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URI [dataset] University of Southampton Faculty of Humanities Modern Languages Linguistic practices and the linguistic landscape along the U.S.-Mexico border: Translanguaging in Tijuana by Alfredo Escandón Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 18, 2019 University of Southampton Abstract Faculty of Humanities Modern Languages Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Linguistic practices and the linguistic landscape along the U.S-Mexico border: Translanguaging in Tijuana by Alfredo Escandón Borders are loci of language contact that have been understudied. Mexico and the Unites States share a border that is 1,954 miles long. Along this border we find two major languages, namely English and Spanish, and their various dialects representing two nation states and a diverse population; in addition, border economic interdependence promotes transnational flows of a diverse nature. The municipality of Tijuana, along with San Diego County, forms one of the largest cross-border conurbations with five million inhabitants. This study explores linguistic practices reflected in Tijuana’s linguistic landscape. Of the languages spoken there, English and Spanish play a principal role with Asian, other European and Amerindian languages playing a minor role that nevertheless adds to the city´s diversity. In particular, this work seeks to explore translanguaging in the linguistic landscape of Tijuana’s most renowned avenue, Avenida Revolución, and in other city areas from working-class to upscale to analyze how speakers engage in linguistic practices, and in doing so, to contribute to other works in border studies and sociolinguistics. The hard data consist of a corpus of 2,000 digital images, which were collated by relying on critical discourse analysis and on current research in translanguaging and the linguistic landscape. The guiding research questions for this study were the following: (1) What happens to linguistic practices on borders and how can these be observed through understanding the border’s linguistic landscape? (2) How are languages used in Tijuana’s landscape? and (3) How is translanguaging performed through the local linguistic landscape? The findings of the study suggest that Tijuana’s landscape shows that Tijuanans perform translanguaging in several ways: their linguistic repertoires reflect, on the one hand, contact between Baja California Spanish and other Mexican Spanish dialects on a lexical level that gives rise to lexical alternation and enrichment. On the other hand, its LL also evidences contact between English and Spanish, which gives form to lexical creativity and hybrid forms that also reflect on social practices resulting from the city’s condition and adaptation as part of the borderlands. - Table of Contents Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………… i List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iv Table of Figures………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. v Research Thesis: Declaration of Authorship………………………………………………. .............. vii Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. ix Definitions and Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………………………. x Introduction: Context of the study and research questions………………………………………..1 Context of the study……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1 Research questions………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………….2 Thesis outline………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3 Chapter 1 Border communities: The city of Tijuana……….……………………………………..6 1.1 Overview………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 6 1.2 Border communities: Tijuana’s demographics………………………………………. 6 1.3 Languages in Tijuana………………………………………………………………… 9 1.4 Socioeconomic status (SES) of the city’s population ................................................. 10 1.5 Ethnicity in the city .................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 Borders and border studies ...................................................................... 12 2.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Types of borders and boundaries ................................................................................. 12 2.3 Transnationalism .......................................................................................................... 17 2.4 Border typology ........................................................................................................... 19 2.5 Linguistic borders ........................................................................................................ 20 2.6 Borders, nation states and hybridity ............................................................................ 23 2.7 Related research in Mexico and in border situations elsewhere .................................. 28 i Chapter 3 Language: Contact, the city, and linguistic practices ................................ 37 3.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 37 3.2 Language, dialects, and diglossia ................................................................................ 37 3.3 Language contact and its ramifications ....................................................................... 43 3.4 Language contact in Mexico and in Baja California ................................................... 45 3.5 The concept of linguistic practices and its relevance in contemporary language studies ....................................................................................................................... 46 3.6 Language, linguistic practices and identity ................................................................. 54 3.7 Communities of (linguistic) practice ........................................................................... 61 Chapter 4 Linguistic practices in multilingual environments and LL ....................... 64 4.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 64 4.2 Bilingualism and multilingualism ................................................................................ 64 4.3 Code-switching ............................................................................................................ 68 4.4 Spanglish and surrounding controversies .................................................................... 74 4.5 Language crossing ....................................................................................................... 76 4.6 Metrolingualism and hybridity .................................................................................... 79 4.7 Translingual practices .................................................................................................. 81 4.8 Translanguaging .......................................................................................................... 86 4.9 Linguistic landscapes .................................................................................................. 90 Chapter 5 The data: Presenting Tijuana’s linguistic landscape ............................... 95 5.1 Overview .................................................................................................................. 95 5.2 The LL in Tijuana .................................................................................................... 95 5.3 A corpus of signs ...................................................................................................... 98 Chapter 6 Methodology ..........................................................................................103 6.1 Overview ................................................................................................................ 103 6.2 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 103 6.2.1 Choice of observation zones for the survey ................................................... 103 6.2.2 The analysis of multilingual signage ............................................................. 105 ii 6.2.3 Analysis methodology: The nature of this study and CDA ........................... 107 Chapter 7 Data analysis ..........................................................................................113 7.1 Overview ................................................................................................................ 113 7.2 Avenida Revolución’s bottom-up