Technology and language: Learning to say mouse in KÂ’icheÂ’(fwd)

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Technology and language: Learning to say mouse in K’iche’

(IDRC Photo: Yves Beaulieu)
2005-08
by Louise Guénette and Rowena Beamish
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-86346-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

When children as young as kindergarten sit down for their first
experience with computers using software in their native Mayan
language, K'iche', the lessons learned go far beyond mastering basic
computer skills. Students are learning that their indigenous language
and culture are a vital part of their society.

It wasn't always so. Marleny Tzicap, a teacher and linguist working with
the Guatemalan nongovernmental organization (NGO) Enlace Quiché,
describes how attitudes have changed regarding the use of Guatemala's
22 native languages.

"Our father had many difficult experiences when he was growing up and
only spoke K'iche'. People discriminated against him and treated him as
though he was stupid. He did not want his children to experience the
same thing, so he and my mother only spoke to us in Spanish," she
recalls.

Growing up in Momostenango, a small town in western Guatemala, Tzicap
was exposed to K'iche' in the homes of her neighbours and that of her
grandfather, who refused to speak Spanish in his home.

The conflicts over language and cultural identity that Tzicap
experienced were mirrored in homes throughout Guatemala, perpetuated by
the civil war and a school system that, until the late 1990s, actively
discouraged the use of Indigenous languages in the classroom. (See box,
"Bilingual, intercultural education in Guatemala")

"As a person, you faced the dilemma between what is spoken at home but
is wrong at school," says Tzicap. The result was a culture, language,
and people held in low esteem.

Changing attitudes

Tzicap became a teacher and her aptitude for grammar won her a place in
a two-year course on Mayan linguistics. She now works for Enlace
Quiché, an NGO that pioneered the use of information communication
technologies (ICTs) to strengthen the training of intercultural,
bilingual educators in Guatemala.

Evolving from project to organizational status, Enlace Quiché is part of
a nascent, worldwide movement that harnesses the potential of ICTs to
preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages and cultures while
providing quality computer and Internet training for rural Indigenous
communities.

Enlace Quiché shows the potential ICTs hold as a tool for improving the
quality of education and of life in rural Guatemala, while revitalizing
the Mayan language and culture. It has made education technology an
important element in the country's reconciliation process.

The department of Quiché, where Enlace Quiché is based, was one of the
most affected regions during the civil war and people are still
recovering from the psychological and socioeconomic scars left by the
"scorched earth campaign" of murder and torture.

Building a virtual community

The Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA) [see link below] is
supporting Enlace Quiché's efforts to develop training materials for a
variety of courses that combine ICT-skills building with other
practical, real-life applications to meet the needs of rural,
Indigenous populations. The ICA, housed at the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), is a forum for hemispheric
innovation to strengthen democracy, create prosperity, and help realize
the region's human potential.

Enlace Quiché will develop an official ICT vocabulary in K'iche', making
it available online, in print, and through interactive learning games;
compile an online resource bank of existing resources for ICT training
centers; design a series of courses that combines ICT- skills building
with practical skills; and share the project's resources with other
Indigenous organizations in Guatemala and the region.

Enlace Quiché runs 28 bilingual and intercultural education technology
centres known as CETEBIs (Centros de tecnología educativa bilingüe
intercultural), accessible to 6,000 students in towns and mountain
villages in the eastern part of Guatemala. Nine of the satellite-linked
centres are located in teacher-training schools, helping future
educators create their own resource materials in K'iche'.

Celso Chaclán, Guatemala's deputy minister responsible for bilingual and
intercultural education, is interested in the successes of Enlace
Quiché's interactive methodology. "For me educational technology means
modifying methods, improving the quality of learning of the students.
It is not only teaching computer skills," he says.

Through its programs and CETEBIS, Enlace Quiché has built a bilingual
virtual learning community for Mayan language teachers, community
members, and partners. "We want people to be proud, to identify with
their community," says Tzicap. The NGO has a library of some 15
resource CDs and in 2003 launched a bilingual web portal
(http://www.ebiguatemala.org/) to enhance classroom teaching and
learning.

K'iche' is also making the jump to film. The NGO, and Tzicap in
particular, provided linguistic and cultural advice to a Costa Rican
film company, which is producing an animated film based on the Popul
Vuh, the Mayan story of creation. Many of Enlace Quiché's staff
provided the K'iche' voices.

Enlace Quiché has shown that digital technology and Internet connections
offer efficient and cost-effective ways to develop culturally relevant
materials in a number of languages while sharing expertise. It is
opening the doors to a world of information and technology by providing
appropriate technology that preserves and revitalizes Indigenous
cultures and communities.

For more information:

Marleny Tzicap, Enlace Quiché, 5a. Calle 3-42, Zona 5, Santa Cruz del
Quiché, El Quiché, Guatemala; Phone: (+502) 7550810 / 7554801, Email:
info at enlacequiche.org.gt

Luis Barnola, Senior Program Specialist, Institute for Connectivity in
the Americas, 250 Albert Street, PO Box 8500, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,
K1G 3H9.