Learning and Not Learning in the Heritage Language Classroom, a critical ethnography, describes the first year of a teacher-founded charter high school and presents a case-study of compulsory Spanish heritage language instruction with two Spanish-language teachers, one English dominant and the other Spanish dominant. The study follows the same cohort of Mexican-origin students to their humanities-English class, bringing into focus what works and what does not with this group of learners. Unlike many Spanish heritage language studies, the students in this book did not choose to take part in Spanish class and thus provide unusually raw feedback on their teachers and classes. The engagement and resistance of these students suggests pedagogical directions for engaging Spanish heritage language learners. The book will be of interest to scholars, administrators, students and teachers involved in the delivery and assessment of heritage language classes.

Teaching Heritage Language Learners: Voices from the Classroom is a groundbreaking volume that offers a guide for language teachers, school administrators & support personnel that will enable them to work more effectively with the growing population of heritage language learners in the nation's schools. Written by & for teachers, this book provides an overview of the research on heritage language education, proposes fundamental teacher beliefs & goals for curriculum & instruction that will enhance teaching & learning, presents framework that educators can use to acquire essential information about their heritage language students, explores the issue of standards for heritage language classes & describes a learning environment in which the diverse range of learner needs can be addressed. The book is further enriched by the presentation & discussion of classroom research of successful teaching strategies, related stories written by teachers about their experiences working with their students & retrospectives from adult heritage language learners looking back at their youth & schooling. It can serve as a valuable companion for staff development & college level courses on language teaching methodology & informative for anyone interested in the teaching of languages other than English.

Heritage language (HL) learning and teaching presents particularly difficult challenges. Melding cutting-edge research with innovations in teaching practice, the contributors in this volume provide practical knowledge and tools that introduce new solutions informed by linguistic, sociolinguistic, and educational research on heritage learners. Scholars address new perspectives and orientations on designing HL programs, assessing progress and proficiency, transferring research knowledge into classroom practice, and the essential question of how to define a heritage learner. Articles offer analysis and answers on multiple languages, and the result is a unique and essential text—the only comprehensive guide for heritage language learning based on the latest theory and research with suggestions for the classroom.

"This book documents the latest research findings about the success of free voluntary reading in developing high levels of literacy"--Provided by publisher.

Heritage language education is a relatively new field developed as "heritage" has become an important trope of belonging, legitimacy and commodification. Many recent studies treat the "heritage language learner" as an objective category. However, it is a social construct, whose meaning is contested by researchers, school administrators and the students themselves. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in 2007-2011 at a weekend Japanese language school in the United States, this monograph investigates the construction of the heritage language learner at the intersections of the knowledge-power complex, ideologies of language and national belonging, and politics of schooling. It examines the ways individuals become, resist and negotiate their new subjectivity as heritage language learners through becoming objects of study, being caught in nationalist aspirations and school politics regarding what to teach to whom, and negotiating with peers with various linguistic proficiency and family backgrounds. The volume proposes a new approach to view the notion of heritage language learner as a site of negotiation regarding the legitimate knowledge of language and ways of belonging, while offering practical suggestions for schools.

"... focuses on issues at the forefront of heritage language teaching and research. Its state-of-the-art presentation will make this volume a standard reference book for investigators, teachers, and students. It will also generate further research and discussion, thereby advancing the field." María Carreira, California State University – Long Beach, United States "In our multilingual and multicultural society there is an undeniable need to address issues of bilingualism, language maintenance, literacy development, and language policy. The subject of this book is timely.... It has potential to make a truly significant contribution to the field." María Cecilia Colombi, University of California – Davis, United States This volume presents a multidisciplinary perspective on teaching heritage language learners. Contributors from theoretical and applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, psychology, educational policy, and pedagogy specialists explore policy and societal issues, present linguistic case studies, and discuss curricular issues, offering both research and hands-on innovation. - The term "heritage language speaker" refers to an individual exposed to a language spoken at home but who is educated primarily in English. Research and curriculum design in heritage language education is just beginning. Heritage language pedagogy, including research associated with the attrition, maintenance, and growth of heritage language proficiency, is rapidly becoming a field in its own right within foreign language education. This book fills a current gap in both theory and pedagogy in this emerging field. It is a significant contribution to the goals of formulating theory, developing informed classroom practices, and creating enlightened programs for students who bring home-language knowledge into the classroom. Heritage Language Education: A New Field Emerging is dedicated to Professor Russell Campbell (1927-2003), who was instrumental in advocating for the creation of the field of heritage language education.

This innovative, timely text introduces the theory, research, and classroom application of critical approaches to the teaching of minoritized heritage learners, foregrounding sociopolitical concerns in language education. Beaudrie and Loza open with a global analysis, and expert contributors connect a focus on speakers of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States to broad issues in heritage language education in other contexts – offering an overview of key concepts and theoretical issues, practical pedagogical guidance, and field-advancing suggestions for research projects. This is an invaluable resource for advanced students and scholars of applied linguistics and education, as well as language program administrators.