Winter 2002
Directed Reading with Professor Amado Padilla:
Second Language Acquisition

Diglossia and Paraguay

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Chapter 5 – Culture and Society

Roett, Riordan & Sacks, Richard Scott (1991). Paraguay: The Personalist Legacy (pp.85-92). Westview Press: San Francisco.

This book contains a variety of information regarding Paraguay; everything from history to culture is discussed. This particular chapter begins by describing Paraguayan culture, and the important role the Guaraní language plays in the nation’s culture.  It gives statistics on the country’s language use. The authors also briefly describe the politics behind linguistic practices in the region.
After this introduction to the Paraguayan diglossic community, the education system is investigated. For example, literacy rates and the status of language in Paraguayan education is one topic that is discussed.