Spanish Speaking Institutions and Language Assimilation in the Rio Grande Valley

Authors

Alexandre Couture Gagnon, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Carlos Gutierrez-Mannix, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

The Rio Grande Valley in Texas, situated on the US-Mexico border, has a population of more than one million, of which more than 90% is of Latino descent.1 However, no public institutions formally function in Spanish, thus inhibiting institutional completeness2 and challenging long-term preservation of the language. Why does this population of Latino descent not demand Spanish-language service? Contrary to traditional research on institutional completeness, we consider institutions as the dependent variable and argue that the absence of institutions reflects the perception, within the population, of inferior status ascribed to Spanish when compared to English.

Recommended Citation

Couture-Gagnon, Alexandre, and Carlos Daniel Gutierrez-Mannix. “Spanish Speaking Institutions and Language Assimilation in the Rio Grande Valley.” Supplementary Studies in Rio Grande Valley History, edited by Milo Kearney et al., vol. 15, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley & Texas Southmost College, 2017, pp. 299–327. https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/regionalhist/15/

First Page

299

Last Page

327

Publication Title

Supplementary studies in Rio Grande Valley history