Heritage Language Education Research Articles

Critical Sociolinguistics Meets Curriculum Design

This manuscript describes a course for heritage speakers (HSs) of Spanish implemented at a large state university in the Northeast US. As has been reported, HSs face pervasive language-based discriminatory practices and attitudes within academic and societal contexts. To challenge this discrimination, heritage language (HL) education must provide students with knowledge and analytic tools to deconstruct denigrating language ideologies as well as some of the sociopolitical forces undergirding them. Doing so may help break the symbolic shackles of these ideologies and foster linguistic gains through the appreciation of linguistic variation. Critically-oriented HL courses looking to achieve this goal, however, are still scarce in the US. Hence, this work aims to contribute to ongoing discussions of how to design this type of course by presenting the rationale behind this new curriculum and making explicit connections between critical sociolinguistics research and the content and tasks of each course unit. Unlike other HL courses whose critical component is an add-on to more traditional linguistic and cultural content, this course makes demystifying language ideologies its main driving force.

Identity and heritage language learning: a case study of two mixed-heritage Korean university students in New Zealand

Abstract This narrative case study examines the identity development of two mixed-heritage (Korean/White and Korean/Japanese) university students in relation to Korean as a heritage language (HL) in New Zealand. The narratives of the two participants (Mia and Hannah) revealed that they grew up with different levels of exposure to the HL, which impacted their HL proficiency, and experienced different struggles with identity construction. While Mia’s White appearance helped her explore multiple ethnic/cultural identities, Hannah was deemed completely non-White by White New Zealanders, assigned a minority “Asian” identity, and subjected to racial discrimination. The dominant group’s confusion about intra-race mixedness and perceptions of Hannah as non-mixed complicated her situation. Hannah had little access to a majority heritage (New Zealander) identity, but also found her specific heritage identities occluded by an imposed single (“Asian”) identity. Nonetheless, on entering university both participants showed a strong desire to embrace their Koreanness through HL education or socialization with coethnic peers. HL learning played a crucial role in their construction of mixed-heritage identity; for Mia, the HL was valuable social capital, while for Hannah, the HL was a means of claiming her ethnic identity. This study highlights the complexity and plurality of mixed-heritage identities and offers implications for educators.

Teachers' language use in United Kingdom Chinese community schools: Implications for heritage-language education.

This study deals with teachers’ language use as it is manifested in community-based heritage-language classes. Specifically, it focuses on the functions of students’ dominant variety (L1, English) when harnessed by teachers for the purposes of teaching their ethnic language (L2, Mandarin Chinese). Empirical investigation was conducted at two Chinese community schools in the United Kingdom and data demonstrate that students’ L1 was utilised naturally and systematically by teachers to facilitate students’ L2 learning. Various L1 facilitative functions were identified and these generally accord well with functions recorded in other studies. In addition, this study underlines the potentially unique characteristics of community-based heritage-language education: while the target variety of students (Mandarin Chinese) is routinely the native variety of teachers, teachers struggle to explain new linguistic information in Mandarin because of students’ low proficiency while they concurrently struggle with at least some elements of students’ native or dominant variety (English). Teachers explained that the fact that students’ dominant language of English is a global language makes their use of it all the more likely. Teachers demonstrated a strong tendency to feel ill-prepared for their language teaching role. There is thus a clear need for heritage-language teachers to receive training that is sociolinguistically informed. This training should emphasise the potential utility of exploiting students’ full linguistic repertoires by drawing in particular on the crosslinguistic similarities and differences between the varieties of which students are cognisant. Teacher-training programmes that promote such awareness may well hold the key to better heritage-language education which will continue to have a crucial role in maintaining and developing minority community languages.

