Language Use and Language Attitudes in Juárez, Mexico

Four decades after her dissertation defense at the University of New Mexico, the author of Language Use and Language Attitudes in Juarez, Mexico (1983) presents a book that guides the interested audience through a conceptual and historical framework for understanding the role that language plays in shaping community values. Divided into two parts, this Reader presents the trajectory of a community, Villa Paso del Norte, that was split into two sides: "this side" and the "other side". The village was elevated to the rank of city, and the two sides became gradually differentiated after the Mexico-U.S. War (1846-1848). Part I reconstructs episodes on the foundation, evolution, and socio-demographic transformations of the not-so-new border region. It features the works of José Vasconcelos and Mariano Azuela and their legacy on the Mexican side of the border. Part I addresses, too, the formulation of research questions and the design of the validation process. It includes additional bibliographic material and the original survey form in Spanish as presented to the subjects in 1980-1981. Part I addresses, too, the formulation of research questions and the design of the validation process. Part I is liberally spiced with autobiographical anecdotes, notes on cinematography, pop music and local folklore. It is prepared for the general audience.

       Illustrating quantitative data, Part II contains the six chapters of the original dissertation. It includes the correlation matrix with the summary of results (Appendix I) and the English version of the survey form (Appendix II). The references on the subject matter show that this work is heavily influenced by the tenets of the sociology of language and the social psychology of language. This work is enriched with data on both sociolinguistics and dialectology. It is ideal for graduate students enrolled in courses of sociolinguistics, the sociology of language, border studies and related disciplines.