An interesting absence: the gendered study of language and linguistic diversity in Latin America

Abstract

This paper surveys sociolinguistic research into language and gender in Latin America, and identifies a gap specifically in the area of gendered language use in interpersonal interaction. It also notes a general paucity of gendered research on bilingual behaviour, which extends beyond Latin America. Through an analysis of the very small body of such research which has been carried out in Latin America, it examines some serious implications of these gaps for the model of `bilingual-intercultural' education now gaining currency with Latin American governments and international agencies. It seeks explanations for these absences in the Latin American context (in Latin American feminism, in the role of language in Latin American nation-building and myths of mestizaje, and in the way sociolinguistics has been institutionalised there) and in wider theoretical debates within the social sciences. Finally, it raises questions as to how this lack might be remedied, in such a way as to further the development of culturally appropriate education programmes for Latin America's indigenous peoples.