Linguistic Demography and Attitudinal Dimensions of Intergenerational Transmission of Guaraní and Spanish in Paraguay

ABSTRACT. Language data from the 2002 Paraguayan census ate analyzed in order to determine differential patterns of intergenerational transmission of Guarani and Spanish. The census data are interpreted in light of the results of a survey of 168 bilingual parents on their language identity, language attitudes and language practices. In households identified by the census as Guarani-dominant, a majority of children is reported to speak only Spanish. The vast majority of parents reports using a single language in the home. The sample that was surveyed for the language attitudes study consisted of couples who identified themselves as either Guarani-dominant, Spanish-dominant or bilingual. Their language identity served as a predictor of parental pride in Paraguay's two official languages, attitudes toward the teaching of content in Guarani or Spanish, and Guarani speakers' support of monolingualism in either language. The monolingual ideology of Guarani dominant speakers may explain the very low rate of bilinguals reported in Guarani-dominant homes. In the census, mixed-language households reported very few bilingual children, but the survey data on parental attitudes and practices indicates that in such households both languages are transmitted to children. The nearly exclusive use of Spanish in public schools does not reflect the positive attitudes of parents from all language groups toward bilingual education, but the language practices of parents reflect the reality their children will encounter when they enter school. Extending bilingual education in rural districts is needed to mitigate the massive shift to Spanish documented in Guarani-households. ********** 1. INTRODUCTION. The linguistic situation in Paraguay is unique. According to the latest available census data, as of 2002, only 1.7% of Paraguay's population self-identified as belonging to an indigenous community but 81% of Paraguayans reported speaking Guarani, an indigenous language of the Tupi-Guarani family (Paraguay [DGEEC] 2004). While the claim by some of those who speak Guarani that they are not ethnically indigenous may be questioned, the fact remains that Paraguay is the only New World country where any significant percentage of the non-indigenous population speaks an indigenous language. In 2002 Spanish was reported to be spoken by 63% of the population and 53% of Paraguayans claimed to use both languages.Although the level of bilingualism in the country has been relatively stable over the last 50 years, census data show that change is afoot, with decreasing Guarani monolingualism and increasing Spanish monolingualism (Gynan 2007). Because Guarani is viewed by many in Paraguay as essential to the nation's ethnolinguistic identity, language shift is a disturbing phenomenon. In this study, census data on the linguistic demography of the country are analyzed in order to understand better a principal mechanism of language shift, intergenerational transmission of Guarani and Spanish. This analysis is supplemented with an in-depth study of the language attitudes and practices of 168 bilingual couples from urban and rural areas of Paraguay and an informal discussion of personal experiences with bilingual parents, both rural and urban. 1.1. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PARAGUAYAN BILINGUALISM. Paraguay's unique language situation has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest over the years (Bolke Turner 1993, Choi 2005, Corvalan 1988, de Granda 1980-81, Gynan 2001, Garvin and Mathiot 1956, Melia 1992, Rubin 1968, Service 1954, Sole 1991). The focus of the present analysis is intergenerational transmission, but a short summary of the main points of previous research will help orient the reader. After twenty years of sporadic contact between speakers of Guarani and Spanish, Spanish colonizers founded the city of Asuncion in 1537 (Gynan 2011). By settling the Guarani speakers using the encomienda, the Spanish system of granting New World land and any indigenous people living on that land to colonizers, profoundly transformed the semi-nomadic Guarani-speaking population's culture from indigenous to one similar to that of Europe (Service 1954). …