Is English a Language Barrier to Public Higher Education in Puerto Rico?
-
Shannon Bischoff
Abstract
The goal of this paper was to address the question, Have the austerity measures enacted due to the global economic crisis impacted student enrollments at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez? as Rodríguez (2011. Social protest and the future of Higher Education in Puerto Rico. Academe 97(4). http://www.aaup.org/article/social-protest-and-future-higher-education-puerto-rico#.U81ofj6gmpo (accessed 7 Dec 2011)) suggests. The costs, matriculation rates, and English language requirements of the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez and two nearby private universities were compared. The findings demonstrate that during the economic crisis matriculation rates of the poorest students at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez decreased significantly, as Rodríguez suggested they would. However, the facts lead the current author to adduce that money does not appear to be the only factor causing decreasing enrollments. The data reviewed leads the author to suggest that English is functioning as a barrier to public higher education in Puerto Rico and that this may be a contributing factor in the falling matriculation rate over the period of the economic crisis.
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank Catherine Mazak and Rosita Rivera of Centro para la investigación del bilingüismo y aprendizaje [the center for bilingual and educational research] (CeIBA) at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez and their students who invited me to present selected content of this paper in the Fall of 2014 at UPRM and provided insightful feedback. In addition, I wish to thank my former students and colleagues at UPRM that inspired this work especially Betsy Morales and Catherine Mazak for input on various drafts of this paper. Finally, Any errors are naturally those of the authors.
References
Altbach, Philip G. 2005. Globalization and the University: Myths and realities in an unequal world. The NEA 2005 Almanac of Higher Education, 63–73.Suche in Google Scholar
Alvarez-González, José J. 1999. Law, language and statehood: The role of English in the Great State of Puerto Rico. Law and Inequality 17(2). 359–444.Suche in Google Scholar
Archibald, Robert B. & David H. Feldman 2011. Why does college cost so much? Oxford University Press: Oxford.Suche in Google Scholar
Bareto, Amílcar A. 2000. Speaking English in Puerto Rico: The impact of affluence, education, and return migration. Centro Journal 12(1). 5–17.Suche in Google Scholar
Bareto, Amílcar A. 2001. Statehood, the English language, and the politics of education in Puerto Rico. Polity 34(1). 89–105.Suche in Google Scholar
Bathke, Kevin. 2014. Remediation in Paradise: The characterstics and effects of English remediation at UPRM. Mayagüez, PR: University of Puerto Rico MA thesis.Suche in Google Scholar
Blackledge, Adrian. 2001. The wrong sort of capital. International Journal of Bilingualism 5(3). 345–369.Suche in Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1977. Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In K. Jerome & A. H. Halsey (eds.), Power and Ideology in Education, 71–112. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. The forms of capital. In Alian Coulon & John Richardson (ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, 241–258. New York: Greenwood.Suche in Google Scholar
Brown, D. J. 2000. University entrance examinations: Strategies for creating positive washback on English language teaching in Japan. JALT 3(2). 2–7.Suche in Google Scholar
Camia, Catalina. 2012. Santorum: English must be adopted by Puerto Rico. USA Today. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/03/rick-santorum-puerto-rico-english-statehood-/1#.UN3-8Kzhd8E (accessed 25 July 2016).Suche in Google Scholar
Cannon, Carl. M. 2012. Romney needs a Latino running mate – But who? Real Clear Politics. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/03/31/romney_needs_a_latino_running_mate_–_but_who_113691.html (accessed 25 July 2016).Suche in Google Scholar
Cappax. 2012. University Costs. www.cappex.com (accessed 17 May 2013).Suche in Google Scholar
Clachar, Arlene. 1998. Differential effects of linguistic imperialism on second language learning: Americanization in Puerto Rico versus Russification in Estonia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 1(2). 100–118.Suche in Google Scholar
Costa, Robert. 2012. Luis Fortuño: Puerto Rico’s Scott Walker. Nation Reviewhttp://www.nationalreview.com/article/303853/luis-fortu-o-puerto-ricos-scott-walker-robert-costa (accessed 25 July 2016).Suche in Google Scholar
Coughlan, Sean. 2012. Italian university switches to English. BBC News Business online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17958520 (accessed 25 July 2016).Suche in Google Scholar
Duany, Jorge. 2003. Nation, migration, identity: The case of Puerto Ricans. Latino Studies 1(3). 424–444.Suche in Google Scholar
Enten, Harry. J. 2012. Mitt Romney: How he’ll choose a VP running-mate – and who. The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/26/mitt-romney-choose-vp-running-mate (accessed 26 July 2016).Suche in Google Scholar
Gershman, Bennett. L. 2012. Did Puerto Rico really vote for statehood? Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bennett-l-gershman/puerto-rico-statehood_b_2118727.html (accessed 26 July 2016).Suche in Google Scholar
Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico. 2011. Puerto Rico Factsheet-2011. http://gdbpr.com/economy/documents/2011-Jul-PREcoFactSheet2011-Eng.pdf. (accessed 15 February 2014).Suche in Google Scholar
Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico. 2013. Puerto Rico Factsheet-2013. http://www.gdb-pur.com/economy/documents/PREconomicFactSheet2013-Dec.pdf. (accessed 15 February 2014).Suche in Google Scholar
Grin, François. 2003. Language planning and economics. Current Issues in Language Planning 4(1). 1–64.Suche in Google Scholar
