Grammatical convergence, the achievement of structural similarity among languages, is widely considered to be an inevitable consequence of bilingualism, and code-switching, the alternation of different languages in a single speech event, has been assumed to be a key mechanism in such convergence. This study investigates the role of code-switching in promoting grammatical convergence in the long-standing New Mexican bilingual community, where there is regular code-switching between Spanish and English. This research targets patterns of first person singular subject (yo 'I') expression, and tests the hypothesis of grammatical convergence via code-switching through comparing the structure of variable first singular subject expression in (1) monolingual varieties of Spanish and English, (2) bilinguals of varying levels of bilingualism, and (3) the presence versus the absence of code-switching. Given observed effects of monolingual and bilingual structural priming, or repetition of the same grammatical form, this research is expected to demonstrate that cross-linguistic priming plays a role in ostensible convergence by modestly increasing the rate of a parallel structure in the presence of code-switching without involving change in language-particular grammatical patterns.
This research advances the understanding of the language varieties spoken by bilinguals. In recording the speech of New Mexican bilinguals, it will contribute to the documentation of the oldest surviving Spanish dialect on the continent. The materials that arise from this research can be incorporated into the development of pedagogical resources for heritage language teaching at various levels throughout the United States. Finally, while labels such as "Spanglish" may imply that switching between languages involves haphazard language mixing and leads to grammatical deterioration, by showing the systematic structure of bilingual discourse, this research promotes greater public awareness of the realities of US Spanish and helps to counter the stigmatization of bilingual language varieties.
