Analysis and comparison of the official chilean curricula for 1st grade English and Mapudungun : vocabulary teaching and languaje ideology

Abstract

Until very recently in the history of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) studies kept vocabulary acquisition in a lower status compared to other aspects of language as a system of communication. Current research has demonstrated the importance of vocabulary acquisition within the SLA field. This study tries to bring together two fundamental components of language teaching - the vocabulary component and the way it is presented and taught, and the cultural models and ideologies that influence the creation of a language course through the analysis and comparison of the two official Chilean 1st grade curricula for teaching English and Mapudungun. Results suggest there are problems both in terms of SLA theoretical support and in terms of vocabulary acquisition theories. Each program upholds clear, but quite different cultural models that define the status of these two languages in our country.