ABSTRACT
Research on learning con‹rms the use and development of native language as essential for conceptual, social, and academic growth. Studies substantiate how sustained use and development of children’s native language bene‹ts them academically (Gaarder, 1965; Merino, Politzer, & Ramírez, 1979; ’omas & Collier, 2002; Ulibarrí, Spencer, & Rivas, 1981; United Nations Educational Scienti‹c & Cultural Organization, 1953, 2008). Hernández-Chavez (1988) maintains that:
On a cultural level, language is the symbolic expression of community, encoding a group’s values, its folkways and its history. Socially, it is the most powerful means of interaction and communication, and it is through language that an individual or a group seeks and attains participation in society. ’e denial of a people’s development and use of its native tongue is thus a denial of its participation in society and of its very peoplehood.
