Resumen de Beachheads, islands, and conduits: Spanish monolingualism and bilingualism in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, bilingual from the outset, becomes ever more so because its larger twin, Ciudad Juarez, is monolingual, and because Juärez grows rapidly.
Thispaper discusses the linguistic impact on work, commerce andeducation of the fact that Spanish has a demographic advantage in the international region. In El Paso, many Juarez residents work with other Mexicans or Mexican Americans who emigrated after childhood, guaranteeing that certainjobs are hispanophone. El Pasoans unable or unwilling to speak English can take advantage ofthe extent to which El Paso functions in Spanish for the benefit of Juarez residents. Also discussed is the relationship between neighborhood and language proficiency; the issue of national identity; and the large number of Juarez youngsters who attend El Paso schools. For clearly instrumental reasons alone, El Paso's Mexican Americans must learn English but cannot afford to relinquish Spanish.
