Meeting Student Needs: Integrating Spanish Heritage Language Learners into the Second Language Classroom

Abstract

Despite the increase of Spanish heritage language (HL) courses in response to the linguistic needs of HL learners, these courses often combine this student population with advanced second language (L2) learners. This common scenario presents a challenge to many instructors who lack the training to negotiate intercultural and linguistic issues in the classroom so that all students can benefit. This essay presents key intercultural concerns (e.g., embarrassment and intimidation) and suggests strategies for instructors. Twenty-first-century students will work in collaborative contexts, so they must learn how to benefit from their classmates' strengths and work on their weaknesses through peer interaction and teamwork.

Diagnostic of the current situation with native English-speaking students in EFL classes

“…It has been identified that there are, indeed, several students who are NES and HLS of English significant enough to raise a potential hindrance in the ELT field in Ecuador. As mentioned in Burgo (2018), countries such as the USA have created special courses for students who are HLS of Spanish so that better teaching work can be done with that specific group of students. In the same study, a problem that has been identified is that many NES and HLS are placed in advanced language classes with L2 learners -as is the case of a high school that works their students by English levels.…”

Transforming the community’s linguistic landscape in a mixed-learner service learning capstone course in a Spanish for specific purposes program

“…The first reason is that SSP courses and programs are aimed at adult students preferably with a general base of language proficiency, since this is necessary to be able to develop communicative skills in specific professional contexts (Sánchez-López, 2012). The second reason behind this argument is the empowerment that the HLL receives from Spanish for the professions to be able to analyze specialized discourse and, as a specialist, to take responsibility for the development of their own learning outside the classroom (Upton, 2012;Burgo, 2017;Carreira, 2017). The third reason is the development of leadership skills in the Spanish class for the professions, particularly in service learning, regardless of profession or rank (Spaine Long, 2013;Uribe et al, 2014;Derby et al, 2014;Doyle, 2017).…”

“…As already stated, even when there exist separate tracks for HLLs and L2 learners in college Spanish programs, all learners merge in the same advanced classes as the two tracks disappear (Burgo, 2017;Carreira, 2012Carreira, , 2017. This is true for all areas of study offered in the undergraduate major, such as literature, linguistics, culture, and more recently, Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) courses.…”

“…As the field advanced, in states and communities with higher numbers of heritage language learners (HLLs), HL and L2 education became two separate tracks due to their distinctive linguistic goals, needs, and affective factors (Valdés, Fishman, Chávez & Pérez, 2006;Beaudrie, Ducar & Potowski, 2014), with SHL programs gradually expanding throughout the country. However, it is reported that less than half of colleges and universities in 26 states in the US with at least 5% Hispanic enrollment offer separate tracks for Spanish HLLs and L2 learners (Beaudrie, 2012), and even when there exist separate tracks for the introductory and intermediate levels, the two tracks merge into one at the advancedlevel courses (Burgo, 2017;Carreira, 2017). These mixed classes are challenging for many teachers, as they lack the instructional training to manage both groups in one place simultaneously (García & Blanco, 2000;Wilkinson, 2010;Carreira, 2012Carreira, , 2017.…”

“…As for instructional pedagogy and curricula in the US, the normative pedagogies used in the earlier years of the SHL movement was replaced in 1980s by a comprehensive approach based on critical pedagogy that raises HLLs awareness of the relationship between language and power within a community and that offers them some agency in their own learning (Carreira, 2012;Fairclough, 2015). Some scholars defend that in order to maximize HLLs learning outcomes in the college mixed Spanish classroom, we should seek ways to provide opportunities for empowering students by engaging them in active and independent learning, allowing them to build on their past experience (Burgo, 2017;Carreira, 2017).…”