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

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
María Luisa Parra
Keyword(s):  
Creative Writing ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Digital Art ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Transformative Experiences ◽  
Critical Language Awareness ◽  
Written Word ◽  
Literacy And Writing

This paper presents an analysis of poems, digital art, and accompanying analytical essays authored by four college students taking an advanced Spanish as heritage language. This paper highlights the ways in which creative writing, along with digital tools for artmaking, can enhance the teaching of language literacy to heritage learners. It proposes that creative writing opens up simultaneously meaningful and transformative experiences for students: they engage with the performativity of creative writing, use their voices beyond the constraints of specific genre conventions, engage with critical language awareness exercises, and become motivated to use their writing in order to reach out to the wider Spanish-speaking communities outside the classroom. Digital technologies played a key role in the creative process, as they provided a range of artistic tools and flexibilities that enhanced and complemented the power of the written word. The paper aims to contribute to the pedagogy of Spanish heritage courses and to expand the notions of literacy and writing under which we work in the SHL classroom.

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

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Laura Gasca Jiménez ◽  
Sergio Adrada-Rafael
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
Mixed Language ◽  
Critical Language Awareness ◽  
Upper Level

Despite the prevalence of mixed language programs across the United States, their impact on the unique socio-affective needs of heritage language (HL) students has not been researched sufficiently. Therefore, the present study examines HL learners’ critical language awareness (CLA) in a mixed Spanish undergraduate program at a small private university in the eastern United States. Sixteen HL learners enrolled in different Spanish upper-level courses participated in the study. Respondents completed an existing questionnaire to measure CLA, which includes 19 Likert-type items addressing different areas, such as language variation, language ideologies, bilingualism, and language maintenance. Overall, the results show that learners in the mixed language program under study have “somewhat high” and “high” levels of CLA. The increased levels of CLA in learners who had completed three courses or more in the program, coupled with their strong motivation, suggests that this program contributes positively toward HL students’ CLA. However, respondents’ answers also reveal standard language ideologies, as well as the personal avoidance of code-switching. Based on these findings, two areas that could benefit from a wider representation in the curriculum of mixed language programs are discussed: language ideologies and plurilingual language practices.

Critical language awareness for the heritage context: Development and validation of a measurement questionnaire

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Beaudrie ◽  
Angelica Amezcua ◽  
Sergio Loza
Keyword(s):  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Critical Language Awareness ◽  
Development And Validation

Critical language awareness (CLA) is increasingly identified as a central component of the Spanish heritage language (SHL) classroom (Leeman, 2005; Martínez, 2003; among others). As a minority language, SHL is subject to sociopolitical, cultural, and economic forces that devalue its status. It is devalued in the eyes of the public, as a legitimate U.S. language, and as something worthy of being maintained. It is essential that students receive instruction not only in the heritage language, but also on the contextual factors that affect the Spanish-English sociopolitical relationship in the United States. Such instruction will enable learners to begin resisting heritage language loss by questioning language ideologies that promote English monolingualism and standard, monolingual Spanish as the ideal norm. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire with adequate psychometric properties to measure CLA in the SHL context. The respondents were 301 students enrolled in SHL courses in four U.S. universities. The questionnaire results were submitted to a series of statistical analysis to investigate how well the instrument meets the criteria of reliability and validity specified in this study. The final 19-item instrument had adequate psychometric properties and detected change in the CLA of students in a class where CLA was taught.

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