| This teacher action research study was conducted in a second-grade classroom (N = 17) to find out what changes occurred from singing Navajo songs daily over a period of 8 weeks. Nine of the participants were males (52.9%), and eight were females (47.1%). Seventeen parents, all mothers, were given pre and post interviews using open-ended questions as to their child's growth in language learning. The homeroom teacher was interviewed before the study began, as well as weekly, to determine the growth of the students in singing and speaking the Navajo language. Navajo Language Proficiency Assessments were given at the beginning of the school year in October 2000, in March 2001, and at the end of the study in May 2001 to determine the participants' growth in understanding the Navajo language.; As a result of the intervention, the findings indicated that changes had occurred in students' ability to speak and pronounce Navajo words, in students' attitude toward singing, in students' attitude toward speaking the Navajo language, and in their comprehension of the Navajo language. Significant growth in comprehension of the Navajo language was indicated by the Navajo Language Proficiency Assessments. The student means and standard deviations by time for October 2000, March 2001, and May 2001 indicated that incremental growth occurred on all six subscales between the three periods. The repeated measures analyses of variance indicated that student participants grew significantly on subscales between March 2001 and May 2001: Subscale 3: understanding handling verbs (p = .03); Subscale 5: identifying seasons, historical leaders, geographical area, weather, verbs, measurements, and solving addition and subtraction (p = .004); Subscale 6: contrasting American, Dine culture, identifying borrowed Dine language, identifying Dine cultural items (p = .001); and Total Score (p = .001). Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and analyzed.; This study may not be able to be generalized to all children or classrooms because it was a teacher action research study with Navajo student participants. The study was done in a self-contained classroom with no control group. Suggestions for further research are given. |
