Spanish as a Heritage Language

Review of: Communicative Spaces in Bilingual Contexts: Discourses, Synergies and Counterflows in Spanish and English, edited by A. Sánchez-Muñoz and J. Retis

Sarah Henderson — 2024-07-08

Sánchez-Muñoz, A., & Retis, J. (Eds.). (2022). Communicative Spaces in Bilingual Contexts: Discourses, Synergies and Counterflows in Spanish and English (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003227304

Review of: Heritage Language Program Direction: Research into Practice by Sara M. Beaudrie and Sergio Loza

Gabriela DeRobles — 2024-07-08

Beaudrie, Sara M. & Loza, Sergio. (2023) Heritage language program direction: Research into practice. Routledge. 260 pp.

The Impact of Sociolinguistically Informed Critical Pedagogy

Andrea Herrera-Dulcet — 2024-07-08

Extensive literature has been devoted to examining the attitudes of Spanish speakers towards their own language varieties, yet further research is needed to understand how Spanish heritage language (SHL) education can inform and shape these attitudes. The present study explored if a Sociolinguistically Informed Critical Pedagogy (SICP) (1) fostered critical language awareness (CLA) among SHL learners, and (2) informed SHL learners’ language attitudes towards multilingual practices in the SHL classroom. Our data comes from focus group interviews of learners enrolled in four different sections of the same SHL advanced course during Fall 2017. Both sections used the same textbook and followed the same curriculum, but two groups were exposed to a supplemental SICP. We analyzed the focus group interviews via Attitude Analysis of the Appraisal Framework (Martin & White, 2005). SHL learners’ evaluations revealed that those exposed to the SICP did, in fact, present positive attitudes towards classroom multilingual practices, as well as the local contact varieties. In stark contrast, students in the group not exposed to the SICP underscored an assimilative attitude towards standard language ideologies and a rejection of multilingual practices in the SHL classroom. These results validate extensive scholarly calls for the inclusion of sociolinguistic topics and critical pedagogies in the SHL classroom (Carvalho, 2012; Leeman, 2005; Leeman, 2018; Martinez, 2003, among others) as a means to interrupt language subordination and foster Critical Translingual Competence (Leeman & Serafini, 2016) among SHL learners.

Feelings Towards Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Mixed Spanish Classes Containing Different Types of Learners

Angela George — 2024-07-08

Previous research has shown that positive emotions can facilitate language learning (e.g., Alrabai, 2022), while negative emotions can hinder it (e.g., Seligman, 2011). Therefore, the current study employs a sentiment analysis to determine how different types of learners feel about mixed Spanish courses, or courses that contain early second language learners (EL2), late second language learners (LL2), heritage learners (HLL) and/or native speakers (NS). Students were enrolled in beginning, intermediate, or advanced Spanish courses at a large public university in Western Canada and completed an online questionnaire. The findings indicate support for mixed classes at all levels by HLLs and NSs and mixed support by LL2s and EL2 at the beginner and intermediate level and by LL2s at the advanced level. The sentiment analysis revealed positive emotions for learners who supported mixed courses and mixed emotions for learners who supported separate courses. This study has implications for teachers and learners in mixed classes involving the mitigation of negative feelings by learners.

(Re)constructing Linguistic Identity in Southern California

Pablo Camus — 2024-07-08

This study aims to explore the complex and multifaceted ways in which young adults of Mexican descent negotiate and construct their identities and the role that the full range of linguistic repertoire of Spanish-Spanglish-English plays in
this process. Through the review of language narratives, we explore the language practices and histories of 41 Spanish heritage speakers of Mexican descent who grew up in North Orange County, California, taking a Spanish class in community college. A qualitative analysis of the narratives was followed to allow them to make sense of themselves in a holistic portrayal. In addition, quantitative surveys were administered in order to explore their motivations, attitudes, and beliefs about their languages and to enhance our understanding about their identity. Results echo Bustamante-López’s (2008) findings that participants take
on multiple linguistic identities depending on the social circumstance and interactions at hand. In addition, the analysis also suggests positive attitudes towards Spanglish as an index of the social identity, although a minority still holds negative attitudes that stem from linguistic insecurities and deficit language ideologies (Tseng 2021). Results are explained in light of the role that the community plays in their attitudes and identity construction (Parra, 2016) and the role that academics and practitioners have in promoting spaces for recognizing linguistic diversity in the Spanish language classroom.

Measuring Critical Language Awareness in Spanish as a Heritage Language Classrooms

Shelley Dykstra — 2024-07-08

The first part of this study reports findings of the improved scope, reliability, and validity of a questionnaire completed by 89 students designed to measure Critical Language Awareness (CLA) in Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) university classrooms. The second part of this study applies the questionnaire longitudinally at a large US West Coast institution to assess the development of CLA among 27 students enrolled in SHL courses. Results show that students made significant gains in one out of five themes. As critical approaches achieve more prominence in SHL education, the ability to measure students’ CLA offers important opportunities for SHL directors and instructors to gain a greater understanding of their student population, as well as to focus on specific areas of improvement. Implications for SHL program evaluation and development are discussed, offering a vision for a more explicit curriculum that intentionally raises students’ sociopolitical awareness of language hierarchies.

Integrating Task-Based Language Teaching, Critical Language Pedagogy, and Service-Learning to Foster Critical Language Awareness

Ellen J. Serafini — 2024-07-08

The current study takes a novel approach to integrating principles of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), Critical Language Pedagogy (CLP), and Service Learning (SL) in order to build heritage and second language (L2) students’ critical language awareness (CLA). First, the construct of CLA is defined and contextualized within the field of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL). Then core principles underlying the current critical task-based model are described and applied in the context of a critical service-learning course, “Spanish in the Schools” in which advanced heritage and L2 Spanish students served as Spanish
literacy aides in a local dual language elementary school over a semester. Students carried out key service-learning tasks, such as the critical biliteracy task, and engaged in critical reflection after each service-learning experience. The Naming-Action Reflection phases following Freire’s problem-posing approach (1970/2000) and the Pre-During-Post task cycle sequence (Willis & Willis, 2007) guided critical task design and implementation, providing language educators with an innovative approach to integrating CLA as both task-based objective and outcome. SHL and L2 scholars and practitioners alike are encouraged to adapt and localize the critical task-based principles and practices discussed here and to further explore ways to assess the development of CLA in future research.