Join us as we welcome Professor Ana Celia Zentella (professor emerita, UC San Diego) to discuss the political, social, and educational barriers that California’s Spanish-English bilinguals must overcome to ensure a bilingual future for themselves and their children. She suggests ways that students, parents, teachers, university faculty and community groups can contribute successfully.

This event is free and open to the public with free parking.

California is the state with the largest number of Spanish speakers in the USA; the approximately 15 million Spanish speakers represent 39.09 % of the state’s population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024). The large numbers and long history of Spanish in California (as the official administrative language from 1542 to 1848) suggest the continuity of the language and bilingualism are ensured. But the state’s Spanish speakers, primarily of Mexican and other increasingly diverse origins, cross many political, economic, racial, and linguistic fronteras to arrive, survive, and thrive in California. The bilingual future of immigrants and their children and grandchildren is impeded by multiple barriers, beyond concrete walls at the border. We can and must ensure un futuro bilingüe with our teaching, research, and community outreach.

Major barreras include the demonization of Latinus and our Spanish and English by many – including political leaders – restrictive employment policies, and limited educational programs. In southern California, studies of border high school Latinus, Anglo university students, and transfronterizus – those who cross the border from Mexico to study in California – reveal that monolingual English speakers are not the only promoters of dismissive attitudes towards diverse ways of speaking Spanish and English. Labels like “fresas,” “nacos,” “sociales,” and “pochos mochos” build intra-Latinu walls and impede bilingual fluency, and Spanglish is widely misunderstood and maligned.

LEVANTA LA VOZ in the classroom and the community!

We must advocate for effective bilingual instruction that confronts these barriers, and organize parent workshops and dance and poetry projects that involve the community. Student and faculty research should be shared with political leaders, newspapers, and social media platforms. And let’s all celebrate International Mother Language Day on February 21st in creative ways. But what do you think will help guarantee el futuro bilingüe de California?

This event is the keynote address of the 1st Symposium on Spanish-English bilingualism in California, which will bring together leading scholars investigating the linguistic practices and patterns of variation across Spanish-English bilinguals throughout the state of California. This inaugural symposium will serve to engage researchers in cross-campus collaborations and interdisciplinary initiatives. Please visit the Symposium event page for more information.

Ana Celia Zentella, professor emerita (University of California, San Diego and Hunter College), is an anthro-political linguist recognized for her research on US Latinu languages, language socialization, “Spanglish,” and “English-only” laws. In 1996, Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger declared October 30 “Doctor Ana Celia Zentella Day” for “her leading role in building appreciation for language diversity and respect for language rights.” In 2015, the Latin American Studies Association’s Latino Section honored Zentella as Public Intellectual of the Year. In 2016, she received the Award for Public Outreach & and Community Service from the Society for Linguistic Anthropology. Professor Zentella was Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022, and received the Distinguished Career Award from the Association of Latina/o and Latinx Anthropologists in 2023.

This event is sponsored by the Bilingualism Research Lab, Multilingual Hispanic Speech in CA, the Comparative Language Sciences Project, and the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics.

If you have disability-related needs, please contact us at thi@ucsc.edu or call 831-459-1274 by October 4, 2024.