According to the 2020 Population and Housing Census, of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), in Mexico City it was possible to count just over 4,800 speakers of indigenous languages between the ages of three and 14, of which the majority is concentrated in four municipalities: Coyoacán, Cuauhtémoc, Gustavo A. Madero and Iztapalapa.
The statistics show that as the age range increases among the population of the Mexican capital, the greater the number of indigenous speakers confirmed in the census. The statistics suggest a trend of loss of languages in the new generations, at least in the city, or signs of denial of identity by their parents and even a combination of both.
Last Tuesday, within the framework of International Mother Language Day, spokespersons for native peoples took to the platform of the Chamber of Deputies to point out a worrying rejection by children of the languages of their peoples for fear of systematic discrimination in the schools, media and diverse spaces.
Based on this approach in the highest tribune of the Legislative Power, El Economista approached Dr. Rebeca Barriga Villanueva, a linguist at El Colegio de México (Colmex) and a specialist in mother tongue, education and teaching of Spanish to speakers of indigenous languages, who since 2006 has dedicated himself to the study of educational policies and criteria in public schools of basic education that serve indigenous immigrant children, especially in CDMX.
hopeful speeches
The specialist says that, especially in the early years, she focused her professional work on lines of research in teaching Spanish to indigenous children.
“But over time my vision matured because I got to know other realities and I realized that Castilianization is not salvation, but that the ideal is for the child to learn in their mother tongue and later access, if they so wish, to the Spanish language. I realized that, unfortunately, language policies are not fully complied with and they are a discourse that does not lead to action. They are only a promising, hopeful speech, where it is said that indigenous children are going to be within a policy that shelters them, but they have been unsuccessful efforts in general”.
There have been several public policy attempts to fight for linguistic diversity, shares the specialist, but so far none have been effective. For example, during the 1990s, the so-called bilingual intercultural policy was raised, which she says, more than two decades later, did not become a convincing fact.
“Now there are promises again, the International Decade of Indigenous Languages is declared and another zone of hope opens with which, I hope, we can see concrete realities, not just promises or a speech that, again, does not reach action. ”. But he maintains his reservations: “I don’t know if (a policy of this type) will be able to impact citizens or if in the midst of so many problems that we have now, health, political, economic, war, covid, relevance will be given to mother language”.
What is required so that it does not become failed hope again?
“It is basic, awareness is required. We are not going to ignore the problem of discrimination or the idea that the original languages are not complete languages because supposedly most of them do not have writing systems. It would be necessary to reflect on what written language is. It is true that many did not develop a phonetic alphabet, but they had writing systems with other fabulous representations. Miguel León-Portilla already said it: the representations in stone of some of the cultures were true symbols of a non-phonetic writing but represented by other types of symbols”.
The specialist is coordinator of the Linguistics and Education Seminar at Colmex, whose main objective is to raise awareness among school managers and teachers about the diversity of mother tongues in order to eradicate structural discrimination.
“But it is a challenge to convince teachers of something so basic. I remember the experience of a school in Culhuacán, where, from the start, the teacher told me: ‘there are no such children here. Yes, there are prietitos, but they don’t talk about that here anymore.’ It is an example of many, it is called underhanded discrimination. But we need teachers, they are the fundamental ingredient for change, because there is a big problem with many children who deny their identity. This is a very painful consequence of the fact that the promises of the policies have not been consolidated”.
Giving back to children the pride of belonging is said very soon, he concludes, but it requires consistency both in policies and in their application and in teacher training.
To delve into the topic:
- Linguistics and Education Seminar (Semle)
- Coordinates: Rebeca Barriga Villanueva
- Center for Linguistic and Literary Studies, El Colegio de México.
ricardo.quiroga@eleconomista.mx
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