Linguistics and Education | 2021
‘Llegando a secundaria les ha dado amnesia…ya no quieren hablar’: Indigenous speakerhood socialization and the creation of language deniers in Quechua education
Abstract
Abstract Schools are sites where youth s identities as uninterested in their Indigenous languages and cultures are constructed in everyday interactions. This article addresses the ways in which constructs of personhood and language proficiency interact to impact learners’ identities in Quechua language education, a process I call Indigenous speakerhood socialization. Specifically, I examine the process through which one high school student came to be identified by her teacher as a Quechua denier, someone who allegedly knew Quechua, but did not care to show it or learn it. I draw on ethnographic and interactional data to show how local figures of personhood, language ideologies, individuals’ biographical information, teaching practices and classroom participation patterns became meaningful resources that led teachers to misidentify certain students as uninterested speakers who denied their Quechua abilities. The article concludes by highlighting implications for Indigenous and heritage language education research and practice.