ABSTRACT
As an instructor teaching a majority of Navajo students at a two-year institution near the Navajo reservation/Navajo Nation in the American Southwest for more than a decade, I have observed that more and more of my Navajo students claim not to be able to speak their language of heritage. In their writings, they often revealed their wishes to learn their language of heritage. My Navajo students shared with me that they acquired the Navajo language from their grandparents at first, but due to some reasons such as the grandparents passing away, they lost their language proficiency and English became their primary language of daily use. Many of these students also mentioned learning the language in a Navajo language and culture class in school settings. A minority of these participants revealed that their parents speak the Navajo language to them as the primary medium to communicate. Some of these participants felt embarrassed or disconnected from their grandparents and relatives due to their lack of skills in understanding and/or speaking the Navajo language. Some revealed being made fun of or being given odd or disappointed looks by their elders or relatives for not being able to communicate in Navajo. However, the majority of them holding translingual identities stated that they strive to learn and gain and regain proficiency in their heritage language because the language represents their identity as the Navajo.
