Spanish Heritage Language Classroom Research Articles

The Implementation of Critical Pedagogies in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom

In an attempt to battle systemic oppression towards Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) speakers in the United States, theoretical advances in the field of SHL education have pointed to a critical turn (Leeman & Serafini, 2016; Martínez, 2003; among others). At the core of critical pedagogies is the goal of legitimizing and empowering SHL speakers. Developing students’ critical consciousness about how languages/dialects are valued differently based on power dynamics enables them to question taken-for-granted and essentialist language assumptions and, consequently, better engage in the quest for social change. Nevertheless, there is still a gap between theory and practice due to the lack of critical pedagogical materials. This paper shares and reflects on SHL students’ feedback on the implementation of such materials in the classroom. It discusses the challenges and lessons learned in attempting to bridge theory and practice. The ultimate goal of this study is to inform and encourage other educators to collaborate in a transformative agenda aimed at the integration of critical pedagogies into the field of SHL education.

A call for critical and open pedagogies in Spanish heritage language instruction: Students as knowledge producers of Open Educational Resources (OERs)

This paper stresses the urgent need to implement critical and open pedagogies in language teaching, especially in the Spanish heritage language classroom. Language courses are often compulsory in secondary and higher education and typically employ traditional pedagogical models that are structured by grammar and/or communication tasks. This study introduces how heritage language teaching emerged as a field of study in the United States and offers a brief overview of critical and open pedagogies and their connection to open educational resources. This paper then introduces critical and open pedagogies to teaching Spanish as a heritage language, followed by a critical look at the existing Spanish teaching material. As an alternative to this material, this article shares a project titled “Discovering El Barrio” which addresses an innovative and productive pedagogical practice carried out by a Spanish heritage language class at Lehman College, CUNY. In this project, Spanish heritage language learners (HLL) became producers of authentic teaching and learning materials for second language (L2) Spanish learners.

Language Ideologies in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom: (Mis)alignment between Instructor and Students’ Beliefs

Research on Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) has found that language ideologies have impacted SHL learners in the U.S. There are several ways in which language ideologies have influenced the overall experiences of SHL learners by encompassing power systems that are at play within personal, societal, academic, and professional contexts. Pedagogical proposals rooted in Critical Language Awareness (CLA) have been crucial in dismantling harmful language ideologies in the classroom, though there is still a lack of research focused on both students and their instructors. To investigate this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with four advanced university-level SHL students and their instructor in a CLA-oriented SHL program. We also examined the writing assignments of each student to triangulate our data and gain a better understanding of how the students’ language ideologies were being maintained and how their instructor engaged, or not, with students’ beliefs about language. Through directed content analysis, our findings indicate that students with more experience in the program deviate from relaying harmful language ideologies. Their instructor, while aware of students’ negative beliefs about language, conveyed mixed messages about these ideologies as well.

Understanding and Addressing Linguistic Aggressions in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom

Understanding and Addressing Linguistic Aggressions in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom

Working With Diversity in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom: A Critical Perspective

This article reflects on the notion of diversity and its implications for the Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) classroom. In doing so, I follow proposals on SHL education, multilingualism, multiculturalism and sociolinguistics that call for a critical, dynamic and historical perspective on diversity. I elaborate on the relevance of such approch for the SHL classroom, and the new pedagogical possibilities it brings to our work. The final goal is to provide teachers with conceptual tools to generate inclusive learning environments where we all —heritage and foreign language learners, along with teachers— engage in critical discussions about our place in today’s diversity, and how we are all contributing to the future of the Spanish language in our communities.

Written feedback in heritage Spanish classrooms

Abstract Although feedback is a well-established and widespread technique in L1 and L2 writing, little is known about written feedback practices in Spanish heritage language (SHL) classrooms. This study examines how written feedback is used in SHL courses across the United States. Professors, instructors, graduate teaching assistants, program directors, and students who had taught, directed, or taken an SHL course completed online questionnaires about instructional practices and their perceptions of the feedback provided on writing assignments. Both instructors and students reported that written comments, correction codes, circles/underlines, and correct forms were frequently provided. Instructors indicated the most challenges when providing feedback on organization, grammar, and orthography. Nevertheless, students reported that every kind of feedback that they received was useful and comprehensible. Although further exploration of writing in the SHL classroom is needed to more concretely delineate best practices, the current findings suggest that several effective feedback practices are already in place.

Mixed Messages in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom

This paper explores the implications of prevailing attitudes about language variety found in a case study of a large, university SHL program. First, a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach was employed to examine the ideological underpinnings of the presentation of varieties of Spanish (including those of U.S. Spanish) in textbooks used in the program. Second, discussions with focus groups of SHL instructors were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed to gain insight into the practices fostered by the SHL program related to language variety. The CDA findings show evidence of reinforcement of an ideology of a monolithic “standard” Spanish in the SHL textbooks and curricula, with only cursory attention paid to regional varieties of Spanish and, at times, implicit and explicit de-legitimization of U.S. varieties of Spanish. The focus group data indicates that instructors identify tension between: 1) the program’s stated goals, which are to validate the students’ Spanish varieties and to develop an academic or professional register of Spanish; and 2) classroom reality, in which the “standard” is the overwhelming focus and the students’ own “home varieties” of Spanish are at times devalued by the textbook and course materials. Finally, based on these results, some pedagogical recommendations to validate heritage learners’ Spanish as a resource, rather than a deficit, are discussed.

Technology in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom: Can Computer-Assisted Language Learning Help?

