Teaching Spanish as a Heritage Language: A Case for Language Awareness

The purpose of this study was to investigate if heritage students of Spanish experience foreign language anxiety and, if so, what levels of anxiety they experience. The data were collected using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). A total of 413 students (209 heritage students and 204 nonheritage students) participated in this study. In general, the mean anxiety scores for the heritage students were lower than the mean anxiety scores for the nonheritage students, although there were a few instances when the heritage students actually had higher anxiety scores. In addition, the heritage students in this study reported lower anxiety scores than other college‐level students from previous studies reported in the literature that also used the FLCAS.

Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foreign Language Anxiety and Heritage Students of Spanish: A Quantitative Study

Tallon

2009

“…Certainly, all the burden need not rest with the teachers (see Aparicio, 1993;Gutierrez, 1997); by allowing and even encouraging students to use their own variety of the language for certain in class activities, the home variety can be respected within the confines of the classroom. As stated earlier, a majority of the students surveyed were minoring in Spanish, and therefore were not intending to go on to an academic career in Spanish, but rather, one in medicine, service, teaching, and numerous other fields.…”

Section: What Spanish Do Students Want To Learn?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Voices: The Missing Link in the Spanish Heritage Language Debate

Ducar¹

2008

Though much of the research looking at the issue of language in the Spanish heritage language field is intended to guide the Spanish heritage language teacher in the classroom, students' voices are often stifled. This article fills this gap by giving voice to students' opinions on language use in the Spanish heritage language classroom. Survey results from 152 Spanish heritage language students enrolled in an extensive Spanish heritage language program show that these students prefer to learn specific varieties of Spanish in their Spanish heritage language classes. Interestingly, 91 % of those surveyed want their Spanish to be corrected. This article closes with pedagogical suggestions based on the students' preferences that may cause those of us working in the Spanish heritage language field to question our own pre‐existing beliefs concerning which language variety best serves the Spanish heritage language student population.

“…As Perez-Leroux and Glass (2000) noted, "[il nstructors unskilled in managing linguistic diversity may have difficulties in dealing with students that are minority native speakers of the target language" (p. 59). There is a considerable amount of literature dealing with the attitude of instructors to speakers of Spanish (e.g., Gutierrez, 1997: Potowski, 2000.…”

Section: Correlation Of Overall Rating Code Switching and Calquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the OPI to Place Heritage Speakers of Russian

Kagan

Friedman

2003

This study explored the possibility of using an ACTFL oral proficiency interview (OPI) to assess the spoken proficiency of heritage language speakers of Russian for the purpose of placing them in Russian language classes. The authors also considered whether the norm of an educated native speaker could be used as a valid reference point for Russian heritage speakers. The OPI was administered to a group of college‐age Russian heritage speakers with little or no formal instruction in the language. The results indicated that the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines could be used to assess oral proficiency of Russian heritage speakers and that the standard of an educated native speaker of Russian could be used as a norm.