Honorine Donelly Nocon
In spite of increasing numbers of Spanish Speakers concentrated in many US localities, Spanish, the language most often studied, is taught äs a foreign language. Ambivalence toward local Speakers is particularly evident on the US-Mexico border where Spanish and English come into contact and conflict which is exacerbated by differences in socio-economic and political prestige. A study of English-dominant university students required to study Spanish suggests that students are able to avoid acculturation through a process of compartmentalization which allows them to identify the language with generalized "Spanish Speakers" äs opposed to the local Mexican population.