This study examines Puerto Rican bilinguals' attitudes towards five speech varieties (Spanish, English, Spanish with English lexical insertions, inter-sentential code-switching, and intra-sentential code-switching). While previous research on language attitudes in Puerto Rico has exclusively employed direct methods (i.e. interviews, surveys,…

The purpose of this study is to validate the following hypothesis: First, spoken accents have a major influence and can affect listeners' personal attitudes and second, native Puerto Rican speakers will speak English as a second language without wanting to sound like a North American English speaker. This study will contribute to research on the…

A great deal of research concerning the acquisition of English morphology as a second language has been carried out in order to explain some typical stages in the acquisition of the English-s morphemes and the difficulty confronted by second language learners. According to Siegel (2003), interlanguage and functional transfer both play a crucial…

This dissertation investigated the speech productions of the implosive -r consonant by U.S.-born Puerto Rican and Dominican Heritage Language Spanish speakers in New York. The following main research questions were addressed: 1) Do heritage language Caribbean Spanish speakers evidence the same variation with the /?/ consonant in the implosive…

Framed within Ruiz's language-as-resource orientation, this article uses data from a college ESL classroom where a translanguaging approach was used for the teaching of a novel. After defining key terms, the article describes the linguistic context of higher education in Puerto Rico and its influence on one instructor's Basic English course. Using…

This article illustrates how a classroom community characterized by "confianza"--a feeling of mutual understanding, respect, and emotional closeness--facilitated the English language learning of Spanish-speaking students in a content-based English as a second language class at a Puerto Rican public university. To understand the processes…

Various studies analyzing pronominal subject expression in Spanish have found that switch-reference, the relationship between two consecutive subjects, is the factor that most commonly constrains speakers' choice of a null or explicit subject personal pronoun (SPP) (Cameron, 1995; Flores-Ferran, 2002). When the second subject in a sequence differs…

This study examines writing apprehension in bilinguals, a common problem among Puerto Rican college students who take composition courses in both their native Spanish and English as a second language. A questionnaire designed to determine the sources of apprehension was administered to three student groups: graduate students of English, freshman…

Use of the Cognitive Skills Inventory (CSI) in cross-cultural studies was investigated by comparing responses of 348 English-speaking, 142 bilingual Puerto Rican, and 109 monolingual Spanish college students. Analyses illustrate a stable and reliable factor structure across cultures for the CSI and its Spanish translation. (SLD)

The theoretical and pedagogical issues emanating from the practice of teaching Spanish to Hispanic bilingual college students are discussed. Distinctions are made between standard Spanish and the two most important United States varieties of Chicano and Puerto Rican Spanish, and structural differences are examined. Teaching suggestions are…

Two hundred nine Puerto Rican students in East Coast colleges, from mixed bilingual backgrounds, were administered four matched pairs of deductive reasoning tests in Spanish and English. Measures of reading comprehension in these two languages were also collected. Results indicated that performance on logical reasoning tests in each language can…

Research findings are presented on five and one-half years operation of a special college program for disadvantaged students (mainly black and Puerto Rican), with remediation, counseling, tutoring, and stipends as principal supportive services. Initially very selective, the program subsequently reduced academic admission standards; most recent…

Addresses the social psychological paradox of learning a language, which in one interethnic situation represents the "ingroup" language, while in another interethnic context, it represents the "outgroup" language, a situation characterizing the language-learning experience of most Puerto Rican return migrants (PRRMs). (25…

In an effort to bridge the gap between Spanish foreign language classes for the monolingual English speaker and the needs of the Hispanic bilingual student wishing to have Spanish instruction, a bilingual teacher trainer has designed Spanish courses specifically for the Hispanic bilingual. To give recognition to bilinguals' existing linguistic…

The locus of control, whether internal or external, is an influential concept in second-language learning. One observes it, for example, in Puerto Rican students returning to Puerto Rico to take university-level courses. Explanations address a teaching method relying on use of problems with examples in such a way as to empower students. This also…