Twenty years of Guarani-Spanish bilingual education in Paraguay

The Paraguayan constitution instituted Guarani-Spanish bilingualism in 1992. Although law provides for Guarani literacy instruction with Spanish as a second language, the de facto model for the two decades following officialization was one of Spanish literacy instruction with Guarani as a second language. This model works well in bilingual districts; however, the 2002 Paraguayan census reported 1,319,777 monolingual Guarani speakers, and 146,618 households that identified as Guarani-dominant. Test results of over 300 third graders are incontrovertible: Spanish literacy instruction with Guarani as a second language produces semilingualism (i.e., written production at less than half of comprehension). Bringing Paraguayan education into line with legal requirements is a priority for the sake of children's academic linguistic proficiency and the future of Guarani.