Construction and execution of a didactic proposal for
the strengthening of the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue in ninth grade students of an
educational institution in the municipality of Toribio - Cauca
..........................................
Construcción y ejecución de una propuesta didáctica para
el fortalecimiento de la lengua materna nasa yuwe en estudiantes de grado
noveno de una Institución educativa del municipio de Toribio – Cauca
Sandra
Milena Salazar Sánchez
Tenilda
Calambás Pardo
ABSTRACT
The Nasa Yuwe mother tongue is a fundamental element of the cultural
identity of the Nasa people. However, it is in danger of extinction. The
problem is evident in an institution in the municipality of Toribio, where the
number of speakers of the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue has decreased in recent
decades, being more noticeable in children and adolescents. The objective of
this research is to develop a didactic proposal for the strengthening of the
Nasa Yuwe mother tongue in ninth grade students of an educational institution
in Toribio, Cauca. This project is based on the qualitative approach, follows
the methodology of action-participatory research and is based on the ecological
theory of human development of Urie Bronfenbrenner. The results of the research
conclude that the didactic proposal was successful in achieving its objectives.
It focused on the implementation of several practical strategies in the
meetings developed with the students. For the orientation of the topics,
dynamics, games and songs in their own language were applied, accompanied by
musical instruments and didactic material. The results of the research suggest
that this type of proposals are effective for the strengthening of native
languages.
Key words: Native language (Nasa Yuwe),
Action-research, Cultural revitalization, Didactic proposal, Ecology of human
development.
RESUMEN
Palabras clave: Lengua nativa
(Nasa Yuwe), Investigación-acción, Revitalización cultural, Propuesta
didáctica, Ecología del desarrollo humano.
Introduction
The Nasa Yuwe mother tongue is the fundamental pillar of the spirituality,
expressions, cultural traditions, and way of thinking of the Nasa people.
However, the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue is in danger of extinction. In the
municipality, the number of speakers of the Nasa Yuwe language has decreased in
recent years, being more noticeable among children and adolescents. This
situation is worrisome, since the loss of the mother tongue can have negative
consequences for the indigenous communities.
In this context, the present research is entitled: “Construction and
execution of a didactic proposal for the strengthening of the Nasa Yuwe mother
tongue in ninth grade students of an educational institution in the
municipality of Toribio”.
The main objective of this research is to develop a didactic proposal for the
strengthening of the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue. The above, based on a sample
selected at convenience of 10 students of the ninth grade of the Educational
Institution of the municipality of Toribio, 3 parents of the ninth grade, 1
ancestral knowledgeable, 1 promoter of nasa yuwe and the coordinator of the
institution.
As a theoretical foundation, the ecology theory of human development of the
Russian psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner is used. This theory considers that
human development is a process that occurs in the context of a system of
relationships.
On the other hand, the research is based on a qualitative approach and uses the
methodology of action-participatory research. This type of research identifies
an existing social problem that requires an action or solution. Thus, the
research will be developed in three phases:
1. The causes that influence the loss of the nasa yuwe mother tongue in ninth
grade students are investigated.
2. A didactic proposal is designed and constructed together with the students
in order to strengthen their own language focused on the area of Spanish or
Castilian language.
3. The didactic proposal is executed and evaluated with the ninth grade
students.
It is hoped that the results of this research will contribute to the
preservation of the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue and the revitalization of the
culture of the Nasa people of the municipality of Toribio.
The publication of this article is of great importance for the research
group, since they belong to the Nasa ethnic group. The purpose is to give it
the relevance that the investigation deserves, since it allows validating
results with other investigations that are related to the subject in question,
to offer the possibility that this material be used as support for other
investigations and to be a useful tool for the recovery of the native languages
that are on the verge of extinction not only at the level of Colombia but in
the whole world.
Materials and methods
It is appropriate to focus the research proposal
on the ecological theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner, a Russian psychologist born on
April 29, 1917 in Moscow and died in 2005 in Ithaca.
Ecological theory is based on an environmental
approach related to the development of the individual. It is based on the
different contexts in which the individual develops, which influence or have
repercussions on his moral, cognitive and relational development. Each of the
environments where the subject moves conforms a system, which is part of a
whole, since each of them is related to the next. Urie Bronfenbrenner refers to
four systems that revolve around the subject, which are named as follows: microsystem,
mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem.
