Digital Commons Network^™

Proficiency Assessment In Bilingualism Research: How Valid Are Our Measures?, Sara Saez-Fajardo, Melissa A. Bowles

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Many Spanish HL acquisition studies have used proficiency assessments developed for L2 learners to meet investigation standards. However, few researchers present any validity evidence of these instruments’ appropriateness for HL learners. In this presentation, I inspect the validity evidence of one of the most popular proficiency tests: the DELE test.

Creating A Culture For Heritage Speakers In The Midwest: Promoting Spanish And French As Heritage Languages Among Undergraduate Students, Elise M. Dubord, Elizabeth Zwanziger

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

No abstract provided.

Actitudes En Pro Y En Contra Sobre El Uso Del Lenguaje Inclusivo Y Su Enseñanza En El Salón De Clases De Shl., Brisa Del Bosque, Mica Boh

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Con esta investigación, buscamos predecir si la enseñanza del lenguaje inclusivo en español en los salones de clase de español como SHL y como L2, provocará que su uso continúe en la lengua española o pase como una moda efímera.

Encuestamos a 75 instructores de Español K-12 en los Estados Unidos, que compartieron sus opiniones sobre la enseñanza y el uso del lenguaje inclusivo. La mayor parte de los instructores que respondieron nuestra encuesta, han enseñado a estudiantes de SHL y L2.

Como instructores de español, se puede ignorar la propuesta del lenguaje inclusivo y seguir enseñando de la forma …

The Gen Z Heritage Learner: Redefining The Shl Program For A Post-Pandemic Generation, Alejandro Acero Ayuda

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

The purpose of this presentation is to reflect on some of the perspectives, beliefs and policies that lie behind the definition, understanding and framework of ‘success’ (Beaudrie, 2020) according to the Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) programs, and the design on which these programs rely to develop their curricular foundation for the upcoming generation of heritage learners.

How ‘success’ materializes depends on what is the specific profile of Heritage Language Speaker (HLS) used as reference according to each SHL program’s perspective (Carreira, 2012). The larger vision upheld on what is the SHL Education specific purpose, deeply influences the theories and perspectives …

Towards Shl Benchmarks From The Bottom-Up: High-School Teachers As Curriculum Designers, Isabel Torrubia Gortari, Maureen Wrightson, Elisa Gironzetti

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Spanish heritage language (SHL) programs at the secondary level lack a set of standards that address the linguistic, social, affective, and professional needs of students (Potowski & Carreira 2004) and guide the curricular decisions of administrators and teachers. While several curricular proposals currently exist for post-secondary education (e.g., Beaudrie, Amezcua, & Loza, 2021), these are not always easily adaptable or applicable in a secondary school program and can be perceived by secondary teachers as a top-down imposition disconnected from their reality. To address this need, our project engaged researchers, high-school teachers, and administrators in a long-term initiative aimed at: a) …

Resumption And Code-Switching In The Relative Clauses From Heritage Speakers Of Spanish: A Variationist Approach, Miguel Román

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Previous research on relative clause (RC) accessibility, the mental resources required to process and produce RCs (Lau & Tanaka 2021), is widely documented across many varieties of Spanish (Lope Blanch, 1988; Silva-Corvalán, 1999; Bentivoglio, 2003; Betancourt et al., 2009; Ezeizabarrena, 2012; del Río et al., 2012; Cerrón-Palomino, 2018; Checa-García, 2019; Lau & Tanaka 2021). In the case of heritage Spanish, eye-processing research shows that subject RCs (SRCs) are more accessible than (direct) object RCs (ORCs) (Madsen 2018). Although there are no production studies that attempt to examine whether this accessibility hierarchy holds for production, the use of resumptive pronouns offers …

“Eres Un No Sabo Kid”: How Linguistic Discrimination Online Is Shaping Young Heritage Spanish Speakers’ Language Attitudes, Identities, And Community Connections, Diana Camberos, Claudia Pozzobon Potratz

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

We explore how a social media phenomenon impacts the identity, language development, ideologies, and sense of community and self among Heritage Spanish Speakers (HSS) at a PWI in the Midwest. The data reveals the unique experiences and challenges faced by HSS and their perspective on language ideologies and identity.

