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Enhancing Kichwa Language and Ancestral Identity in New Generations Through Oral Narratives

Abstract:

This article analyzes the narrative approach to teaching an ancestral language Kichwa to students. The main research question is how to strengthen Kichwa language and ancestral identity in a new generation. Four Kichwa levels were specially designed to enhance students’ proficiency in this target language and develop cultural awareness using the narrative approach, which consists of short oral stories told by a native teacher. These narrative stories are presented to 64 Kichwa students from a public university in Ecuador. The purpose of the narrative study is to analyze their perspective and motivation in learning this vernacular language. Drawing from the idea of positioning to analyze three short stories, we realize that the teller’s enthusiasm in introducing the story and the subsequent withdrawal of the vocabulary used in the narratives can motivate students to investigate more about Kichwa culture. Therefore, students were intrinsically motivated to acquire this language. The short stories are used as an interactional function to engage in new insights on students’ identity.