First Advisor
Tucker Childs
Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Closed Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Applied Linguistics and University Honors
Department
Applied Linguistics
Subjects
Mexicans -- Oregon -- Attitudes, Indigenous peoples -- Oregon -- Language, Language maintenance -- Oregon, Language attrition -- Oregon, Endangered languages
DOI
10.15760/honors.82
Abstract
Minority languages around the globe are losing speakers at an unprecedented rate. As researchers attend to the documentation and maintenance of these languages, one group residing within the United States remains largely overlooked: Indigenous Mexican migrants and immigrants. Because their languages lack support in both Mexico and the U.S., Spanish and English threaten to replace them within a few generations. Focusing on communities in Oregon, this paper assesses the attitudes of community members toward their languages to determine whether there is a precedent for pursuing a language maintenance project. Ethnographic scholarship on Indigenous Mexican migrant issues indicates their established civic, social, and cultural organizations as the optimal facilitators for this work. This paper suggests frameworks for community-based development and implementation of language maintenance programs.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/12171
Recommended Citation
Peters, Simon, "Maintaining Indigenous Mexican Languages in Oregon, a Preliminary Assessment" (2014). University Honors Theses. Paper 89.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.82
PowerPoint Presentation, given at PSU Student Research Symposium, 2014