Us Spanish: A Revivalistics Approach For Community Engaged Practices And Cultural Reclamation In 21st Century ‘Merica, Alejandro Acero Ayuda

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

While the number of Latinos/as/x who speak Spanish at home increased along with the growing Latinos/as/x population, the share of Latinos/as/x who speak the language has declined over the past decade (Pew Research Center, 2021). Particularly in the top US metro areas with the largest Latinos/as/x population, having the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro areas the largest declines. The predominance of new births over immigration as a source of Latinos/as/x population growth in the 21st century represents a reversal of historical trends, however the percentage of Latinos/as/x who speak Spanish at home has declined dramatically in 2021, especially among the U.S.-born …

From Language Brokering To Professional Translation In Hl Education, Laura Gasca Jiménez

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Research has shown that language brokering—i.e., the language practice whereby bi/multilingual individuals with no formal training in translation or interpreting linguistically mediate between two or more parties, usually adult family members and individuals from the dominant culture (Kam, 2011)—is a common language practice of heritage language (HL) speakers (e.g., Antonini, 2015; Cline et al., 2010; Hall & Sham, 2007; Kwon 2014; López, Lezama & Heredia, 2019; Orellana, Dorner & Pulido, 2003). Despite HL education’s recognition, validation, and integration of students’ language varieties and diverse community practices, language brokering is rarely acknowledged in pedagogical proposals and consequently not integrated as a …

What Do They Even Meme?: The Implementation Of A Critical Task In An Advanced Hl Course, Sara Roca-Ramirez

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

No abstract provided.

Yosoy. Language Education Through Culture: A Project For Spanish-English Bilingual Children And Families., Maria Luisa Parra, Marcela Fritzler

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

About one-third, 17.9 million, of the nation’s Latina/o/e population is younger than 18 (Krogstad & Gonzalez-Barrera 2018), being the majority bilingual (Krogstad & Gonzalez-Barrera, 2015), with no access to quality bilingual education to address their strengths and needs (García 2014). Questions about this group’s future capabilities to speak Spanish are central to current theoretical and pedagogical inquiries, efforts, and research. The linguistic dynamism between Spanish and other languages that characterizes this group also raises essential questions about the intergenerational continuity of Spanish and its meaning for young Latina/o/e identities (Valdés 2015).

Many families experience interactions in Spanish with sentimientos encontrados …

Empowering Spanish Heritage Learners Through A Community Informed, Online Medical Spanish Curriculum, Bonnie C. Holmes Ph.D., Kenneth Rhee Md

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

The lack of standardized medical Spanish curriculum leads to variable content and quality, often neglecting heritage language learners. Also, community engagement efforts seldom extend to curriculum development. Learn about a collaboration between Spanish faculty and a physician to create an innovative, virtual Spanish for healthcare curriculum that addresses these challenges.

Cultura Y (Ataque De) Corazón: A Training For Health Professionals Needing Medical Interpretation Services, Elizabeth Dudek, Shelby Edwards

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Limited English proficiency is a known barrier to quality health care outcomes (Green 2017, Helmi 2021). Inclusion of a certified language interpreter during health care encounters improves outcomes among ESL (English as a Second Language) patients (Karliner, Jacobs, Chen, and Mutha 2007). Interpretation with a certified interpreter promotes understanding between patients and their medical providers, and advances both health and race equity (Foiles Sifuentes, Robledo Cornejo, Castaneda-Avila, Tija, and Lapane 2020). Most health care workers receive no formal training in how to use an interpreter with limited English-proficiency patients. Located in the Hispanic Heritage District of an increasingly Latine mid-sized …

Factors In Developing Sustained Community Engagement Among Spanish Heritage Language Learners, Kelly Lowther Pereira

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Please see attached file.

Nuestras Raíces: Recovering The Radical And Critical Past Of Spanish As A Heritage Language In Arizona And Beyond, Lillian Gorman

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

This presentation recovers the Latinx community voices around the understudied critical linguistic legacy of Spanish as a Heritage Language in Arizona. Specifically, I turn to the reconstruction and recovery of the archive around Adalberto “Beto” Guerrero’s impact on Latinx language experiences in Tucson and the greater Southwest.

Unveiling Critical Language Awareness Through Tiktok: Fostering Community, Dialogue And Student Perspectives In The Spanish Heritage Language Classroom, Sarah Henderson

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

“What are the students saying?” examines students’ reactions towards critical language awareness-laden media presented in the Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) classroom. Critical language awareness (CLA) emphasizes how “language practices are invested with power relations and ideological processes which people are often unaware of” (Fairclough, 1992, p.7). In the classroom, CLA manifests in ways that “helps students understand how language prejudice is intertwined with broader social hierarchies and power relations. Further, it seeks to promote students’ development of critical resources for resisting and challenging those hierarchies” (Leeman 2018, p. 348). The present classroom-based study furthers CLA research by advancing …

¿Es Bienvenido El Uso De “Haiga” En Clases De Shl? Reacciones Y Experiencias En Clases De Herencia En Los Estados Unidos, Brisa Del Bosque

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

En esta investigación cualitativa, he entrevistado a 5 instructores de SHL y a 5 padres/madres de familia con estudiantes de herencia en grados K-12, para escuchar sus opiniones sobre el uso del “haiga” en el salón de clases SHL en los Estados Unidos y en los hogares de hablantes de español como lengua de herencia.

