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Spanish in New Mexico:
Diversity of a Conquering Language 

Sheri A. Armijo 
 

“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we want is for
things to remain the same but get better.” (unknown)

Academic Setting 

Cochiti Elementary is a school located in the beautiful North Valley of Albuquerque. Ninety percent of the school’s population come from families whose heritage language is Spanish.  A heritage language is defined as a language other than English, which is spoken in a student’s home.   It is very fortunate that Cochiti Elementary school is a place where the maintenance of the heritage language, Spanish, is valued.    

            This value of cultural diversity is reflected in the school’s Mission Statement:  “We educate each child as a whole in partnership with parents and Community.  We hold high expectations for all students, provide opportunities for academic success, celebrate diversity and uniqueness, and promote responsibility and respect.” 

            The school’s bilingual program is defined by the New Mexico Board of Education as a Maintenance Program that is responsible for teaching students in their heritage language of Spanish.   In Cochiti’s bilingual program, students receive the state mandated forty-five minutes of Spanish instruction daily from a bilingual certified teacher.     

            One hundred and forty students from the grade levels kindergarten through fifth grade respectfully call me “Maestra Armijo.”  I am their bilingual teacher.  Most of the students come from a background similar to mine:  raised around the rich Spanish culture through its food, religion and family traditions, but not taught to speak the language.  This language had to be learned in a university setting and on many trips to Mexico.   After these collective “born again” experiences, I learned not only to speak Spanish, but I also fell in love with the language. 

            A negative attitude toward Spanish is the first barrier that is encountered with most of the students.  Their insecurity, and often loathing, of the language is something that I truly identify with.  Some of our parents or grandparents spoke Spanish around us when they did not want us to know what they were talking about.  This secrecy helped to maintain Spanish as a mysterious and foreign language that we grew to feel uncomfortable with.  Often in educational and social settings, there is shame felt in not knowing our heritage language fluently.  Some of us might have been lucky enough to pick up a few Spanish words here and there, only to be corrected because our “New Mexico Spanish” tends to differ from the standard Spanish that other Spanish speakers may speak. 

            A curriculum that would benefit these students is one that promotes their New Mexican Spanish as a positive force.  The curriculum is intended to help unravel the mystery of the “foreign” language.   Students need to see Spanish as something they can be proud of because it is in their heritage.  The students also need to see Spanish, as something that will be beneficial in their cognitive development and that will increase their job opportunities.  This unit will incorporate the teaching of: 

·        The history of how Spanish came to New Mexico.

·        How the Spanish is different due to the regional isolation of New Mexico.

·        How Spanish, like English, changes over time;

·        How current contact with other Spanish speakers from other parts of the world affects New Mexico Spanish today. 

Context and Background 

The prospect of colonizing the Americas was a powerful incentive for the countries of England and Spain.  The Spanish went south and the English went north.  The emigrants from both countries took their own distinctive speech with them to the New World.  Some of these groups of emigrants settled in places that over time became geographically isolated from other settlers who spoke their languages.  The effect that this isolation had on the evolution and development of their languages is an interesting phenomenon.  

            It was 1607 when three English ships sailed into present day Chesapeake Bay.  The settlers planted many variations of their English in a settlement that they called Jamestown.  At the present time there is still some evidence of the early English that was spoken in 1607.  Features of this Elizabethan English can be found on an isolated island of the Chesapeake Bay.  Tangier Island may be traveled to by ferry or by a small airplane from mainland Crisfield.  “[It]… is one of the centers for a local industry that supplies one-quarter of America’s oysters” (McCrum 89).  Although the island is one of the largest of the islands of the Chesapeake Bay, it is only three miles long and one mile wide.  The local speech pattern has not changed much since the island was first settled.   “Apart from their geographical isolation, one of the reasons for the persistence of the local speech pattern is that the islanders are tightly knit” (McCrum 91).  The current generation of the Tangier population is not showing any signs of losing their unique way of speaking.  The perpetual remoteness of the island will maintain the isolation of the language and it is highly likely that the language will retain its distinctiveness with the generations to come. 

