Using oral survey methods, this study examined potential language maintenance or loss of Mayan languages among the Guatemalan-Maya communities of Southeast Florida. Among dislocated immigrants and their children, the language of the dominant socio-economic forces often displaces other languages (Fishman, 1967). A Guatemalan community in Los…

In December 1996, a peace accord ended 30 years of civil war in Guatemala, during which an estimated 200,000 people were killed and over 1 million were displaced. Most of the war's victims have been indigenous (Maya) Guatemalans--who make up about 65 percent of the population--and other supporters of economic and political reforms. In this book,…