Language ideologies of the Quechua and Amazigh communities in Catalonia: the mirror effect

Abstract

This paper studies the language ideologies
of the Quechua and Amazigh heritage communities living
in Catalonia. These language ideologies are studied in relation to
the concept of “mirror effect”, which makes the speakers of
minoritised languages change their linguistic representations, practices
and ideologies when contacting another minoritised community,
in this case Catalonia and the Catalan language (Cortès-
Colomé et al. 2016). The research includes the gathering and analysis
of quantitative and qualitative data, together with participant
observation. Quantitative data were obtained through 82 surveys,
and qualitative data through 15 semi-structured interviews. This
study is the first that analyses the mirror effect phenomenon on
specific communities, and not only on individuals. It is also one of the few studies analysing the language ideologies of heritage communities
a minoritised origin.