            The Scottish-Irish settlers were not well received when they first arrived in New England in 1729.  Some of them proceeded to settle in southern Pennsylvania where they were among English and German settlers.  Others went to the isolated hills of Appalachia.  Their descendants are still found in the remote parts of the Appalachian Mountains.  Their speech is a wonderful blend of Scots-Irish, English and German. The speech of this isolated population has roots that seem to be planted firmly in the Appalachian soil.  Numerous country singers like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers have promoted the retention of this early form of English internationally.  The popularity of artists like these gives rise to the notion that the language will further endure the test of time. 

            New Mexico has a very unique linguistic heritage that hinges on isolation, as well.  Many native languages were spoken here long before the arrival of the Spanish.  Once the Spanish did arrive in the 1500’s, they brought with them a Spanish that had already been affected by their association with the Náhuatl language of the Aztecs in present day Mexico.   The Spanish that the colonists brought with them continued to be affected by time and geography in ways that made it both change and stay the same. 

History of Spanish in New Mexico 

The original settlers who came to New Mexico in 1598-to the Nueba España, as the land was called at that time- brought with them a sixteenth-century Spanish that had a foundation of rural Castilian.  Along with the Náhuatl influence that was mentioned earlier, the language was mixed with the speech of Andalusians, Asturians, Basques, and Galicians.   The “Castellano”  that was at the fundament of the language was popularly known as the language of Cervantes.  Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish playwright from Spain’s Golden Age of Culture.  This Golden Age occured in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century:  “  …en el Siglo de Oro…[en] las obras clásicas de estas épocas literarias, vemos las raíces del lenguaje arcaico del cual gozamos y el que todavía perdura en el norte de Nuevo México” (García 26).   

            The Castillian foundation of grammar, syntax, idioms and vocabulary was set in place in New Mexico and did not change very much for four centuries. In one study, students from la Universidad de Granada traveled to northern New Mexico where they found many linguistic aspects of Spanish that are still heard in the speech of people who live in some small towns in Spain.  They also discovered the use of many archaic words that they can no longer find:  .”Manuel Alvar…(de Granada) viajó al norte de Nuevo México para estudiar nuestra lengua que todavía guarda muchos de los arcaísmos ya desaparecidos en su tierra” (García 27).  

            It is fascinating to see such a lingering connection to a country that is so far away  from New Mexico.  Many scholars consider the Spanish used in New Mexico as an equivalent to middle English (Tenorio 68).  Dialectical differences in New Mexico are the same throughout isolated regions in Spain.  These differences, when compared to standardized Castilian, are found in internal word differences and prefix and suffix variations.  Linguists refer to these phonetic differences as vulgarisms, rusticisms, provincialisms, and colloquialisms.  Another noticeable difference is the use of the vosotros form that was popular of the Spanish at the time.  Words such as comiste (you ate) is pronounced comites in New Mexican Spanish.  The use of vosotros is not commonly used in other Spanish speaking countries.  

            Although New Mexico borders the Spanish speaking country of Mexico, continuous daily contact was limited, especially in the northern rural areas of New Mexico.  The rest of the Spanish speaking world was influenced by the availability of printed material.  Their Spanish was steadily evolving; New Mexico Spanish was slow to change. 

            The first changes in New Mexico’s archaic Spanish were a result of contact with the Río Grande Indians.  Remnants of this influence are still evident as I remind my own children to clean up their “cunques”  after they eat a snack in the kitchen.  This is word that comes from the Indians and it means “crumbs.”  My grandmother, who lived in Peña Blanca, used to make me “chaquegüe”  (another Indian word for blue corn meal mush) for breakfast. 

            Another change to New Mexico Spanish came when Old Mexico Spanish terminology began to come into the area toward the end of the nineteenth century.  This Spanish was basically Castilian in construction, but was influenced by the many Indian dialects of Mexico.  A remnant of this Old Spanish is a word that we would use to describe my very spoiled little brother, “chiple.” 

            Regional vocabulary began to surface when the Spanish colonists did not have access to Spanish books or dictionaries.  Often they would forget the name of some article and so they would have to coin a new term for it.  “It is wonderful to observe how resourceful the New Mexicans were in developing their purely local nomenclature” (Cobos  xiii).  Perhaps a cultural event would happen, like the mock arrest my father tells me about.  As a rite of passage, for his first social dance, the older men at the party picked him up and pretended to carry him off.  In reality they would just carry him around the dance floor.  The guests at the party would have to “post bail” by passing the hat for a collection before he was allowed to dance his first dance.   This was a regional event that Cobos calls an “Amarre.”  He identifies this word as an example of a regional New Mexican Spanish word.  My educated guess on the etymology of this word is that it originates from the verb amarrar, which means “ to tie up” as one might do while making an arrest. 

