“SI NO HABLAS ESPAÑOL, ¡TE LARGAS!”: Language ideologies, stylization, and shaming of ‘no sabo kids’ on Caso Cerrado

Abstract

This case study examines how an episode of the popular Spanish-language reality courtroom TV show Caso Cerrado contributed to ongoing language panic about English-dominant children of Spanish-speaking families in the US. Known derogatorily as ‘no sabo kids’, this intra-ethnic label appears to have emerged in 2020–2021, often through stylization on social media that promotes language shaming. A discourse analysis of the episode demonstrates how participants stylize personae through enregistered features and expressions of hegemonic language ideologies. Altogether, these mediated performances were crafted to transmit the star judge’s view of how Spanish language maintenance is important for Hispanic identity in the US. Furthermore, this study critically interrogates the paradox of utilizing language shaming to promote language maintenance, when in fact it may be more likely to promote shift via linguistic insecurity. (Language ideologies, language shaming, language panic, stylization, personae, enregisterment, Spanish in the US)