| This is a study of the extent to which vernacular Navajo is being maintained in Navajo homes and the attitudes of the Navajo toward vernacular literacy, the use of the vernacular in the schools and vernacular language maintenance.;The chapters include: (I) Introduction, (II) The Trend in Language Maintenance and Shift: Language Dominance of Navajo Children, (III) Navajo Language Usage, (IV) Navajo Language Attitudes, (V) Vernacular Language Usage and Attitudes Compared, and (VI) Summary and Conclusion: Implications for Language Policy in Education.;Units of data were generated by questionnaires. The extent of vernacular usage is found to decline with the decline in the age of the speakers. Vernacular language attitudes were found on a Likert scale to be favorable. Language usage did not correlate significantly with language attitudes nor did usage and attitudes correlate significantly with selected socio-demographic variables. The shift away from the vernacular is a function, in part, of increased educational attainment among the Navajo. A T-test showed a significant relationship between the degree of education among adults and the extent to which they speak Navajo to the children. The higher the educational attainment, the less the vernacular is spoken. There is more oral use of Navajo than there is use of reading and writing. Pearson correlations of language maintenance attitudes with attitudes toward vernacular literacy and with using the vernacular in the schools were significant. It was recommended, for pedagogical and cultural reasons, that schools serving Navajo communities should seriously consider including vernacular Navajo in their curricula. |
