scholarly journals Meeting Student Needs: Integrating Spanish Heritage Language Learners into the Second Language Classroom

Hispania ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Burgo
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Student Needs ◽  
Language Classroom

“I Think That Sounds Right”

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-368
Author(s):  
Laura Walls
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Implicit Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Spanish Classroom

Many studies have demonstrated the benefits of learner-learner interactions in the second language classroom; however, despite the growing number of heritage language learners (HLLs) that enroll in language courses, only recently have researchers begun to examine interactions among second language learners and HLLs. Still, HLL-HLL interactions go unexamined. The present study fills this gap in the literature by analyzing HLL-HLL interactions during collaborative writing activities in a Spanish classroom. Results indicate that learners resolve lexical, grammatical, and orthographic issues accurately in most cases. It also shows that learners rely heavily on their strengths in Spanish and thus, utilize their implicit knowledge of the language. Their intuition enables them to critically assess the appropriateness of certain words and structures according to their needs and intentions; however, it also means that they tend to not fully utilize the resources at their disposal. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Attitudes and Motivations of Adult Spanish Language Learners: A Comparison of Heritage Language Learners and Second Language Learners

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet S. Oh ◽  
Bertha A. Nash
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Background Factors ◽  
Learning Success

Research on background factors in adult language learners’ success has largely focused on first-time learners of a second language. In this study, we utilize a well-established second language learner model (the Socioeducational Model; Gardner, 1985a) to compare heritage language and second language learners in a first-semester college Spanish class. Participants (31 heritage language learners; 80 second language learners) completed a survey at the end of the semester assessing their ethnic identity, language backgrounds, attitudes and motivation toward learning Spanish. Course grades were collected as a measure of language learning success. Results indicate that heritage language learners and second language learners are similar on most background factors, but that the background factors predicting each group’s language learning success are quite different. Implications for our understanding of language learners and future research directions are discussed.

The Sociolinguistic Impact of Service-learning on Heritage Learners Sojourning in Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-98
Author(s):  
Francisco Salgado-Robles ◽  
Angela George
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Local Features ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Experimental Group

Over the past three decades, a considerable number of studies have investigated the connection between study abroad and second language acquisition to the exclusion of another emerging language profile, that of heritage language learners who study abroad to enhance their home language skills. The few studies on heritage language learners’ development of local features abroad have focused on phonological ones, concluding that more in-depth exposure to the varieties abroad was related to increased production of the local features (Escalante, 2018; George & Hoffman-González, in press). Research on the effects of international service learning have also been limited to second language learners, demonstrating increased second language use and proficiency (Martinsen, Baker, Dewey, Bown, & Johnson, 2010) along with the development of geographically-variable patterns of use (Salgado-Robles, 2018). The current study combines these two fields and investigates the development of a variable local feature (vosotros versus ustedes) by 20 U.S. Spanish-speaking heritage language learners of Mexican descent studying abroad for four months in Spain. The experimental group (N = 10) participated in a service learning course in addition to traditional coursework, while the control group (N = 10) completed traditional coursework and no service learning course. The results of the Oral Discourse Completion Task demonstrated that all participants significantly increased their use of vosotros from the beginning to the end of the semester; however, the change by the experimental group was two times higher than the control group. This could be explained by the results of the Language Contact Profile, which revealed more use of Spanish and less use of English by participants in the experimental group. This study offers implications for future study abroad programs, the linguistic impacts of service-learning, and the development of sociolinguistic competence.

scholarly journals Lexical Competence and Reading Comprehension: A Pilot Study with Heritage Language Learners of Spanish

2016 ◽  
pp. 56-74
Author(s):  
Edna Velásquez
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Logarithmic Function ◽  
Newspaper Article ◽  
Lexical Competence ◽  
The Relationship

The basic questions that guide this study are: (a) what percentage of vocabulary from a passage would a Spanish learner need to know to demonstrate ‘adequate’ (a score of 70 out of 100) comprehension of it? And, (b) what type of curve would best describe the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension? Fifty-three students enrolled in two courses of Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) at a metropolitan university read a newspaper article, underlined the unknown vocabulary and then answered a reading comprehension test. Our findings suggest, as in previous studies for English as a Second Language (ESL), that a 98% of vocabulary coverage is needed to show adequate comprehension of an authentic passage. The curve that best describes this relationship was not linear as they concluded but was similar to a logarithmic function, which appears to suggest a relationship that obeys to a law of diminishing returns for Spanish as a Second Language (SSL) reading.

Heritage language learners’ written texts across pair types and interaction mode

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882093318
Author(s):  
Julio Torres
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Second Language Learner ◽  
Written Texts

Task-based research has investigated the learning opportunities (e.g. language related episodes) that emerge during heritage and second language learner interactions during writing tasks. However, to date, it is unknown how these peer interactions involving heritage language learners contribute to written texts. Further, given the rise of social technologies in educational settings, a need exists to examine how interactions in digital platforms affect the production of written texts. To address these issues, 13 heritage-second language learner and 16 heritage–heritage learner pairs enrolled in advanced Spanish content courses completed two distinct versions of writing tasks. Participants were instructed that they were hired as business consultants for clothing and cellphone companies in Spain. While each participant wrote her or his own version, the pairs had to interact to compose formal business letters in Spanish to the CEO of each company justifying the hiring (Task A) or laying off (Task B) of employees. The main results first revealed that heritage–heritage pairs produced more syntactically complex business letters, as evidenced by a greater ratio of syntactic subordination along with a minor trend of greater morphosyntactic accuracy. Second, synchronous computer-mediated communication interactions led to a higher production of syntactic coordination, especially for the heritage-second language pairs. Findings are discussed in light of the interplay between learner factors and task environment.

scholarly journals Variable Future-Time Expression in Spanish: A Comparison between Heritage and Second Language Learners

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 206
Author(s):  
Ana de Prada Pérez ◽  
Inmaculada Gómez Soler ◽  
Nick Feroce
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Temporal Distance ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Future Time ◽  
L2 Learners

This paper examines the expression of futurity in Spanish, specifically the periphrastic future (PF), the morphological future (MF), and the present indicative (PI) in heritage language learners (HLLs) and second language learners (L2 learners), a comparison that allowed us to explore whether linguistic experience provides HLLs an advantage over L2 learners in the domain of morphosyntax. These forms (PF, MF, and PI) are regulated by certainty, temporal distance, and the presence of temporal adverbials. Previous research showed that L2 learners acquire some of these linguistic constraints and that HLLs tend to reduce the MF to modal uses. Data from a contextualized acceptability judgment task completed by 46 HLLs and 42 L2ers manipulated for verb form, certainty, temporal distance, and adverb and revealed that (i) the PF and the MF were generally rated higher than the PI, (ii) HLLs were sensitive to the three linguistic factors examined, while the L2ers’ sensitivity was modulated by proficiency, and, relatedly, (iii) the two groups differed in the effect of proficiency. For the L2 learners, an increase in proficiency led to a closer pattern to that of monolingual native speakers (only for temporal distance). Differences in exposure to and instruction in Spanish are discussed as possible sources of these differences.

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