Teaching Heritage Speakers: Melding theory and practice

1. Teaching Heritage Speakers: Melding theory and practice Maria M. Carreira California State University, Long Beach

2. Part I (10:15-12:15) • The elements of HL teaching; • Identifying good materials; • Adapting not so good ones

3. Parts II and III(Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning) • Applying the principles of differentiated teaching in classes with HL learners 1) Differentiating: the what, when, and how 2) Using templates, agendas and contracts 3) Assessment and group work

4. Also, this afternoon

5. First things first… A LOOK AT THE CONTEXT OF HL TEACHING

6. The graduation speech • What conditions had to come together to make this happen? • What did Tello, personally, have to do for this to happen?

7. The strands of HL learning

8. Warm up activity, 15 minutes WHAT (WHO) IS A HERITAGE LANGUAGE LEARNER?

9. What or who is a heritage language learner? It depends on who you ask

12. General definitions:Who is a heritage language learner? • Narrow definitions – based on proficiency • Broad definitions – based on affiliation

13. Example of a narrow definition “An individual who is raised in a home where a non-English language is spoken, who speaks or merely understands the heritage language, and who is to some degree bilingual in English and the heritage language” (Valdés, 2001, p. 38)

14. Example of a broad definition Heritage language learners are individuals who “…have familial or ancestral ties to a particular language and who exert their agency in determining whether or not they are HLLs (heritage language learners) of that HL (heritage language) and HC (heritage culture) (Hornberger and Wang, 2008, p. 27)

15. Learners who fit the narrow definition also fit the broad definition

16. A SCOBA (A schema for orienting basis of action) I feel; therefore, I am (an HLL) I speak; therefore, I am (an HLL)

17. What does it mean “to feel” like an HLL? In high school I was one of very few Latinos. My friend and I were called the "Mexican kids". This was always funny to me because my Dad's family always told me I was American. In school I was labeled Mexican, but to the Mexicans, I am an American. I am part of each, but not fully accepted by either. In high school, I was considered Mexican because I spoke Spanish but I was considered "Pocho" by my Dad's family because my Spanish was not up to their standard. It's this weird duality in which you are stuck in the middle. Latinos are often told that they are not Americans but also that they are not connected to their heritage. You take pride in both cultures and learn to deal with the rejection. You may never be fully embraced by either side. That's why you seek out other people like yourself. Socializing with people who share a common experience helps you deal with this experience.

18. Broad + narrow definitions = two orientations to HL teaching Linguistic needs (narrow definition) Non-linguistic needs – psychological + social (broad definition)

19. Filling in details • Definitions • Research on the “typical” HL learner • Research on HL learner variation

20. Linguistic needs of HL learners

21. Factors in heritage language development • Age of acquisition of English (ages 4, 8) • Order of acquisition of the languages (HL first, followed by Eng., both lags. at the same time); • Language use at home (only the HL, HL + Eng., English only); • Schooling in the HL; • General exposure to the HL e.g. time spent abroad, media use, demographic density of local HL speakers;

23. When, how much, and what type IT ALL COMES DOWN TO INPUT

24. Input • When: Age of acquisition of English. Simultaneously with the HL or after? • How much: Enough to ensure acquisition or reduced to a point that acquisition is compromised? • What type: Naturalistic, formal? (Montrul, 2008, Bowles, 2011; Carreira and Potowski, 2011; Montrul and Perpiñan, 2011)

25. Why input matters: Exposure to the HL Birth Age 5 Age 12

26. HL speakers, ranked by amount of exposure to the HL

27. Main factors surrounding HL proficiency • Age of acquisition of English (at the same time as the HL or later? If later, when (5, 8, later?) • Quantity of HL input: The more the better home use (only the HL or with English?) community use (church? Clubs?) media use reading schooling (community, religious, K-12)

28. Critical issues surrounding HL proficiency (cont.) • Quality of HL input: The greater the variety the better Aural -> informal, everyday language, vernacular Written -> academic language, complex sentences, more varied vocabulary, academic language

29. Typical HL learner – the NHLRC survey

30. Our task: Increasing quality and quantity of input

31. Starting point: Linguistic strengths and needs • Some facility in informal/spoken language • Low literacy (limited command of embedding – compound sentences, little to no command of the academic registers) • Grammar areas in need of attention: those learned after age 5 – Aspect, the subjunctive, perfect verb forms (Montrul, 2008, 2011); • Translanguaging

32. Translanguaging • Most HL learners go back and forth between the HL and English (The NHLRC survey); • These learners engage in “translanguaging”: “…multiple discursive practices in which bilinguals engage in order to make sense of their bilingual worlds” (García, 2011, p. 45) e.g. meals in a bilingual family (different degrees of abilities) INTERPRETING/TRANSLATING IS NOT TRANSLAGUAGING

