Projects

Language Revitalization

I am currently working on the Revitalization of Itzaj, in collaboration with the Comunidad Lingüística Itzaj of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala and with funding from the Work Study Program and the Connaught Fund at the University of Toronto. In the project, we are using the Oxlajuj Aj immersion program developed by Judith Maxwell and Walter Little by training speakers of Itzaj in the teaching method and developing an Itzaj pedagogical grammar. Students in Linguistics at the University of Toronto, community members, and my wife Ana Lopez Sipac de Mateo, have been engaged in the creation of the grammar.

Pedagogical grammars in Mayan languages

Itzaj: We recently published the Itzaj pedagogical grammar as part of the project on the revitalization of Itzaj and following the Tijonīk Kaqchikel Oxlajuj Aj grammar model.

K’iche’: Mario Marroquin and I are currently working on a pedagogical grammar of K’iche’.

Field schools in Mayan languages

Since 2015, as the Executive Director of the Guatemalan Field Station, University of Maryland, I have directed field schools in Mayan languages (Kaqchikel and K’iche’) in Guatemala, following the Oxlajuj Aj method. I have conducted the field schools with Maria Polinsky and Omer Preminger, and with support from local organizations and universities in Guatemala, such as Maya Health Alliance|Wuqu’ Kawoq, Cooperativa Aj Su’m, Proyecto Renacimiento, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Campus Altiplano, and Universidad Mariano Gálvez de Guatemala, Campus Quetzaltenango.

In collaboration with the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Campus Altiplano, I have conducted workshops on the Oxlajuj Aj method to train elementary school teachers of Guatemala to teach Mayan languages.

Documentation of Mayan languages

I have documented the acquisition of Q’anjob’al, Ch’ol, and Mam with my academic supervisor Clifton Pye, and Chuj with Maria Polinsky. The Q’anjob’al, Ch’ol, and Mam child data is found at www.almaya.org, while the Chuj child data is found at Harvard Dataverse. Maria Polinsky and I documented two Mayan languages in contact: K’iche’ and Awakateko. I have also documented narratives in Chuj with Jessica Coon.

Q’anjob’al

I have collaborated in different projects for Q’anjob’al, my native language. With Eladio Mateo Toledo (B’alam) I collaborated in the creation of a keyboard of cellphones for Q’anjob’al as part of the project TZ’IB’MA (digital keyboards for Mayan languages). I have collaborated with Eladio Mateo Toledo and Q’anjob’al school teachers, as part of the Nuq’ej project, to conduct linguistic workshops in Q’anjob’al. I have also collaborated in the project Atlas Lingüístico Q’anjob’al.

Consultant

I have been a consultant at the Ministry of Education of Guatemala and the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala to create teaching materials for Mayan languages. As a result, I have contributed in two books: writing and reading in Q’anjob’al for first year elementary school children Chi wilajoq kax chi hintz’ib’en unej, yich kuyoj/Leo y Escribo and the other my first readings in Q’anjob’al Tx’an wun wawten ajoq (Q’anjob’al).