Algunos de los temas y preguntas durante las entrevistas fueron:

¿Cómo se enseña el uso de “haiga”?

¿Se debe enseñar?

¿Se promueve su uso?

¿Lo usas en casa o en tus clases?

¿Se debe corregir?

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre haiga y haya?

El corregir …

“Su Español Es Incorrecto”: Challenging Spanish Teachers’ And Students’ Linguistic Beliefs Through Cla In A Dialectology Course, Silvia Perez-Cortes

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

With the number of Spanish heritage classes and bilingual students being on the rise (Beaudrie, Amezcua & Loza, 2021), there is a pressing need to incorporate pedagogical practices that foster inclusivity and challenge dominant language ideologies (Holguín-Mendoza, 2018; Leeman, 2012; Lacorte & Magro, 2021; inter alia). This necessity is particularly dire at the K-12 level, where teachers ­oftentimes lack the training to deconstruct their own –as well as their students’– linguistic beliefs to offer a more socially-conscious instruction (Hudgens-Henderson & Hackman, 2021).

Following the work of Beaudrie et al. (2021) and Wilson & Marcin (2022), this study examines …

Spanish As A Heritage Language Across Disciplines: Assessing Spanish And Bilingual Courses At An Hsi In South Texas, Katherine Christoffersen, Dania López García, Javier Cavazos

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Long-standing research has confirmed the many benefits of Spanish as a heritage language in dual language in K-12 classrooms (Collier & Thomas, 2017, 2019). However, in higher education, there are very few exceptions to the English-only monolingual norm (García & Li, 2014). This study explores one exception, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in South Texas where certain classes are taught bilingually (Spanish/English) and in Spanish across various disciplines. In this study, we examine 1) how these courses impact success through a quantitative analysis of cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) and 2) how students perceive these courses through a qualitative analysis …

Embracing Borderlands Identity: The Significance Of Latina Graduate Student Discourse In Academia, Jessica Corona, Emily Rodriguez, Elisa Castro

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Latina students will share personal narratives, academic insights, and research experiences, to dissect how their identities influence their perspectives, research questions, and approaches to scholarship. This dialogue will contribute to deeper understanding of how students can approach the richness of Latinx experiences to challenge and reshape existing academic paradigms.

Teaching In The “Home Language” Is Not Enough: Navigating Spanish Raciolinguistic Ideologies In A Dual Language Bilingual Program, Gladys Yacely Aponte

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnographic case study examines how fourth graders in a New York City Spanish/English dual language bilingual public school navigate hegemonic language ideologies about Spanish. Drawing on the scholarship of raciolinguistic ideologies—those that position the language practices of people of color as inherently deficient (Flores & Rosa, 2015), I analyze the discourse of seven Kiskeyanx students to examine how they navigate the widespread raciolinguistic marginalization of Kiskeyanxs— a demographic that is racialized as more Black than other Spanish-speaking groups.

As a first-generation Kiskeyana-New Yorker, a bilingual teacher educator and researcher, and a former dual language bilingual public-school teacher, it …

Student Perceptions Of Icc Development And The Reasons For It During Casa@Auc, Stephen Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Research has described how studying abroad has become a major goal in the Arabic world, focusing on understanding the ideas and way of life of another culture and people. Study abroad programs increase students' “Intercultural communicative competence” as indicated by researchers like Maharaja (2018) and Lee and Song (2019). The current study is a case study involving three participants. It focuses on students' perceptions of the influence of the CASA@AUC study abroad program on their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) as reflected by ACTFL performance indicators they are capable of executing. Results of the study indicate that they have reached advanced …

Engaging Older Immigrants To Learn English: Advocating For Late-In-Life Learning For Everyone, Susan Marie Filous

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the United States, late-in-life and aging-in-place immigrants require basic English language skills to support their ability to independently access economic, medical, housing, legal, and social services. Older immigrants typically rely on family members, potentiating the risks of neglect and dependency. There is an opportunity to expand their agency in society by increasing their English proficiency.

