Why is Spanglish more popular than Spanish and English among US Hispanics? A communication accommodation theory perspective

Abstract

The blend of Spanish and English found in Hispanic-densely populated cities across the USA is known as ‘Spanglish’. It represents one of the most, significantly understudied, contemporary linguistic phenomena in the country. Using communication accommodation theory, this multi-modal (qualitative and quantitative), multi-phase study aims to understand the role that Spanglish plays in the lives of US Hispanics aged 18–34 years. In Phase 1, a qualitative study (n = 40) uncovered that the use of Spanglish is in part driven by a number of sociolinguistic factors including linguistic competence, social identification and ethnic pride. In Phase 2, a quantitative study (n = 400) found that Spanglish is used more often than Spanish and English across a number of domains (eg home, social, work and school). These findings contradict the oversimplified view of generation Z Hispanics as monolingual speakers who tend to favour English over Spanish, and the long-held general notion that Spanish is the preferred language of Hispanics in the USA. Corporations should consider leveraging the intersectionality of Spanish and English when marketing to younger Hispanics and embrace the linguistic diversity that not only defines how this generation communicates, but how they view themselves. Implications for marketers and researchers are included in this paper.