How Course Level, Gender, and Ethnic Identity Labels Interact with Language Attitudes towards Spanish as a Heritage Language

Abstract

This study investigates correlations of course level, gender, and ethnic identity labels with attitudinal dimensions toward Spanish by Spanish as a Heritage Language Learners in New Mexico. Participants in first-semester (n = 327) and fourth-semester (n = 174) Spanish as a Heritage Language courses rated twelve items designed to index language attitudes (Instrumental, Sentimental, Communication, and Value) toward Spanish on a 5-point Likert scale, based on a similar tool used by Mejías and Anderson (1988) and Mejías et al. (2003). Participants at both levels claimed similar ethnic identity labels but had different correlations to language attitudes. First-semester students who self-identified as “Mexican American,” “Hispanic,” and “Spanish” rated the Value dimension higher than peers who did not claim those labels. “Anglo” correlated negatively with both the Value and Communicative dimensions. Fourth-semester students who self-identified as “Latino/a” had positive attitudes in the Sentimental, Instrumental, and Communicative dimensions. “Native American” and “Spanish” correlated negatively with Sentimental while “American” correlated negatively with Instrumental. Higher-level students held more favorable language attitudes, and females at both levels had more positive attitudes than male peers. These findings have implications for how course level, gender, and ethnic identity may impact heritage language maintenance and motivation to learn the heritage language in the university setting.