Abstract

The current paper focusses on Spanish (de facto second official language) in contact with English (official language) and Belize Kriol (considered to be a lingua franca). These three languages are numerically the majority languages in Belize and, as a consequence, are an important axis of study for multilingualism. Previous quantitative analysis of interviews with a cohort of Spanish speakers who use all three languages in the same utterance are examined within the context of linguistic ideologies. This analysis provides insights into the Belizean semiotic landscape and the ways in which speakers enact linguistic agency. It is demonstrated that mixed discourse not only evidences grammatical competency in Spanish, contrary to deficit approaches, but also plurilingual competency since speakers simultaneously navigate multiple grammars as well as ideologies which are often in conflict with their linguistic choices. Furthermore, these languages together index both Belize’s Caribbean and Central American belonging.

Keywords Belize; Spanish; language mixing; plurilingualism; language ideology