- •1 Introduction
- •Purpose of the Study
- •Research Questions.
- •Key Words
- •1.4 Significance of the study
- •2 Literature Review
- •2.1 Nahuatl
- •2.1.1 History Nahuatl civilization
- •2.1.2 Nahuatl grammar
- •Nahuatl in Puebla
- •Figure 2.2.2
- •2.2.1The Mixtec of Puebla
- •2.3 Education in Mexico
- •2.3.1 The history of the indigenous education in Mexico
- •2.4 Bilingual education at present
- •2.4.1 Benefits of bilingual education
- •2.5 Critical Pedagogy.
- •2.6 The role of the school and family in the bilingual education
- •2.6.1 Empowering Parents
- •2.6.2 How oral tradition can be used to teach academic skills
- •3. Methodology
- •3.1 Subjects
- •3.2 Instruments
- •3.3 Interviews
- •3.4 Activities
- •4. Findings
- •Answers of interview made to adults.
- •4.2 Answers of interview made to teenagers.
- •4.3 Answers of interview made to children.
- •4.4 Results of activities applied to children
- •5. Conclusions
- •5.1 General overview
- •5.2 Implications for further study.
- •5.3 Limitations of the study
- •5.4 Directions for further research
- •Appendix 1: Poster used to let people know about the conference.
- •Appendix 4: the questionaire administered to parents
- •Appendix 5: the questionaire administered to teenagers
- •Appendix 10: legend of the lagoon of xochiltepec in spanish
- •Appendix 11: legend of the lagoon of xochiltepec in nahuatl
Purpose of the Study
This research strives to show how important our roots, our culture and our language are in the educational process and the role that bilingual schools play in that process. To preserve a language is not easy in a place where nobody cares about this treasure. It will require the help of each inhabitant of that bilingual community by empowering them in the education of their children. As students of modern languages we care about languages and culture and we intended to let people know the importance of Nahuatl and bilingual education. It seems very difficult because in fact people do not teach the importance of Nahuatl to children. They grow up knowing that the best language in order to be someone in the life is Spanish. At the same time we are looking for a way to increase the number of students in the bilingual elementary school.
Research Questions.
What is the perception of Nahuatl by the speakers of the community?
How does this perception influence the role of Nahuatl in education?
What are the reasons of the decrease of students in the bilingual elementary school?
What can be done for increasing the number of students in the bilingual elementary school?
Key Words
Bilingualism: “typically used to describe the two languages of an individual.” (Baker 2001:44)
Bilingual Education: “Bilingual education can be defined as education involving two languages as media of instruction. The generic definition fails to capture the influences of the sociolinguistic and cultural context in which any educational program is embedded. In the case of bilingual education these influences can lead to wide variation in the goals and features of bilingual education programs in these schools. Among other characteristics, the portion and purposes of use of each language can be shaped by the broader context in which the program is situated. (D. Christian & F. Genesse found in Krashen 1996)
Diglossia: The two languages used in a society rather than just at the individual level. (Baker 2001:44)
Majority language: The main language of the society which is used in formal or official situations. (Baker 2001:45). Usually this has been called the “high language” by Ferguson in 1959 (Found in Baker 2001:44) and for our thesis it refers to Spanish.
Minority language: The language that is used in informal and personal situations (Baker 2001:45). This has been called the “low language” by Ferguson in 1959 (Found in Baker 2001:44) and for our thesis it refers to Náhuatl.
Nahuatl: The most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico (spoken by more than 1.5 million people). It is part of the Yuto-Aztecan branch which includes Yaqui and Tarahumara and was also the main language of the Aztecs. (Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas INALI.)
1.4 Significance of the study
In today’s world, keeping a mother tongue surrounded by an official language is really difficult. Even though language is part of us as a culture, most of the time educating second-language children has been kept separate from issues concerning their social integration in mainstream classrooms and the schools at large. However according to Maria E. Brisie case (Found in Krashen 1996) studies and research from around the world show favorable patterns of outcomes from well implemented bilinguals programs. Students, whether they come from linguistic minority or majority backgrounds attain extremely good conversational and academic skills in both languages of instruction in such programs.