Indigenous students’ narratives about English learning and the connection with other languages

Abstract

A report of partial results of a larger research is presented, which explores the narratives that indigenous students of a Rural Normal School of the North of Mexico have about learning English, and how this process is connected to their native language and the acquisition of Spanish. The research uses the constructivist paradigm and the interpretative approach to identify the perceptions of six key informants, through in-depth interviews as part of the narrative and biographical method. The results show that students experience an acculturation process that makes them abandon their native language in favor of the use of Spanish, which is the predominant language in the different educational levels. In this sense, tensions between cultural identity of the family origin and their performance in other contexts, such as higher education, is identified. In regards to English learning, a late and sporadic contact is observed, which is formalized once they access higher education.