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Rosetta Stone & Navajo Language Renaissance:
Collaboration for Revitalization
Daniel W. Hieber Lorraine Begay Manavi Kasra Manavi
Rosetta Stone San Juan College University of New Mexico
The Rosetta Stone Endangered
Language Program
The Endangered Language Program has worked with
Native language communities to create custom Rosetta Stone
software for use in their language revitalization programs.
Through a variety of development models designed to make
Rosetta Stone software available to a
wide range of indigenous groups,
we promote global linguistic diversity and
embody Rosetta Stone’s belief that language learning
makes the world a better place.
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Timeline
1999First EL project launched at Rosetta Stone
2004Endangered Language Program founded
2006Mohawk Level 1
2007Iñ upiaq (Coastal) Level 1
Inuttitut Level 1
Two company grants offered (Chitimacha, Navajo)
2009Mohawk Level 2
2010Chitimacha Levels 1 & 2
Navajo Levels 1 & 2
Iñ upiaq (Kobuk/Selawik) Level 1
2011Iñ upiaq (North Slope) Levels 1-3
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Navajo Language Renaissance
501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation
Navajo linguists and language educators from
Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah
Full support of the Navajo Board of Education
Recipient of a 2007 Rosetta Stone Endangered
Language Program grant for software development
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Rosetta Stone Endangered Language
Program
+
Navajo Language Renaissance
The goal:
Use of Rosetta Stone Navajo in 100% of Navajo Nation
Schools
Rosetta Stone Navajo available in all Navajo Nation
chapter houses
Use of Rosetta Stone Navajo by Navajos living outside
the reservation
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Guiding principles
Language knowledge is provided primarily by the
sponsoring communities
Language work takes place within the sponsoring
community
All intellectual property, sales, and distribution rights
belong to the sponsoring group
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Other guiding principles
Customize language functions whenever possible
e.g. Rosetta Stone English teaches ‘How are you?’
Rosetta Stone Navajo teaches ‘What are you doing?’
Customize for cultural items whenever possible
Local, relevant photography
Native speaker audio
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Customization & Method
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A collaborative effort
Collaborative decision making
Variety of inputs from
•Elders
•Community (different dialect speakers)
•Family
•Linguists
•Language professors and teachers
•Voicers / voice actors
•Language team
What is “standard Navajo”?
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Decisions in the lexicon
Word length
•chid7 bik4e’j8’ ‘adeez’1h7 ‘truck’
•‘44’ naats’--d7t’3h7 ‘T-shirt’
•pa’ hooghan7d00 ‘family’
•ch’iy11n ‘1daal’7n7 g0ne’ ‘kitchen’
•‘awoo’ bee yich’iish7 ‘toothbrush’
•‘awoo’ bip yich’iish7 ‘toothpaste’
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Decisions in the lexicon
Coining words:
•peeyi’ g11l7 ‘subway’
•tsx99p hane’4 ‘e-mail’
•‘44’ naats’--d7t’3h7 ‘T-shirt’
Dialects:
•yas /zas ‘snow’
•n7t’66’ / `t’66’ / `d66’ past tense
•gohw44h / ‘ahw44h / dihw44h ‘coffee’
•na’ah00hai ‘chicken, rodeo’ /agod7 ‘chicken’ 16
‘ahinoolch44p ‘they (2) are running’
‘ahi’noolch44p
‘ahenoolch44p
da’ad1n7 g0ne’ ‘in the restaurant / dining room’
da’ad1n7di ‘at the restaurant’
da’jiy1n7di ‘at the restaurant’
da’jiy1n7 g0ne’ ‘in the restaurant/dining room’
‘adl3 /yidl3 ‘he is drinking (it)’
‘aak’ee / ‘aak’ei ‘fall (season)’
b44sh /b47sh ‘metal, knife’
bik11’ dah ‘asd1h7 / bik’i dah ‘asd1h7 ‘chair’
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Decisions in the lexicon
dootp’izh ‘green-blue (thing)’
t1tp’id dootp’izh ‘moss green, green’
t1tp’idgo dootp’izh
ch’ilgo dootp’izh ‘green’
y1go dootp’izh ‘blue or sky blue’
pizhingo dootp’izh ‘royal/navy blue’
diphipgo dootp’izh
y4ego dootp’izh
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
Classificatory stative verbs
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
Using stative verbs to teach handling verbs
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
Handling verbs
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
Handling verbs
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
‘Put’
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
‘Put’
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
Irregular verbs
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Teaching verb-heavy language:
Dual and plural, regular and irregular verbs
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Use in the classroom
Required technology and software:
Personal laptop and headset•
Language lab and Navajo multimedia materials•
License for Rosetta Stone classroom (purchased from •bookstore)
Angel (student•-management platform)
Microsoft® Word•
Navajo font•
Books in Navajo:•
http://www.dinecollege.edu/cdte/mmbooks/tsfo
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L2-only teaching strategies
Primarily oral
Use gestures, miming, actions, pictures, TPRS (Teaching •Proficiency through Reading & Storytelling), and more
Immersion(no English translation)
Engage students in •communicative activities.
Teach through repetition of vocabulary that was introduced
the whole semester/year.
Activities and Games in Navajo: board games, card games,
etc.
Student must understand the word before they can produce
a word.
Grammar will come naturally through teaching unless the
learner otherwise asks for explanation.
Use praise and use positive forms of correction. 29
Use in the classroom:
Angel
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Use in the classroom:
Angel
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Angel:
The flipped classroom
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Use in the classroom:
Angel
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Use in the classroom:
Angel
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Use in the classroom:
Angel
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Complementary materials:
Workbooks
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Complementary materials:
Quizzes
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Language learners today
Up until now, most Navajo curricula have been based on
Navajo as a first language.
Now, most students who know the language go to college
with Navajo as a second language.
There's a need to change the curriculum from first
language to second language instruction.
Rosetta Stone is helping with this shift, supporting NLR’s
efforts to develop workbooks & the online test.
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Use as a proficiency exam
The Navajo Nation offers the Chief Manuelito
Scholarship to Navajo high school students who have
completed the equivalent of Navajo Language I and II
Not all Navajo students have access to Navajo
language classes, so an entire subset of students
automatically doesn’t qualify
Navajo Nation scholarship office actually approached
Navajo Language Renaissance to create this test
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Use as a proficiency exam
We have formatted the workbooks for Level I and II
into a simple online exam which test for Navajo
proficiency.
Students sign up for an account, pay the examination
fee and take the test.
Students who pass receive a certificate, which can
exempt them from taking Navajo I and II classes.
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NavajoLRExam.org
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NavajoLRExam.org
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NavajoLRExam.org
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NavajoLRExam.org
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Who is buying Rosetta Stone
Navajo?
Navajos are not the only people buying Rosetta Stone
Navajo – orders have been received from all over the
continental United States and internationally.
Navajo Language Renaissance uses profits from sales
of Rosetta Stone Navajo to continue its pursuit of
Navajo language revitalization.
A variety of schools, community colleges, museums,
health centers, chapter houses, universities.
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Potential outside of the
classroom
We see interest from non Native American linguists who
enjoy learning languages
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeqCw6tFdE4
We see Rosetta Stone Navajo as a broader phenomenon,
helping to address the shift from L1 to L2 speakers.
Navajo Language Renaissance working in conjunction with
Rosetta Stone may also be formalizing/standardizing the
Navajo Language
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Future work on Rosetta Stone
Navajo
Further development of workbooks (Level 1 is in
progress and Level 2 is forthcoming)
Going live with the Navajo LR Exam website (probably
October 2012)
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