Opportunities

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  • Cohort members have the opportunity to become active in Diné language revitalization as well as collaborate with Diné language immersion experts, cultural practitioners, and faculty members.
  • Cohort members who complete the DLTI will be offered ongoing mentoring through instructional support and as well as the opportunity to take supplementary courses; these courses will support their professional development and refinement of using Diné immersion methodologies. In turn, these Diné language teacher cohort members will be encouraged to mentor new recruits and/or other teachers who want to learn about Diné language immersion and related trainings. Essentially, they will be encouraged to promote language advocacy in home and community settings by engaging with fluent speakers from and in the community (thus promoting the use of the language in these settings) and by continuing to refine their practice of Diné language immersion methodologies.
  • By participating, cohort members help to combat the urgent need to utilize and draw upon the availability of human capital (cultural and language resources) to continue the tribe’s efforts to maintain and revitalize the Navajo language, both in the local and in the greater Navajo community.
  • Upon passing the Navajo Nation’s language test, the cohort members are encouraged to apply for the New Mexico 520 Alternative Certification for Native Language and Culture. They will be placed with a local school’s Navajo language programs as Diné Language and Culture Resource Teachers (i.e., as trained Diné language teachers).
  • The DLTI offers undergraduate certificates in Navajo bilingual/language education for cohort members upon completion of their course work from UNM.
  • Other academic opportunities for cohort members include:
    1. Applying the 18-credit hours towards a degree program.
    2. Using the 18-credit hours for a BA in Native American Studies or a BA in Linguistics.
    3. Using the 18-credit hours to minor in Navajo Language or Language, Literacy and Socio-cultural Studies.