Abstract

HECHT, Ana Carolina. Crosswords of meanings about the correlation language-identity in indigenous children living in urban contexts. Alteridades [online]. 2008, vol.18, n.36, pp.123-143. ISSN 2448-850X.

The aim of this article is to analyze the relationship between ethnic identification and linguistic shift processes in Toba children (an Argentinean indigenous group). The study is focused on an urban setting where monolingual practices (spanish) is replacing bilingual ones (Spanish-Toba) and where Toba language is a valuable feature of ethnicity. From an ethnographic perspective, we observed evaluations and representations of language-identity correlation in two different contexts: family and school. In spite of teacher's and parent's discourses, questioning the recent generation's ties with their indigenous identity, this article attempts to critically appraise it by examining children perspectives on their own ethnic identification.

Keywords : ethnic identification; linguistic shift; childhood; ethnography.