KINGSTON, R.I. – April 29, 2026 – Moving from Texas to Rhode Island, a new faculty member in the University of Rhode Island’s College of Education says Rhode Island’s language diversity extends far beyond the state’s diminutive size. The lead author of a new article examining the linguistic landscapes in Rhode Island and along the U.S./Mexico border in the journal Bilingual Review/Revista Bilingüe, Steve Przymus says parallels can be observed in the ways language is used in both locations.

Przymus is a new associate professor of TESOL and Bilingual Education in the Feinstein College of Education and a member of URI’s Translanguaging Lab. Przymus’ research focuses on bilingualism and how it is treated in schools. He joined the URI faculty last summer, drawn to the University for the work happening in the College of Education and the University’s designation as an R1 institution.

“URI’s TESOL/Bilingual Dual Language program is made up of great applied linguists,” he says. “I saw myself fitting in well and being able to conduct the kind of research that I want to do and believe makes a difference for multilingual youth in schools.”

His new paper examines translanguaging in the linguistic landscape: the language surrounding us in words, images, murals, or graffiti in public and private spaces, demonstrating how individuals actually use language in their daily lives.

“For a state that measures only 37 by 48 miles, Rhode Island has a rich history of linguistic and cultural diversity,” Przymus says. Some of the earliest linguistic diversity in Rhode Island stems from the Narragansett Indian Tribe, descendants of the people who have inhabited the region for over 30,000 years. The Narragansett language was nearly eradicated, but after gaining federal recognition in 1983, tribe members have led a revival through political advocacy and educational outreach that Przymus notes as an important basis for the layering of languages found in the Ocean State.

Przymus says the Narragansett language is an Indigenous language like those that have influenced language use in Mexico. With the Narragansett language still very present here today, physically displayed throughout Rhode Island in the names of towns, rivers, and schools, countless sites still carry Narragansett place names.

By examining Rhode Island’s linguistic landscape, Przymus hopes to raise awareness of the state’s linguistic and cultural diversity. Although geographically the smallest state in the United States, over 100 languages are spoken in Rhode Island and the state is experiencing the fastest growth of multilingual learners in the U.S.

To better tell the rich cultural story of Rhode Island, researchers in URI’s Translanguaging Lab have begun a comprehensive project, “Putting Rhode Island on the Map,” to document and analyze the use of Rhode Island languages. After English, Spanish is the most spoken language in Rhode Island, followed by significant numbers of speakers of Portuguese and French (including Haitian). Rhode Islanders speak Italian, Khmer, Chinese and a host of other languages, from Arabic to Yoruba.

The distinct forms of Spanish spoken in Rhode Island today, such as Dominican and Guatemalan Spanish, also have been influenced by Indigenous peoples and their languages: Taíno and other Arawakan words in Dominican Spanish and Guatemalan Spanish influenced by K’iche’ and other Mayan languages.

Keeping linguistic practices alive offers a connection to the past, celebrates the array of cultures found here today, and provides a bridge to the future.

Przymus says educators can leverage the state’s linguistic landscape, using the state’s rich language profile as a tool for cultivating bilingualism, teaching about other cultures, and raising language awareness among youth.

“To have a lab here dedicated to applied research on translanguaging and education has been a wonderful thing to be a part of,” he adds. “We are laying the groundwork for positive work and educational impact for multilingual youth and their families in Rhode Island and beyond.”

Language parallels in the Global South

The paper also looks at language use and context in Sonora, one of Mexico’s largest states. Although Sonora, just south of Arizona, is 45 times larger than Rhode Island, both states provide a similar linguistic diversity in terms of the mixes of Spanish, English, and Indigenous languages.

Due to its proximity to the U.S. border, the use of English, and combinations of English and Spanish, is common on signage in Sonora. English is a ubiquitous part of the linguistic landscape, with power and prestige associated with certain English words.

For decades, mixing languages was seen as informal or even stigmatized — associated with lack of education or “Spanglish” stereotypes. But attitudes are changing, Przymus says, noting how globalization, U.S. proximity and social media have normalized English in business, education, technology and pop culture. Increased translanguaging signage is now found in Sonora’s capital city, with English deployed as a language of status or for marketing appeal.

“Language, and its impact on ideologies, practice, and policy, is everywhere in the world and daily influences educational opportunities and lives,” Przymus says.

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