According to its formal definition, a meta-study is a synthesis of earlier research.
On the subject of language usage among U.S. Hispanic consumers, Hispanic Business has reviewed dozens of academic journals, general trade and professional books, media sources, and market studies in an effort to track the trends of the market. These pages present the results of that research, pointing to a future in which the Hispanic market conducts a significant portion of its business and personal communication in English.
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COMMUNITY VOICES: LANGUAGE AT HOME
"The language used at home is perhaps the most important factor related to Spanish-language maintenance in the Southwest. Other factors related to speaker circumstances, such as childhood residence and degree of formal education, may be found to be related to patterns of language maintenance as indirect measures of degree of assimilation to the dominant monolingual culture."
--Mary Beth Floyd, Oakland (California) School District
Spanish in the Southwest: Language Maintenance or Shift?1
| "How comfortable do you feel speaking English?" | |
| Very comfortable | 45% |
| Somewhat comfortable | 19% |
| Somewhat uncomfortable | 14% |
| Very uncomfortable | 22% |
| Meneses Research & Associates, "Ask San Diego" survey of Hispanics2 | |
"The Puerto Rican community has maintained its bilingual character over the span of generations – that is, bilingualism is stable and Spanish is maintained, although there is a shift from Spanish-preference to English-preference in the pattern of bilingual behavior."
--Pedro Pedraza
Language Maintenance Among New York Puerto Ricans3
| Language Spoken at Home by U.S. Hispanics | |
| Speak English only | 21.4% |
| Speak Spanish; speak English "very well" | 37.6% |
| Speak Spanish; speak English "well" | 16.8% |
| Speak Spanish; speak English "not well" | 14.8% |
| Speak Spanish only | 8.8% |
