STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

PURPOSE

Definition of Heritage Language Learners

According to Guadalupe Valdés (2000), the term heritage language speakers/learners is used to refer to students who:

• are raised in a home where a language other than English is spoken,
• understand and/or speak the heritage language; and
• are to some degree bilingual in English and in the heritage language.

North Carolina Perspective

Local school districts are required to administer a home language survey at the time of enrollment to all students in order to determine the number of national origin minority students (NOMS) in their schools. These numbers are reported to the Department of Public Instruction each year.

At the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year, over 100,000 NOMS were reported; more than 76,000 of them were Spanish-speakers. These students are dispersed across the state in both urban and rural districts. Currently, the students who are of limited English proficiency receive instruction in English as a Second Language, but few receive instruction in their native/heritage language (FLAP "New Connections" proposal).

Rationale

The national Standards for Foreign Language Learning address the issue of students who have home backgrounds in the languages taught in schools and point out their varying abilities and proficiencies. The standards document indicates that these students will need instruction that allows them to maintain strengths in their heritage language while developing new ones, particularly in the areas of reading and writing. Although the revised North Carolina Standard Course of Study in Modern Foreign Languages strives to incorporate the national standards, it does not address the teaching of languages other than English to heritage speakers.

Presently, students who are heritage language speakers may be placed in regular foreign language classes with native English speakers. Schools are not sure of the appropriate level of placement and at times, teachers and/or school counselors may actually refuse to teach or place these students in foreign language classes.

At any rate, their entrance into traditional foreign language classes places huge demands on teachers at the middle school and high school levels. Spanish teachers who were trained to teach Spanish as a foreign language are challenged with providing instruction not only to native English speakers, but also to students who already have some level of fluency in Spanish. Teachers are uncertain of how to differentiate their instruction to meet these students' needs.

Attempts at developing specific courses often experience difficulties, because there are no state guidelines nor state curriculum, and foreign language teachers and administrators have little understanding of this aspect of education (FLAP "New Connections" proposal).

The expansion of the global community and workplace challenges the United States to produce a workforce that not only communicates in many languages, but also understands the nuances of the many cultures. The heritage speaker is a natural resource, who can fill that need.

Foreign Language Requirements

In 2000 the University of North Carolina instituted a two-year foreign language admissions requirement beginning in the fall of 2004. As a result the State Board of Education adopted a two-year foreign language requirement for all students graduating in 2004 in the college/university preparation course of study. The Spanish for Native Speakers courses will give heritage language speakers the opportunity to meet this two-year graduation requirement.

Spanish for Native Speakers Course Sequence

Heritage language speakers can enroll in Spanish for Native Speakers I and Spanish for Native Speakers II. Upon completion of these two courses, students can proceed to the Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish where they will be joined by fourth- and/or fifth-year students who are studying Spanish as a foreign language.

Student Characteristics

Heritage language speakers/learners come from very diverse backgrounds and communicate with varying levels of proficiency in Spanish and in English. While some students may have had extensive schooling in their native countries, others have received limited schooling and may not be literate in their native language. The disparity in the students' diverse backgrounds presents a tremendous challenge to teachers who are responsible for the instruction of heritage language speakers/learners. Enrollees in Spanish for Native

Speakers courses can be classified as follows:

• They can be immigrant students who primarily speak Spanish but who may have varying degrees of education.
• They can be first- and second- generation bilinguals and may have varying levels of proficiency in Spanish and English.
• They can be third- or fourth- generation students born in the U.S. who are English dominant and who have limited Spanish speaking skills.

Characteristics of Students Who Enroll in SNS Courses

North Carolina Immigrant Population

Over the past ten years, North Carolina has been the host to a growing immigrant population and NC schools have been faced with the challenge of serving students who are able to communicate orally in Spanish, but who have limited knowledge of English. In addition, immigrant students, especially in their younger years, may lack literacy skills in English and in their own language. Moreover, in the past few years we are beginning to see an increase in second and third generation Hispanic-Americans. Like many in California, Texas and Florida, these students are proficient in English, but want to learn or develop the heritage language of their family. They may have some listening and speaking skills, but very limited reading and writing skills in Spanish.

