Presenter Information

Isaac Meza
Itzia Luna
Edward Pinto

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC Room 135

Start Date

15-5-2014

End Date

15-5-2014

Keywords

Heritage, Language, Spanish

Abstract

There are many challenges in teaching heritage language learners because of the different levels of linguistic proficiency, cultural competence and identity. In the case of Spanish heritage speakers in the Central Washington region, most of them share a common background: their families come from rural areas in Mexico, and therefore, speak a Spanish vernacular that stigmatizes them. While some critics argue that it is important to teach a formal variety of Spanish and improve students’ writing skills, Kim Potowski (2002) contends that error correction should not be the framework. It would be more beneficial if heritage language teachers expanded their knowledge of Spanish vernacular to account for the fact that their students have a unique way of speaking, rather than dismissing such traditionally stigmatized forms of colloquial speech.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Lee, Alejandro

Additional Mentoring Department

World Languages

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May 15th, 1:30 PM May 15th, 1:50 PM

Se puede y se debe: Educating Heritage Students

SURC Room 135

There are many challenges in teaching heritage language learners because of the different levels of linguistic proficiency, cultural competence and identity. In the case of Spanish heritage speakers in the Central Washington region, most of them share a common background: their families come from rural areas in Mexico, and therefore, speak a Spanish vernacular that stigmatizes them. While some critics argue that it is important to teach a formal variety of Spanish and improve students’ writing skills, Kim Potowski (2002) contends that error correction should not be the framework. It would be more beneficial if heritage language teachers expanded their knowledge of Spanish vernacular to account for the fact that their students have a unique way of speaking, rather than dismissing such traditionally stigmatized forms of colloquial speech.