            Once New Mexico was accepted as a territory of the United States in 1850, many English borrowings occurred.  Articles that New Mexicans did not have prior to the United States American influx did not have a Spanish name.  The name for something like the “baking powder” that was introduced by Americans, was adopted for making flour tortillas and was hispanicized and called “bequien espauda” or simply “espauda”.  My mother and aunt still call for the use of  “espauda” in their tortilla recipe. 

            Something else was happening in the 1800’s that influenced the New Mexican’s way of speaking.    French-Canadian fur trappers had moved in among the communities of Taos and Santa Fe.  As they married into the New Mexico families they mixed in their French speech.   Many northern New Mexicans still call a frying pan a “puela,” a word that comes from the French. 

            Even though New Mexico fulfilled the population requirement of 60,000 people to apply for statehood, the territory had to wait for sixty-two years before becoming a state.  Various factors account for the denial of statehood, but the most prominent one was the reluctance of people in the East to trust the Spanish-speaking majority of New Mexico and admit them into the Union.  In his book, New Mexico’s Quest for Statehood, 1846-1912,  Robert W. Larson affirms that “Anglo prejudices against the culture and religion of New Mexico were very real”  (Vigil 47).  The people of New Mexico were seen as ignorant solely on the basis that  they were ignorant of the English language.  This shunning by the United States actually gave the New Mexican people more time to hold onto their unique way of speaking.  It was the time for “Spanish Only” in most New Mexico public schools.  My grandmother attended public school during this time and would question the system by asking, how was she supposed to learn English, when they were only taught in Spanish?   “¿Cuando estabamos en la escuela, pus cómo ibamos aprender ingles, cuando nos hablaban puro Español?”  

            When New Mexico was finally accepted as a state in 1912, Spanish books were removed from public schools.  Since English was now the primary language, New Mexicans were now expected to speak English…”Fernández Bernal remembers when all books written in Spanish were confiscated and replaced with English books” (Armijo 73).  As this generation of New Mexican Spanish speakers were wrestling with trying to speak both languages, it was very common for them to code-switch.  They would speak some Spanish and some English, switching back and forth between the two languages.  People who mix the languages in this way, successfully maintain the appropriate use of grammar and syntax in each language.  “Se había pensado popularmente que la gente que mezclaba el inglés y el español lo hacía al azar y por descuido.  Los estudios linguísticos desmienten esta impressión, enseñado que el cambio de códigos tiene su propia gramática y sintaxis”  ( Armijo 73).       

            In 1941, the Senate passed Senate Bill 129 for the New Mexico State Constitution.  The bill reads:  “Spanish shall be taught in all public schools.”  New Mexico’s constitution also requires teachers to be bilingual…“this has been interpreted to mean teachers must only have the opportunity to learn Spanish” (Piatt 12).  Further evidence of a commitment to maintain New Mexico’s bilingualism is provided by the defeated proposals of resolutions trying to make English the official language of the state.  In 1989, the New Mexico Legislature passed a resolution that supported language rights in New Mexico.   It provided in part: 

“Whereas, the people of New Mexico promote the spirit of diversity-with-harmony represented by the various cultures that make up the fabric of our state and American society…the people of New Mexico acknowledge that…all members of our society have full access to opportunities to effectively learn English plus develop proficiency in other languages…the people…recognize that for survival in the twenty-first century our country needs both the preservation of the cultures and languages…therefore be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico that the first session of the thirty ninth legislature of the state…reaffirms its advocacy of the teaching of other languages in the United States and its belief that the position of English is not threatened” (Piatt 25).  This resolution supports the belief that proficiency in more than one language benefits the economy and the culture of a the state and the whole country.  “The continuing presence of the Spanish language in this country (United States) is, in part, the result of this Hispanic presence representing the oldest colonial power on this continent.” (Piatt 6). 

