Biculturalism and Spanish in Contact: Sociolinguistic Case Studies. New York: Routledge, 2018. xvii + 300. (original) (raw)

Biculturalism and Spanish in Contact: Sociolinguistic Case Studies traces the development of Spanish and its contact with other languages using a sociolinguistic framework from both synchronic and diachronic angles. The chosen linguistic areas exhibit socio-historical contact with Spanish. Three sections compose this volume: (i) Border speech communities; (ii) Outcomes and perceptions in situations of language and dialect contact; and (iii) Contact and alternation: social boundaries of language switching. This collection offers new perspectives in the field of language contact and change. It serves as a valuable reference for educators, scholars, language professionals, and general readers with an interest in the vitality of the Spanish language in contact with other languages. The volume provides a historical, social, and linguistic overview of Spanish varieties in the United States, Latin America, and Spain. Each chapter presents an original study that details social factors that have shaped contact varieties of Spanish, providing principal arguments and theories about language use, contact, and change. Each chapter can be read independently and ends with a series of guided topics for discussion, reflection, and further research, enhancing its appeal as a classroom text. With its wide scope, this book is a landmark in language interaction processes and studies.