Challenges in teaching indigenous languages: the case of Mapudungun in the Bilingual Intercultural Education Program (PEIB) of Chile

ABSTRACT The linguistic policies of the Chilean State have privileged monolingualism, to the detriment of bilingualism, so that indigenous languages have been systematically excluded from the educational field. However, in recent years, policies for the revitalization of minority languages have been implemented, through the inclusion of indigenous languages in the national school curriculum, which implies a paradigm shift in relation to language planning policies, as well as the reconstruction of linguistic identities for their speakers. One of the policies of revitalization is the Intercultural Bilingual Program in Chile, which is analyzed in this article focusing on its didactic orientations, and specifically, concentrating on the case of Mapudungun, a language spoken by the Mapuche people in Chile. This analysis is carried out considering some principles of the communicative approach of language teaching (RICHARDS & RODGER, 2001, SAVIGNON, 2002) to later contribute with a series of methodological suggestions for the teaching of indigenous languages. Among the methodological suggestions are the needs of the learner and the design of didactic activities located in the context of a communicative classroom. Regarding the needs of the apprentice, a cooperative-based methodology is proposed, that is, of all the entities involved in the training process, considering: a) the needs of the student, and b) the design of didactic activities located in a context of ‘communicative classroom’, with emphasis on the development of communicative competence. Unfortunately, the integration of this last actor in the school system is hindered which inhibits the teaching of the indigenous language, as a result, the development of communicative competence is interrupted, for this reason, the active participation of both traditional educators and of the indigenous community is a fundamental part because of the oral tradition of the indigenous world. Finally, this work proposes community - based methodologies with a collaborative approach aimed at covering the communicative needs of the student through located educational activities.