Double New Speakers? Language Ideologies of Immigrant Students in Galicia

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a community of Cape Verdean immigrants living in a small fishing town in northern Galicia. The Cape Verdean immigrants at the centre of this study are ‘new speakers’ of both Spanish and Galician, while at the same time native speakers of Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole. In this chapter, I examine the language practices and ideologies of teachers and Cape Verdean students in two Galician secondary schools. Drawing on ethnographic interviews, focus groups, and non-participant classroom observation, I explore the challenges that are faced by immigrant ‘new speakers’ who are in the process of acquiring new linguistic resources and negotiating their identity. Furthermore, I look at the interplay between the school’s promotion of (dominant) beliefs and ideologies and the immigrant community’s access to social capital.