Neyda Perez

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Date of Award

Spring 5-7-2025

Abstract

My linguistic background is composed of many contrasting elements. I grew up speaking Spanish and English in rural Texas, and I have an accent. Words would have a southern drawl, and when saying words that were similar in English and Spanish, I would pronounce them with a Spanish accent. In contrast, many of my language arts teachers prior to high school put great value on Standard English. My accent was often corrected and dismissed, and while it wouldn’t affect my ability to navigate a classroom, I would hold it back in class nonetheless. Due to all these components, I had to find a way to balance language in my life. I needed to speak English at school, but I couldn’t stop speaking Spanish entirely because I valued my heritage far too much. I went from speaking Spanish (sometimes “Spanglish”) at home and with my older family to slang-filled English with my friends and my younger family, and finally, to academic English in front of my teachers. I would make this switch multiple times a day without even realizing it. Furthermore, I hadn’t realized the effects that code-switching subliminally had on my life. I found myself subconsciously turning to Standard English in most situations, and I had become hesitant of the language I grew up with.

In my junior year of high school, I learned about code-switching. It didn’t take long before I understood that this was the language practice that I had been subconsciously using all of my life. Even with the knowledge of code-switching, I did not have the tools to properly combat this issue in my life. I was able to explore the topic further in a college course I took with my thesis advisor, Dr. Gavin Johnson. Not only was I provided with more resources to explore code-switching and how it affects others, Perez 3 but also I was able to apply what I was learning by conducting a small-scale study at the East Texas A&M University campus.

Advisor

Gavin Johnson

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Keywords

code-switching, language, standard English, under-valued English, Spanish

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