This paper focuses on language diversity in Chicano speech communities in the United States and its relation to the teaching of Spanish to Chicano bilinguals. Attempts to teach standard Spanish to Spanish-speakers in the United States have been unsuccessful for the most part, because the schools recognize only a single standard of "correctness" that is not always the same as that used in the communities. Attempts to teach Spanish as a mother tongue to Chicano students are reviewed, and the need to establish guidelines for the evaluation of current positions and programs is addressed. The sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and educational experiences of Chicanos are reviewed based on an assessment of the present sociolinguistic situation of Chicanos. This situation consists of a language repertoire with various codes that depart from the Mexican Spanish linguistic tradition, an asymmetrical type of bilingualism, and the use of Spanish viewed as transitional and not valued in the broader society. It is concluded that collaboration between sociolinguists and language instructors is needed since Spanish language instruction for Chicano bilinguals is not equivalent to instruction in a first language. (SW)