On Bourdieu
Weekly Reflection # 1: On Bourdieu Just by reading the Compton-Lilly’s (2007) title’s article, The Complexities of Reading Capital in two Puerto Rican Families, I thought that it should be based on Pierre Bourdieu’s work, who uses, as one of his central discussions, the metaphorical representation of language in terms of capital and market. Compton-Lilly (2007) recognizes that Bourdieu’s theories of capital allowed her to framework reading capital, by analyzing how certain individuals are favored within economic and social contexts. To support this claim, Compton-Lilly (2007) considers in great extent that the construction of capital could explain that educational failure goes beyond the individual’s economic capital, especially in settings
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In my personal experience, I have been observing the different attempts for revitalizing certain dialects of Kichwa which are spoken in Ecuador. The first attempt to revitalize the Kichwa languages was the creation of what is called Kichwa Unificado [Unified Kichwa], a standardized version of this language, and which was thought to be the cornerstone for the development of Kichwa written literature, and the means of instruction of the bilingual education system. For the Kichwa peoples having this version of Kichwa as a means of instruction is problematic. In a personal communication with one Kichwa speaker, she refers to Kichwa Unificado as artificial; she said to me: “ it is not as beautiful as the Kichwa Autentico [Authentic Kichwa]”, term given to the Kichwa dialect spoken at home. This Kichwa speaker explained to me that it is difficult for her to use Kichwa Unificado at home, she said: “my grandpa just speaks in Kichwa Autentico, when I speak in Kichwa Unificado, he does not understand me, so I speak in Spanish, so we can communicate better”. In this example, it is important to notice the reactions towards a standardized version of a language. Far from being a revitalization tool, the use of a standard language deems to create a bigger gap between generations, and to be forced to use a second language to communicate with each
In my personal experience, I have been observing the different attempts for revitalizing certain dialects of Kichwa which are spoken in Ecuador. The first attempt to revitalize the Kichwa languages was the creation of what is called Kichwa Unificado [Unified Kichwa], a standardized version of this language, and which was thought to be the cornerstone for the development of Kichwa written literature, and the means of instruction of the bilingual education system. For the Kichwa peoples having this version of Kichwa as a means of instruction is problematic. In a personal communication with one Kichwa speaker, she refers to Kichwa Unificado as artificial; she said to me: “ it is not as beautiful as the Kichwa Autentico [Authentic Kichwa]”, term given to the Kichwa dialect spoken at home. This Kichwa speaker explained to me that it is difficult for her to use Kichwa Unificado at home, she said: “my grandpa just speaks in Kichwa Autentico, when I speak in Kichwa Unificado, he does not understand me, so I speak in Spanish, so we can communicate better”. In this example, it is important to notice the reactions towards a standardized version of a language. Far from being a revitalization tool, the use of a standard language deems to create a bigger gap between generations, and to be forced to use a second language to communicate with each