An integrated multi-generational model for language maintenance and shift: The case of Spanish in the Southwest

Many researchers investigating the maintenance and loss of non-English languages in the U.S. base their work on fairly homogeneous language groups, those who have immigrated here during a relatively restricted period of time. The European-origin migrations during the early decades of the twentieth century represent these types of language communities. However, Spanish is not strictly an immigrant language when compared to other non-English, non-indigenous languages. It shares in common with indigenous languages the fact that it was spoken in what is now the U.S. before the arrival of English speakers. However, it is unlike indigenous languages in that it continues to be reinforced by the arrival of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Given the complexities of this bilingual population, the purpose of the present article is to examine the variables that set apart the Spanish-speaking populations of the U.S., and particularly of the Southwest, in order to provide a revised model for language maintenance and shift that goes beyond the limitations of classic intergenerational models.