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Critical language awareness (CLA) is increasingly identified as a central component of the Spanish heritage language (SHL) classroom (Leeman, 2005; Martínez, 2003; among others). As a minority language, SHL is subject to sociopolitical, cultural, and economic forces that devalue its status. It is devalued in the eyes of the public, as a legitimate U.S. language, and as something worthy of being maintained. It is essential that students receive instruction not only in the heritage language, but also on the contextual factors that affect the Spanish-English sociopolitical relationship in the United States. Such instruction will enable learners to begin resisting heritage language loss by questioning language ideologies that promote English monolingualism and standard, monolingual Spanish as the ideal norm. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire with adequate psychometric properties to measure CLA in the SHL context. The respondents were 301 students enrolled in SHL courses in four U.S. universities. The questionnaire results were submitted to a series of statistical analysis to investigate how well the instrument meets the criteria of reliability and validity specified in this study. The final 19-item instrument had adequate psychometric properties and detected change in the CLA of students in a class where CLA was taught.

This study explores how principals of dual language (DL) programs draw on two dominant societal discourses around language education—linguistic instrumentalism/neoliberalism and equity/social justice—to make sense of their programs. Through in‐depth interviews with 19 principals of Spanish‐English elementary school DL programs in Arizona and California, the researchers examine (1) the ways in which the two discourses manifested in the principals’ talk, and 2) the consequences for English learners of each discursive framing. The researchers found that framing a program within each discourse led principals to different conclusions about the purpose of DL, its goals, and who should be included in it. Principals adopting a predominantly neoliberal frame understood DL as a way to gain a competitive edge, both for their schools (competing with other schools for students) and for their students (competing for future jobs at a global scale). Principals drawing primarily on social justice discourse instead understood DL as a historically contingent, collaborative movement for social transformation. The authors illustrate how the first framing can contribute to the exclusion of English learners from DL, while the latter presupposes their belonging. They also discuss future work exploring how principals come to develop their discursive framings.

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EN The pandemic amplified the educational disparities that Latinx students face in virtual courses. This research project describes Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) learners’ experiences with remote instruction, and it proposes using the Community of Inquiry Model (Garrison et al., 2000) and modified versions of the Theory of Social Presence (Fayram, 2017; Hauck & Warnecke, 2012; Strong et al., 2012; Whiteside, 2015) as guiding frameworks to obtain information about social presence (SP) aspects in the online classroom. A total of 126 SHL learners took a validated online survey to evaluate the challenges of switching to a remote modality of instruction. This research emphasizes the need to design effective online courses that foster SP as a key element to diminish feelings of isolation and encourage active participation in the classroom. We propose that teaching presence is an important component of social presence in online SHL courses, and we offer pedagogical implications for practitioners. Parole chiave: LATINX STUDENTS, SPANISH HERITAGE LANGUAGE COURSES, ONLINE CLASSES, SOCIAL PRESENCE ES La pandemia amplificó la disparidad educativa que el alumnado latino sufre en los cursos virtuales. Este proyecto describe las experiencias del alumnado latino en las clases virtuales de español como lengua de herencia (SHL) y propone el uso del modelo de la Community of Inquiry (Garrison et al., 2000) y la teoría de la Presencia Social (junto con sus modificaciones: Hauck & Warnecke, 2012; Fayram, 2017; Strong et al., 2012; Whiteside, 2015) como guía para entender la presencia social (PS) y sus factores en las clases virtuales. Un total de 126 participantes respondieron a un cuestionario en línea validado para evaluar los retos que supuso el cambio a una enseñanza a distancia. Los resultados indican la importancia de diseñar cursos virtuales efectivos que promuevan la presencia social como el elemento clave para disminuir el aislamiento y promover la participación activa en las clases. En este estudio proponemos que la presencia docente es un componente importante de la presencia social en la enseñanza virtual del español como lengua de herencia y ofrecemos implicaciones pedagógicas para el profesorado. Palabras claves: ALUMNADO LATINO, CURSOS DE ESPAÑOL COMO LENGUA DE HERENCIA, CURSOS EN LÍNEA, PRESENCIA SOCIAL IT La pandemia ha aumentato le disparità educative che studenti/esse latini/e affrontano nei corsi a distanza. Questo studio descrive le esperienze di apprendenti di Spagnolo come Lingua Ereditaria nella didattica a distanza (DaD), e propone l’uso del modello della Community of Inquiry (Garrison et al., 2000) e della Teoria della Presenza Sociale (con le sue variazioni: Hauck & Warnecke, 2012; Fayram, 2016; Strong et al., 2012; Whiteside, 2015) come modelli per ottenere informazioni su aspetti della presenza sociale (SP) durante le lezioni online. 126 studenti hanno risposto a un questionario validato online per valutare le sfide poste dal passaggio alla DaD. I risultati evidenziano la necessità di corsi online efficaci che promuovano la SP come fattore chiave per diminuire il senso di isolamento e incoraggiare una partecipazione attiva alla lezione. Viene suggerita la presenza dell’insegnante come componente importante della SP nei corsi online di SHL e vengono trattate le implicazioni pedagogiche per i docenti stessi. Parole chiave: STUDENTI LATINI, CORSI DI SPAGNOLO COME LINGUA EREDITARIA, LEZIONI ON-LINE, PRESENZA SOCIALE.