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Changing language input following market integration in a Yucatec Mayan community

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Padilla-Iglesias, Cecilia  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1302-5955
Woodward, Amanda L. 
Goldin-Meadow, Susan 
Shneidman, Laura A. 

Abstract

Like many indigenous populations worldwide, Yucatec Maya communities are rapidly undergoing change as they become more connected with urban centers and access to formal education, wage labour, and market goods became more accessible to their inhabitants. However, little is known about how these changes affect children’s language input. Here, we provide the first systematic assessment of the quantity, type, source, and language of the input received by 29 Yucatec Maya infants born six years apart in communities where increased contact with urban centres has resulted in a greater exposure to the dominant surrounding language, Spanish. Results show that infants from the second cohort received less directed input than infants in the first and, when directly addressed, most of their input was in Spanish. To investigate the mechanisms driving the observed patterns, we interviewed 126 adults from the communities. Against common assumptions, we showed that reductions in Mayan input did not simply result from speakers devaluing the Maya language. Instead, changes in input could be attributed to changes in childcare practices, as well as caregiver ethnotheories regarding the relative acquisition difficulty of each of the languages. Our study highlights the need for understanding the drivers of individual behaviour in the face of socio-demographic and economic changes as it is key for determining the fate of linguistic diversity.

Description

Keywords

Research Article, People and places, Biology and life sciences, Social sciences, Medicine and health sciences

Journal Title

PLOS ONE

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1932-6203

Volume Title

16

Publisher

Public Library of Science
Sponsorship
Cambridge University (Student Support Fund)
National Science Foundation (BCS-1226113)