Mellix: Code Switching

Throughout the Mellix reading the notion of "code-switching" struck me. Though Mellix thoughtfully distinguished the two types of Englishes she developed during her lifetime--Black English and Standard English. Like Mellix, Amy Tan similarly makes the same argument in her short essay, "Mother Tongue"--a piece I have come across in the ENG 88 and 99 class setting. In each piece, each writer laments on how their 'broken' and 'slang-like' language is a point of contention in relation to their use of standard English in their professional lives. Specifically, each intimates an inherent shame when their broken or slang-ish English enters the public space and they must immediately rectify their speech. However, I wonder if this 'shame' is reserved for non-English speakers...(excuse the ellipses as I have lost momentary use of my question mark key). Unlike Mellix and Tan, I have felt this shame among the Spanish community. Often times, I feel compelled to speak in Spanish with elders or peers even though I am far more comfortable speaking English. Is it courtesy, or a cultural compulsion that incites code-switching... In the Southern California classrooms, how many students are alienated because the assumption is that Spanish is the only foreign language, or that Hispanics are the only ones with first generation experience... How do we account for this in the classroom...