Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Within most cultures there are groups of people who differ in some custom, habit, or practice from the general societal culture. In your book, the term microculture is used to refer to those identifiable groups of people who share the set of values, beliefs, and behaviors of the macro-culture, possess a common history, and use a verbal and nonverbal symbol system. Most microcultural groups are groups of individuals who have much in common with the larger macro-culture yet are bonded together by similar experiences, traits, values, or in some cases, histories. Hence, the term microculture, includes different types of groups that could be classified by age, sexual preference, disability (e.g., deaf), ethnicity, race, size, or even occupation. Hispanics/Latinos comprise the largest microcultural group in the United States. Asian-Americans are the fastest growing microcultural group in the US.

1. Audio Link: Spanglish: A New American Language

Description: At this site, you can listen to an interview with Ilan Stavans, author of the book Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language, and hear examples of Spanglish spoken by many Hispanics/Latinos. 

2. Video Link: Interview with Ilan Stavans

Description: In this clip, you have Ilan Stavans discuss the evolution of Spanglish and hear examples of the language.

3. Web Link: The Rise of Asian Americans; Demographics of Asian Americans

Description: As mentioned in Chapter Three, Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated, and fastest-growing microcultural group in the U.S, now making up the largest share of recent immigrants. At the interactive web pages above you’ll find a Pew Research report on the rise of Asian-Americans graphs that explore Asian-American population data, and an interactive feature that shows the demographics by Asian Origin group (i.e., Chinese, Indian, Filipino, etc).

4. Web Link: The Center for Applied Linguistics

Description: The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), established in 1959, is a private, nonprofit organization whose goal is to improve communication through a better understanding of language and culture. The CAL has a web page that includes a variety of research-based information and resources related to language and culture.