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Part of
Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change: Spanish across space and time
Edited by Jeremy King and Sandro Sessarego
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 340] 2018
► pp. 35–62

Chapter 2
Female migration and its impact on language choice and use among Afro-Costa Rican women

This chapter examines the socio-historical and linguistic impact of two separate historical migratory experiences on a group of 127 Afro-Costa Rican women whose ancestors were, in the vast majority of cases, Black West Indian Immigrants who settled in the province of Limón, Costa Rica. It provides a description of two female migrations, to Costa Rica and later to the United States, to understand their impact on the participants’ choice of language within the family and in the affective domains. These domains of language are used as variables for the sociolinguistic analysis of Language maintenance and language shift (LMLS) among the sample in question in Puerto Limón and Siquirres, the two main economic areas of the province of Limón.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The initial black West Indian female migration to Costa Rica
    • 2.1 Composition of the West Indian household
    • 2.2 The exclusive enclaves and the gradual increased use of Spanish beginning in the 1930s and 1940s
  • 3.The effects of the “migration of the wombs” to the United States beginning in the 1940s
  • 4. Significance of the study
  • 5.Methodology and sampling
  • 6.Analysis of data
    • 6.1Place of birth of the participants
    • 6.2Age group
    • 6.3Education and professional occupations
    • 6.4Marital status
    • 6.5Family origins of the participants
    • 6.6Participants’ language proficiency
    • 6.7Domains of language use: The family
    • 6.8 Affective domains
    • 6.9 Demographic factors associated with LMLS
    • 6.10Family origins
    • 6.11Language proficiency factors
    • 6.12Factors associated with domains of language use
  • 7. Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 March 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.340.03phi
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