Making heritage language accessible through “a trip to the enchanted wood”

Abstract Despite increasing popularity of early heritage language (HL) education, the HL education system faces challenges, such as engaging young children and tailoring teachers’ pedagogical approaches. The aim of the study was to explore a particular pedagogical activity (“a trip to the enchanted wood”) that provides accessibility to HL, and to analyze children’s behavior while engaging in learning during this activity. We conducted the study in a bilingual preschool in Israel, where Russian was the heritage language and Hebrew the societally dominant language. We collected and documented the data using qualitative tools (ethnographic observations and interviews). A complex analysis of eight HL classroom observations focused on the application of a language-conducive strategy – teacher-led pretend play of “a trip to the enchanted wood.” We performed two types of coding: (1) coding information about elements of script structure and characteristics of props used; (2) coding children’s responsive behavior to the teacher’s suggestions during play. Drawing on an ecological approach to language productive use, we concluded that a complex two-way relationship exists between language accessibility and engagement in learning. Practical applications to support young language learners are suggested.

Examining the Influence of Spanish Heritage Language Learners’ Critical Language Awareness (CLA) Development on Ethnic Identity Formation

As critical language pedagogies are being implemented in heritage language (HL) settings, there is an increasing need to examine the impact of critical approaches in Spanish HL speakers. The present study examines how the development of HL learners’ critical language awareness (CLA) influences ethnic identity formation in a university-level course that adopts a critical approach to HL instruction. As part of the curricular content, a CLA instructional intervention, consisting of a 4-week unit (10 h), was implemented. First, to measure ethnic identity, at the beginning (pre) and at the end of the semester (post), students completed the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS) and provided comments with their answers. Additionally, in order to examine CLA development before and after the intervention, participants completed an existing questionnaire, which addresses topics such as language variation, language ideologies, and bilingualism. Overall, the results show that students’ CLA levels increased from “somewhat high” to “high”. Furthermore, participants reported different ethnic–racial identity statuses, which moved toward ethnic identity achievement. Higher CLA levels were associated with an achieved positive status. These findings can contribute to a better understanding of the link between students’ CLA and ethnic identity in HL educational settings, where a critical language pedagogy is applied.

‘I’m also trying to figure out the identity of my students.’ – teachers’ multilingual identity negotiation in the heritage language classroom

ABSTRACT This study investigates the interplay among identity, language, and culture of six heritage language (HL) teachers at a Greek school in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. It applies the concept of participative multilingual identity construction and argues that in order for teachers to provide agency and opportunities to their students to engage in (multilingual) identity education, they first need to acquire critical linguistic awareness and sociolinguistic knowledge themselves. The study found that most teachers do not identify as multilingual despite their competences and daily social practices in multiple languages, but rather base their identifications on their first language–Greek–with certain local influences. It also demonstrated that teachers’ understanding of their role, responsibility, and position within the HL teaching context, their own migration experiences, and ideologies regarding heritage and local languages and cultures influence their teaching practices and students’ construction of their multilingual identity. This contribution advocates the institutionalisation of HL-specific teacher preparation with a focus on identity, multilingualism, and community experiences to recognise the increasing heterogeneity of twenty-first-century classrooms. It ultimately seeks to advance the normalisation of linguistic and cultural diversity, the deconstruction of pernicious language hierarchies and ideologies, and the promotion of equity and social justice.

Telecollaboration as a Tool to Enhance Critical Pedagogy in Spanish Heritage Language Instruction

Abstract: This paper describes and evaluates our experience implementing telecollaboration in Spanish Heritage Language instruction in order to develop students’ critical reflection on issues that affect Latinx communities in the United States. Data and students’ samples collected in four SHL courses taught at Queens College-CUNY, New York City and Saint Xavier University, Chicago are presented and analyzed. We begin by explaining the motivation for the use of telecollaboration, and then outline the three modules of this project in relation to our goals: (1) to develop students’ understanding of the discursive and sociopolitical nature of language and identity; (2) to engage students in a discussion of the historic presence of Latinxs in the country and the patterns of Latinx migration to the US in the 20th and 21st centuries; and (3) to promote a critical reflection on the current living and working conditions of Latinx communities in New York and Chicago. We conclude with a general assessment of the project based on students’ work and our own reflections.

