This study examines Puerto Rican bilinguals’ attitudes towards five speech varieties (Spanish, English, Spanish with English lexical insertions, inter-sentential code-switching, and intra-sentential code-switching). While previous research on language attitudes in Puerto Rico has exclusively employed direct methods (i.e. interviews, surveys, questionnaires), ours is the first to use the matched-guise test. The participants are students at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus, who report code-switching to different degrees. They judged the speech varieties on personality, socio-economic, and ethnicity/identity attributes; their judgements on each of the fifteen attributes were analysed with cumulative link mixed-effects models accounting for the ordinal nature of the ratings. Some findings, such as certain negative attitudes towards English and code-switching and an association between these speech varieties and attributes pertaining to higher socio-economic classes, replicate those from earlier studies in Puerto Rico. However, other results, coinciding with recent studies conducted in Puerto Rico, reflect an attitudinal change in progress, by which participants seem more accepting of lexical insertions and intra-sentential code-switching. New results emerging from this study evidence participants’ sensitivity towards different types of code-switching, hence, their awareness of the types of switching that predominate in different speech communities.

The process of reflexivity is used to critically examine the experience of conducting qualitative research with functionally diverse older adults in a post disaster context. The design of the study...

One of the common practices among some bilinguals constitutes codeswitching, which consists of the use of their two languages in the same portion of discourse without any change of interlocutor nor topic. This phenomenon occurs both in oral and written expression. There are studies on codeswitching from countries that foster Spanish-English bilingualism, such as several areas of the United States. In Puerto Rico, despite the contact between Spanish and English that is found in certain sectors of the population, this topic has received little attention. With hopes of expanding the horizons of this research, the present study examines the preferences of bilinguals living in Puerto Rico regarding different types of codeswitches, as well as their attitudes towards this phenomenon. The participants are students at the Río Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico and the data were collected by means of questionnaires. The findings on participants' preferences and attitudes were analyzed taking into account information on their acquisition, use of, and exposure to both languages. The results are discussed in light of previous studies on this bilingual practice (e.g., Belazi, Rubin and Toribio 1994; Dussias 2003; Guzzardo Tamargo 2012; Koronkiewicz 2014; Lipski 1978, 1985; Otheguy and Lapidus 2003; Pfaff 1979; Poplack 1980; Poplack, Pousada and Sankoff 1982; Timm 1975; Valdés Kroff 2016). Resumen: Una de las prácticas lingüísticas comunes de algunos bilingües es la alternancia de códigos, que consiste en el uso de sus dos lenguas en la misma porción del discurso sin cambio de interlocutor ni tema. Este fenómeno ocurre tanto en la expresión oral como en la escrita. Existen estudios sobre la alternancia de códigos en países en los que predomina el bilingüismo de español-inglés, como en varias zonas de los Estados Unidos. En Puerto Rico, a pesar del contacto que existe entre el español y el inglés en ciertos sectores de la población, el tema ha recibido poca atención. Con miras a expandir los horizontes de dicha investigación, este estudio examina las preferencias de los puertorriqueños sobre diversos tipos de alternancia, al igual que las actitudes hacia dicho fenómeno. Los participantes son estudiantes del Recinto de Río Piedras de la Universidad de Puerto Rico y los datos se recopilaron por medio de cuestionarios. Los hallazgos sobre las preferencias y las actitudes de los participantes se analizaron tomando en cuenta la información sobre su adquisición, el uso de ambas lenguas y la exposición a ellas. Los resultados se discuten a la luz de estudios previos sobre esta práctica bilingüe (e.g., Belazi, Rubin y Toribio 1994; Dussias 2003; Guzzardo Tamargo 2012; Koronkiewicz 2014; Lipski 1978, 1985; Otheguy y Lapidus 2003; Pfaff 1979; Poplack 1980; Poplack, Pousada y Sankoff 1982; Timm 1975; Valdés Kroff 2016). Résumé: L'alternance codique constitue une des pratiques courantes observées chez certains bilingues; elle consiste à alterner l'usage de deux langues dans une même partie de discours sans changer d'interlocuteur ni de sujet. Ce phénomène se rencontre aussi bien à l'oral qu'à l'écrit et a déjà fait l'objet d'études dans des pays où un bilinguisme espagnol-anglais prédomine, notamment dans plusieurs régions des États-Unis. A Porto Rico, malgré le contact entre l'espagnol et l'anglais que l'on retrouve chez une partie de la population, ce sujet d'études a reçu peu d'attention jusqu'à présent. Afin d'élargir les horizons de cette recherche, la présente étude examine les préférences des bilingues vivant à Porto Rico concernant les différents types d'alternance codique, ainsi que leurs attitudes à l'égard de ce phénomène. Les participants sont des étudiants du campus de Río Piedras de l'Université de Porto Rico, et les données ont été recueillies au moyen de questionnaires. Les conclusions sur les préférences et les attitudes des participants ont été analysées en tenant compte de données sur l'acquisition, l'emploi et l'exposition aux deux langues. Les résultats sont analysés à la lumière des études antérieures sur cette pratique bilingue (e.g., Belazi, Rubin et Toribio 1994; Dussias 2003; Guzzardo Tamargo 2012; Koronkiewicz 2014; Lipski 1978, 1985; Otheguy et Lapidus 2003; Pfaff 1979; Poplack 1980; Poplack, Pousada et Sankoff 1982; Timm 1975; Valdés Kroff 2015).

Psycholinguistic research on gender-inclusive language has mainly focused on the processing of stereotyped nouns, while other work has centered on the processing of gender-inclusive morphemes (GIMs). This study focuses on Spanish and, by means of an eye-tracking technique, it examines the early and late processing of pronouns ending with the gender-inclusive morpheme –x, in comparison to those ending with the canonical masculine morpheme –o and the feminine morpheme –a. It also considers emerging trends between –x and extralinguistic factors, such as gender identity, sexual orientation, experience with gender studies, and attitudes towards GIMs. Spanish-speaking university students in Puerto Rico completed a sentence reading task and a questionnaire that collected information pertaining to four extralinguistic factors. Linear mixed-effects models display that processing –x is more costly than –o in all early and late reading measures, but more costly than –a only in some early and late reading measures. Furthermore, the random-effects structure showed an inverse relationship between these differences: the smaller the difference between –x and –o, the larger the difference between –a and –x. Emerging trends with extralinguistic factors suggest future studies should further explore their relationship with gender-inclusive morpheme –x. For a holistic understanding of gender-inclusive Spanish processing at the intersection of language and gender, these findings evince the importance of examining GIMs in comparison to both canonical morphemes and measuring both early and late processing.