Emily Winslow

Professor Acosta

TLS 312

April 3, 2018

Language/Culture Profile

The official language of Spanish is spoken in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa

Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala,

Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Some of the

most populated places that are speaking Spanish are Los Angeles, California with 36.7%

speaking Spanish, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida with 39.8% speaking Spanish, and Houston

Texas with 29% of the population speaking Spanish. In Tucson, Arizona there are 216,308

Hispanics, this makes up for 41.6% of the population.

There are ten common Spanish dialects, however there are many more. The ten common

dialects are Castilian, Andalusian, Murcian, Canarian, Latino, Latin American, Rioplatense,

Caribbean, Equatoguinean, and Coda. In Tucson, Arizona the common dialect is Mexican

Spanish. The Mexican-Spanish language started in the sixteenth century. This language

originated from Spain but has changed the dialect as it has moved to Mexico.
 The role that Spanish has in Tucson, Arizona’s society is very big. A majority of people

that live in Tucson, Arizona speak this language. There are many Mexican restaurant and food

stands that people go to often. There are also street signs throughout the community that help

people navigate. In the classroom I have many students who go to Mexico on the weekends as

well as speak Spanish while they are at home with their families. When the children are at school

they will sing songs in Spanish as well as learn different words if they are speaking just English

at home. The culture around Spanish in Tucson, Arizona is Mexico.

There are many different aspects of literacy in the Spanish language and the English

Language. When writing in Spanish you do a punctuation mark before and after each sentence.

Where as in English the punctuation mark is only at the end of the sentence. Another difference

is that in Spanish they use verbs and nouns differently.

 This assignment has helped me as a future teacher because I am now aware on how to

help my students and their families if they are Spanish speaking or even non English speaking.

However, there will still be many challenges that I am going to have to work through when I

become a teacher. One of the biggest challenges that I feel as though I am going to face is talking

to the child’s guardians. Not being able to clearly speak and tell the parents what is going on

with the child at school and at home will create difficulties to best help the child. Another

challenge that I might be challenged with is helping a student in class if he does not understand

English.

In my classroom I have already been challenged with some of these. When I was in a

parent teacher conference it was very hard telling the child’s mother how well her daughter was

doing in school and the things she could still be working on at home. The mother was very kind

and understanding and my mentor teacher helped us communicate better. I have also started

using simple sign language with the students so that they are all able to do the activity even if

they do not speak English.