Panel 7.1. Connecting Community and the Classroom

Moderator: Claire Hitchins Chik (University of California, Los Angeles)

Bringing Community into the Classroom: Cultivating Sustainable Community Engagement in the Heritage Language Curriculum

• Angela Lee-Smith (Yale University)

What does community engagement look like in heritage language (HL) classrooms? There are many ways to integrate community engagement into HL curricula at all levels. This session highlights meaningful language learning projects that foster community engagement and empower learners by designing, modifying, and transforming learning tasks to increase sustainability and accessibility.

The Power, Challenges, and Initiatives of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools

• Joy Kreeft Peyton (Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools)
• Martha McCabe (Duke University and Czech and Slovak School of North Carolina)
• Masako Douglas (California State University, Long Beach)

Community-Based Heritage Language (CBHL) schools can make significant contributions to the national education enterprise. The presenters will describe key features of CBHL schools in the U.S.; challenges they face and ways they are addressing them; and initiatives that the Coalition and CBHL schools across the country are involved in.

Engaging in the Real World and Fostering Language Learner Ownership: A Case Study of Language Use on the Digital Platform and in Face-to-Face Interactions

• Ihnhee Kim (Northwestern University)

The researcher has implemented a podcast project and examined how language learners’ use of the target language in the real-world affects their ownership throughout the course. The collaborative assessment of the learners, instructors, and native interlocutors who were interviewed with the learners in the project reveals remarkably positive outcomes.

Panel 7.2.  Placement Exams

Moderator: Sasha Razor (University of California, Los Angeles)

CAVA: A Spanish Vocabulary Test for Heritage Speakers

• Eve Zyzik (University of California, Santa Cruz)
• Amàlia Llombart (Cal Poly Pomona)

We describe the design and validation of the California Assessment of Vocabulary Acquisition (CAVA), a receptive vocabulary test that measures meaning recognition of Spanish words at five frequency levels. Preliminary findings confirm the construct validity of CAVA as well as a correlation between participants’ vocabulary size and language dominance.

Examining SHL/SNS Performance on Linguistic Items for Placement Implications

• Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza (New Mexico State University)
• Gabriela Moreno (New Mexico State University)
• Jeffrey Longwell (New Mexico State University)

We piloted new items for our placement test. Preliminary results indicate that responses of L2 learners on items differ significantly from SHL/SNS learners showing promise for their integration into our placement test. Here we demonstrate the results of analyses to confirm each item’s reliably to provide meaningful information regarding placement.

Developing and Validating of a web-based Test to Measure Vietnamese Heritage Learners’ Listening Proficiency

• Hoan Nguyen (University of Hawai`i at Manoa)

This presentation describes the design and validation of a web-based Vietnamese Listening Proficiency Test (VLPT) for pedagogical and research purposes. The VLPT is designed to measure Vietnamese heritage learners’ general listening ability from low intermediate to high advanced level following the ACTFL proficiency guideline for listening (ACTFL, 2012).

Panel 7.3. Teachers, Identity, and the Classroom

Moderator: Asako Hayashi-Takakura (University of California, Los Angeles)

Becoming “A More Approachable Teacher” and Building a Sense of Community in the Online Spanish Heritage Language Course: Why Social Presence Matters

• Anel Brandl (Florida State University)
• Estrella Rodriguez (Florida State University)
• Evelyn Duran Urrea (CUNY Lehman College)/li>
• Angélica Amezcua (University of Washington)

This paper presents the implementation of a curriculum designed to develop a stronger sense of social presence in the Spanish heritage language online course. Particularly, it includes modules with pedagogical strategies and tools to reinforce social presence elements such as individual learner and teacher presence.

Accidental Teachers: Identity and Belonging at Thai Community-based Heritage Language Schools

• Duangkamon Winitkun (Northern Illinois University)
• Kanjana Thepboriruk (Northern Illinois University)

This study illustrates how perceived and constructed identities of volunteer Thai language teachers inform and/or influence their practices and experiences at local community-based heritage language schools and programs.

Panel 7.4. Heritage Spanish and US Politics

Moderator: Susan Bauckus (University of California, Los Angeles)

Why doesn't she know proper Spanish?": Insight into Spanish heritage speakers' attitudes and perceived linguistic insecurities

• Sara Roca-Ramírez (Georgetown University)

The present study compared the impact of critically-oriented course topics on Spanish heritage language (SHL) students' motivation and attitudes across proficiency levels. SHL students (n=12) in Intermediate, Advanced I, and II courses participated in virtual semi-structured interviews regarding their language use and variety, classroom topics, and motivation to study Spanish.

The Gentrification of Bilingualism and Heritage Language Education

• Sunny Park-Johnson (DePaul University)
• Carolina Barrera-Tobón (DePaul University)
• Martin Buck (DePaul University)

We explored the relationship between the locations of the new DLI programs and population changes between 2010 and 2020 in a large Midwestern US city. Results indicate that 63.0% of new DLI schools opened in neighborhoods with significantly increasing population of White households and decreasing Latinx households.

Spanish Heritage Language Programs- Closing the Achievement Gap and Promoting Social Mobility

• Melissa Patino (Portland State University)

My paper explores the impacts Spanish heritage language programs have beyond the classroom. I present ethnographic data regarding the experiences of Latinx Spanish heritage language learners (SHLLs) at a predominately white institution after completing a Spanish for heritage learners series. I analyze the connections participants make between their experience in the program and their success beyond it.