33. An extreme example "Every couple of months, my high school would have a "peer court", where student would determine the punishment of their peers that had done minor crimes. The "accused" would stand in front of their parents and the peer judges and talk about what they had done. On one occasion, the person who translated for parents who didn't speak English couldn't make it and the teacher asked me to fill in for her. immediately accepted - I love the idea of helping out. The day came and I was introduced to the parent I would be translating for. I was a bit nervous and didn't want to say the wrong things.  I saw the woman’s face and felt her shame and fear. She had been through one of these situations before. When it was their turn to go on stage, my insides felt like they were going to drop. My Spanish helped me console the mother and to give her a voice and some dignity before the group. When it was over, I realized how much I had been able to help this family out because I knew Spanish. I was proud to be able to help, although I felt very sad for them."

34. Family, community, school, larger society

35. Non-linguistic needs of HL learners Linguistic needs (narrow definition) Non-linguistic needs – psychological + social (broad definition)

36. Typical HL learner – the NHLRC survey • Has positive associations with his HL, but also some insecurities; • Is a “hyphenated American” (e.g. Arab-American) • Values his HL for its connection to family; • Wants to learn more about his roots/heritage; • Wants to connect with other members of his/her community in the US; • Enjoys using his/her HL to help others; • Would like to take professional advantage of his/her HL skills (not for all languages) • Engages in translanguaging.

37. Broad + narrow definitions = two orientations to HL teaching Linguistic needs (narrow definition) Non-linguistic needs (broad definition)

38. Practice #1 • Read “My Name” – what about it makes it well suited for teaching HL learners? • Themes? (question 1 in the handout) • Language? (question 2 in the handout) • What about Little Red Ridding Hood?

39. Back to the presentation… • Definitions: Two orientations (identity + language) • Research on the “typical” HL learner: Details on identity and socio-affective issues, and linguistic needs) • Research on HL learner variation

40. Variation in the classroom context(Carreira and Kagan, 2011) One-track program: L2 and HL learners together (L2-HL classes) Dual-track program: Separate classes for L2 and and HL learners (HL classes) Type 1: Only one HL course (most common); Type 2: Two levels of HL instruction;

41. L2-HL class: Japanese 300 (Third year college course) • 16 students (12 HL learners + 4 L2 learners) • HL learners: All have intermediate-to-advanced aural skills 8 had three or more years of schooling; 4 had one to two years of schooling; • L2 learners: All had taken four semesters of Japanese

42. Variation in Japanese 100 • Between HL learners (as a function of life experiences); • Between HL and L2 learners

43. HL Class: Arabic 100 for HL learners Arabic: Diglossia • Modern Standard Arabic (High prestige, formal situations, written, known by educated speakers, lingua franca among Arabs from different countries); • Colloquial Arabic (Low prestige, home language, informal communications, not commonly written, mutually unintelligible regional dialects) (Maamouri 1998) Arabic 100: • 11 students from six Arab countries (Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt) and 1 student from Indonesia (Muslim). • 2 have four or more years of education abroad, 3 have three years of religious education in Arabic in the US; the rest have no literacy skills in Arabic;

44. Variation in Arabic 100 • Between HL learners (as a function of life experiences) • Dialectal (language-specific properties) • Diglossic (language-specific properties)

45. HL Class: Hindi 100 for HL learners India: Hindi is the official language of the country. Individual states have their own official languages. 29 languages have over 1 million speakers. India’s languages stem primarily from two language families: Indo-Aryan in the north, and Dravidian in the south. Many languages have their own writing systems (Brass 2005, Hasnain 2003). Gambhir (2008) identifies two primary categories of HL learners in Hindi classes – ancestral, associate (cognate and non-cognate) Hindi 100: 16 students from five different language backgrounds; Hindi/Urdu (7); Gujarati (4); Punjabi (2);Telugu (2); Marathi (1)

46. Variation in Hindi 100 • Dialectal • Cross linguistic (different languages) • Between learners (HL and L2)

47. The crux of the problem • In the Arabic and Hindi programs “HL classes” are seen as a “catch all” destination for all students that do not meet the traditional profile of L2 learners. • Arabic and Hindi 100 do not make linguistic sense.

48. WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM STUDYING LEARNER VARIATION?

49. LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC ISSUES MATTER A GREAT DEAL

50. Language-specific differences: Exposure to the HL Exposure and use (excluding schooling) High Moderate Low _______________________________________________________ Spanish Russian Persian Korean Vietnamese Tagalog Mandarin Cantonese