AN INTERESTING ABSENCE - THE GENDERED STUDY OF LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN LATIN-AMERICA

This paper surveys sociolinguistic research into language and gender i n Latin America, and identifies a gap specifically in the area of gend ered language use in interpersonal interaction. It also notes a genera l paucity of gendered research on bilingual behaviour, which extends b eyond Latin America. Through an analysis of the very small body of suc h research which has been carried out in Latin America, it examines so me serious implications of these gaps for the model of 'bilingual-inte rcultural' education now gaining currency with Latin American governme nts and international agencies. It seeks explanations for these absenc es in the Latin American context (in Latin American feminism, in the r ole of language in Latin American nation-building and myths of mestiza je, and in the way sociolinguistics has been institutionalised there) and in wider theoretical debates within the social sciences. Finally, it raises questions as to how this lack might be remedied, in such a w ay as to further the development of culturally appropriate education p rogrammes for Latin America's indigenous peoples. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd. All rights reserved.