastest growing Latino population between 2010 and 2011. On the other hand, Hinesville and Fort Stewart are cities with populations greater than fifty thousand who had the fastest growing Latino population during those same years.
In the first part of this presentation, we will outline the currently available demographic and linguistic profile of Latinos in Georgia, focusing on the Southern regions of the state. We will dedicate the second part to outlining a study in progress that explores the profiles of Latino-origin residents in rural Georgia, their Spanish and English language use, linguistic attitudes, and social networks.
The first of its kind, this study breaks ground in research on the Hispanic population and the use of the Spanish language in rural Georgia and the Mid-Atlantic region since previous studies have determined that minority languages are usually better maintained in rural areas and because recent immigration has been identified as the most significant factor in language maintenance or shift (McCullough and Jenkins 2005) .
Brief Bio Note
Ángela Pinilla-Herrera is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign languages at Georgia Southern University. Her areas of interest include sociolinguistics, Spanish in the US, and pragmatics.
Ana Hernández is a a senior Spanish biology double major at Georgia Southern University. She is an active member of the University's Honors Program.
Keywords
Spanish in the US, Georgia, Sociolinguistics, Language Maintenance in Rural Areas
Location
Coastal Georgia Center
Presentation Year
2016
Start Date
4-8-2016 10:30 AM
End Date
4-8-2016 10:50 AM
Embargo
12-17-2015
Recommended Citation
Pinilla-Herrera, Angela and Hernández, Ana, "Hispanohablantes en el mapa rural de Georgia: datos demográficos, uso de inglés y español y la necesidad de un estudio sobre prácticas lingüísticas en la región del Medio -Atlántico." (2016). South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL). 24.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/seccll/2016/2016/24
Hispanohablantes en el mapa rural de Georgia: datos demográficos, uso de inglés y español y la necesidad de un estudio sobre prácticas lingüísticas en la región del Medio -Atlántico.
Coastal Georgia Center
While between 2000 and 2011 the Hispanic population decreased in the states of New York, New Mexico and Texas (Pew Research Center, 2013), in the Mid-Atlantic Region it augmented between 96% and 148% (Passel et al., 2011). As a result, Georgia is now among the ten fastest growing states by Hispanic population increase and the state with the largest Latino population in the region. According to Escobar and Potowski (2015), such increase in the latino population occurs mostly in semi rural areas. For example, Statesboro and Tifton are among the ten cities in Georgia with a population of less than fifty thousand but with the fastest growing Latino population between 2010 and 2011. On the other hand, Hinesville and Fort Stewart are cities with populations greater than fifty thousand who had the fastest growing Latino population during those same years.
In the first part of this presentation, we will outline the currently available demographic and linguistic profile of Latinos in Georgia, focusing on the Southern regions of the state. We will dedicate the second part to outlining a study in progress that explores the profiles of Latino-origin residents in rural Georgia, their Spanish and English language use, linguistic attitudes, and social networks.
The first of its kind, this study breaks ground in research on the Hispanic population and the use of the Spanish language in rural Georgia and the Mid-Atlantic region since previous studies have determined that minority languages are usually better maintained in rural areas and because recent immigration has been identified as the most significant factor in language maintenance or shift (McCullough and Jenkins 2005) .
