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22 The Linguist Vol/56 No/1 2017 www.ciol.org.uk FEATURES verify this assessment and I have to disagree: I concluded that a language shift is happening in most places. Even in Neuquén, the number of new speakers is sadly too small to foster a revitalisation of Mapuzungun in Argentina. The language is normally used for intra-ethnic daily communication and in native ceremonies, such as kamarükun or ngillatun (a yearly spiritual ceremony), ngellipun (a smaller ceremony) and funerals. The state education system introduced Intercultural Bilingual Education (EIB) in many schools in Mapuche communities after 2006 when a new Law of Education was passed, but it does not seem to have been successful due to a lack of methodology, trained teachers and (most importantly) knowledge of the language on the part of those appointed to teach it. The government does not invest much money in this kind of education. The main interest in language revitalisation comes from the Mapuche people: they use the web, printed materials, audios, videos and native speakers to gain knowledge of Mapuzungun. Some Mapuches, especially young people and language activists, use certain Mapuche words when talking Spanish to indicate their ethnicity. The most frequently used words are: wall mapu ('the traditional Mapuche territory'), peñi ('brother'), lamwen/lamngen ('sister'), newen ('strength') and kimün ('wisdom'). Mapuzungun is a threatened language in Argentina. In certain areas it is critically endangered, as only a few speakers remain. If it is to survive, a new generation of speakers, most of whom will be L2 users, together with the surviving native speakers, have to strengthen the use of this language in all contexts as a means of daily communication. Some people, independent of their degree of competence, are starting to use Mapuzungun for modern means of communication, such as text and whatsapp messages, emails, blogs and graffiti. This helps to maintain language use, but it has to increase if the language is to be saved. Notes 1 Secretaria de Estado de Gobierno (1968) 'Censo Indígena Nacional. Resultados definitivos de Buenos Aires, Chubut, La Pampa, Santa Cruz y el Territorio Nacional de la Tierra del Fuego e Islas del Atlántico Sur', Tomo IV, Buenos Aires: Ministerio del Interior 2 INAI (2005) 'Encuesta Complementaria de Pueblos Indígenas' (ECPI) 3 Fabre, A (1998) Manual de Lenguas Indígenas Sudamericanas, vol. II, Munich/Newcastle: Lincom Europa 4 In the original Mapuzungun: "Kuyfi iñche chezungun, mütewe wingkazungukelafun, ella püchü zomongen konün escuela mo, no…, konün escuela mu, ula ta püchü wingkazungun. No ve que maestro, fey ayülay, müna ayülay, este, paysha ñi zungunya' püchikeche." 5 See, e.g, Censabella, M (1999) Las lenguas indígenas de la Argentina. Una mirada actual, Buenos Aires: Eudeba; Golluscio, L (1988) 'La comunicación etnolingüística en comunidades mapuches de la Argentina'. Doctoral thesis, Universidad Nacional de La Plata For writers' biographies for all feature articles, see page 34. STRONG SUPPORT A march by Mapuche people in 2015 in support of weichafes (political activists) imprisoned in Chile ESTEBAN IGNACIO, 29/4/15 VIA FLICKR (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)