SELF-STUDY ACTIVITY: THE WAX AND WANE OF LANGUAGES

Name: Janet Guerrero

Interviewee: Dayana Guerrero

Dayana is a 21-year-old bilingual Spanish, English speaker. Her first language was Spanish and
English was her second which she learned in kindergarten in the United States. She learned to
speak Spanish from her two parents who are from Mexico. Her parents only spoke to her in
Spanish from a young age.

As a young child, Dayana spoke Spanish in her home with her parents and three siblings. When
visiting relatives in Mexico, she would speak Spanish to communicate with them. When she first
went to kindergarten at the age of 5, she still spoke Spanish the majority of the time at home. As
she got older, around the age of 12, she started to speak more English in her home because her
siblings would also talk in English. Her parents started learning English around this time so she
would talk to them in English so they could understand and learn.

Currently, at the age of 21, she attends university and works at a daycare in Iowa City, Iowa.
She primarily uses English to communicate with others at school and at work. When she speaks
with her parents, she switches between Spanish and English. Also, with her siblings, she
speaks both languages.

Status at age 5 Status at age 12 Status at age 21

- La = Spanish - La = Spanish - La = Spanish
- Lb = English - Lb = English - Lb = English