Invented orthography: The role of maya-speaking children in bilingual elementary education

Abstract

This article addresses the conceptualizations of written language held by Mayan children who attend bilingual elementary school. The article's attempt to show the results of psycholinguistic research carried out with Mayan children follows the conviction that school-age Maya speakers play an important role in generating knowledge of literacy proposals in the context of bilingual education. By being in contact with two languages (the native language and Spanish), the Mayan children make precise linguistic reflections on Spanish that allow them to infer principles of the graphic and orthographic system of their own language. This article explains those reflections.