Critical language awareness in the heritage language classroom: design, implementation, and evaluation of a curricular intervention

Understanding Heritage Language Learners’ Critical Language Awareness (CLA) in Mixed Language Programs

“…In addition to promoting the recognition of language diversity, socio-linguistically informed approaches focus on the development of a critical language awareness (CLA) (e.g., Martínez 2003;Leeman 2005Leeman , 2012Leeman , 2018Correa 2011Correa , 2016Leeman and Serafini 2016;Parra 2016;Mendoza 2018;Leeman 2018;Beaudrie et al 2020). Leeman and Serafini (2016, p. 12) define CLA as the ability to examine "how ideologies, politics, and social hierarchies are embodied, reproduced and naturalized through language".…”

“…Additionally, they suggest the use of blogs, wikis, or similar tools to collaboratively collect, share, and discuss examples of language ideologies in mainstream media. Further, Beaudrie et al (2020) describe that, in addition to being inclusive and respectful of language variation and diversity, CLA approaches have a positive impact on learners' linguistic self-confidence in their HL varieties by placing them at the center of instruction. In the same vein, Martínez (2003) emphasizes the importance of dialect awareness for HL learners, and proposes a critical classroom-based model that goes beyond a formal understanding of dialects and language variation to include the functions of dialects, the distribution of dialects, and the evaluation of dialects.…”

“…In fact, many HL practitioners and researchers question their real impact on language maintenance. Some scholars warn that heritage speakers' experiences are not always recognized in HL programs due to a prioritization of standard language practices (e.g., Beaudrie 2015;Bernal-Enríquez and Hernández-Chávez 2003;Pascual y Cabo and Prada 2018;Torres et al 2018;Beaudrie et al 2020;Beaudrie 2020). The underscoring of standard language practices fails to address the unique socio-affective needs of HL students, including negative attitudes toward their language varieties (Beaudrie and Ducar 2005;Martínez 2003) and linguistic insecurity (Tseng 2020), among others.…”

“…Additionally, Beaudrie et al (2020) showed qualitatively that CLA approaches can have a positive impact on CLA development. They evaluated the impact of a criticaloriented curriculum on the CLA development of 19 heritage learners enrolled in a Spanish heritage course for intermediate-level learners at a large university in the U.S. Southwest.…”

Strengthening Writing Voices and Identities: Creative Writing, Digital Tools and Artmaking for Spanish Heritage Courses

“…As the SHL teaching field continues to prioritize the strengthening of Latinxs' ethnolinguistic identities (Carreira 2004;Martínez 2016;Parra 2016;Parra et al 2018;Sánchez-Muñoz 2016) and critical language awareness (CLA) is at the center of the SHL "signature pedagogy" (Beaudrie et al 2020;Parra 2014), educators have become interested in pedagogical frameworks that enhance students' writing voices beyond specific genre conventions to allow them to build their literacy capabilities and become active participants of wider communities of practice.…”