Nuestra herencia

For heritage speakers, the Spanish classroom is notthe first point of contact with their nativelanguage. Though such learners would benefit from aneducational philosophy that affirms the heritagelanguage as a springboard for learning and increasedself-awareness, there has been little support fornon-dominant language research in the United States.This inattention breeds negative consequences notonly for heritage speakers, but for national securityand economic concerns. This study takes aphenomenographic approach to reveal the experiencesof adult heritage Spanish speakers in programsdesigned for monolingual English speakers. Learnersverbalize their own conceptions, thus providing entryto their life-worlds. The data gleaned from thisresearch sheds light on the educational, social, andindividual challenges faced by the adult heritagespeaker in their quest to improve literacy skills intheir native language. Nuestra herencia is a valuableresource for teachers, language programadministrators and educational researchers seeking tobetter understand and serve the needs of our heritageSpanish speakers.

Autorentext

BA: Political Science with Certification inLatin American Studies, MA: Spanish Literature, PhD: Education with Specialization in Adult Education. Faculty Chair for the Department of Foreign Languages, Rio Salado College, Tempe, Arizona.

Klappentext
For heritage speakers, the Spanish classroom is not the first point of contact with their native language. Though such learners would benefit from an educational philosophy that affirms the heritage language as a springboard for learning and increased self-awareness, there has been little support for non-dominant language research in the United States. This inattention breeds negative consequences not only for heritage speakers, but for national security and economic concerns. This study takes a phenomenographic approach to reveal the experiences of adult heritage Spanish speakers in programs designed for monolingual English speakers. Learners verbalize their own conceptions, thus providing entry to their life-worlds. The data gleaned from this research sheds light on the educational, social, and individual challenges faced by the adult heritage speaker in their quest to improve literacy skills in their native language. Nuestra herencia is a valuable resource for teachers, language program administrators and educational researchers seeking to better understand and serve the needs of our heritage Spanish speakers.