Mi Lengua Madre

Abstract

This chapter will examine the effects of language development among Hispanic women and how such learning is shaped by multicultural and bilingual practices while navigating institutions of higher education. Unfortunately, new immigrants have been discouraged from using their native tongue and stop teaching it to their children; it is argued that it might create confusion if the child is not exclusively immersed in the new culture and language. Much of the research has been focused on the sociological aspect of the acquisition of English rather than on the value of maintaining their mother tongue or on the importance of a simultaneous development of a diversified sociolinguistic fund of knowledge. Due to the fact that the dominant language in the United States is English in its most important sectors—government, corporations, education, hospitals—it is not surprising that the focus is on English acquisition rather than other-language maintenance. Pew Research reported that 95% of Hispanics who continue speaking Spanish at home and those who are first-born generation indicated that it is to them important that future generations learn their mother tongue.