Audiovisual Assignments as Service-learning for Social Justice in Latinx Communities

Although digital media projects are not new to Spanish heritage language education, the increased digitization of communication during the Covid-19 pandemic has afforded new digital educational opportunities (Guillén, Sawin, & Avineri, 2020). In Fall 2020, in lieu of a service-learning assignment in which students had to be physically present in a classroom context, I created a new final assignment for my SHL course: in small groups, students collaborated (virtually and/or in-person) to create a Spanish-language audiovisual project, such as a short video, to address an issue of social equity that affects Latinxs in Kansas, and they disseminated their work to a local Spanish-speaking public. The students engaged in the project in different phases throughout the semester: planning and investigation, script writing and revising, production, dissemination, and reflection. The assignment allowed them to develop both written and oral communication skills, gain experience working in teams, and connect their Spanish language development with their career goals and with social justice (Avineri et al., 2018). In Kansas, where many of our Latinx students describe having been instructed not to speak Spanish in school or targeted for their use of Spanish in public, students had the opportunity to challenge previously held perceptions and circulating societal and institutional discourses about what they, as children of immigrants, could do with the Spanish language.

Analysis of the fostering and constraining factors for learners’ participation in the Spanish Heritage Education Program ALCE in Germany: proposals for improvement

ABSTRACT In recent years, Heritage Language Programs have been attracting more and more attention in the European academic and educational policy contexts. In Germany, many efforts are being undertaken to foster the teaching of heritage languages in schools. This paper provides an overview of the teaching of Spanish as a Heritage Language in Germany through the long-established Program ‘Spanish Culture and Language Lessons’ (Aulas de Lengua y Cultura Españolas) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education for school-aged Spanish heritage speakers. The principal objectives of the study are to analyze the main fostering and constraining factors to participate in this program and to propose improvement measures. To achieve these purposes, a mixed quantitative and qualitative research methodology has been used. The findings are discussed according to these main topics arising during the research process: reasons for students to participate and learning needs, teaching challenges, family implication, relationship with the regular formal education system, blended learning, linguistic and culture diversity. Moreover, improvement measures for this Spanish Heritage Language program are suggested. The main conclusions may be useful for heritage language teachers and program managers in other heritage language (HL) programs in Germany and more generally in Europe.

“It wasn’t just about learning how to speak Spanish”: Engaging Histories of Oppression and Enslavement in Spanish Heritage Language Education

ABSTRACT We present a curricular intervention in elementary Spanish heritage language in a Hispanic serving institution located in the US Northeast (Bronx, NYC), that aims to contextualize Latinx students’ experiences and perceptions of Blackness within broader histories of oppression and enslavement. Our practice brings together critical Latinx pedagogy and critical approaches to Spanish heritage language education to facilitate sociohistorical consciousness for both language instructors and students through the use of open-access Latinx archival resources. We outline a three-week unit designed using the First Blacks in the Americas online collection curated by the City University of New York Dominican Studies Institute. During the unit, the students practice their full linguistic repertoires and develop historical thinking skills. We discursively analyze survey responses, instructor fieldnotes, and students’ coursework collected throughout the course to measure the impact of this pilot project. We find that students value learning about Latinx history as a mechanism to practice their Spanish, especially as it relates to the (internalized) racism they experience within their families and communities. We discuss the implications of a critical Latinx language pedagogy to anchor Spanish language education in the experiences and knowledge of Latinx people, histories, and cultures.

