“Saber español sí sirve” Academic Validation of Spanish as a Heritage Language

Patricia Bayona

doi:10.1515/opli-2019-0004

Abstract

Abstract The article offers an account of the challenges and successes encountered in the process of opening a new Professional Spanish Minor, targeted mainly to Heritage Spanish speakers in a small traditional liberal arts college in the Midwest region of the USA. The article introduces the concept “bi-directional scaffolding”, and some of the topics discussed are the motivation for establishing the new program, the choice of curriculum, and the process used to involve diverse Faculty. Additionally, the results of an opinion survey distributed among Heritage Spanish speakers are presented, in which their career expectations and current perceptions of their life at this college have provided a much more accurate framework to design the new minor. Conclusions include a reflection on programmatic solutions for the needs of Hispanic students in our institution. The article proposes an inter-institutional dialogue regarding program standards and curricular schemes for Heritage Spanish students nationwide.

Highlights

This article presents an account of the process behind the design of a new Professional Spanish Minor in a private four-year college in the Midwest.2 Considerations are made regarding the challenges overcome as well as the gains in the progression of the idea that started as a utopia in informal conversations in the Spanish program
These colloquial vocabulary items were piloted in intermediate Spanish classes in North Central College (NCC), and the results reproduced the findings of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC): HS speakers in NCC responded accurately to 90-100% of the items, while non-native speakers would respond accurately to less than 60% of the items
The Professional Spanish Minor has been formally approved by NCC to start running in the Fall of 2019

Summary

Introduction

This article presents an account of the process behind the design of a new Professional Spanish Minor in a private four-year college in the Midwest. Considerations are made regarding the challenges overcome as well as the gains in the progression of the idea that started as a utopia in informal conversations in the Spanish program. This article presents an account of the process behind the design of a new Professional Spanish Minor in a private four-year college in the Midwest.. As the new minor has crystallized in the institution, far-reaching factors have come into play regarding the nature, extent, and focus of the program, which should be part of a national conversation to reach consensus. The creation of this minor responds to a dramatic increase in the diversity of the institution where the study takes place. Demographics in all communities have changed, and a new era in the institution has flourished with a wider diversity spectrum

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion