Cover not available
Part of
Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa
Edited by James Essegbey, Brent Henderson and Fiona Mc Laughlin
[Culture and Language Use 17] 2015
► pp. 177–194

Development, language revitalization, and culture

The case of the Mayan languages of Guatemala, and their relevance for African languages

Language documentation efforts tend to target the most highly endangered languages. However, language endangerment is a complex phenomenon emerging from social, political and other power imbalances in multilingual language ecologies. Long-term solutions for addressing endangerment must therefore address these imbalances at their root causes. Here we share observations and experiences from the Guatemalan context in the hope of opening lines of similar inquiry into African contexts where many languages might be characterized as threatened but not endangered. We cast doubt on common top-down approaches to language support that see bilingual education and linguistic patrimony as strong sustaining forces. Rather, we suggest that providing development services (especially, healthcare) in linguistically and culturally responsible ways is a much more effective language maintenance strategy. Rather than language development, we advocate development through language. We share experiences working with Wuqu’Kawoq: Maya Health Alliance, a healthcare NGO serving Kaqchikel-speaking areas in Guatemala, as support for this model.

Published online: 22 October 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clu.17.07roh
References
Anchimbe, Eric A
2006a Socio-pragmatic constraints to native or indigenous language education in Cameroon. In Selected Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Olaoba F. Arasanyin & Michael A. Pemberton (eds), 133–141. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
2006b Functional seclusion and the future of indigenous languages in Africa: The case of Cameroon. In Selected Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, John Mugane, John P. Hutchison & Dee A. Worman (eds), 94–103. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Bamgbose, Ayo
1983 Education in indigenous languages: The West African model of language education. The Journal of Negro Education 52(1): 57–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bradley, David
2002 Language attitudes: The key factor in language maintenance. In Language Endangerment and Language Maintenance, D. Bradley & Maya Bradley (eds), 1–10. New York NY: Routledge Curzon.Google Scholar
Brenzinger, Matthias & de Graaf, Tjeerd
2009 Documenting endangered languages and language maintenance. Contribution to the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). [URL]
Carey, J. David
2006 Engendering Mayan History: Kaqchikel Women as Agents and Conduits of the Past, 1875–1970. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Center for Community Based Research
2011 <[URL].
Chacach, Martin, Obispo Rodríguez, Jose, Son Chonay, Marliny, del Carmen Tuy, Maria & Maxwell, Judith M
1995 Rukemik k’ak’a’ taq tzij: Criterios para la creación de neologismos en Kaqchikel. Guatemala City: Nawal Wuj.Google Scholar
Chase-Dunn, Christopher
2000 Guatemala in the global system. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 42(Winter): 109–126. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cojtí, Demetrio
2011 El desarrollo socioeconómico contra el desarrollo de los idiomas indígenas. Proceedings of the Symposium on Teaching and Learning Indigenous Languages of Latin America . Notre Dame IN.[URL]
Comisión para el Esclaracimiento Histórico (CEH)
2009 Guatemala: Memoria del Silencio. [URL]Google Scholar
Czaykowska-Higgins, E
2009 Research models, community engagement, and linguistic fieldwork: Reflections on working within Canadian indigenous communities. Language Documentation & Conservation 3: 15–50.Google Scholar
England, Nora C
1998 Mayan efforts toward language preservation. In Endangered Languages: Language Loss and Community Response, Lenore A. Grenoble & Lindsay J. Whaley (eds), 733–743. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A
1991 Reversing Language Shift: Theory and Practice of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Greebon, David
2011 Educación primaria bilingüe desde el aula. In Más que Desarrollo: Memorias de la Primera Conferencia Bienal sobre Desarrollo y Acción Comunitaria, Peter Rohloff, Anne Kraemer Díaz & Juan Ajsivinac Sian (eds), 175–208. Bethel VT: Wuqu’ Kawoq.Google Scholar
Grenoble, Lenore & Whaley, Lindsay J
2006 Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Harbert, Wayne
2009 Language and Poverty. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Hill, Jane
2002 “Expert rhetorics” in advocacy for endangered languages: who is listening and what do they hear? Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 12, 119–133.Google Scholar
Hinton, Leanne
2001 Language revitalization: An overview. In The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice, Kenneth Hale & Leanne Hinton (eds), 3–18. San Diego CA: Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, Nancy H
2008 Can Schools Save Indigenous Languages? Policy and Practice on Four Continents. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hovens, Mart
2002 Bilingual education in West Africa: Does it work? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 5: 249–265. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
