The focus for this research project will be tracing the roots of Maya language revitalization efforts in Guatemala and in the United States. Despite existing efforts to revitalize Maya languages, I question how formal processes to institutionalize a language may be more detrimental than productive to its usage and maintenance. In my research, I use intimate ethnographic and auto-ethnographic methods to provide a different perspective of the language/dialect debate for the Q’anjob’al and Akateko languages specifically. I discuss how ideologies impact the continuity of these particular languages which share commonalities with other Indigenous linguistic communities.
