Heritage learners count

Ayni , an open-access, beginner-level, communicative Quechua language textbook that is an ongoing project of the Quechua Innovation and Teaching Initiative (QINTI), includes chapter dialogues that incorporate a fictional Southern Quechua heritage learner (SQHL) character. These audio-recorded dialogues are available at https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href=" https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003489320/144e01d2-8650-411d-a709-66c9186d80f9/content/www.qinti.org ">qinti.org . In order to serve the unique instructional needs of the global SQHL population along with L2 learners who do not position themselves as SQHL, Ayni integrates three native SQ subvarieties, belonging to the macro-variety of Southern Quechua (QII-C), spoken in southern Peru and Bolivia: (1) Southern Bolivian, (2) Ayacucho-Chanka, and (3) Cuzco-Collao. The following considerations guided the creation of speaking parts for the SQHL character: (1) utilizing conservative pronunciation, as influenced by standard SQ orthography; (2) if a widely used SQ lexical item was available, it was selected, rather than a Spanish loan; and (3) the form chosen should be used generally among speakers of at least two of the three included Quechua subvarieties. In general, language instruction for SQ that is available to all, both in the Andes and across the globe, regardless of the learner’s connection to ancestral communities, works to reverse the decline in speakers and support revitalization.