In this Webquest activity, your group will explore how three indigenous languages have fared since the arrival of Europeans in the Americas.

Process
You should form groups of four (4). Each group will select one language to study: Navajo (United States), Nahuatl (Mexico) or Guaraní (Paraguay). Members of the group will take on one of the following four roles and conduct the research that corresponds to that role. The final product will be a 30-minute Power Point presentation.

Roles

Historian
Your job is to explain the historical conditions surrounding this language group. Preliminary questions to guide your research include these: What were the colonists' attitudes toward the native language and its speakers? Did they attempt religious conversion in the local language? What were the major factors in the maintenance or decline of the language?

Preservationist
You will study revival efforts by the speakers of this language. This may include school programs, government efforts, etc. and may be modern as well as from the past. Provide specific details about preservation efforts and their results. Also, be sure to provide a sense of what the language means to its speakers.

Statistician
Your task is to come up with facts and figures, including but not limited to these: Where is the language spoken? How many speakers of the language were alive upon the arrival of Europeans, and how many there are today? In what regions did they live then and now? What proportion of today's speakers monolingual vs. bilingual?

Fortune teller
Your job is to make informed predictions about the vitality of this language and explain them with the data your team mates have collected. You will create a multimedia Power Point presentation that summarizes the group's findings. The presentation must include maps, graphs, and an oral or written sample of the language. Be sure the other group members see your presentation beforehand and correct any factual errors.

Resources:
Navajo
Náhuatl
Guaraní

Grading criteria