Introduction: Spanish: Jamaica’s “Second” Language
摘要
This chapter highlights the ongoing discussion about Spanish as Jamaica’s second language within the political sphere and the broader Jamaican society. It emphasises the distinction between Spanish as a second language and as a foreign language in the Jamaican context. Indeed, Spanish should be recognised as Jamaica’s official “foreign” language, according to the definition of a foreign language. While some may argue that Jamaica has only one language, English, this chapter advances the view that Jamaican Creole (JC) is a language—the primary language of most Jamaicans—and Jamaican English (JE) is the second language; therefore, the learning of Spanish falls under the umbrella of Third Language Acquisition (TLA). This chapter explores the linguistic implications of Spanish as TLA in Jamaica, including cross-linguistic influence, primarily between JC and Spanish. It examines Jamaica's language situation based on scholarly research on JE and JC, situating Spanish within this linguistic framework in the country.