Nahuatl in Schools: Reclaiming Our Language and Culture

• In Event: 72.024 - The Multiple Contexts of Indigenous Mexican Students and Their Families: Knowledge, Praxis, and Educational Opportunity

Abstract

This study examines the micro and macro language educational policies in Mexico and the United States, and more specifically the integration of heritage language teaching in schools and in the home. Coatepec de los Costales, located in Guerrero, Mexico is an Indigenous community where Nahuatl was the primary language, often referred to as Mexicano (Hill & Hill, 1986), nonetheless over the last 50 years there has been a pronounced language shift from Nahuatl to Spanish. The members of the older generations remain as key holders of the language while the youth are not growing up speaking Mexicano. This recurring theme of language shift appears in several case studies (Lee, 2009; Messing, 2009). The ethnographic study uses a conceptual framework that takes a critical sociocultural approach (McCarty, 2011) in examining language policies and practices to gain a better understanding of the role of schools, teachers and parents’ ideologies, management, and practice (Spolsky, 2004) as they relate to language revitalization. In the first study the author collected a six-months of field notes, audio recording in-depth interviews, and self-reflection notes in an Indigenous community thereafter she collected a two-year long of field notes, interviews in an urban setting in the United States. In the firs study, the author examined the relationship and interactions amongst teachers and parents regarding the students’ education. Further she closely assessed the curriculum and the lack of Indigenous representation in the textbooks, as well as the absence of teacher preparation in order to work in these communities. The second study, focuses on a non-traditional educational institutions and ways to revitalize a language through relevant sociocultural events. The members of the language class slowly began to acquire the language and unwind internal colonization ideologies. The language class began due to lack of representation of the author’s culture and language in the educational institutions and a desire to revitalize their family’s language. A weekly language was developed with three children and five adults. Through in-depth interviews and observation the author discusses the role of the community and how it plays a factor in language reclamation. Guiding questions included: How can schools maintain students’ Indigenous language and knowledges alive? What is the role of the teachers, parents, and community in revitalizing a language? The paper concludes with implications to bridge the gap between home and school that strongly point out the critical role of policy makers in setting changes to better serve the Indigenous communities.

Author

• Rosalva Mojica Lagunas, Arizona State University - Tempe