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| Frank Gómez |
Frank Gómez
05/13/2005
Just when we were getting used to saying proudly that Spanish is no
longer a “foreign language” but the “second language”
of the United States, a report appears that questions the assumption
that Spanish use is growing. State University of New York at Albany
researchers say that English is the preferred language of children
and grandchildren of Latin American immigrants.
This news surely gave comfort to Samuel Huntington and others who
believe Spanish-speaking immigrants endanger “American”
culture.
The study holds that forecasts of growth of Spanish use overlook forces
that bring about assimilation. Conducted by Richard Alba, director
of the Lewis Mumford Center for Urban and Regional Research at SUNY-Albany,
it notes that pursuit of the “American dream” through
entry into the mainstream drives immigrants and their descendants
toward English.
Based on 2000 Census data, the study found that 71% of third- or fourth-generation
Hispanics spoke English exclusively at home (vs. 64% in 1990). It
points out, however, that exceptions exist along the US-Mexico border
and among Dominicans in New York City who maintain close ties with
their homeland.
The issue merits a second look. The media reported widely on the story,
but appeared not to ask some obvious questions. Is the 2000 Census
the right source for assimilation and language usage trends? Do other
studies confirm or contradict the SUNY findings? Do other factors
help boost Spanish use?
The Power of Media
Spanish language media growth has been phenomenal. Hispanic print
is so attractive that mainstream companies – even foreign
investors – are buying or creating publications.
Having done their homework, they conclude that their shareholders
will be served by investing in Spanish language properties. Hernán
Guaracao, publisher of Philadelphia weekly El Día, and president
of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), welcomes
them. Their entry, he says, “forces us to sharpen our business
skills and practices to remain competitive.”
In 2004, Recoletos, a Spanish company, became the principal investor
in the new Rumbo dailies in Austin, Houston, McAllen-Harlingen and
San Antonio – and these localities already had Spanish language
weeklies! The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
compete in the metro market through their new Spanish language dailies.
A Canadian firm, Impremedia, has put together a company that includes
La Opinión in Los Angeles, El Diario-La Prensa in New York,
and La Raza, a Chicago weekly. These respected, long-established
papers were founded and are still run by Latinos. They compete in
those same markets with Hoy, the New York City daily founded six
years ago by The Tribune Company, and which expanded to Chicago
and Los Angeles in 2004.
NBC acquired Telemundo, giving that network the muscle needed to
compete with Univision. And Mexican media giant Editorial Televisa
late in the year bought controlling interest in Latino-founded Hispanic
Publishing Co. Other examples abound of investments in Spanish language
media. They are founded on market research and projections of demographic
growth, tastes, language use and other factors. They would not take
the risk unless their studies indicated growth – not decline
– in Spanish.
Hemispheric Demographics
We live in a Spanish-speaking hemisphere. English is a minority
language in the Americas. Birthrates in Latin America far exceed
those of the U.S. and Canada, and weak economies, turmoil and the
quest for opportunity will continue to thrust Spanish-speakers on
our shores for decades to come.
Our Spanish-speaking population, therefore, will be renewed by
flows of native speakers. And these immigrants will have more children
than other residents. Admittedly, their children and grandchildren
want to learn English. They see it as a ticket to educational and
economic opportunity. But they do not necessarily discard Spanish
and Hispanic cultural attributes.
Pride in Heritage
Something innate in Hispanic cultures makes Spanish hard to shed.
Catholic theologian Michael Novak wrote a book 30-odd years ago
entitled “The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnic.” He held
that earlier waves of immigrants (primarily Western and Eastern
European) lamented their rush to “Americanize” and losing
their languages and cultures.
In Northern New Mexico, without immigrant renewal, descendants
of Spanish settlers of three and four hundred years ago still speak
Spanish. Relatively isolated, they have retained, and take pride
in, Spanish. Mexican Americans in the southwest, strongly influenced
by Mexico and Mexican immigration, have also retained Spanish.
The best example of the retentive powers of Spanish are Sephardic
Jews who, ousted from Spain five centuries ago, migrated to Istanbul
and Morocco. Others ended up in Israel, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.
Those Sephardic communities, even in linguistically isolated Istanbul,
still speak Ladino, their ancient Spanish language. After five centuries,
Spanish thrives – without renewal, without immigration.
The Bicultural and Bilingual
Writing in Hispanic Magazine last September, Argentina-born Marcela
Miguel Berland described a neglected market segment she calls the
“bi-bi’s,” or the bilingual and bicultural. A
new generation of Hispanics, they navigate easily from mainstream
to Latino culture. Founder of LatinInsights, a research-based strategic
communications company, Berland reports that recent studies show
growing pride in heritage, culture, values and language among this
group in particular and among Hispanics in general.
Like Novak’s “unmeltables,” Latinos are discovering
that they do not have to give up culture and language to assimilate,
to become “real Americans.” Assimilation does not require
the surrender of cultural and linguistic attributes. One can acquire
English and mainstream American values and still be a Spanish-speaking
Hispanic American. Too often assimilation is portrayed as an “either-or
proposition.” Not true. It is a “bilingual, bicultural
is better” proposition, a “value added” proposition.
Corporations, including toy manufacturers and publishers, have
discovered this trend, often without the benefit of empirical data.
Barnes & Noble, Borders and other bookstores feature Spanish
language sections appealing to Spanish speakers who want to retain
the language – and want their children and grandchildren to
speak it as well.
LeapFrog markets a full line of educational toys in English and
Spanish. In fact, its much-acclaimed LeapPad learning system, with
more than 60 books in English and Spanish in its “library,”
is one of the most popular toys in the country. The LeapPad is increasingly
popular among Hispanic parents who want their children to learn
songs, words and games that they learned as children. And non-Hispanic
parents who see the future of Spanish buy them to start their children
toward bilingualism.
Berland’s bilingual-bicultural market segment comprises a
younger generation that is constantly bombarded by media messages
– in English and Spanish. Videos, music, magazines, television
programs, games… the list goes on. “The segment is growing,”
she states, “and pride in language is growing. Marketers can
capitalize on the segment by studying it, understanding it and reaching
it – in both languages.”
The Future of Spanish
The Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed
Latinos in 2002, finding that the “second generation is substantially
bilingual, and the third-plus generations are primarily English
speakers.” By the third or later generations, English-dominant
Hispanics were 78%, vs. 22% who were bilingual, and 0 % were Spanish-dominant.
Bilingualism in the second generation, significantly, was slightly
greater than English-dominant (47% vs. 46%). Now, English-dominant
does not mean that Latinos surveyed did not use Spanish. It meant
that they preferred English. The SUNY-Albany study said basically
the same thing. After the third generation, Hispanics are more comfortable
in English. Should this surprise?
The SUNY-Albany study was widely reported – but not analyzed.
The inescapable conclusion is that more research is needed. Experts
should also look at studies conducted by or for Univision, NBC-Telemundo,
the investors in and creators of new publications, the National
Association of Hispanic Publications and other organizations. The
2000 Census, so unreliable in other ways, may not be the best prognosticator
of Spanish use.
If the marketers, the manufacturers, Marcela Berland and others
are correct, and if history is any measure, then pride, immigration,
renewal, the media and other forces will make Spanish use continue
to grow in the United States. And this is good.
Note: Frank Gómez is a retired senior Foreign Service Officer
and corporate executive, and an adjunct professor of translation
at New York University. He is a member of Intérpretes y Traductores
de Español (InTradES-Apuntes, Inc.), a non-profit association
based in New York City. He can be reached at fgomez@LatinInsights.com.
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