The microsystem is the closest
level in which the subject develops; the family and the school belong to this
environment. It continues with the mesosystem, which is the
relationship of two or more environments in which the subject actively
participates. The third system is the exosystem, which is
characterized by representing the different situations that influence the
microsystems; finally, Bronfenbrenner takes into account the macrosystem,
which refers to the cultural and social conditions, characteristics of the
various institutions present in the environment or contexts in which the
subject in question develops. Regarding this theory, T. Calambas et al. (2021)
state that:
the ecology of human development is responsible for defining development as a
change in the way a person perceives and relates to his or her environment.
This theory shows how human beings grow and develop, not in solitude, but in a
social context in which the individual relates to everything around him. An
ecological environment is understood as the set of social structures that
surround and accompany the person in the course of his life. To illustrate the
above, Bronfembrener uses the example of the Russian hollow dolls, called
Matrioshkas, whose originality is due to the fact that one contains the other
(p. 19).
It is known that the main element that supports
Urie's theory is the environment or context, as he perceives it. It is
necessary to understand the context as a whole, since this makes it possible to
conceive the particular of the matter, i.e., that set of systems and their
characteristic relationship.
The research to be developed is based on a
qualitative approach. This approach is a research method that seeks to
interpret, explain or understand phenomena, cases or situations through data
collection and analysis.
Serrano (1994) considers qualitative research
“(...) as an active, systematic and rigorous process of directed inquiry, in
which decisions are made about what is researchable, while being in the field
under study.” (p. 46).
This research aims to develop specific descriptions of observable behaviors,
situations, relationships, beliefs and thoughts expressed by the individuals
under investigation. For this purpose, data will be collected through methods
such as the activity planning form, the survey and the semi-structured
interview.
The research proposal focuses on the qualitative
approach and is developed in the field of participatory action research
methodology. This type of research identifies an existing social problem that
requires action or solution.
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is defined
as a research strategy that aims to help groups of individuals to develop their
own capacities to identify their problematic and somehow find their own
solutions to improve their reality or context.(Zapata & Rondácolmen,2016,
p. 5).
Colmenares & Piñeros (2008) define action
research as:
A methodology that delineates its steps or phases starting from Kurt Lewin's
proposal in the 1940s to which some variations have been incorporated without
losing the central essence involving the three apexes of the triangle:
research-action-training (p. 110).
The purpose of these approaches is for the research group to appropriate this
type of methodology and, in this way, to be able to independently develop their
projects, with a view to generating changes or transformations in the social or
educational practices that are carried out in the individual's daily life. This
characteristic is what makes it different from other types of research, so that
a real transformation is evidenced at the moment of its application.
The research work is developed in an institution
in the municipality of Toribio. In the place where the educational institution
and the population under study are located, 95% belong to the Nasa ethnic
group. At present, the educational establishment offers preschool, elementary
and middle school services. It has three campuses. It was founded in 1966, when
it began as an educational center.
In the construction and execution of the
didactic proposal for the strengthening of the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue, 10
ninth grade students of the institution in question were sampled and the data
collection instruments were applied to them. In addition, 3 parents, 1
ancestral knowledgeable person, the coordinator and a promoter of the Nasa Yuwe
mother tongue of the ancestral territory (person who supports the research
group) participated, for a total of 16 participants. The selection of the
sample took into account the type of non-probabilistic sampling and the type of
sample, by convenience. It is important to understand that convenience samples
are those that “are formed by the available cases to which we have access”
(Battaglia, 2008, cited Hernández Sampieri et al., 2014).
For the construction and execution of the
didactic proposal aimed at strengthening the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue in ninth
grade students of an institution in the municipality of Toribio Cauca, the area
of Spanish is taken into account for its development. The research process will
take place during the space destined to this subject, so it will be directly
related to its themes and approaches. The research to be developed adopts the
qualitative model. According to Hernández Sampieri, et al. (2014):
The qualitative approach (also known as
naturalistic, phenomenological or interpretative research) is a kind of
“umbrella” in which a variety of conceptions, visions, techniques and
non-quantitative studies are included. It is primarily used to discover and
refine research questions (p. 19). The following instruments are used to
collect information: activity planning form, survey and semi-structured
interview.
Results
This chapter will analyze the data collected through the different data
collection methods used in this research, such as the activity planning form,
the survey and the semi-structured interview. The responses obtained will be
explored and evaluated, focusing on understanding the dynamics surrounding the
loss of the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue in ninth grade students from a qualitative
perspective.
