This document discusses teaching Spanish to heritage speakers in Colorado. It notes that the majority of Hispanics in Colorado are of Mexican origin, and over half of K-12 students are Hispanic. Teaching heritage speakers requires different approaches than traditional second language classes, as heritage students have varying proficiency levels and literacy concerns. The document recommends incorporating sociocultural theory, using different registers to scaffold development, and focusing on reading authentic texts and writing in stages. Community involvement and program development are also important for recruiting and retaining heritage students.

1. Teaching Heritage Speakers of Spanish CCFLT Spring Conference Spring 2011 Carol Koch Colorado Mountain College Ruthanne Orihuela Community College of Aurora

2. Setting the Stage Who is the heritage speaker? Who is the heritage speaker in Colorado? 1. 77% of Hispanics in Colorado are of Mexican origin 2. 23% of Hispanics in Colorado are of non-Mexican origin Why is this important? 1. 20% of state population is Hispanic 2. 27% of all K-12 students are Hispanic 3. 56%: Language other than English spoken at home; 44% only English spoken at home pewhispanic.org/states/?stateid=CO

3. Needs and challenges Why is the traditional second language classroom not an appropriate place for heritage speakers? Varying levels Literacy concerns Register recognition Teacher expectations and student anxiety Assumption that students do speak and write Spanish already but just need grammar instruction Student anxiety at the potential for stigmatization

4. Considerations Instructor development Teaching a “personally relevant” variety of Spanish (Ducar) Knowing your student population Incorporation of sociocultural theory as well as a recognition of the inherently political nature of what we’re doing Social relevance principle Social identity principle Recontact principle (Lynch) Communicative classroom Use varying levels to your students’ advantage to help scaffold their language development (Faltis; Schwarzer and Petrón) Reaching beyond the classroom Community based learning Service learning The need for program design, not just course design

5. Who is Generation 1.5?

6. Why A Heritage Classroom Heritage speakers have unique needs Instruction in acquisition of the language is not necessary

7. HoW are heritage learners unique? “Ear learners” Developed oral proficiency Writing may carry a conversational tone and may be phonetic Unfamiliar with different “registers” of Spanish Reading skills may be limited Highly developed understanding of idiomatic language use In this population of students, there can be a wide spectrum of abilities

8. Learn about your students Where is he from? How long has he lived in the United States? Did he attend school in his country of origin? For how many years? What language/s does he speak? What languages/s do members of his family speak? What language is spoken with family? with friends. Ask the student to rate his own proficiency.

9. Register Informal: family: strong ability to talk about daily life and family affairs Informal: friends: strong ability to talk about school and social situations. Often this register involves “code switching” between Spanish and English Informal: teachers non-family member adults Formal: in “unknown” settings Formal: academic and professional use

10. Register and the classroom One purpose of the Heritage Language classroom is not to teach students Spanish Rather it is to help students develop proficiency in using a formal Spanish register both orally and in writing

11. Is there a “Prestige” Register No Students need to understand that there is a time and place for different registers. Students need to constantly be reminded of what they already know Building and enhancing their abilities

12. What should be achieved in the Heritage Language Classroom Students will be able to: Recognize the differences between different registers of Spanish Employ the formal Spanish register both orally and in writing Comprehend texts in Spanish Analyze critically written and oral texts Recognize differences between Spanish speaking communities in the United States

13. Focus on reading Reading authentic texts provides models for students. A variety of texts exposes students to a variety of writing styles Vocabulary building: reading about a certain topic will increase vocabulary in that area Avoid an overuse of literary texts at least in the beginning Couple a literary text and a current events text.

14. Focus on writing Think about writing in stages Writing as a process (Kim Potowski)

15. Resources CARLA: University of Minnesota UCLA National Heritage Language Resource Center Pew Research Center

16. Issues of Recruitment and Retention Concurrent enrollment Community presence Focus on program, not course, development Opportunities for recontact Educate your advisors and administrators

17. Bibliography: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). 2000. Spanish for Native Speakers. Professional Development Series Handbook, Volume I. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers. Carreira, Maria and Olga Kagan. “The Results of the National Heritage Language Survey: Implications for Teaching, Curriculum Design, and Professional Development.” Foreign Language Annals 44: 40-64. Colombi, M. Cecilia and Ana Roca. 2003. “Insights from Research and Practice in Spanish as a Heritage Language.” In Mi lengua: Spanish as a Heritage Language in the United States, eds. Ana Roca and M. Cecilia Colombi, eds. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. 2003. Ducar, Cynthia M. 2008. “Student Voices: The Missing Link in the Spanish Heritage Language Debate.” Foreign Language Annals 41: 415-433. Faltis, Christian. 1990. “Spanish for Native Speakers: Freirian and Vygotskian Perspectives.” Foreign Language Annals 23:117-26. Hellebrandt, Josef, Jonathan Arries, Lucia Varona and Carol Klein, eds. 2003. Juntos: Community Partnerships in Spanish and Portuguese. AATSP Professional Development Series Handbook, Volume V. Boston: Heinle. Lynch, Andrew. 2003. “Toward a Theory of Heritage Language Acquisition.” In Mi lengua: Spanish as a Heritage Language in the United States, eds. Ana Roca and M. Cecilia Colombi. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. Pew Research Center. 2011. Demographic Profile of Hispanics in Colorado, 2008. Available at pewhispanic.org/states/?stateid=CO. Accessed Feb. 22. Potowski, Kim. 2005. Fundamentos de la enseñanza del español a los hablantes natives en los EstadosUnidos. Madrid, Spain: Arco/Libros. Potowski, Kim and Maria Carreira. 2004. “Teacher Development and National Standards for Spanish as a Heritage Language.” Foreign Language Annals 37: 427-437. Schwarzer, David. 2001. “Whole Language in a Foreign Language Class: From Theory to Practice.” Foreign Lanuage Annals 34: 52-59. Schwarzer, David and Maria Petrón. 2005. “Heritage Language Instruction at the College Level: Reality and Possibilities.” Foreign Language Annals 38: 568-578. Valdés, Guadalupe. 2005. “Bilingualism, Heritage Language Learners and SLA Research: Opportunities Lost or Gained?” The Modern Language Journal 89: 410-426.