Spanglish in the classroom: A linguistic approach to code-switching in latino/a literature

This chapter explores the author’s view on Central American US Latinos. He identifies a growing body of literature by Central American US Latino/a writers and map out an approach to teaching US Central American literatures in historical context, at the intersection of Central American and US Latino/a Studies, and as an interdisciplinary or intersectional practice. He provides a context for understanding the most salient issues and topics to be covered in courses on this literature as well as sample modules that may be incorporated into US Latino/a literature classes, or classes focusing on Central Americans in the United States. In class at the Universidad of El Salvador (UES), people drew from all these at-hand, makeshift literary and cultural materials that made education relevant, challenged the power structure, and critically explored the relationship between a society at war and its narrative production.