Language loss and translingual identities near the Navajo land

As an instructor teaching a majority of Navajo students at a rural branch campus of a state research university near the Navajo reservation, I have observed that many of my Navajo students claim that they do not speak the Navajo language fluently. Data obtained through background forms and in-class writing exercises and observations suggested that a minority of the Navajo students claimed that they can hold a conversation or get by with another Navajo speaker in Navajo. Some of their parents never or hardly ever spoke the language to them, so they never learned the language. Some claimed that only their grandparents spoke the language to them. Due to moving to a different place, they lost their language proficiency because their parents never spoke the language to them. Some claimed that their grandparents passed away, so they lost their language proficiency. The majority of the Navajo students hope to learn or re-learn their language of heritage.