When Faculty Become Learners: Faculty Perceptions of Navajo Vocabulary Instruction

Abstract

Prompted by learner feedback and by my own difficulties learning vocabulary in other languages, I reviewed the scholarship on vocabulary acquisition. On Indigenous People’s Day 2024, I presented five individual lessons in which faculty/ staff in attendance became learners of the Navajo language. Each lesson was designed with a unique set of target vocabulary and allowed attendees to experience different methods of vocabulary instruction. Secondarily, to gain an understanding of their preferences, I distributed a feedback sheet on which participants rated their retention of the targeted vocabulary following each lesson and other comments they wished to report. Reviewing this data revealed faculty found the method requiring use of the English-Navajo dictionary to be slightly more effective than other methods, while the method utilizing participants’ induction from “e-realia” was overwhelmingly viewed the most positively. Findings of this modest project suggest that effectiveness at retention and enjoyment may be orthogonal, but both may be important for DLIFLC learners. This project afforded faculty an opportunity in experiential learning, which may inspire instructors to vary their methods of vocabulary instruction. Moreover, positioning faculty as learners, however briefly, may enhance instructors’ empathy for their learners.