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    Attitudes Toward Spanish and Code-Switching in Belize: Stigmatization and Innovation in the Spanish Classroom


    Balam, Osmer and de Prada Pérez, Ana (2017) Attitudes Toward Spanish and Code-Switching in Belize: Stigmatization and Innovation in the Spanish Classroom. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 16 (1). pp. 17-31. ISSN 1534-8458

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    Abstract

    Through the analysis of survey and interview data, we investigated the attitudes and perceptions of 32 multilingual teachers of Spanish in Belize, a code-switching (CS) context where Spanish is in intense contact with English and Belizean Kriol. More specifically, we examined teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward Spanish and CS and teachers’ perceptions vis-à-vis students’ attitudes toward Spanish instruction. The study revealed that whereas some teachers held negative views of Northern Belizean Spanish, they did not markedly perceive standard Spanish as “better” than the local variety of Belizean Spanish. The analysis also showed that most teachers had a positive predisposition to the use of CS as a pedagogical tool in their classrooms, a finding that suggests that ultra-normative attitudes toward Spanish varieties are not prevalent among these educators. In view of students’ attitudes, teachers concurred that students had overwhelmingly negative attitudes toward standard Spanish, in line with previous findings. We argue that educational reforms and status-planning efforts are vital to destigmatize Spanish and to promote its maintenance alongside Belizean Kriol and English.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Belize; code-switching; language attitudes; sociolinguistics; Spanglish; Spanish;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures > Spanish
    Item ID: 13027
    Identification Number: 10.1080/15348458.2016.1260455
    Depositing User: Ana DePrada Perez
    Date Deposited: 09 Jun 2020 15:14
    Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Language, Identity & Education
    Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/13027
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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