The analysis is structured with respect to the three specific objectives that
guide the research. For this analysis, the triangulation of data by data
collection methods will be taken into account. In this regard, Hernández
Sampieri, et al. (2014) mention:
In qualitative inquiry we possess a greater richness, breadth and depth of data
if they come from different actors in the process, from different sources and
from a greater variety of ways of collection (...) The fact of using different
sources and collection methods is called data triangulation. (pp. 417-418).
The methods employed in this research were designed to address language
competence, family dynamics, school participation, and community interactions.
Therefore, the data analysis will examine the factors that influence students'
ability to speak and understand the Nasa Yuwe language, considering the
categories of analysis mentioned in the previous section. This implies that the
role of the family, school and community in this aspect will also be explored.
In this regard, Hernández Sampieri, et al. (2014) mentions that “(...) in
qualitative inquiry we possess a greater richness, breadth and depth of data if
they come from different actors in the process, from different sources and from
a greater variety of forms of collection” (p. 417).
Bearing in mind that this work is based on a qualitative methodology,
that is, on a subjective approach that takes into account the contributions
that the object of study makes to the research process, before carrying out the
first approach, a space was set aside to socialize the project with students,
parents, ancestral knowledgeable, directors and collaborators. In this space,
the importance of conducting research on the revitalization of the Nasa Yuwe
mother tongue was made known. The participants signed the informed consent
form, thus initiating the research process.
It proposes to investigate which are the causes that influence the loss
of the nasa yuwe mother tongue in the students of the ninth grade of an
educational institution. In order to achieve objective one, information was
collected from three different sources: students, parents, directors and
collaborators. The implementation of the data collection methods is carried out
in two stages: data collection method focused on students, data collection
method focused on parents, directors and collaborators.
Initially, a survey was applied to the selected sample, composed of 10
ninth grade students, consisting of questions about their relationship with the
Nasa language. It is important to emphasize that the levels of microsystem and
mesosystem proposed in Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory were taken into
account in the elaboration of the survey.
Regarding the aforementioned levels of the ecological theory of development, T.
Calambas et al. (2021) mention:
The microsystem, the first structure in [the author's] list, comprises
the set of roles and interpersonal relationships that the developing individual
experiences in a specific environment, and this possesses particular physical
and material characteristics.
The mesosystem is a system of microsystems. It refers to the relationships of
two or more environments in which the individual actively participates. With
this theory, the author seeks to place the focus not on each environment
separately, as had previously been established, but on the relationships that
exist between environments and the subject who inhabits them (p. 20).
Table 2.
Student survey results
|
No. |
Pregunta |
Respuesta(s) |
|
1 |
¿A qué grupo étnico perteneces? |
·
Nasa: 9 personas. ·
Mestizo: 1 persona (Sujeto 8). ·
Otro: 0 personas. |
|
2 |
¿Hablas la lengua materna nasa yuwe? |
·
Sí: 0 personas. ·
No: 10 personas. Los 10 estudiantes expresan que no hablan el nasa yuwe. Argumentan: - Sujeto 1. No tengo maestros que me orienten
para poder hablarla. - Sujeto 2. No me han enseñado y hasta ahora
todavía no entiendo nada de la lengua materna nasa yuwe. - Sujeto 3. No me han enseñado la lengua y
además no se han sentado conmigo a hablar sobre la lengua materna. - Sujeto 4. No porque, a mí nadie me ha enseñado
y tampoco he buscado a nadie que me enseñe. - Sujeto 5. A mí no han enseñado la nasa yuwe
por eso no lo he aprendido. - Sujeto 6. Mis padres no hablan ni tampoco me
han enseñado y mis abuelos no le enseñaron a mis padres. - Sujeto 7. Mis abuelos no les enseñaron a mis padres. - Sujeto 8. A mí no me han enseñado hablar la
lengua materna. - Sujeto 9. A mí no me han enseñado hablar la
lengua materna. - Sujeto 10. No lo hablo porque no me han
enseñado. |
|
3 |
¿En tu casa hay personas que hablan la lengua materna nasa yuwe? |
·
Sí: 7 personas. ·
No: 3 personas. Siete estudiantes afirman que tienen personas que hablan la lengua
materna nasa yuwe en casa. Dentro de los cuales resaltan referentes como
primos, tíos, abuelos, padres y madres. Tres estudiantes expresan que no cuentan con personas que hablen la
lengua materna nasa yuwe en la casa (Sujeto 1, Sujeto 4, Sujeto 8). |
|
4 |
¿Crees que el nasa yuwe como lengua materna es importante? |
·
Sí: 10 personas. ·
No: 0 personas. Los 10 estudiantes comentan que si es importante el nasa yuwe. Argumentan: - Sujeto 1. Es lo que representa al nasa como
persona y al municipio. - Sujeto 2. No se debe dejar perder la lengua
materna si no fortalecerla para aprender y enseñar a los demás. - Sujeto 4. Se podrían comunicar con personas
mayores que hablan el nasa yuwe. - Sujeto 5. Es la lengua de nosotros y no se
puede perder en nuestra vereda, resguardo, municipio. - Sujeto 6. Representa nuestra tierra o
territorio Nasa. - Sujeto 7. Tendrían la oportunidad de dialogar
con personas de la comunidad puede hablar en la comunidad - Sujeto 10.
