California/Spanish accent

When I was in California I heard some people of Mexican extraction (they were still American citizens) who were speaking with, what I would call, an accent. At least it was different from that of the Americans born in the US. Seems like they used fewer diftongs and different slang words. Also, they sounded a little Spanish.
So I would like to know, would this be considered an "accent", like they aren't really native speakers? Or more like a "dialect"? Or even a dialect that used to be labeled an accent in the past but has become so common that nobody ever thinks about it anymore?

(I know my definitions of accent and dialect aren't correct, but let's not get into that. I hope I made myself clear.)

I think that you're thinking of Chicano English, which is considered a dialect. I don't know much about it, but if you're curious, you could try and wikipedia Chicano English.

<< So I would like to know, would this be considered an "accent", like they aren't really native speakers? Or more like a "dialect"? Or even a dialect that used to be labeled an accent in the past but has become so common that nobody ever thinks about it anymore?

(I know my definitions of accent and dialect aren't correct, but let's not get into that...) >>

I'd like to not "get into it", but I'm afraid I must because your question is a bit puzzling to me. Everybody speaks with an accent no matter what English dialect they speak. So when you ask whether this variety of English that Californians of Mexican extraction speak is a dialect or an accent, I'd have to say "both"!

The dialect is called "Chicano English" and the accent is due to a historical and current Spanish substratum, regardless if a speaker speaks Spanish or not.

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/chicano/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_English

http://www.tomveatch.com/Veatch1991/node101.html

http://www.lalamag.ucla.edu/features/article.asp?parentid=61068

Cool! Thanks for the replies and the links.

Where I come from the word accent indicates that you're not a native speaker while dialect means differences in pronunciation between native speakers from different parts of the country. (I know these aren't the English definitions of the words.)

By diftong, do you mean 'diphthong'? I don't see the point in 'Mexicans used less diphthong (double vowels)'.