            In accordance with the New Mexico constitutional provisions that maintain a bilingual citizenry, the following curriculum shall be taught.  This is an effort to support the protection of language rights in the public schools of New Mexico. 

            Technology has made our world much smaller.  New Mexico is no longer isolated from the influence of other Spanish speaking countries.  Spanish television broadcasts come from Mexico and Florida.  My mother loves to watch her “Novelas” on Canal Cuarenta y Uno (Television’s Channel 41).  On the advice of a well-liked Spanish professor, I only listen to Ciento Cinco Punto Nueve (105.9) Radio Romántica.  

            New Mexicans’ Spanish vocabulary is constantly being augmented.  Young parents of modern New Mexico are no longer speaking the Spanish of their grandparents.  They often speak only English or Spanish from Mexico.  The majority of New Mexican children are being taught Spanish in school.  If a child is lucky enough to be at a school that abides by the New Mexico law, they will be learning a standardized Spanish.   

            Spanish and English reached a point in their histories where there was a need for regulation.  This involves conformity to a standard that the consensus of opinion recognizes as good… “(and) attempts to formulate rules or principles by which correctness may be defined and achieved” (Baugh 306). 

            The following lessons will allow students to see how languages change over time.  This will give them some insight as to where their heritage language of Spanish has been and where it is now.  The last two lessons will focus on the introduction of learning Spanish beginning with the alphabet.  The lessons are a positive and fun way for students to overcome any shame that they may feel about their bilingual identity.   With the constant need for multilingual professionals, their abilities to speak Spanish will be an asset in a world that is getting smaller all the time.  

Implementation   

I propose to spend two days on the history of the English language in the United States.  I will focus on the isolated communities of Tangier’s Island and the hills of Appalachia.  For the anticipatory set up, I will play a game of  “gossip,” a game where the students sit in a circle.   I will have written a sentence or phrase (depending on the grade level of the students) on a sentence strip.  I will turn the sentence strip over so that the students cannot read what I have written.  I will then whisper the sentence or phrase in the ear of a student who is closest to me.  They will then proceed to whisper the same sentence or phrase in the ear of the student who is next to them.  Play continues this way around the circle until it gets to the last student in the circle.   That last student will say the sentence or phrase out loud to the whole group.  We will discuss how and why the sentence or phrase changed as it went from one person to the other.  I will explain that this game shows how things that we say will change over time.  I will tell the students that we will be doing some activities for the next week that will show how our languages of English and Spanish have changed over time.  

Lesson Plans 

These plans include reading, writing, dramatic play and discussion activities focusing on the history of the English and Spanish languages.  The order of the activities is sequential.  The activities are to be done in a one to two-week plan. Depending on class size, extra days may have to be assigned for completion of all the activities. 

Lesson One 

·        Objective: Students will recognize Elizabethan English and demonstrate how it has changed over time into Modern English. 

·        Materials: Video of Romeo and Juliet, Large Chart Paper, Individual Charts 

·        Time Frame: Forty-five minutes

Students will be given the opportunity to watch three different segments from the video.  Each segment will last approximately three minutes.  The students will be asked to identify examples of Elizabethan English.  The teacher will record the students’ responses on the large chart paper under the heading Elizabethan English.   Using context clues, the students will translate the list of words into Modern English.  These translations will be recorded on the chart.  The students will be asked to answer the question:  Why did the English change over time?  Reponses will be written on the chart paper.  Students will transfer all information from the large chart to their individual charts.  

Lesson Two 

·        Objective: Students will become aware that when a language is isolated from other languages, the language will be slow to change over time. 

·        Materials: Maps of United States, England, Spain and Mexico; Video of Tangier Island, Handout on the language of the Appalachian area, Sentence Starter: When a language is isolated from other languages, it does not change because………………….       

·        Time Frame: Forty-five minutes 

Show the students a map of present-day United States and England (using an overhead projector or individual maps).    Students trace the colonists’ route from England to Tangiers’s Island.  Show the students the video.  Have a group discussion about how the Tangiers speak English.  Discuss the isolation of the island and why that would cause the people to talk the way they do.  Trace the route of colonists to the Appalachian area and read the handout.  Discuss why the Appalachian English is different from our standard English.   Trace the route of Spanish Colonists to New Mexico.  Discuss how the same isolation factors affects the way New Mexicans speak Spanish. 