Es nuestra lengua y la debemos aprender. |
|
5 |
¿Cuál crees que es la causa principal de la pérdida del idioma propio? |
Argumentan: - Sujeto 1, Sujeto 2. La llegada de los
españoles. - Sujeto 5. Los jóvenes de hoy en día como que
parece que no les interesa y se dedica a otras cosas por eso se ha perdido
nuestro idioma. - Sujeto 6, Sujeto 9. Debido a que se burlaban
cundo se hablaba el nasa yuwe, por esa razón lo dejaron de hablar y no se
practica. - Sujeto 7. La tecnología que hace que le demos
más interés que aprender el idioma propio. - Sujeto 10. Porque los padres y abuelos nunca
nos enseñaron. |
|
6 |
¿Te gustaría aprender hablar la nasa yuwe? |
·
Sí: 9 personas. ·
No: 1 persona. Argumentan: -
Sujeto 1. Para enseñarle a mi familia y parientes. -
Sujeto 2. Para enseñar a otros. -
Sujeto 3. Nos representa como nasas y para que no se pierda nuestra
cultura. -
Sujeto 4. Es la lengua de nosotros y no me avergonzaría hablarla. -
Sujeto 6. Para conocer y desenvolvernos en los talleres de nasa yuwe. -
Sujeto 7. Ayudaría a fortalecer el idioma, y no se pierda a través del
tiempo. -
Sujeto 9. Para no dejar perder la identidad por que el idioma es muy
importante. -
Sujeto 10. Es nuestra lengua. |
When analyzing the answers given to the survey, with the intention of
inquiring about the causes that influence the loss of the Nasa Yuwe language,
it can be deduced that they are external aspects that directly impact the
individual part and the construction of the student's identity, these aspects
are: the family environment, the school environment and the community
environment (the different environments that comprise the microsystem of the
indigenous community of the resguardo), which in one way or another present
problems that have contributed to the weakening of the mother tongue and are on
the verge of disappearing. Therefore, we consider it important to define the
responsibilities that each entity has had in the problem.
Question one alludes to the ethnic group to which the student belongs
and the 10 students in the sample clearly express that their ethnic group is
Nasa, therefore, a process of identity vindication and appropriation of their
territory can be observed in this sense.
In question two, we assign the responsibility for the fact that the
subjects do not speak their mother tongue to the family and the school
(dimensions that are within the microsystem), due to the responsibility that
the parties assume in the formation of the individual, understanding that both
(family and school) have the duty to guide the subject in the construction of
his/her identity. The 10 students express that they do not speak their mother
tongue because they were not taught it at home, and in a lower percentage they
assign the responsibility to the school.
The subjects were asked if there are people in the family who speak Nasa
Yuwe, to which 7 of them answered that they have people who could have guided
them in this teaching process, but that, for various reasons, they did not do
it at the right time. The rest of the sample, 3 people, affirmed that they do
not have people who speak the mother tongue and, therefore, they did not have
the option of learning it.
When answering question four, the 10 children show a high understanding of the
relevance of the mother tongue, stating that Nasa Yuwe is important in our
lives as indigenous people. This is evidenced in answers such as: “it is our
language and we must learn it”. On the other hand, others express that “we
cannot lose our mother tongue but rather strengthen it to learn and teach
others”.
The subjects in question were asked about the main cause that has led to the
loss of the Nasa Yuwe language, to which they responded that some of the causes
are: the arrival of the Spanish, the influence of technology, the lack of
interest of the youth and mockery in schools, which we relate to the
stigmatization in the community aspect.
