Spanish and Wayuunaiki, mother tongue, second or foreign language? Generational senses in indigenous wayuu students

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the mother tongue, second or foreign language representations of Spanish and Wayuunaiki in the discourse of Wayuu indigenous people who studied in the Metropolitan area of ​​Bucaramanga, Colombia, between 2011 and 2020. As instruments for the collection of data, in-depth interviews were applied; these were transcribed to later be analyzed from the semiotic approach of discourse and the theory of normativity of sanctions. The results conclude that Wayuu indigenous students give different meanings to Spanish and Wayuunaiki; that their representations of language are transformed generationally according to their social, historical and multicultural experiences. Thus, for Wayuu students, Spanish is configured as a mother tongue; for their parents it is a second language and for their grandparents it is a foreign language. In addition, there are members who conceive Spanish not as a language, but as a dialect. The foregoing prompts us to think whether, pedagogically and didactically, it is appropriate to implement standardized teaching-learning models. Also, it invites to question if the ethno-educational processes adequately respond to the real needs and interests of the indigenous student population.