Foreign language geragogy supports differentiated educational strategies for older learners. There is no upper age limit on the ability to learn a new language, and there are new methods and practices to teach foreign languages to older students. It is insufficient to mainstream older …

Exploration Of Privilege And Preschool Teachers’ Demographics Associated With Teachers’ Self-Efficacy In Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, Katherine Madison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every child in America is entitled to a free public education; however, racial disparities in academics and discipline continue to grow in America’s school system (Glock et al., 2019; Muñiz, 2019). These racial disparities begin in preschool, following the students throughout their school years. African American students, specifically African American males, are three times more likely than their Caucasian peers to be suspended in preschool (CRDC, 2016; Musu-Gillette et al., 2016). Suspension at an early age correlates with students entering juvenile detentions, prisons and incompletion of schooling (Love, 2014; Meek & Gilliam,2016; Muñiz, 2019). Culturally responsive teaching and classroom management …

Impact Of Using Gagne’S Nine Events Of Instruction On Student’S Academic Achievement And Satisfaction In An Online English Course For French Speakers, Yara Olive Paterne Loua

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the effect of Gagne's nine events of instruction on student academic achievement and satisfaction during an online English class for French speakers. A group of 30 Facebook users from French-speaking countries in North and Sub-Saharan Africa participated in the research. They were divided randomly into two groups: one receiving traditional instruction through an asynchronous online lecture with PowerPoint presentation, and the other using instruction utilizing Gagne's nine events of instruction integrated with an LMS designed for this purpose. This mixed methods study explored several hypotheses related to academic achievement and satisfaction in the two groups. While the …

Emergent Literacy And Early Reading Skills In Chinese-Mandarin: Evidence From Kindergarten And First-Grade Children, Yingshan Huang

Theses and Dissertations

The development of emergent literacy, a precursor to formal reading, has been linked to subsequent conventional literacy skills in Chinese children. The factors important for acquiring Chinese reading skills, such as phonological and morphological awareness, have primarily been studied in primary school children rather than preschoolers. The complete picture of factors contributing to early reading skills in Mandarin-speaking Chinese preschool children remains unclear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool and early school-aged children and investigate the connections between them to address gaps in existing literature. Methodology: A cross-sectional design …

Challenges Encountered In The Implementation Of The National Literacy Acceleration Program (Nalap) In The Abura Asebu Kwamankese District, Ghana, Julius Arhin-Asamoah

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The National Literacy Acceleration Program (NALAP) aims to enhance early grade primary school pupils' literacy rates, yet national evaluations reveal widespread deficiencies in reading proficiency in both the local language and English. This study examines challenges in implementing NALAP in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese district, Ghana, focusing on the teacher and resource-related issues. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed. The study covered 12 basic schools in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese district. In all, 61 respondents comprising 50 teachers and 11 circuit supervisors were involved in the study. The findings highlight teacher-related issues such as inadequate pedagogical practices, low motivation, …

Linguistic Diversity From The K–12 Classroom To The Writing Center: Rethinking Expectations On Inclusive Grammar Instruction, Zoe Esterly, Hannah L.W Swoyer, Bridget A. Draxler

Writing Center Journal

Language expresses our values and identities, but in educational spaces, multidialectical and multilingual students’ voices are often silenced in favor of Standard English (Lockett, 2019). As writing tutors and future language arts educators, we have developed a research-based inclusive grammar curriculum and classroom-based resources to expand the conversation surrounding linguistic inclusion. Guided by the principle that all students should be offered the opportunity to learn the conventions of Standard English, we advocate for inclusive teaching of Standard English grammar in K–12 classrooms and writing centers (Godley et al, 2015). Using previous research on multilingual students, linguistic inclusivity, and dialectical diversity, …

Reviving 90s Sitcoms To Teach Black Linguistic Justice Concepts, Teaira Mcmurtry Phd

New Jersey English Journal

In this article, the author elucidates two teaching and learning possibilities in the high school ELA classroom when leveraging Black sitcoms of the 1990s (Family Matters and Amen) to prioritize Black Linguistic Justice.

Learning To Teach For Equity, Diversity, And Social Justice: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Initial Teacher Education In Ontario, Canada, Kate Paterson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Drawing on critical race theory, culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy, and ecological systems theory, this mixed methods case study explored the integration of equity, diversity, and social justice across one initial teacher education program in Ontario, Canada. Survey data (n=272) provided insight into prospective teachers’ endorsement of social-justice-related beliefs at program entry and exit. Demographic data were collected to obtain a current snapshot of initial teacher education representation rates, addressing a dearth of such data in the Ontario context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teacher candidates (n=15) and key stakeholders (n=4) to gain an understanding of how equity was conceptualized …