STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Colombia has a big mount of indigenous population and a variety of different indigenous languages. The 2005 census Departamento Nacional de Estadistica (DANE) determined that there are at least 87 identified indigenous peoples, speaking 64 different native indigenous languages. DANE also affirms that indigenous people estimate at less than 5 per cent (about 1,392,623 people) of a total national population of over 41 million people.

Many of these Colombia’s indigenous people belong to Embera Chamí Indigenous Community which are mainly based on the departments of Antioquia, Chocó, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca and represent 2.1 per cent of the indigenous population of Colombia. Antioquia is home of hundreds of Embera Chami indigenous people, some of them are settled on the Southwest of the department, specially in the Indigenous Resguardo of Kemata Rúa.

The Emberá Chamí Indigenous Community of Karmata Rua, which means Land of Pringamoza (also known as Cristianía) is located between the municipalities of Andes and Jardín in the Southwestern Antioquia, it is 5 kilometers from the municipality of Andes and 12 kilometers from the urban area of the municipality of Jardín, Antioquia. Accoding to Corporación Autónoma Regional del Centro de Antioquia (CORANTIOQUIA), Karmata Rua Indigenos Resguardo has an extention of 391,81 hectares of land in the main territory where the majority of the population is settled and 1330 hectares in Dojuro, territory belonging to the municipality of Andes.

Yagari 2010, reports that Embera Chamí Indigenous population in Karmata Rua Resguardo amounts to 1,705 inhabitants grouped in 380 Families.

According to Martínez, Sanín, Campos, Galvis, Bello, Hernández, Carreño, Castiblanco, Pachón, Triana and Aguirre 2003, the main productive and economic activity undertaken by indigenous people of the Embera Chamí Karmata Rua Resguardo includes agriculture, especially coffee growing, which is commercialized through its own coffee asociation ASOCOPIK in the markets of the Municipalities of Andes and Jardín. They also grow plantain, corn, yucca, beans, sugar cane and some citrus fruits (lemon and orange).

The education of the members of the Embera Chamí indigenous community depends mainly on the Institución Educativa Karmata Rua, which is inside the Resguardo. Over years Embera Chamí people have been educated in this Educational institution. Like the rest of students from a public Educational institution of Colombia, indigenous students learn both compulsory and optional subjects. One of those compulsory subjects is Spanish language, which has been learnt by karmata Rua indigenous community members for many years.

Into this scenario, Embera chami indigenous people have been learning Spanish as a second language using their own learning approaches, method and models like Ethno education in a successful way which they have adapted to their own learning and teaching style and curriculum, however those approaches, methods have been ignored and not  taken into consideration or reported for second language researchers and which could be of valuable interest for the field of process of learning and teaching second languages in Latin America, but specially in Colombia.

            In the next section, the research questions as well as the objectives of this study are presented.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The information given above allows me to consider the following research questions for this study:

What second language Learning approaches are used by Embera Chamí Indigenous community from Karmata Rua Indigenous Resguardo to learn spanish as a second language?

How has ethho educative model used by Embera Chami indigenous Community from Karmata Rua resguardo allowed to learn Spanish as a second language and at the same time keeping their native mother language as an essential part of their culture?

In what ways does the social factor influence the process of learning Spanish as a second language by Embera Chamí Indigenous community from Karmata Rua indigenous resguardo?

Research Objectives

Main Objective

Describe the process of learning Spanish as a second language by Embera Chamí Indigenous community from Karmata Rua indigenous Resguardo

Secondary Objectives

To describe the social factors that influence the process of learning Spanish as a second language by Embera Chamí Indigenous community from Karmata Rua indigenous resguardo

To provide readers specific informations about the process of learning Spanish as a second language by Embera Chamí Indigenous community from Karmata Rua Indigenous Resguardo.

To visivilize Embera Chamí Indigenous community from Karmata Resguardo of Antioquia, Colombia like a bilingüe indigenous Community which have used their own methods and models to learn Spanish language.