Bangla and the identity of the heritage language teacher

Abstract Research on language teacher identity in the field of heritage language (HL) teaching has received little attention, although identity is a central concern in HL education. Our research seeks to address this gap in the research on language teacher identity. Drawing on the Darvin and Norton’s (2015) conceptual framework of identity and investment, we investigate the extent to which Bangla HL teachers are invested in teaching Bangla, and how their investment provides insight into their identity as heritage language teachers. The study was conducted at the community-based Vancouver Bangla School, and the data, which focuses on our focal participant, Mili, were drawn from a year-long qualitative case study. Data sources include participant classroom observations, field notes, interview transcripts, a questionnaire, and educational resources used in the class, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings indicate that Mili’s investment in teaching Bangla was deeply rooted in her ideological belief in the importance of HL maintenance for cultural continuity. However, she was also interested in the transcultural relationship between Bangla and English, and between Bangladeshi culture and Canadian culture. Her investment in teaching Bangla as a heritage language suggests that an HL teacher may serve as a cultural mentor, collaborator, innovator, and active community member. As a member of both the Canadian and Bangladeshi cultural community, she valued students’ Canadian cultural practices and helped students in negotiating their new transcultural identities as Bangladeshi-Canadians. Our study suggests that the identity of the HL teacher could be expressed as a transcultural identity that resists binaries and embraces hybridity.

Maintenance of Russian as a heritage language in Germany: A longitudinal approach

The study discusses the perspectives of long-term maintenance of Russian as a heritage language in Germany. Based on data from a longitudinal study (2014-2018) we investigated changes in the sociolinguistic situation of 19 adolescent heritage speakers and in their proficiency in Russian. The aim was to investigate whether changes in the participants sociolinguistic situation are reflected in their knowledge of Russian. Data on the sociolinguistic situation were collected via an extensive questionnaire that the participants had to fill out once a year. Language proficiency was measured by experimental tasks targeting different linguistic domains. For the current paper, we used data from the longitudinal measurement of lexical and grammatical proficiency. The results revealed that the participants exposure to Russian input is decreasing in several domains over time, especially concerning media consumption and personal visits to the homeland. Russian is increasingly restricted to interactions with parents, and to educational settings (classes in Russian as a foreign or heritage language). Regarding language attitudes, our participants explicitly consider Russian important primarily for family interactions and cultural factors, but less with regard to career goals. Nevertheless, there was a positive trend in lexical and grammatical proficiency. We interpret these findings as a result of the prolonged exposure to heritage language instruction which leads to a stabilized proficiency in Russian. Given the institutional support and the size of the community, we hypothesize that the perspectives for long-term maintenance of Russian as a heritage language in Germany are better than for Russian heritage speaker communities in other countries.

Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language: Theories and Practices

Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language: Theories and Practices

The other side of heritage language education: Understanding Spanish heritage language teachers in the United States

AbstractIn response to the growth of Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners in the United States, researchers and instructors in the field of SHL teaching proposed a set of goals and pedagogical approaches to meet these learners’ needs. However, because few studies focused on SHL teachers’ professional preparation and practice, it is unclear whether these developments have reached language teacher preparation and professionalization, or how SHL teachers are implementing these pedagogies. This study seeks to better understand the experiences, practices, and needs of teachers of SHL to inform and improve professional development models. By analyzing data from a nationwide online survey and exploring individual experiences through scripted interviews, we offer a snapshot of the realities of these educators working in different educational contexts in the United States. The analysis highlights the challenges faced by SHL instructors, the gaps in their teacher education, and the need for additional resources and targeted support. The implications of these results for SHL teacher preparation are discussed considering feasible options to foster their professional growth.

Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language: Theories and Practices

Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language: Theories and Practices

‘We are Korean people and we must speak Korean well:’ parental involvement in five Korean American families with successful heritage language maintenance

ABSTRACT This study investigated parental involvement in five Korean American families where there was evidence of successful heritage language (HL) maintenance in the second generation. The data in the current study were drawn from interviews of five Korean women who were first-generation immigrants to the U.S. and their daughters who were raised in the U.S. for most or all of their lives and were able to successfully acquire a high degree of competence in their HL. The data were analyzed for evidence of parental involvement in the children’s HL education, which was categorised according to Grolnick and Slowiaczek’s (1994, ‘Parents’ involvement in children's schooling: A multidimensional conceptualization and motivational model.’ Child Development 65: 237–252. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00747.x.) framework. The findings demonstrate that parental involvement in HL education was wide-ranging, taking the form of behavioural involvement (for example, speaking Korean at the home, teaching Korean to their children, watching Korean television shows with their children), cognitive-intellectual involvement (for example, exposing their children to formal Korean language instruction), and personal involvement (for example, explicitly expressing positive attitudes toward the Korean language and culture, expressing high expectations for their children’s Korean language competence).

