Resumen de The geography of language shift: distance from the Mexican border and Spanish language claiming in the Southwestern U.S.

Garland D. Bills, Eduardo Hernández Chávez, Alan Hudson

• This study examines datafrom the 1980 US Censusfor the 22 largest eitles and all 421 counties in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. It investigates the associations of distance from the Mexican border with three indices of Spanish language shift and explores the interrelationships of distance with measures of socioeconomic Integration, Immigration, and rural vs. urban residence. The results of this investigation indicate that distance from the border contributes importantly to an understanding ofthe shift process', distance appears to be a Surrogate measure of Integration into mainstream US society.