For this reason, the North Carolina Spanish for Native Speakers Curriculum may be different from curricula in other states with large Hispanic populations, since immigrant students in North Carolina already possess oral fluency in Spanish. Some immigrants come to NC already highly educated. Therefore, instruction will begin in Level I with what the students already know.

Purposes of Spanish for Native Speakers Instruction

The North Carolina Spanish for Native Speakers Curriculum is designed to accomplish the following:

• Language maintenance
• Transfer of literacy skills
• Cultural awareness

Language Maintenance

The Spanish for Native Speakers classes offer Hispanic students who are already able to converse and understand Spanish an opportunity to maintain, develop, and refine their language. Very often students have acquired an informal language necessary for communicating with families and friends, but they have not developed the "standard" or "prestige variety" of Spanish necessary for academic success. In addition, their language has a limited range of vocabulary, contexts, and registers; therefore, students need to expand and refine their spoken fluency beyond the confines of their families and friend. They need to learn what language to use to convey respect or friendliness, what language to use when speaking with adults they do not know, and what language to use for academic and technical purposes. Students can develop a sense of register through exposure to and practice with a variety of models from videos, radio, films, or from interaction with guest speakers.

Furthermore, many students enrolled in Spanish for Native Speakers classes lack literacy skills in Spanish. They need to acquire and/or refine literacy skills in Spanish to become successful. To accomplish this, students must gain some experience in reading effortlessly from sources ranging from newspapers, books, magazines to authentic texts found on the Internet. In addition, they need the opportunity to write often for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Transfer of Literacy Skills

According to Cummins (1984) language skills can be transferred across languages. "Cognitive skills transfer from one language to another, and students literate in their first language will apply these skills and other academic proficiencies to the second language" (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Spanish Language Arts and English as a Second Language).

The native language serves as the foundation for English language acquisition. When students develop their oral and literacy skills in Spanish, they enhance their literacy development in English. The incorporation of processes such as the reading and writing process are equally effective in Spanish and can help students as they approach a reading or writing assignment in Spanish or in English.

Moreover, the research states that good learners have a wide repertoire of strategies to which they can resort. The Spanish for Native Speakers' teacher can introduce strategies to help students make sense of the text or to help them organize their ideas prior to a presentation. Those strategies can be transferred to the English class where students are expected to engage in similar activities and therefore the teacher may want to ensure that students are aware of the carryover of skills, processes, and strategies.

Cultural Awareness

According to F. Samaniego and C. Pino (2000), "heritage speakers often have a very limited and sometimes negative understanding of their own culture. It is extremely important to make these students aware of their cultural heritage…. Teachers must help these students realize that although there is cultural diversity among Hispanics, every one's cultural heritage is valid and must be respected." In addition, by introducing students to other Hispanic cultures all over the world and especially those represented in the classroom, students are able to make connections by comparing and contrasting the different cultures and languages/dialects.

Variety of Spanish Language

Teachers need to accept and validate the diversity in the students' languages and must be very careful to avoid denigrating the language spoken by the students or to impose their own Spanish as the "correct" one. Indeed the language diversity can be an effective teaching tool to help students expand their language. For example, there are many differences in pronunciation and vocabulary among the different countries. The word "bus" is expressed in the following manner: "camión (Mexico); ómnibus (Argentina); guagua (Canary Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico); micro (Chile and Perú); colectivo (Bolivia); bus (used in many countries)" (Spanish for Native Speakers, p. 23).

In addition, the Spanish language has many dialects which exist within the different regions of a country. "Within the heritage community, attitudes toward different dialects may vary considerably. Both characteristics of language varieties (standard plus regional dialects) and attitudes toward those varieties need to be understood by those teaching those languages and dialects" (Wiley, 2001).

Instruction

In the article, "Preserving Home Languages and Cultures in the Classroom: Challenges and Opportunities," L. Soto, J. Smrekar, and D. Nekcovei suggest the following practical applications for teachers:

• Accept the premise that children are members of diverse family and community systems bringing multiple gifts of language, culture, and wisdom.
• Become an ethnographer; keenly observe children's language capabilities, both in the native language and the second language.
• Encourage and accept children's attempts to communicate since errors are a normal part of language learning.
• Provide many opportunities for children to communicate.
• Plan authentic integrated activities that allow children to value and appreciate their identities.
• Organize the physical environment to reflect the diversity of cultures in the classroom.
• Build lines of communication among linguistically and culturally diverse families and educators.
• Initiate dialogues and advocacy work about language and culture among and across organizations and leaders capable of addressing the specific policy needs of young children.