Whereas myriad studies have been published in the field of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in the past thirty years, research on the use and implementation of technology in the teaching and learning of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) is very scarce. This study is aimed for those SHL instructors and researchers who are interested in incorporating technology and want to make an informed approach to the subject. Our goal is to provide the reader with the necessary background information in order to build a stronger SHL curriculum and point to some common tools that could be useful in that endeavor. Under the assumption that the SHL learner has a specific set of linguistic needs determined mainly by their socio-cultural upbringing, we contend that the teaching and learning of SHL in the United States should benefit from the advances made using technological tools in the L2 field. Furthermore, we argue that technology offers teachers and school administrators the opportunity to successfully cater to different students' needs in the SHL classroom. In addition, we discuss a variety of delivery methods and ideas that could be put into practice and offer further reading suggestions for instructors to examine in order to make an informed implementation of the technological tools available.

Culture and Instruction in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom

Since cultural competence is inherent to language acquisition, it should take a central role in heritage language courses so that heritage language learners (HLLs) can make connections with their own culture and be aware of the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world. This article presents an overview of the instruction and assessment of culture to promote critical thinking and reflection in order to reduce stereotypes and to validate the cultural heritage of HLLs. The current role of study abroad and service-learning to teach culture in the Spanish heritage language classroom is also discussed.

The Teaching and Learning of Spelling in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom: Mastering Written Accent Marks

Spanish spelling, especially the use of written accent marks, is a major stumbling block for Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners (Carreira 2002). In fact, Mikulski (2006) found that most SHL learners ranked bettering their spelling and grammar as a very important learning goal. Despite its importance in literacy development and its perceived value as a signal of an accomplished writer, few empirical studies have addressed spelling and use of accent marks. To address this gap, the present study evaluated a step-by-step instructional approach focusing on stress identification, which was delivered in three computer-based training sessions. The sessions consisted of listening exercises containing exaggerated and contrastive stress. Additionally, students received an introductory lesson and two explicit explanations of written accent rules with practice activities. Pre- and post-test results show the instruction effectively improved students' stress identification skills and ability to add written accent marks when appropriate. In addition, results find that the most complex aspect of learning accent use is identification of the stressed syllable. Poor spelling ability can affect students' attitudes toward writing, their fluency, and their self-confidence as writers. Therefore, it is important that SHL learners master correct accent placement through effective instructional procedures.

Inquiry-based Projects in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom: Connecting Culture and Community through Research

This study presents the development and implementation of inquiry-based cultural projects in a Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) Program. Four different inquiry-based curricula are described to illustrate how university students in an SHL program advance their knowledge of Spanish while carrying out research to understand Hispanic cultures. First-, second-, and third-year students conducted research utilizing different tools, including the Internet, surveys, interviews, and field data collection. They sought out and analyzed materials related to particular cultural expressions and became familiar with perspectives, products, and practices influencing the development of Hispanic cultures in the Houston area. The scaffolding of these projects from their immediate family context to the broader community allowed students gradually to expand their connection to and appreciation of their home culture while advancing their heritage language skills. By the end of each SHL course, students were able to articulate their research findings in written and oral presentations requiring increasing levels of linguistic proficiency. This study exemplifies a comprehensive approach to heritage language teaching integrating community engagement, cultural perspectives, and literacy, and can serve as a pedagogical model for heritage language programs elsewhere.

From pedagogy to communities: Issues within and beyond the Spanish heritage language classroom

Abstract Research on Spanish heritage language pedagogy has flourished in the past few decades, revealing both challenges and successful models to address them. The discussion here will focus on some of these major challenges and models, specifically, heritage language assessment, language variety validation, biliteracy approaches, and connections beyond the classroom. Students enroll in heritage language courses to develop their language repertoires and to become better prepared for professional opportunities that require formal uses of Spanish. However, one of the problems that heritage language instructors may face is guiding learners to develop biliteracy skills while also validating students’ language varieties. Heritage language learners frequently enter the classroom with feelings of inferiority about their language use either because their variety is stigmatized (e.g., they speak a rural variety), their Spanish is limited to oral/informal registers and/or their Spanish has English language influence. For these reasons, instructors’ role in empowering students and their language use is particularly crucial. Heritage language classrooms are also ideal for establishing stronger connections with local communities and professional sectors where Spanish is in demand (e.g., health care).

Instructional Effectiveness in the SHL Classroom

This article reports on a comparative study of teacher and student perceptions on effective instructional practices in the Spanish heritage language classroom. The data were collected through an online questionnaire administered to 460 students in different Spanish courses and 9 instructors at a large university as well as focus groups. Based on the results, it is suggested that teachers work toward a mutual understanding with students about the main classroom pedagogical activities, methods, and tools to prevent student dissatisfaction and disengagement.

Student Voices: The Missing Link in the Spanish Heritage Language Debate

Abstract: Though much of the research looking at the issue of language in the Spanish heritage language field is intended to guide the Spanish heritage language teacher in the classroom, students' voices are often stifled. This article fills this gap by giving voice to students' opinions on language use in the Spanish heritage language classroom. Survey results from 152 Spanish heritage language students enrolled in an extensive Spanish heritage language program show that these students prefer to learn specific varieties of Spanish in their Spanish heritage language classes. Interestingly, 91 % of those surveyed want their Spanish to be corrected. This article closes with pedagogical suggestions based on the students' preferences that may cause those of us working in the Spanish heritage language field to question our own pre‐existing beliefs concerning which language variety best serves the Spanish heritage language student population.