Spanish Language Shift Reversal on the US-Mexico Border and the Extended Third Space

Abstract

Language shift reversal (LSR) is defined as a change in progress affecting Spanish language use along the US-Mexicoborder and some other extendedareasof the country during the past few decades. LSR is contrasted with reversing language shift (RLS), the result of official language policy and planning. Samples of LSR in San Diego County are presented in connection with reactions towards bilingual education in a space loaded with ambivalence. In this scenario, a reflectionon interculturalcommunication is offered in the light of the international trade agreement with Mexico. At present the US-Mexico border is inhabited by millions of speakers of English and Spanish, two post-imperial languages of impeccable credentials and literary traditions.Although little attention has been given to language contact in this important region dividing the First World from the Third World, it is well-established that this border is unique, for it is the only one where a fully developed industrialised society and military and economic superpower is found in direct juxtaposition with an ‘emergent ’ nation. The world’s largest border is ideal to examine sociolinguistic phenomena (e.g. language variation, bilingualism, diglossia, language maintenance and language shift, language attitudes, etc.) resulting from intense, multidirectional, and unequal social contacts. In this milieu, the reversal of language shift is a plausible occurrence, given the rapid growth of the Spanish-speaking origin population (SSOP) of the area. Language shift reversal (LSR) is a concept advanced herein and exemplified with data from San Diego County (SDC), the third largest city of the state of California. This reversal in progress has been described in other border communities (cf. Hidalgo, 1995; Jaramillo, 1995) which have gained a considerable proportion of Spanish speakers over the past four decades. Some of these communities (e.g.,