A model of linguistic revitalization: the case of the náhuat/pipil of El Salvador

Abstract

The náhuat language is the last indigenous language that is still spoken in El Salvador by a small group of pipil old people. For different reasons, which the author of this article points out, this language is endangered. Nevertheless, a program of linguistic revitalization has currently been developed which, according to this investigator, is being successfully implemented in the communities where there are still speakers. The program started in 2003 with three schools and 275 indigenous children. In 2009 eleven schools were participating in the project and 2,734 children were leaning the language. The educational model developed in this project, the author claims, can be used for the revitalization of other minority languages in similar conditions of endangerment than the nawat.