About Us
Indigenous Child Language Research Center
Mission
Statement
We promote the use of Indigenous languages by fostering growth in child speakers. We aim to spread awareness and encourage Indigenous child language studies through collaboration on community-led empirical research. By cultivating Indigenous child language work, we facilitate revitalization and sustainability efforts of these languages to advance their vitality into the future.
Vision
Our vision is to maintain linguistic diversity and cultural identity through the nourishment of Indigenous language use by children and their communities.
Goals
1. Inform communities of child language studies
- Educate on first language acquisition and classroom learning
- Spread awareness of the benefits of research
- Empower community-led and community-driven research
- Practice research based on a foundation of data sovereignty and respect
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2. Collaborate on linguistic empirical studies of Indigenous child languages
- Increase diversity of child language research
- Share evidence-based findings on child language research
- Provide training on aspects of Indigenous child language research
- Engage with stakeholders, scholars, and language professionals
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3. Link linguistic research and language pedagogy
- Cultivate awareness of the cognitive and social benefits of multilingualism
- Assist in the creation of materials informed by first language acquisition data
- Consult in the development of evidence-driven curricula
- Support assessment tools that are appropriate for the community
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4. Revitalize Indigenous languages through strengthening child language
- Nurture Indigenous children and their language development
- Promote children’s engagement with their heritage language
- Sustain language as an important part of culture to celebrate diversity
- Ensure the vitality of Indigenous child languages and multilingualism
Data Sovereignty Statement
We emphasize our position on data sovereignty, which is not to take, claim, or publish data. Rather, we strive to support and train community members to conduct their own research. We are primarily concerned with assisting in research through workshops and developing methods in partnership with communities. Since the Indigenous child language research at UNM is led by a Diné faculty member, our work has been centered on Diné Bizaad so far. As the center expands, we hope to work with more groups to support community-led and community-driven initiatives in New Mexico and beyond.