Language Policy and Ideological Paradox: A Comparative Look at Bilingual Intercultural Education Policy and Practice in Three Andean Countries.

Recent developments in language policy and educational reform in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia have opened new possibilities for indigenous languages and their speakers through bilingual intercultural education. Use of the term "intercultural" is examined in official policy documents and in short narratives about intercultural practice by indigenous and non-indigenous educators. Focus is on the paradox inherent in transforming a standardized education into a diversifying one, and constructing a national identity that is multilingual and multicultural. The discussion begins with a brief review of literature on language ideologies, multilingualism, and speech communities and of the sociolinguistic context of these three countries. It proceeds to an analysis of the "intercultural" emphasis in the countries' policies on bilingual intercultural education. Fifty-seven narratives of students in two course on bilingual education and language planning, taught by the author in Peru and Bolivia, are then examined. The narratives were one-page essays depicting an instance of intercultural interaction in an educational setting, focusing on urban-rural issues, student perceptions of cultural identity and interaction, role of cultural characteristics and sociocultural patterns, and their implications for development of a new educational ideology in the three countries. Contains 55 references. (MSE)