Spanish 382 - Spanish in the US

This course offers an exploration of Spanish in the United States from a sociolinguistic perspective. Students will delve into the linguistic, historical, demographic, social, educational, and political dimensions of Spanish as it exists in this country. The course examines both the formal linguistic structures of Spanish in the U.S. and the vibrant everyday social lives of Spanish speakers, with a specific focus on varieties spoken in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Topics include regional differences, bilingualism, code-switching, language ideologies, Spanish as a heritage language, and Spanish/English contact, Spanish in the U.S. media and Spanish in Healthcare contexts in the U.S. Students will gain a deeper awareness of the sociohistorical contexts that have shaped the presence of Spanish in the U.S., develop an understanding of the factors that influence language maintenance, and identify the distinctive features of U.S. Spanish varieties. The course also explores dialect contact phenomena, the diverse profiles of Spanish learners in the U.S. (e.g. heritage learners vs. L2 learners) and their impact on language acquisition, and the various types of language contact phenomena evident in the speech of Spanish/English bilinguals. In addition, students will become familiar with the characteristics of the English spoken by some Hispanic/Latinx groups in the U.S. Students will also develop practical skills in using surveys to gather and analyze data, and in drawing meaningful conclusions from their findings. (Gen. Ed. SB, DU)