Abstract

Investigating how Kaqchikel is commodified through U.S. foreign language instruction programs reveals complex and often contradictory ideologies about language, including linguistic capital and exchange value. I argue that Kaqchikel is commodified through the FLAS program, which treats language as a skill that has value in promoting U.S. national needs (e.g., security and economic competitiveness). Moreover, while globalization has negatively impacted the vitality of indigenous languages worldwide, including Mayan languages such as Kaqchikel, the narrative I develop suggests that individuals successfully utilize existing structures of globalization in ways that subvert hegemony and cultural and linguistic homogeneity. In particular, I show how individuals use structures that emerge through globalization and commodification in order to create transborder alliances that increase the value of Kaqchikel.

Highlights

  • On December 29, 1996, the United Nations brokered a peace treaty between the Guatemalan government and guerrilla organizations that had been engaged in armed conflict for decades

  • Since the primary focus of this paper is to understand the commodification of Kaqchikel through the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) program I selected texts to analyze that were produced by U.S.-based groups: the U.S Department of Education, the University of Kansas, and Wuqu’ Kawoq, a nonprofit organization cofounded by Emily Tummons, former Kaqchikel instructor at KU

  • The commodities approach to understanding how Kaqchikel came to be taught through the FLAS program pushes us toward acknowledging the cycle of Kaqchikel use and how it functions as a tradable commodity between U.S and Mayan/Guatemalan social actors

Read more

Summary

Introduction

On December 29, 1996, the United Nations brokered a peace treaty between the Guatemalan government and guerrilla organizations that had been engaged in armed conflict for decades. The Guatemalan government, seeking to democratize and give birth to La Nueva Guatemala with economic and military support from the U.S, dramatically escalated its violence against indigenous Mayas During this same time, the U.S began realizing that increased globalization and its resultant economic landscapes were creating a new need to develop multilingual experts who could support state interests. This section discusses recent developments in sociolinguistic and linguistic anthropological literature, which suggest that current discursive shifts are taking place in recent decades that increasingly integrate economic elements as a key tropological feature of discourse This frames a discussion that details the history of the Foreign Language and Area Studies program in the U.S as an outcome of the 1958 National Defense Education Act. Using a commodity chain approach in my analysis, I follow the flow of Kaqchikel from U.S institutions back to Kaqchikel communities in Guatemala. Since the 1990s, FLAS program participants have become involved in work with Kaqchikel communities and language programs in Guatemala in ways that have encouraged increased use of Kaqchikel in multiple domains

Data and methods
Language as a commodity
National pride and economic profit
From the National Defense Languages Act to Foreign Language and Area Studies
Kaqchikel goes global
The Kaqchikel commodity chain
Conclusions
Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call