From 'Spanish-Only' Cheap Labor to Stratified Bilingualism: Language, Markets and Institutions at the USA-Mexico Border.

Alarcón, Amado; Heyman, Josiah
Abstract:
Recent sociolinguistic research adds new economic sectors, such as the service economy, to the list of key forces that shape unequal, dynamic and complex diglossia (e.g., Spanish in the United States). However, little detailed work has been done on the linguistic characteristics of specific labor sectors in the wider contexts of ``debordering'' and ``rebordering''. In this article we develop in depth the market mechanisms and institutional constraints that shape the valuation and social expansion of Spanish in El Paso, Texas. The study finds that in sectors with low skills and low linguistic intensity, linguistic management policies are effectively ``Spanish-only''. However, as skills increase and there is a greater need for regulated communication in the occupational role, more constraints are observed on how Spanish functions in work use and professional careers.
Year:
2014
Type of Publication:
Article
Keywords:
markets, language institutionalization, El Paso, debordering, rebordering
Journal:
International Journal of the Sociology of Language
Volume:
227
Pages:
101-118
Month:
april
ISSN:
0165-2516
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2013-0090
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