“Is that what I sound like when I speak?”: Attitudes towards Spanish, English, and code-switching in two Texas border towns

This study investigates language attitudes towards English, Spanish and code-switching in two Texas border cities (Laredo and Edinburg) by means of a matched guise test with three attribute dimensions (solidarity, status, and personal appeal). It was found that there were no significant overall differences between attitudes in the two cities. As anticipated, code-switching received the lowest ratings in all dimensions; English and Spanish were matched for status, and Spanish received the highest scores for solidarity. When the variable of gender was considered (both for raters and speakers), differences in ratings emerged, evidence that in both cities the three varieties play different roles in mediating gender relations.