Aurelio M. Espinosa

Bio: Aurelio M. Espinosa is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mexican Spanish & Latin Americans. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 28 publications receiving 126 citations.

The Sanitizing of U.S. Spanish in Academia.

Abstract: The rapidly increasing number of Spanish speakers in the United States has resulted in increased national linguistic tensions. Groups such as U.S. English aim to restrict the use of all non-English languages in general, and Spanish in particular, in certain public domains. At the same time, another group, which includes a nucleus of language scholars, is engaging in efforts to change or suppress the use of U.S. Spanish, particularly in the domain of education. In this article, the author asserts that the arguments put forward by the latter group are based principally on the attitudes of its leaders and not on carefully constructed linguistic bases. He offers an alternative model, one suggested by Cameron (1995), as a means of carrying out well-reasoned debate on the use of the Spanish language for academic purposes in the United States.

Bilingualism in the Community: Code-switching and Grammars in Contact

Abstract: Does the use of two languages by bilinguals inevitably bring about grammatical change? Does switching between languages serve as a catalyst in such change? It is widely held that linguistic code-switching inherently promotes grammatical convergence - languages becoming more similar to each other through contact; evidence for this, however, remains elusive. A model of how to study language contact scientifically, Bilingualism in the Community highlights variation patterns in speech, using a new bilingual corpus of English and Spanish spontaneously produced by the same speakers. Putting forward quantitative diagnostics of grammatical similarity, it shows how bilinguals' two languages differ from each other, aligning with their respective monolingual benchmarks. The authors argue that grammatical change through contact is far from a foregone conclusion in bilingual communities, where speakers are adept at keeping their languages together, yet separate. The book is compelling reading for anyone interested in bilingualism and its importance in society.

U.S. Spanish and Education Global and Local Intersections

Abstract: S as we know it today, made its debut as “a world language” at the very end of the 15th century in a highly heterogeneous languagescape—the newly constructed nation-state of Spain and the newly found Americas.1 Spanish grappled with bringing together the many forms of Romance spoken in Castile and Aragon at the same time when it was brought to new shores where people spoke in other ways. Thus, what we know as Spanish today emerged from contact with people who languaged very differently, both within the Iberian Peninsula and in the overseas colonies. Interestingly, the spread of “Spanish” was not simply imposed by the Crown on its subjects by coercion but was rather a product of hegemony. It was the authority gained by the wealth in the colonies, its coloniality (Mignolo, 2000), that gave Spanish its power and prestige and the impetus to spread in the Peninsula itself. From its very beginning, Spanish became the language of Empire as a result of its colonial condition. In much the same way, Spanish today has achieved global status2 precisely because of its coloniality. It is the colonial relationship that Latin America has maintained with the United States that has resulted in the presence of 50.6 million Latinos in the United States, representing 16% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). And it is the buying power of subaltern subjects, now in one of the most powerful countries in the world, that is giving Spanish its authority as it positions itself globally. However, as in the 16th century, it is not the languaging of colonial subjects— that is, their language practices—that are favored. As we will see, the language planning agencies of Spain, and those operating in Latin America, continue to attempt to impose certain language regimes on those they still consider colonial subjects. As the Spanish state exploits the great number of Spanish speakers in the United States to bolster the sociolinguistic situation of Spanish within its own national borders and

Reclaiming the "F" Word, or Being and Becoming Postwestern

Abstract: the recent Columbian quincentennary, historians of the American West find themselves in a strange position. Their research specialty, the frontier history of the European occupation of Native America from the East Coast to Alaska and Hawai'i, has exploded into public consciousness. The breakup of colonial empires, fighting over multiculturalism, and the commercial success of films like Dances with Wolves and Black Robe have kin-

Queering the Borderlands: The Challenges of Excavating the Invisible and Unheard

Abstract: L'A. evoque les imaginaires decoloniaux a travers un regard queer et un roman historique, centres sur le desir lesbien et l'intentionnalite de l'acteur. Sa critique d'une historiographie colonialiste et heteronormative suggere de nouvelles methodologies et theories pour desidentifier, desencastrer et decoloniser l'histoire des territoires et des corps chicanas/os de la frontiere. Pour decoloniser l'histoire et l'imagination historique, il faut decouvrir les voix du passe qui honorent des experiences multiples et permettre des possibilites et des interpretations differentes de ce qui souvent n'est pas entendu.