Puerto Rico, School Language Policies

Puerto Rico, a Caribbean possession of the United States since 1898, has experienced numerous language policies throughout its history. The term language policy refers to the official designation of particular languages for educational or governmental functions. Although Puerto Ricans are a primarily Spanish-speaking population, they were obligated for 50 years to receive their education exclusively or partially in English, as part of an Americanization effort aimed at displacing their native language and integrating them, culturally and linguistically, into the United States. Since 1948, when the first Puerto Rican governor of the island was elected, the language of public education has been Spanish, with English as a mandatory school subject from early elementary school up to college graduation. An extensive private school system offers varying amounts of English-medium education, including English monolingual classes, completely bilingual instruction, and English solely as a required subject. There are also some model bilingual public school programs.

The Spanish language has a powerful symbolic significance for Puerto Ricans because it represents their ethnicity, or sense of belonging to the Hispanic world, as opposed to their official nationality as U.S. citizens. Despite all efforts to replace Spanish with English, the Puerto Rican people have remained fiercely loyal to their mother tongue. In the 2000 census, only 50% reported being able to speak English, which is popularly referred to as el difícil (“the difficult one”). The maintenance of Spanish in Puerto Rico is the result of various factors, among them the world status and extensive literature possessed by the Spanish language, the small geographic size and large population of Puerto Rico, the high level of Spanish literacy of its people, and the active efforts of political elites and intellectuals on the island to defend their native vernacular and resist the encroachment of English.

It is the opinion of numerous scholars that the failure of many Puerto Ricans to learn English is a form of resistance to U.S. cultural dominance. While there is a small but vocal minority of about 5% who advocate for total independence for Puerto Rico, most Puerto Ricans are divided evenly between those who favor Puerto Rico becoming a state and those who favor continuation of the current commonwealth [Page 702]status, known as Estado Libre Asociado (“free associated state”), with some increase in local autonomy. Regardless of party affiliation, however, there is unanimous support across party lines for the maintenance of Spanish and Puerto Rican culture.

This is not to say that there are no competent English speakers in Puerto Rico. There is a strong correlation between higher social class and knowledge of English, which is somewhat complicated by the existence of working-class return migrants from the mainland United States who are fluent speakers of nonstandard varieties of English. Competent English speakers can be found in banking, international business, the tourist industry, the professions, academia, and the military. Nor can it be said that Puerto Ricans do not wish to learn English. There is nearly unanimous support for individual bilingual-ism, in this case the learning of two languages by individuals to further their personal and employment goals, and English language institutes have a flourishing business on the island. However, societal bilingualism (the officially sanctioned use of two languages throughout a society) is a notion many Puerto Ricans are uneasy with.

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