"¡Basta ya de español! Spanish-speakers reject pandering by would-be presidents"

Join Dr. James G. Mitchell as he explores how the use of Spanish language by candidates during the Democratic primary season in the fall of 2019 was viewed through the lens of media analysis of debate performances and campaign events to depictions, often satirized, of candidates in popular culture on shows, such as Saturday Night Live.

As the Democratic primary season began in earnest that fall, every candidate in the oversized field of Democratic challengers seeking to unseat Donald Trump was looking for an advantage. Some touted their executive experience, while others relied on their numerous plans to reform government or their status as Washington outsiders. Still others tried to use their ability to speak Spanish as a way to differentiate themselves from the field and to appeal to the growing Latinx electorate in the U.S. However, this use of Spanish may have backfired, and Dr. Mitchell will share his analysis as to why these efforts by candidates may have failed. 

James G. Mitchell earned his Ph.D. in Romance Studies with a specialization in Second Language Acquisition from Cornell University in 2001. He has been at Salve since 2006. He is Professor of French, Italian and Linguistics and currently chair of the Department of Modern Languages. His overarching research specialization is second language acquisition, specifically aspects of classroom acquisition and second language pedagogy. However, over the last decade his research agenda has been solidly focused on the use of second languages and the portrayal of second language speakers in popular media in the U.S. as well as the attitudes these representations convey about the groups they purport to depict.