Foreign language teaching methodology is confronted with the problem of teaching Spanish to English-dominant native Spanish speakers. Linguistic documentation is lacking to accurately evaluate the linguistic competence of the bilingual student, documentation also useful in the preparation of adequate instructional materials. This paper describes some morphosyntactic variants in the Spanish of bilinguals in Texas, and compares these variants to equivalents in Latin American Spanish. Data for the study come from questionnaires administered to second- and third-generation Mexican-American university students, the focus being the morphosyntax of the verb phrase. Phonological variation, including vowel reduction, vowel alternation, consonant reduction, verbal inflection, and variation due to the influence of English, is discussed. Morphosyntactic variation includes reduction in the use of certain tenses and alternation between moods, and can be explained partially in terms of semantic and contextual factors. Phonological and morphological variation is the result of a simplification process eliminating non-meaningful distinctions or irregular forms. This process occurs where the pressure exerted by educational institutions and other cultural establishments making for linguistic homogeneity is absent. It is present also in some Latin American dialects of Spanish. Syntactic variation is due to a restructuring process in which the influence of English is clear. (CLK)