Not Motivated in New Mexico

Dear Gabacho,

I work as a Human Resource director for a resort and about 15% of our employees are Spanish speakers. Many have been with us for years. We have a couple of ladies in housekeeping that have been with our company for over 12 years, doing the same job! How is it that someone could work in the same job for so long? Wouldn't they want to move up a little? And how can they still not speak English??

(are they) Not Motivated in New Mexico?


Dear (are they) Not Motivated,

Of course if you spoke Spanish, or they spoke English, you could ask your employees what's going on. But the obvious language barrier is also masking a significant cultural barrier. Getting a promotion might not be on your employees' wish list. A promotion could alienate them from their peers and could mean more exposure to guests and English speakers, which could be an uncomfortable and stressful proposition. Your employee might be content to work in the same job because it's reliable, predictable, and she gets to work with her friends, family and peers, all of whom are fellow Spanish speakers. This also helps explain why she hasn't learned English yet.

"Nativist theories hold that children are born with an innate propensity for language acquisition, and that this ability makes the task of learning a first language easier than it would otherwise be." But language acquisition is also hampered simply by being an adult. Most adults work, have family and friends, hobbies, housework, bills to pay, kids, etc. They're simply too busy to go to task with learning a new language.