Question six asks if they would like to learn Nasa Yuwe, to which 9 students of
the sample expressed their interest in learning their mother tongue and only
one is not interested. The arguments expressed by the participants are very
convincing and show a claim in all areas, which is supported by statements such
as “not to lose our identity”, “it is our language and I would not be ashamed
to speak it”, “to teach others” and “it represents us as Nasas”.
From the categories of analysis, the results of the survey show a
correlation between the environments that comprise the microsystem of the
individual and the way in which the dynamics between the family, school and
community environments have an impact on the learning of the Nasa language. For
the interpretation of the data, open coding is used, which seeks to establish
codes to specific fragments of the data in order to determine emerging
patterns.
As summarized by Coleman and Unrau (2005), coding at the first level is
predominantly concrete and consists of identifying properties of the data.
Categories are formed by comparing data, but at this level we do not combine or
relate data. We do not yet interpret the underlying meaning of the data. In
open coding we deal intensively, unit by unit, with the identification of
categories that might be interesting, without limiting ourselves. It is
important to make sure we understand the categories shown in the data (Coleman
and Unrau, 2005, cited by Hernández Sampieri et al., 2014).
From the information provided by the definition of subcategories, it is evident
that the subjects who participated in this research project identify themselves
as what they are, Nasas who love their territory, who are not ashamed of their
ethnicity, who do not speak their language due to the impositions to which the
indigenous people were subjected with the arrival of the Spanish, who dominated
the natives exposing them to all kinds of mistreatment, imposition of their
language and religion (what some academics call cultural genocide). Added to
this are the aggressions received by the grandparents and even the parents of
the participants when they entered the school, an institution that is also
responsible for the problematic scenario that is experienced today at the
community level around the language, and which is one of the reasons why some
families, despite having references at home who speak the Nasa language, have
not transmitted it to the children.
The development of this research project is important because it has
allowed the identification of the causes for the decline of Nasa Yuwe, but at
the same time it is worth highlighting that, despite the fact that the parents
or school have not fulfilled their duty to strengthen the native language, the
fact that 9 students identify themselves as Nasas and are interested in
learning their language and teaching the other generations says a lot about the
type of construction that they still have at an identity level as an indigenous
community.
With the objective of having a broader perspective of the problem in
question, a semi-structured interview is applied to 3 parents, a community
leader and the coordinator of the educational institution, with the objective
of investigating, from the perspective of the social agents belonging to the
family and school environments, which are the causes that influence the loss of
the ninth grade students' nasa yuwe mother tongue.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the
results of the research show that the didactic proposal developed was
successful in strengthening the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue in the ninth grade
students of the educational institution. The strategies used were adequate for
the causes that influence the loss of the language, and the results of the
evaluation showed that the students learned the language and were motivated to
continue with their learning process.
From the perspective of the ecological theory of human development, the basis
for the project, it can be affirmed that the results of the research show that
the didactic proposal was effective because it had a positive impact on the
students' microsystems, mesosystems and macrosystems.
In the microsystem, the proposal had a positive impact on the relationships
between students, teachers and the Nasa yuwe promoter (family environment and
school environment). This helped to create a positive and stimulating learning
environment.
In the mesosystem, the proposal maintained a positive impact on the
relationships between the educational institution, the family and the
community. This contributed to creating a favorable environment for language
learning.
In the macrosystem, the proposal had a positive impact on the culture and
identity of the students. The students learned about their culture and history
through the language, which helped them develop and strengthen their sense of
belonging and pride in their roots.
Another aspect that is necessary to highlight is the impact that the didactic
proposal caused in the population under study, since they showed their interest
in continuing to strengthen their learning process with the participation in
new strategies that the research group will implement related to the
strengthening of the native language Nasa Yuwe. Regarding the didactic proposal
implemented, we concluded that it is necessary to advance from the community
communication nucleus ('Spanish language area) with the elaboration of new
didactic material that allows to give continuity to the research process
initiated, encouraging the taste for learning their own language.
Parents should assume the role that corresponds to them as caregivers and
educators of their children, understanding that both play a priority role in
their formation, growth and development. Since the family is the initial
microsystem where the individual develops, it also assumes the responsibility
of strengthening cultural identity.
The construction and execution of the didactic proposal not only impacted the
students who participated in the research, but also the research group or
teachers, who belong to the Nasa ethnic group and have now become aware of the
importance of the Nasa Yuwe mother tongue and the need to strengthen it,
therefore, they will join efforts to advance in the struggle for its
strengthening, implementing new processes with the IAP methodology.
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