Speaking Spanish Like a Boy Scout: Language Socialization, Resistance, and Reproduction in a Heritage Language Scout Troop

Abstract

This article offers a critical analysis of the language socialization of Spanish-speaking families in a Scout group in Metro Vancouver. Using tools of discourse analysis, the article examines the language use patterns of the participants, particularly focusing on the language ideologies to which they oriented themselves and the identities indexed by their linguistic actions. A key finding is that language ideologies and practices can unwittingly reproduce the very dominant ideologies they are designed to challenge. The concept of agency is addressed in terms of the families’ appropriation of the values of the Scout Movement in order to assert their identities and in relation to their children's active roles in the process of socialization. Finally, the author problematizes the role of identity in heritage language (HL) development, calls attention to the need for language maintenance theory to acknowledge the complexities entailed for individuals, and draws attention to the existence of complex and potentially contradictory processes of socialization.