Heritage Language Instruction at the College Level: Reality and Possibilities

Abstract

This article describes the findings of an in‐depth, qualitative study of three heritage language students of Spanish, which explored the students' perceptions of their heritage language classroom. It provides an alternative, practical view of the possibilities of a college‐level heritage language class designed in accordance with students' input as it emerged from the research as well as a holistic set of pedagogical and philosophical principles. Conclusions of importance for researchers, curriculum developers, and teachers in the field of foreign language in general and heritage language in particular are provided.

Advanced Heritage Learners of Spanish: A Sociolinguistic Profile for Pedagogical Purposes

“…These findings were supported by Schwarzer and Petrón's (2005) case study of three lower‐proficiency HL learners who, despite considering Spanish part of their identity and their family relations a major factor in their desire to become more fluent speakers, reported no interest in taking more Spanish classes at the university level. Their first and only HL class disappointed them because the emphasis was on prescriptive grammar rather than oral proficiency.…”

Enseignants des langues internationales au Canada et recherche en multilinguisme : un aperçu en Ontario

“…Les liens sociopsychologiques ainsi que les questions identitaires, de motivation et attitudes sont largement documentées dans nombre de publications (Clément, 1984;Dörnyei, 1994;MacFarlane, 1997;Noel, 2005;Rubenfeld et al, 2006), alors que les défis touchant l'apprentissage des langues et l'impact dans les milieux multilingues sont traités par d'autres auteurs (Valdes, 2005(Valdes, , 1995Kramsch et Whiteside, 2007). Pour ce qui est des méthodologies d'enseignement des langues internationales dans des contextes postsecondaires, dans différents pays, il est intéressant de consulter certains auteurs (Schwartzer, 2001;Schwarzer et Petrón, 2005;Husseinali, 2006;Byrnes, 2007Byrnes, , 2008Pratt et al, 2008).…”

The Linguistic Similarities of Spanish Heritage and Second Language Learners

“…As Schwarzer and Petron (2005) point out, "the heritage language classroom is not dealing just with language proficiency but also with strong identity and personal issues that need to be explored in order to meet the needs of the 'whole' student" (p. 575). There they will spend extensive amounts of time formally studying some basic elements of the language that they already control and not giving adequate attention to other basic elements that they do not.…”