Heller, Moninca. 2003. Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7(4). 473–492.Suche in Google Scholar
Hughes, Rebecca. 2008. Internationalisation of higher education and language policy: Questions of quality and equity. Higher Education Management and Policy 20(1). 111–128.Suche in Google Scholar
Interamericana San Germán 2011–2013. Interamericana Under Graduate General Catalog 2011–2013. http://www.metro.inter.edu/servicios/rectoria_doc/docs/General_Catalog_2011-2013_Portal.pdf. (accessed 14 June 2012).Suche in Google Scholar
Kikuchi, Keita. 2006. Revisiting English entrance examinations at Japanese universities after a decade. JALT 28(1). 77–96.Suche in Google Scholar
Knight, J. 2002. Trade in higher education services: The implications of GATS. UNESCO Policy Report for The Observatory on borderless higher education 3. http://www.org/education/studyingabroad/highlights/global_forum/gats_he/jk_trade_he_gats_implications.pdf (accessed 9 March 2013).Suche in Google Scholar
Lareau, Annette & Elliote B. Weininger. 2009. Cultural capital in education research: A critical assessment. Theory and Society 32(5/6). 567–606.Suche in Google Scholar
Le Chapelain, Charlotte. 2008. Fair access to higher education: Analysis of a targeted incentive educational policy. Higher Education Management and Policy 20(1). 9–23.Suche in Google Scholar
Lee, M. J. 2012. Puerto Rico’s Luis Fortuño: Rick Santorum fumbled English question. Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74116.html (accessed 6 April 2012).Suche in Google Scholar
Mazak, Catherine & Claudia Herbas-Donoso. 2015. Living the bilingual university: Translanguaging in a bilingual science classroom from a student’s perspective. In Anne H. Fabricus & Bent Preisler (eds.), Transcultural interaction and linguistic diversity in higher education: The student experience, 255–277. Hampshire: Palgrave.Suche in Google Scholar
Muñiz-Argüelles, Luis. 1986. The status of language in Puerto Rico. In Pupier, Pupier & José Woehrling (eds.), Langue et droit [Language and Law], 457–472. Montreal: Wilson & Lafleur.Suche in Google Scholar
Nino-Murcia, Mercedes. 2003. “English is like the dollar”: Hard currency ideology and the status of English in Peru. World Englishes 22(2). 121–142.Suche in Google Scholar
OECD. 2005. Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators – 2005 Edition. Paris: OECD.Suche in Google Scholar
Pérez Casas, Marisol. 2008. Codeswitching and identity among island Puerto Rican bilinguals. Washington, DC: Georgetown University dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Phillipson, Robert. 2009. Linguistic Imperialism Continued. New York: Routledge.Suche in Google Scholar
Pousada, Alicia. 1999. The singularly strange story of the English language in Puerto Rico. Milenio 2. 33–60.Suche in Google Scholar
Pousada, Alicia. 2000. The competent bilingual in Puerto Rico. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 142(1). 103–118.Suche in Google Scholar
Pousada, Alicia. 2012. Days of reckoning for the University of Puerto Rico: The struggle to maintain the cultural autonomy of a Caribbean public university. International Journal of Sociology of Language 213. 111–118.Suche in Google Scholar
Rodríquez, Victor M. 2011. Social protest and the future of Higher Education in Puerto Rico. Academe 97 (4). http://www.aaup.org/article/social-protest-and-future-higher-education-puerto-rico#.U81ofj6gmpo. (accessed 7 December 2011).Suche in Google Scholar
Schmidt, Jorge. R. 2014. The Politics of English in Puerto Rico’s Public Schools. Boulder: First Form Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Sullivan, Alice. 2001. Cultural capital and educational attainment. Sociology 35(4). 893–912.Suche in Google Scholar
Tilak, Jandhyala B. G. 2011. Trade in higher education: The role of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). UNESCO Policy Report. Paris: UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning.Suche in Google Scholar
U.S. Census 2012. Selected social characteristics in Puerto Rico 2011: American community survey 1-year estimates http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_1YR_DP02PR& prodType=table (accessed 14 February 2013).Suche in Google Scholar
UPRM. 2012a. University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Under Graduate 2012 Catalog. http://www.uprm.edu/academics/catalog/ (accessed 9 January 2013).Suche in Google Scholar
UPRM. 2012b. University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Continuing Education. http://educon.uprm.edu/detalles.php?curso=ID101 (accessed 7 July 2013).Suche in Google Scholar
Zentella, Ana C. 1997. Growing up bilingual: Puerto Rican children in New York. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- “It’s not comfortable being who I am” – Multilingual identity in superdiverse Dubai
- Students’ orientations to communication across linguistic difference with international teaching assistants at an internationalizing university in the United States
- Is English a Language Barrier to Public Higher Education in Puerto Rico?
- Managing complaints in multilingual care encounters
- Book Reviews
- Philipp Sebastian Angermeyer: Speak English or What? Codeswitching and interpreter use in New York City courts
- Richard Fitzgerald and William Housley: Advances in membership categorisation analysis
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- “It’s not comfortable being who I am” – Multilingual identity in superdiverse Dubai
- Students’ orientations to communication across linguistic difference with international teaching assistants at an internationalizing university in the United States
- Is English a Language Barrier to Public Higher Education in Puerto Rico?
- Managing complaints in multilingual care encounters
- Book Reviews
- Philipp Sebastian Angermeyer: Speak English or What? Codeswitching and interpreter use in New York City courts
- Richard Fitzgerald and William Housley: Advances in membership categorisation analysis