Knowing Who You Are: Heritage Language, Identity and Safe Space in a Bilingual Kindergarten

Evidence shows that when young children’s diverse language heritages are valued and supported, there are benefits for their linguistic and conceptual development, their sense of identity and their learning. However, there are few early learning settings in Australia which nurture young children’s bilingual repertoires. And, while it is well established that early childhood is a critical period for first and second language acquisition, there is a lack of empirical research available on children’s bilingual development in institutional early childhood education and care. Against this backdrop, our article reports on a study of a bilingual Samoan community kindergarten (a’oga amata) in southeast Queensland. In this paper, we focus on how the a’oga amata supported the maintenance of the children’s heritage language and culture. We explore language use in the a’oga amata, the cultural values underpinning the educators’ practices, and the positive responses of the children and parents in the study. We also examine the constraints on the community leaders and educators’ efforts to create an authentic bilingual experience in this English-dominant environment. Finally, we revisit the notion of safe spaces for young bilingual learners (Conteh & Brock, 2011) and rearticulate the need for clear language policies that support heritage language education.

Korean-speaking spaces: heritage language learning and community access for mixed-race Korean Americans

ABSTRACT This study examines the experiences of mixed-race Korean Americans in their journey to develop and use their heritage language, Korean, through in-depth autobiographical interviews. Participants highlighted the role of ‘Korean-speaking spaces’ such as Korean churches or grocery stores, where the expectation is to speak Korean, as important sites for informal heritage language learning. More importantly, for many mixed-race Korean Americans, these spaces afforded the main opportunities for authentic, interactive heritage language use. However, despite the availability of Korean-speaking spaces, findings reveal how early experiences of marginalisation in these spaces due to perceived racial difference resulted in a hyperawareness of the ways in which they were being racialized. In addition, in more formal heritage language learning settings via community-based or college-level heritage language courses, the participants experienced persistent microaggressions and multiple logistical, socioemotional, and ideological barriers that contributed to their decisions to stop attending or resulted in demotivating language learning experiences. Their stories demonstrate how these mixed-race Korean Americans displayed resilience and strong motivation to maintain their heritage language by creating their own alternative communities via social media and varied opportunities for heritage language use. Implications for heritage language education are discussed.

Language Mixings in Heritage Language Education: A Systematic Review

The overarching research question for this paper is what work has been done on heritage languages worldwide through a language mixing lens. Given the increasing research interest in this topic and the scarcity of previous secondary studies, a systematic review was conducted on the empirical data at the intersection of language mixing and heritage language education, in and out of schools. Thematic analysis and frequency analysis were carried out on qualified empirical sources gathered from Scopus, Web of Science, and Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA). After sharing backgrounds on heritage language education and language mixing with relative terms and perspectives, the paper presents findings from the review based on 23 peer-reviewed empirical journal articles, focusing specifically on three aspects: (a) the main theoretical approaches and definitions employed for language mixing; (b) the characterization of language mixing for instruction and its impacts on heritage language education; (c) the parent and community language mixing activities for children’s heritage language learning. The limitations of the existing studies and the implications for educators and researchers are later discussed. It is hoped that this article will further our knowledge on this topic and provide pointed implications for future education and research.

The Pedagogical Practices of an Immigrant Parent: Maintaining Heritage Language in the Home Context

The maintenance of heritage language is essential to immigrant children’s linguistic, cultural, and social development. While there is a large body of literature on heritage language, how heritage language is practiced at home remains largely unknown. Engaging in an autobiographical narrative inquiry, I tell and retell stories of our pedagogical practices in the home context. I seek to bridge the research gap with new understandings of the “parent knowledge” that immigrant parents bring to bear in heritage language education. I invite you into my home and immigrant family’s language journey to witness the efforts, challenges, and rewards of learning heritage language.