Voices of SHL educators

Abstract

Even though the field of heritage language education has flourished in recent years and has placed emphasis on the development of biliteracies in Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners (e.g., Belpoliti & Bermejo, 2020; Samaniego & Warner, 2016), little is known about how SHL writing instruction is conducted in terms of educators’ practices and perceptions. Through an online survey distributed across the United States, SHL educators reported the main challenges they face (e.g., working with accuracy, writing conventions), strategies they use (e.g., modelling), and the technology they use to teach writing. The survey also provides an overview of the importance given to various elements of a composition (e.g., task type, range of vocabulary) when teaching SHL courses. Overall, SHL educators’ perceptions provide a knowledge base of instructor experiences and practices that can assist in teacher training and inform curricular models.