Second language acquisition and heritage language speakers

N I C O L Á S A R N A L , G E O R G E M A S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND SPANISH HERITAGE LANGUAGE

SPEAKERS

WHO ARE HERITAGE LANGUAGE SPEAKERS (HLS)?

• Linguistic minority and bilingual students are motivated by:

- language maintenance- cultural survival• Share a similar heritage and are fluent or 1st- 3rd

generation native speakers• Have more RECEPTIVE than EXPRESSIVE abilities• Often show fluency in listening and speaking but

have not developed their reading and writing.

GOAL OF HLS CLASSES

• Encourage language maintenance• Acquire knowledge of ‘standard’ language • Empower use of linguistic varieties• Build a bilingual knowledge-base• Strengthen reading and writing skills• Develop cultural awareness

(Valdez, 2007)

IN THE CLASSROOM

• Natural Approach• Communicative Language Teaching• Constructivist instruction• Content-based language approaches• Code-switching• Bilingualism and bi-literacy• Home-school cooperation

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY

• HLS come with linguistic ability and use various communicative strategies:- code-switching- “Spanglish”- borrowing from other languages- direct translation- Circumlocution- Affective + academic needs= “linguistic self-

esteem” (Potowski, p.32)• Reflection on linguistic identity

(Lantoff & Poehner, 2008)

SOCIO-CULTURAL THEORY

• Communicative competence learned throughout the lifespan• From content to concept-based instruction• Zone of Proximal or “Potential” Development• Mediation• Good judgment to not impose ‘linguistic norms’• Affect and communicative competence

(Potowski, 2005)

ACTIVITIES FOR HLS STUDENTS

WRITING:• Process writing with use of English in drafts (to

promote fluidity in writing).• Comparing students lives with those of their

grandparents (tracing their family history and heritage).

READING:• Authentic texts such as literature, popular magazines,

short stories, legends and poems.• Interpretation of photographs and newspaper articles.• Incorporating grammar into writing exercises.

CONCLUSION

• Teaching Spanish to heritage speakers secures the important role of minority languages:

“Knowledge is fluid, not fixed, collaboratively constructed rather than memorized. The sharing of

experiences affirms students’ identity, but essentially also involves critical inquiry to

understand power, inequality, justice, and local social and economic realities”(Baker, 295)

CONCLUSION

• The teaching of Spanish to heritage speakers reinforces bilingualism as an asset to student’s lives and to the development of identity. • Students learn to use formal registers but trying

to subordinate linguistic varieties, code-switching or Anglicisms for this purpose is ineffective.• “Native”, “Fluent” or “Heritage” speaker classes

should revitalize the place of Spanish and bilingualism in students’ lives, communities, and in content area learning.

REFERENCES

Lantolf, James P., & Poehner, Mathew E. (Eds.). (2008). Sociocultural Theory and the Teaching of Second Languages. London, UK: Equinox Publishers

Potowski, Kim. (2005). Fundamentos de la enseñanza del español a hispanohablantes en los EE.UU. Madrid: Arco Libros

Valdes, G. 1995. The teaching of minority languages as “foreign” languages: Predagogical and theoretical challenges. Modern Language Journal 70 (3): 2999-328.

Baker, Colin. (2006). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. UK: Multilingual Matters

Valdez,, Guadalupe. (2008). Making Connections: Second Language Acquisition Research and Heritage Language Teaching. Salaberry, Rafael & Barbara A. Lafford (Eds.), The Art of Teaching Spanish: Second Language Acquisiton from Research to Praxis. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press

SPECIAL THANKS!

Monica Mulholland, Spanish Professor, George Mason University

Eva Sanchez, Spanish Teacher,Washington-Lee High School