ERIC Number: EJ1238553
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2326-3873
EISSN: N/A
Guatemalan Ixil Community Teacher Perspectives of Language Revitalization and Mother Tongue-Based Intercultural Bilingual Education
Dalton, Kelly; Hinshaw, Sarah; Knipe, John
FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education, v5 n3 p84-104 2019
Recent scholarship indicates several benefits of mother tongue education (MTE) in supporting student learning. Within one Mayan community in Guatemala, Ixil is the mother tongue spoken at home and faces extinction due to Indigenous oppression and genocide. This qualitative case study highlights efforts of 13 teachers and administrators at one primary school that took up the dual task of offering MTE and revitalizing the Ixil language. In order to gain a better understanding of Indigenous teachers' perceptions of language, culture, and MTE, this research was guided by the following questions: (1) How do teachers perceive their own understanding of attitudes and beliefs about language and culture? (2) How do they perceive their role in MTE and language revitalization? (3) Are teachers critical in their understanding of the importance of language revitalization and best practices for language pedagogy? Data was collected via site observations and surveys, then analyzed using constant comparative analysis. Themes that emerged included how teachers perceive their language revitalization and MTE agentive roles; how agency is expressed through the process of negotiating language and understanding through literacy; and addressing local priorities. Implications of the study and for future study are discussed.
Descriptors: Language Maintenance, Native Language Instruction, American Indian Languages, Case Studies, Language Attitudes, Educational Benefits, Foreign Countries, Death, Power Structure, Elementary School Teachers, Best Practices, Administrator Attitudes, Teacher Role, Grounded Theory, Literacy, Bilingual Education, Teaching Methods, Cultural Awareness, Language Minorities, Civil Rights
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Guatemala
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A