In the United States, dominant language ideology validates the use of Standardized English as the only appropriate linguistic practice (Lippi-Green, 1994; Flores & Rosa, 2015). In educational settings, dominant language ideology entails the beliefs in language standardization and monolingualism (Farr & Song, 2011). The present case study…

Our research focuses on the creation and reinforcement of overgeneralized and inaccurate depictions of language behavior on the Internet. Misrepresentation of language behavior spreads easily by exposure to unchallenged depictions. We posit that such stereotypes have already influenced our students, consumers of the Internet, by introducing,…

This morphosyntactic dissertation study compares the use of MOOD (indicative & subjunctive) in first- and second-generation Spanish speakers in New York City. The data for this study are from a transcription of naturalistic Spanish conversations with New Yorkers of different generations, representing the six primary Spanish-speaking groups in…

Based on ethnographic research in a diverse New York City neighborhood, this article examines issues surrounding the practice of crossing from children's perspectives. Crossing refers to the use of language varieties to which one does not have conventional access, practices that could be disparaging or affiliative. The author explores how children…

This study examines a major linguistic event underway in New York City. Of its 10 million inhabitants, nearly a third are speakers of Spanish. This community is socially and linguistically diverse: Some speakers are recent arrivals from Latin America while others are lifelong New Yorkers. Some have origins in the Caribbean, the historic source of…

In this article I describe the work of Leonard Covello, a New York City language educator and high school principal of the early 20th century who argued for Italian and Spanish heritage language (HL) preservation in schools. Although Covello promoted standard language Italian and Spanish in the HL classroom, he also encouraged HL students to use…

For many American youths, school is not only an academic endeavor, but a social one. This study identifies the ways in which speakers use lexical choices in the creation of their linguistic identity and style. This dissertation centers on a group of students at Henry Fleming Middle School, located on the eastern end of Long Island. The students,…

Strategies for deciding which language to use when forms part of the sociolinguistic competence of speakers who can speak more than one language. Language choices are shaped by a number of factors, including linguistic proficiency of both speaker and interlocutor, the ingroup or outgroup status of each, and the setting in which an exchange takes…