López de Palacios, Juan
1513 El requirimiento. [URL]
Maddox, Marc C
2010 Chwa’q chik iwonojel: Language Affect, Ideology, and Intergenerational Language Use Patterns in the Quinizilapa Valley of Highland Guatemala. PhD dissertation, Tulane University.
Magwa, Wiseman
2007 Language and development: Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa. NAWA: Journal of Language and Communication June: 57–68.Google Scholar
Marshall, Jeffery H
2009 School quality and learning gains in rural Guatemala. Economics of Education Review 28: 207–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, Judith M
2009 Bilingual bicultural education: Best intentions across a cultural divide. In Mayas in Postwar Guatemala: Harvest of Violence Revisited. Walter E. Little & Timothy J. Smith (eds), 84–95. Tuscaloosa AL: University of Alabama Press.Google Scholar
2011 Revitalización de los idiomas Mayas de Guatemala. In Peter Rohloff, Anne Kraemer Díaz & Juan Ajsivinac Sian, Más que Desarrollo: Memorias de la Primera Conferencia Bienal sobre Desarrollo y Acción Comunitaria, 175–208. Bethel VT: Wuqu’ Kawoq.Google Scholar
Matsuura, Koichiro
2007 Languages Matter! Message from the Director-General of UNESCO on the Celebration of 2008, International Year of Languages. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, F
2008 The ascent of Wolof as an urban vernacular and national lingua franca in Senegal. In Globalization and Language Vitality: Perspectives from Africa, Cécile B. Vigouroux & Salikoko S. Mufwene (eds), 142–70. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social (MSPAS), Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, USAID, Agencia Sueca de Cooperación para el Desarollo Internacional, CDC, UNICEF, UNFPA, PAHO, USAID/Calidad en Salud
2009 V Encuesta Nacional de Salud Materno Infantil 2008–2009. Guatemala City: MSPAS, et al.Google Scholar
Mohochi, Sangai
n.d. Turning to indigenous languages for increased citizen participation in the African development process. [URL]
Mous, Maarten
2003 Loss of linguistic diversity in Africa. In Language Death and Language Maintenance: Theoretical, Practical, and Descriptive Approaches [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 240], Mark Janse & Sijmen Tol (eds), 156–170. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mufwene, Salikoko S. & Vigouroux, Cécile B
2008 Colonization, globalization and language vitality in Africa: An introduction. In Globalization and Language Vitality: Perspectives from Africa, Cécile B. Vigouroux & Salikoko S. Mufwene (eds), 1–31. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Nurse, Derek
2010 The demise of Bantu in Somalia. In Essais de typologie et de linguistique générale. Mélanges offerts à Denis Creissels, Franck Floricic (ed.), 187–199. Lyon: ENS Editions.Google Scholar
Oficina de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado de Guatemala
1998 Guatemala: Nunca Más: Informe del Proyecto lnterdiocesano de Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica. Guatemala City: Oficina de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado de Guatemala.Google Scholar
Ohly, Rajmund
2003 The Tanzanian experiment in pragmatics. Africana Bulletin 51: 95–110.Google Scholar
Penfield, Susan D., Serratos, A., Tucker, Benjamin V., Flores, Amelia, Harper, Gilford, Hill, Johnny & Vasquez, Nora
2008 Community collaborations: Best practices for North American indigenous language documentation. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 191: 187–202.Google Scholar
Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA)
2005 Promotion of indigenous languages and home language teaching and learning in the first seven years of schooling in the Eastern Cape Province. Province of the Eastern Cape Department of Education.Cape Town: PRAESA.
Rice, Keren
2011 Documentary linguistics and community relations. Language Documentation & Conservation 5 : 187–207.Google Scholar
Qorro, Martha
2007 Prospects of mother tongue and bilingual education in Africa: With special reference to Tanzania. In Proceedings of the Conference on Mother Tongue and Bilingual Education, 5–19. Copenhagen: The Danish Education Network .
Richards, Michael
2003 Atlas Lingüístico de Guatemala. Guatemala City: Serviprensa.Google Scholar
Robinson, W
2003 Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Robinson, C
1996 Language Use in Rural Development: An African Perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rohloff, Peter, Kraemer Díaz, Anne & Dasgupta, Shom
2011 ‘Beyond development’: A critical appraisal of the emergence of small health care non-governmental organizations in rural Guatemala. Human Organization 70(Winter): 427–437. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
South Africa Ministry of Education
2002 Language policy for higher education. [URL]
Tummons, Emily, Henderson, Robert & Rohloff, Peter
2011 ‘So that we don’t lose words’: Reconstructing a Kaqchikel medical lexicon. In Proceedings of the First Symposium on Teaching Indigenous Languages of Latin America , 127–135. Bloomington IN: Indiana University.
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

H. Ekkehard Wolff
2019. The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics, DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.