Lesson Three 

·        Objective:  Students will recognize various forms of languages that have contributed to the way that New Mexicans speak Spanish. 

·        Materials:  Spanish Lessons From Fernando, Lined and Drawing paper. 

    ·         Time Frame: Forty-five minutes 

Students listen to a story about a boy from Mexico who changes his perspective about the way that Spanish is spoken.  The students listen to, orally repeat, and practice writing out a list of several Spanish words and their origins, from the story.  Students engage in simple conversation about the attitude that Fernando had at the beginning and at end of the story.  They share their feelings and thoughts about their own experiences with speaking Spanish.  Students use appropriate language consisting of the Spanish vocabulary in responding to questions based on the story.  As a small group activity, students make a drawing of their interpretations and understanding of the story.  Students can draw what they liked or how they imagined the setting to be.  Using Spanish words, students label illustrations in their drawing.   The drawing will include cultural concepts and vocabulary reinforced throughout the story.  Extension activities may include inviting a guest New Mexican Spanish speaker, showing the video Mapa del Corazón and reading related children’s literature such as I Hate English by Ellen Levine. 

Lesson Four 

·        Objective:  Students will develop ideas for future writing, by observation, looking beyond the obvious, noticing details and bringing in personal interpretations of objects, to provide a baseboard for learning the alphabet in Spanish. 

·        Materials:  Alphabet City, overhead transparencies of a few pages to share with the whole class to get a sample of the illustrator’s use of graphic design, drawing/painting/sketching materials for each student, camera 

·        Time Frame:  At least two to four blocks of forty-five minutes. 

Share the book with students.   Discuss their reactions.  What was the author trying to do with the text?  What did they find the most unusual?  Ask the students to look around the room and describe any letter shapes that they find.  Which ones were easy?  Which ones took a little more time to notice?  Make a list or draw pictures of what they discover.  Visit other places in the school.  As they find examples of letters, ask students to sketch the letters as close to the original as they can, paying close attention to color, texture, location, and the context in which they are found.    Encourage students to look for other things like numbers or letter combinations.  If  you are able, take the students out of the school environment to expand their resources to find shapes and letters in their natural context.  If you have access to a camera, take pictures of the letters as they are discovered.  This way, a complete drawing or painting can be done later.  Once the students have a collection, return to the classroom and have the students make a class alphabet book. 

Lesson Five 

·        Objective:   Students will explore story structure and develop an increased speaking and listening Spanish vocabulary by listening to an “Animated-Alphabet” story and using prescribed gestures that stand for vocabulary words in the story. 

·        Materials:  Andres Ardilla (the first Animated Alphabet story to teach the letter “A”), cassette and player to play song, Andres Ardilla, Individual copies of the picture and song 

·        Time Frame:  Forty five minutes 

Seat the students in a comfortable arrangement allowing for good eye contact. Display the picture of the character and ask the students to predict what might happen in the story.  Tell the story in your own words.  Use as many gestures and visual aids as possible.  Introduce the character’s gesture and sound.  Introduce the character’s letter symbol and ask students to look at the letter while using their hands and arms to form the shape of the letter symbol.  Demonstrate and discuss the gesture used to illustrate the first line in the character’s song.   Ask students to demonstrate the gestures after the teacher sings and gestures each phrase.  Ask the students to echo each phrase and gesture the meaning of the words.   Play the song and point to the words of the story, as the students sing along and gesture the song.  Pass out copies of the character’s picture and song.  Have students point to each word on their papers as they echo the song.  The students color the picture and take the papers home to share with their family. 

Standards and Benchmarks 

This unit will address content standards for the New Mexico State Content Standards for Social Studies for Modern, Classical, and Native Languages.

The following standards and benchmarks will be used: 

·        Standard One: By speaking, writing, and/or signing, etc., students will express themselves in a culturally appropriate manner for many purposes.  

·        Benchmark for Standard One: Students will express likes and dislikes on topics that are of concern and interest to them, with their peers and in the classroom; and participate in and recognize various forms of cultural expression such as: music, art, speech, writing, traditions, and other products of a culture. 

·        Standard Four: Students will develop an understanding of other cultures, including such elements as: value systems, languages, traditions, and individual perspectives. 

