Lecture | Sociolinguistics & Discourse Studies Series
Language diversity, education, and activism in multilingual Mexico
- Date
- Monday 4 March 2024
- Time
- Series
- Sociolinguistics & Discourse Studies Series
- Location
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 1.28
Abstract
This presentation examines how the dynamics of language contact and dialect diversity influence efforts to transmit and promote Isthmus Zapotec (ISO zai), an endangered Indigenous language of Mexico. Drawing on ethnography of communication and action research in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (2013-2022), I analyze how scholars, teachers, artists, and other social actors relate to and work with the multilingualism and dialect diversity that characterize the region. Despite increased political recognition and some improvements in social status for Indigenous language speakers in Mexico, efforts towards linguistic equality and language maintenance in the Isthmus are impeded by monolingual biases and pressure from other languages, especially English, in the regional language ecology.