The use of Cakchiquel in two communities: a sociolinguistic study of Santa Ana Chimaltenango and San Martin Jilotepeque

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Not Available Online
Alternative Titles: 
Cakchiquel dialect survey
Issue Date: 
1989
Publisher: 
Instituto Lingüístico de Verano
Publisher Place: 
Guatemala
Extent: 
v, 102 pages
Description: 
Introduction: This paper presents a sociolinguistic study of the use of Cakchiquel in two counties in the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The study was undertaken in joint cooperation between the Summer Institute of Linguistics and the Cakchiquel Multiple Translation Project (SIL and CMTP) for several interrelated reasons. First, the results were to provide additional data for the CMTP to evaluate its literature and translation programs in the areas where programs began in 1980 with the training of two people from the counties (municipios) of Santa Ana Chimaltenango (SAC) and San Martín Jilotepeque (SMJ). That training provided an introduction in the process of translation and the development of literacy material. Second, between 1980 when the CMTP initiated work and the start of this survey in June of 1987, the Guatemalan government has shown increased interest in the use of Mayan languages in the primary schools. The National Program for Bilingual Education was established as PRONEBI, part of the educational system. In subsequent curriculum development, PRONEBI moved toward standardized materials for the primary grades for the language groups with large populations including Cakchiquel. This was a different approach than had been followed by the CMTP. That project, lacking a core of teachers, had produced regional dialect specific literacy materials which are easier for persons attempting a self taught approach in learning to read. Third, in the last few years, an emerging ethnic movement has lobbied for a place in the national budget and changes in the Mayan orthographies that had been in use previously. Fourth, since 1980 at the local level in SMJ, there has been a population shift. Civil unrest included armed confrontations between insurgents and the military in the rural areas. Some people fled the rural areas moving toward the towns. Even prior to the rural conflicts of 1981 82, SAC was searching for ways to adjust to its unforeseen population growth (Liquez España, 1981 p 9). Because of these demographic, educational and social trends, SIL and the CMTP initiated the studies reported in this paper. The basic questions to be considered are: 1) What are the factors influencing the use of spoken Cakchiquel? 2) How might those factors influence the use of written Cakchiquel literature?
Publication Status: 
Published
Country: 
Guatemala
Subject Languages: 
Content Language: 
Work Type: 
Nature of Work: 
Entry Number: 
53765