·        Benchmark for Standard Four: Students will recognize and demonstrate the elements of a cultural system; and recognize the cultural variations within a linguistic group. 

Assessment 

Students’ oral contributions to the chart show their Elizabethan English to modern

English translation abilities.  The students’ participation in all activities and discussions is kept by the teacher on a daily chart of points.  Another chart for assessment includes the following: 

1.      Comprehends essential points of information from the story. 

2.      Engages in a simple dialogue with peers and adult, using key words, repetition, or rewording of the storyteller to describe events of the story.        

3.      Contributes information based on own experience. 

4.      Uses appropriate vocabulary introduced in the story and/or includes familiar words and expressions to answer questions. 

5.      Based on information in the story and discussion, the student makes a simple drawing of his/her interpretation.   

6.      Copies the Spanish words and label illustrations appropriately. 

7.      Extends use of the Spanish language to other classroom and playground situations with peers and teachers. 

Displaying of the students’ alphabet pictures in the class book will show how the student was able to observe and notice details.  When students master an Animated-Alphabet song, they are able to sing the whole song and demonstrate all the gestures by themselves.  They are able to read Spanish words off of the Spanish Word Wall.  Students will demonstrate the correct gesture for each Spanish word. 7

Documentation 

Teacher Resource Books: 

Baugh, Albert C.  A History of the English Language.  New York:  Appleton-Century-Croft, 1957. 

McCrum, Robert, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil.  The Story of English.  New York:  Penguin Books, 1992. 

Montaño, Mary.  Tradiciones Nuevomexicanas: Hispano Arts and Culture of New Mexico.   Albuquerque:  The University of New Mexico Press, 2001. 

Piatt, Bill.  ¿Only English?  Law & Language Policy in the United States.  Albuquerque:  University of New Mexico Press, 1990. 

Weber, David J.  The Mountain Men.  San Diego State College.  1973. 

Periodicals: 

Armijo, Rosemary G. “Our Language Hasn’t Changed in Four Centuries.” La Herencia Del Norte. Fall 2000: 73. 

García, Nasario.  “Una Conexión Lingüística.”  La Herencia Del Norte, Spring 2002: 26-27. 

Tenorio, Arthur.  “The Roots of Northern New Mexico Spanish.” La Herencia Del Norte, Fall 2000: 68. 

Vigil, Maurilio E.  “New Mexico’s Identity Crisis.”   La Herencia Del Norte, Fall 2000: 47. 

Encyclopedia and Reference Books: 

Cobos, Rubén.   A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish.   Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1983. 

Culham, Ruth.  Picture Books/An Annotated Bibliography With Activities for Teaching Writing.   Portland:  Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1998. 

Sandoval, Marcela.  Mexican/New Mexican Folk Dance.  Albuquerque:  Hispanic Culture Foundation, 1994.

Stone, J.  The Spanish Animated-Alphabet Handbook.  La Mesa:  J. Stone Creations, 2000. 

Videotapes: 

Romeo and Juliet. Franco Zeffirelli, dir.,  Anthony Havelock-Allan and John Brabourne. Classic Romance.  Paramount, 1968. 

William Cran.  The Story of English., Educational. 1986.   

Neddy Vigil and Garland Bills.  Mapa del Corazón.  Folklore/NM.  KNME TV, 1995.  

Books for Student Reading: 

Armijo, Sheri.  Spanish Lessons From Fernando.  Albuquerque:   (publishing pending)  

Damian, Mischa.  La Ardilla Gigante y El Pequeño Rinoceronte.  North South Books.  1998. 

Dorros, Arthur. Abuela.  New York: Puffin. 

Hallinan, P.K.K.  Por Amor a Nuestra Tierra.  Lectorum Publishing Inc., 2000. 

Hernandez, Natalie A.  Aventuras con Padre Serra.  Santa Ines Publishing, 1999.   

Kuhn, Walter N. Jr.  Paseo en Avión.  Hoppa Production Inc.,1997. 

Levine, Ellen.   I Hate English.  Scholastic, Inc., 1995. 

Sánchez, Mireia.  Arriba Del Árbol.  Casals Editorial, 2002. 

Silverstein, Shel.  El Árbol Generoso.  Evil Eye Music Inc., 1996.