Mexican indigenous languages at the dawn of the twenty-first century / edited by Margarita Hidalgo.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hidalgo, Margarita G. (Margarita Guadalupe)

Series:

Contributions to the sociology of language ; 91.

Contributions to the sociology of language ; 91

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indians of Mexico--Languages.

Indians of Mexico.

Language and culture--Mexico.

Language and culture.

Language policy--Mexico.

Language policy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (396 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This volume explores the reversing language shift (RLS) theory in the Mexican scenario from various viewpoints: The sociohistorical perspective delves into the dynamics of power that emerged in the Mexican colony as a result of the presence of Spanish. It examines the processes of external and internal Indianization affecting the early European protagonists and the varied dimensions of language shift and maintenance of the Mexican colonial period. The Mexican case sheds light upon language contact from the time in which Western civilization came into contact with the Mesoamerican peoples, for the encounter began with a demographic catastrophe that motivated a recovery mission. While the recovery of Mexican indigenous languages (MIL) was remarkable, RLS ended after fifty years of abundant productivity in MIL. Since then, the slow process of recovery is related to demographic changes, socioreligious movements, rebellion, confrontation, and survival strategies that have fostered language maintenance with bilingualism and language shift with culture preservation. The causes of the Chiapas uprising are analyzed in connection with the language attitudes of the indigenous peoples, while language policy is discussed in reference to the new Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples (2003). A quantitative classification of the MIL is offered with an overview of their geographic distribution, trends of macrosocietal bilingualism, use in the home domain, and permanence in the original Mesoamerican settlements. Innovative models of bilingual education are presented along with relevant data on several communities and the philosophies and methodologies justifying the programs. A model of Mazahua language use is presented along the Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Part I. History and theory

Chapter 1 Mexican indigenous languagesin the twenty-first century

Chapter 2 The Indianization of Spaniards in New Spain

Chapter 3 The multiple dimensions of language maintenance and shift in colonial Mexico

Chapter 4 Socio-historical determinants in the survival of Mexican indigenous languages

Part II. Language policy

Chapter 5 Legislating diversity in twenty-first century Mexico

Chapter 6 Centralization vs. local initiatives. Mexican and U.S. legislation of Amerindian languages

Chapter 7 The Mexican indigenous languages and the national censuses: 1970-2000

Part III. Bilingualism and bilingual education

Chapter 8 Local language promoters and new discursive spaces: Mexicano in and out of schools in Tlaxcala

Chapter 9 Bilingual education: Strategy for language maintenance or shift of Yucatec Maya?

Chapter 10 Intervention in indigenous education. Culturally-sensitive materials for bilingual Nahuatl speakers

Chapter 11 Stages of bilingualism. Local conversational practices among Mazahuas

IV. Conclusions

Chapter 12 Language policy. Past, present, and future

Back matter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612194047

9781282194045

1282194046

9783110197679

3110197677

OCLC:

191926196