Latino Language and Literacy in Ethnolinguistic Chicago

This volume--along with its companion Ethnolinguistic Chicago: Language and Literacy in the City's Neighborhoods--fills an important gap in research on Chicago and, more generally, on language use in globalized metropolitan areas. Often cited as a quintessential American city, Chicago is, and always has been, a city of immigrants. It is one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the United States and home to one of the largest and most diverse Latino communities. Although language is unquestionably central to social identity, and Chicago has been well studied by scholars interested in ethnicity, until now no one has focused--as do the contributors to these volumes--on the related issues of language and ethnicity. Latino Language and Literacy in Ethnolinguistic Chicago includes: *ethnographic studies based in home settings that focus on ways of speaking and literacy practices; *studies that explore oral language use and literacy practices in school contexts; and *studies based in community spaces in various neighborhoods.
It offers a rich set of portraits emphasizing language use as centrally related to ethnic, class, or gender identities. As such, it is relevant for anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, historians, educators and educational researchers, and others whose concerns require an understanding of "ground-level" phenomena relevant to contemporary social issues, and as a text for courses in these areas.

Marcia Farr

Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction.M. Farr, E. Dominguez Barajas, Latinos and Diversity in Global Context: Identities and Language Use at Home, School, Church, and Work. Part II: Within the Family Circle.M. Farr,¡A Mí No Me Manda Nadie! Individualism and Identity in Mexican Ranchero Speech. E. Dominguez Barajas,"Como Dice El Dicho": Social and Cognitive Aspects of Proverb Use Among Mexicanos in Chicago and Mexico. T. DelValle, "Successful" and "Unsuccessful" Literacies in Puerto Rican Families in Chicago. Part III: At School.I. Olmedo, The "Bilingual Echo": Bilingual Children as Language Mediators in a Dual Language School. K. Potowski, Latino Children's Classroom Language Use: The Role of Identity Investments. J. Cohen, Global Links From the Post-Industrial Heartland: Language, Internet Use, and Identity Development Among Second-Generation Mexican High School Girls on Chicago's Southeast Side. M. Spicer-Escalante, Writing in Two Languages/Living in Two Worlds: A Rhetorical Analysis of Mexican American Written Discourse. Part IV: Within Community Spaces.J. Hurtig, Storytelling, or the Cultural Construction of Writers in a Mexican Immigrant Neighborhood. A.U. Colomb, Native Language Literacy: Readings With Mexican Immigrant Mothers: Expanding Our Horizons by Expanding Theirs. M. Farr, Literacy and Religion: Reading, Writing, and Gender Among Mexican Women in Chicago. R. Gelb, The Magic of Verbal Art: Juanita's Santeria Initiation. J.W. Herrick, What Does It Mean to Speak the Same Language? Variability Within Mexican Identity in the Multi-Ethnic Workspace. R. Cintron, Afterword.