Balancing between two languages

by Ernesto Gonzalez Matts
"Spanglish" is commonly perceived as a variety of Spanish marked by frequent English words and phrases used to compensate for lack of proficiency or unbalanced bilingualism. Using a rich new corpus of conversations between New Mexican Spanish-English bilinguals, I ask whether they switch from Spanish to English, as would be consistent with the notion of unbalanced bilingualism, rather than from English to Spanish. Results demonstrate that the overall direction of switching is, in fact, balanced.
Major: 
Psychology
Exhibition Category: 
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Exhibition Format: 
Poster Presentation
Campus: 
University Park
Faculty Sponsor: 
Rena Torres Cacoullos
Location: 
Alumni Hall, HUB-Robeson Center
Poster Number: 
250