ABSTRACT
This chapter describes challenges and successes associated with teaching and learning writing at an after-school language revitalization program in Oaxaca, Mexico. The target language, Macuiltianguis Zapotec, is a variety of Sierra Júarez Zapotec, a group of languages spoken by approximately 2,000–5,000 people in Mexico and the United States. Using Ivanič’s (2004) multilayered view of writing as a framework for discussion, this chapter argues that an approach to writing instruction informed by task-based language teaching (TBLT) offers some mechanisms for addressing challenges that arise. The chapter draws on lesson plans, classroom videos, and writing samples from seven students (ages 7–11) to cover three overarching themes. First, it discusses writing as a tool for language revitalization with a consideration of the sociocultural universe in which writing takes place. Second, it addresses the role of writing in a task-based classroom that is focused on speaking. Lastly, it explores the relationship between writing and speaking at early stages and the role of the task-based principle known as “focus on form” in this process. In sum, this chapter discusses multiple levels of teaching and learning writing in an Indigenous language from community to classroom.
