Bonnie
Urciuoli’s article “Whose Spanish?
The tension between Linguistic Correctness and Cultural Identity”
explores the complex relationship between bilingual students’ language and
culture. Urciuoli begins her
article by talking about the importance of ethnic diversity that is stressed in
higher education. In many
institutions it is often very important for a university to represent many
different cultures and have a diverse student population. Even NYU prides itself for having one
of the most diverse student bodies in the country. But as multicultural institutions are encouraged,
there are certain specifications that seem to limit people to identify with a
certain culture. With the ideology
of a monoglot standard English that is accepted as “good” English and is
believed to be readily available for everyone, those with Latino immigrant
background are placed in a “sociolinguistic situation described as
chiquitafication: the trivialization of their knowledge of Spanish (as non-European),
the disparagement of their knowledge of English (as a- or semi-lingual) and the
collective identification of such speakers with a generalized mass or horde
(Urciuoli 3). One’s background in
a foreign language can benefit them in certain situations such as an educational
or from a career standpoint, but it can also lead to questioning their
legitimacy when identifying with a culture.
As
it is generally assumed and explained in Urciuoli’s article, language plays a
huge part in the make up of culture. Because of this, bilingualism can be seen in many
different ways as either beneficial or harmful. When bilingualism is learned in school through Spanish
educational programs, it is seen as correct. But when someone is familiar with another language through
family heritage and background, it can often be seen as incorrect. This idea of an authentic language is
seen in schools and institutions.
For those who grew up speaking a certain dialect of Spanish (i.e.
Dominican, Cuban, Puerto Rican) their way of speaking was incorrect compared to
what was being taught. In this
respect certain cultural aspects of language are being denied when cultural
awareness is encouraged.
This
idea of authenticity that is represented in schools is very different from the
way people with Latino heritage judge one another as authentic. Those who grew up speaking
predominantly English are criticized and judged as not being authentic. Authenticity is also judged by the way
you talk or don’t talk. For Julia,
a Puerto Rican teacher who was appointed as the Latino club sponsor because of
her background, her identity was judged by her students in the club because of
the way she spoke. One of the
students told her that she did not speak like a Puerto Rican and so for Julia
“that was definitive. The verdict
was in, [she] was not a Puerto Rican, [she] couldn’t claim to be Puerto Rican”
(Urciuoli 21). Although she
identified herself as being a Puerto Rican, she was made to feel like she
couldn’t identify as that because that would be inauthentic.
Just
as many re-evaluate their identities through this lens of authenticity, many
people who grew up in a Puerto Rican or Dominican household “rethink themselves
as Latino” when coming to a university environment (Urciuoli 6). When entering the university
environment many people with Latino backgrounds may try to figure out what
distinguishes them as Latino or how they identify with their background. As Urciuoli shows, many students’
experiences are very different in terms of how they define themselves as Latino
and how they relate to their culture, or even how they construct this idea of
culture. As Gina describes it
after graduating “I definitely have created this [sense of] what it is to be Latino
for me, and what is, the Latino culture, for me. I think a lot of people come in, being minority students,
formulate their own Latino culture or black culture” (Urciuoli 10). With this idea that a Latino identity
is formulated and can mean something different to a specific person, how can
culture and language be questioned by others as being authentic or
inauthentic? How can someone deny
someone else his or her right to identify with a certain culture? While it is so important to have a
diverse student body on college campuses, isn’t it backwards to limit Spanish
in school to only having one way of speaking it?
While
bilingualism is becoming more socially relevant and is becoming more important,
there are still ways in which it is being suppressed. But the multicultural image is being supported in media and
television. Dora the Explorer, a children’s show on Nickelodeon, is about a speaking-speaking
Latina girl who faces obstacles throughout an episode and always overcomes them
in the end. The show incorporates Spanish
vocabulary into its many adventures.
In an NPR’s Morning Edition piece,
“Me Llamo Dora: An Explorer in Modern America,” (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89531478)
the creators explain, “one of [their] goals with
Dora was to position the whole idea of being multicultural as being
super-special.” They created Dora
as a pan-Latino so that anyone with a Latino background can relate to her. In the show they avoid using terms that
can mean more than one thing for certain dialects. They also created Dora as a non-stereotypical looking
Latina, giving her a tomboyish look with short dark hair as opposed to long
wavy hair. Dora the Explorer promotes bilingualism giving children the
building blocks to learn Spanish as well as representing the typically
unrepresented Latino population.
Bilingualism
has become more accepted in culture and society, but there are still many
issues that people who are bilingual or people with a foreign heritage
face. While schools encourage
foreign languages like Spanish, it promotes a limited bilingualism that shows
there is only one correct way to speak Spanish and that one form is superior
over the others, which discourages natural Spanish speakers of certain
dialects. While others have the
right to identify with their background or heritage, others deny them of this
because of the way they speak or don’t speak. It seems like in our society that promotes diversity and
cultural differences, there are major setbacks present even in the efforts to
promote it such as bilingual education.
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