[7] Zentella was born March 7, 1940 in the South Bronx, New York City to a Puerto Rican mother and a Mexican father.
"[11] Much of her research focuses on U.S. varieties of Spanish, English, and Spanglish, practices of language socialization in Latinx families, and the societal impact of “English-only" laws.
She notes that when English and Spanish speakers interact, it can be difficult to decide which language to speak.
As an example, she and her colleagues have explored the overt use of pronouns as a marker of the linguistic identities of different groups of Spanish-speakers residing in New York City.
Through interviews with these students, known as transfronterizos, she documented the conflicts they experience around language use and identity, and stigma associated with their use of Spanglish.