"Quechua Language Resources at Indiana University," November 10, 2006
1. Our first presentation was by John H. McDowell who talked about his research interests in Quichua-language song tradition in Otavalo, Ecuador and surrounding communities. His interests are in how these songs are conversations among indigenous people, the role of music in Otavaleño rites of passage, the role of ritual language and music in Quechua communities and intersections of Quechuan dialects within song. Some of his current research questions are: What are these people communicating to one another in this medium? What is displayed when songs are exported as CDs? Does the music preserve a sense of community?
2. John H. McDowell and Francisco Tandioy presented their study of verbal art, traditional discourse, mythic narrative in the oral literature in the Sibundoy Valley of Colombia. The mythic narratives they are working with have been recorded from performances by Francisco Tandioy and several other Inga storytellers. These narratives hold a rich mythology, which has yet to be documented. In the presentation of these narratives they plan to provide cultural context and intertextual information to be used as a resource leading to a true experience of these narratives. They are also interested in the ritual language speech found in public speaking concentrated among elders and members of Inga traditional authority, as it shows "the full potential of the language."
3. Beginning in 1986 Francisco Tandioy began working on unified Inga alphabet; the project was concluded successfully 2 or 3 years later. Since then Tandioy has helped create an Inga/Spanish, Spanish/Inga dictionary, which is a precious cultural resource as it includes illustrative sentences that often convey information about Inga customs and beliefs.
Eduardo Wolf, a FLAS student, and Francisco Tandioy, building upon Tandioy's earlier work, are currently developing lesson plans for Inga language instruction at Indiana University and elsewhere. They feature vocabulary, translation, dialogue, and readings along wwith cultural information. The lessons are being created as an Inga/English resource. By the end of this academic year they should have a completed pedagogy. A student in the Inga class, Catalina, spoke about her experience with the pedagogy. She likes that the vocabulary ties into the readings, and that lessons are organized around real-life situations; she would like to have more recordings of dialogues.
4. Mariella Arredondo, a FLAS student, presented on Language Policy in Arequipa, Peru. Considering the migration of Quechua speakers to urban Arequipa, her research looks at bilingual education in local schools. She is interested in how the schools are adjusting to new students and their native languages, as well as problems of identity and culture with regard to language loss and bilingual education programs.