One can add the following suggestions to the previous list:

• Devise the curriculum around students' interest.
• Introduce a diversity of cultural information based on the students' heritage.
• Validate what they already know.
• Encourage pride in their culture.
• Adapt curriculum, strategies, and methodology to the needs of students.
• Do not plan instruction around language, plan it around high interest content to heritage language learners.

Assessment

In her article on teacher preparation, Ana María Schwartz states that "the issue of assessment is particularly difficult for the heritage language profession and an area in which there has not been much work, either in the design of new instruments or in the validation of existing instruments with the heritage language population." Nevertheless, teachers need to be able to:

1. Assess students for placement purposes
2. Assess students to monitor and determine their progress

Assessment for Placement Purposes

Teachers may want to assess the students' level of language to determine firstly who is a heritage speaker and secondly whether a student will be better served in a traditional foreign language class or in a Spanish for Native Speakers class. Several instruments have been designed for this purpose and can be found in the Resources section of this document or can be designed locally.

At any rate, once a student is placed, his/her language ability must be assessed in order to design appropriate instruction to meet his/her needs. The assessment of the student's interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communication skills in both oral and written mode can help the teacher gain a sense of where the students are linguistically and can help focus instruction.

Assessment of Progress

As with other students, teachers working with heritage language speakers must consider several issues prior to assessing students. They must be clear on:

• what to assess,
• how to assess, and
• when to assess.

What to Assess

The assessment of heritage language speakers should be determined by the goals and objectives outlined in the curriculum. At this time, the purpose, and the audience for assessment have to be determined since they influence the selection of assessment tools. In a course focusing on the development of language skills, and especially literacy skills, foreign language teachers must look beyond the traditional emphasis placed on the assessment of grammar and its manipulation as a proof that language development is taking place. Alternative assessments including tools such as portfolios, dialogue journals, interviews, observations, and rubrics are ideally suited to show the progress students have made. Assessment should not be limited to the assessment of language skills only, but must extend to other areas deemed essential in the curriculum. For example, if cultural awareness and appreciation is an important component of the course, it must also be assessed to ensure that students are growing in their understanding and appreciation of their own culture and other cultures of the Hispanic world.

How to Assess

A variety of assessment tools are available to the teacher who must match the tool with the skill, content, or task to be assessed. "There may be times when a multiple choice test is more effective in assessing listening comprehension than a written test and other times when a performance task yields more information about the students' ability to use the language than a fill-in-the-blanks activity" (Assessment, Articulation, and Accountability, p. 22).

Assessment and instruction interac t on a continuous basis. To be truly reflective of student progress, the assessment must reflect not only the kind of instruction which takes place in the classroom, but also the manner in which it took place. If teachers provide students with multiple opportunities to develop their skills, then, they will want to ensure that they incorporate alternative assessments to monitor their students' progress. Such tools as writing samples, interviews, portfolios, open-ended questions, journals, learning logs, self and peer assessments are just a few of the options available.

When to Assess

"The decision to use ongoing assessment or to use summative assessment at the conclusion of a unit will be influenced by the kind of information which is needed. If a teacher wants to find out if students understand a new concept and can apply it, he/she might use ongoing assessment and redirect teaching as needed. If, on the contrary, he/she is more interested in finding out what students remember at the conclusion of a unit, he/she might use summative assessment" (Assessment, Articulation, and Accountability, p. 22).

Error Correction

Heritage speakers are sensitive at being corrected. A focus on errors alienates the students and reinforces the notion that their Spanish is not good enough. For this reason, it is best to first validate what the students already know and then to help them "expand their linguistic repertoire; learn to use more formal varieties of Spanish; learn to interact with people in a fashion more appropriate for a business environment; learn to make oral and written presentations. ….In other words, students would expand their vocabularies, their registers, their styles" (Roca, Gutierrez, 2000). Thus, Spanish for Native Speakers teachers will have to realize that "their attitudes can have a significant impact on how students view their language abilities…..To stigmatize our students or to make them feel that their language is inferior is pedagogically unsound" (Roca, Gutierrez, 2000).

<< Back | Table of Contents | Next >>