Cover not available

Article published In: Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 37:1 (2024) ► pp.335–365

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Voices of SHL educators

Writing in the heritage Spanish classroom

ORCiD logo with link | Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School
ORCiD logo with link | Penn State University
ORCiD logo with link | Texas Tech University
Published online: 23 January 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.21043.pad
Abstract
Even though the field of heritage language education has flourished in recent years and has placed emphasis on the development of biliteracies in Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners (e.g., Belpoliti, F. & Bermejo, E. (2020). Spanish Heritage Language Learners’ Emerging Literacy: From Research to Practice. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Samaniego, M., & Warner, C. (2016). Designing meaning in inherited languages: A multiliteracies approach to HL instruction. In M. Fairclough & S. M. Beaudrie (Eds.), Innovative strategies for heritage language teaching (pp. 191–214). Georgetown UP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), little is known about how SHL writing instruction is conducted in terms of educators’ practices and perceptions. Through an online survey distributed across the United States, SHL educators reported the main challenges they face (e.g., working with accuracy, writing conventions), strategies they use (e.g., modelling), and the technology they use to teach writing. The survey also provides an overview of the importance given to various elements of a composition (e.g., task type, range of vocabulary) when teaching SHL courses. Overall, SHL educators’ perceptions provide a knowledge base of instructor experiences and practices that can assist in teacher training and inform curricular models.
Resumen
La escritura en la clase de español como lengua de herencia
A pesar del crecimiento del campo de la educación de lenguas de herencia en los últimos años y la importancia del desarrollo de la alfabetización bilingüe, poco se sabe de la pedagogía de escritura en las aulas de español como lengua de herencia (ELH) a nivel de las prácticas y percepciones de los educadores. A través de una encuesta en línea distribuida por los Estados Unidos, los educadores informaron sobre los retos a los que se enfrentan (p. ej., precisión lingüística, convenciones de escritura), las estrategias que utilizan (p. ej., proveer modelos) y la tecnología que usan para enseñar la escritura en cursos de ELH. La encuesta también recoge la importancia dada a diferentes componentes (p. ej., tipos de tareas, variedad de vocabulario) de la escritura en el aula. Las percepciones de estos educadores de ELH ofrecen una idea de las experiencias y prácticas que pueden contribuir a la formación profesional de educadores y a mejorar modelos curriculares.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1SHL learner writing in Spanish
    • 2.2Surveys of SHL programs
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2The survey
    • 3.3Procedure
    • 3.4Analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Challenges
    • 4.2Writing strategies
    • 4.3Technology tools
    • 4.4Importance given to components of writing
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Pedagogical implications
  • 7.Limitations and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (55)
References
Beaudrie, S. M. (2011). Spanish heritage language programs: A snapshot of current programs in the southwestern United States. Foreign Language Annals, 44(2), 321–337, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beaudrie, S. (2017). The teaching and learning of spelling in the Spanish heritage language classroom: Mastering written accent marks. Hispania, 100(4), 596–611. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beaudrie, S. M., Ducar, C. M., & Potowski, K. (2014). Heritage language teaching: Research and practice. McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Belpoliti, F. & Bermejo, E. (2020). Spanish Heritage Language Learners’ Emerging Literacy: From Research to Practice. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowles, M. (2011). Exploring the role of modality: L2-Heritage learner interactions in the Spanish language classroom. Heritage Language Journal, 8(1), 30–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burgo, C. (2020). Writing strategies to develop literacy skills for advanced Spanish heritage language learners. Dimension, 551, 97–107.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Camus, P., & Adrada-Rafael, S. (2015). Spanish heritage language learners vs. L2 learners: What CAF reveals about written proficiency. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages, 2(2), 32–51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carreira, M., & Kagan, O. (2011). The results of the national heritage language survey: Implications for teaching, curriculum design, and professional development. Foreign Language Annals, 44(1), 40–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, H. I. (2013). Identity practices of multilingual writers in social networking spaces. Language Learning & Technology, 17(2), 143–170.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chevalier, J. F. (2004). Heritage language literacy: Theory and practice. Heritage Language Journal, 2(1), 26–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Colombi, M. C. (2015). Academic and cultural literacy for heritage speakers of Spanish: A case study of Latin@ students in California. Linguistics and Education, 32(A), 5–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). “Multiliteracies”: New literacies, new learning. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 41, 164–195. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ducar, C. M. (2008). Student voices: The missing link in the Spanish heritage language debate. Foreign Language Annals, 41(3), 415–433. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elola, I. (2017). Writing in Spanish as a foreign and heritage language: Past, present, and future. Hispania, 100(5), 119–124. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elola, I., & Mikulski, A. M. (2013). Revisions in real time: Spanish heritage language learners’ writing processes in English and Spanish. Foreign Language Annals, 46(4), 646–660. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Similar and/or different writing processes? A study of Spanish foreign language and heritage language learners. Hispania, 99(1), 87–102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elola, I., Padial, A., & Guerrero-Rodríguez, P. (2022). Herramientas sociales en la clase de español como lengua de herencia. In J. Torres & D. Pascual y Cabo (Eds.). Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia. Routledge Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fairclough, M. (2015). Aproximaciones a la enseñanza del español como lengua de herencia. Revista de Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 41(2), 65–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fairclough, M., & Belpoliti, F. (2016). Emerging literacy in Spanish among Hispanic heritage language university students in the USA: A pilot study.” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 19(2), 185–201. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gatti, A. & O’Neill, T. (2018). Writing proficiency profiles of heritage learners of Chinese, Korean, and Spanish. Foreign Language Annals, 51(4), 719–737. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geisler, M., Kramsch, C., McGinnis, S., Patrikis, P., Pratt, M. L., Ryding, K., & Saussy, H. (2007). Foreign languages and higher education: New structures for a changed world: MLA Ad Hoc Committee on foreign languages. Profession, 234–245.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hafner, C. A., Chik, A., & Jones, R. H. (2013). Engaging with digital literacies in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 812–815. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hedgcock, J., & Lefkowitz, N. (2011). Exploring the learning potential of writing development in heritage language education. In R. M. Manchón (Ed.), Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language (pp. 209–233). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henshaw, F. (2013). Learning opportunities and outcomes of L2-L2 and L2-HL learner interaction during a collaborative writing task [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Ingold, C. W., Rivers, W., Tesser, C. C., & Ashby, E. (2002). Report on the NFLC/AATSP survey of Spanish language programs for native speakers. Hispania, 85(2), 324–329. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lacorte, M. (2018). Multiliteracies pedagogy and heritage language teacher education: A model for professional development. In G. C. Zapata and M. Lacorte (Eds.), Multiliteracies pedagogy and language learning (pp. 197–225). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, J., & Polio, C. (2020). Multimodal assignments in higher education: Implications for multimodal writing tasks for L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 471, 100713. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loureiro-Rodriguez, V. (2013). Meaningful writing in the heritage language class: A case study of heritage learners of Spanish in Canada. L2 Journal, 5(1), 43–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manchón, R. M. (2017). The potential impact of multimodal composition on language learning. Journal of Second Language Writing, 381, 94–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martínez, G. A. (2007). Writing back and forth: The interplay of form and situation in heritage language composition. Language Teaching Research, 11(1), 31–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mikulski, A. M., & Elola, I. (2011). Heritage language learners’ allocation of time to writing processes in English and Spanish. Hispania, 94(4), 715–733. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mikulski, A. M., Elola, I., Padial, A., & Berry, G. (2019). Written feedback in heritage Spanish classrooms: A national survey of students and instructors. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada, 32(2), 543–572. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mrak, A. (2020). Developing writing in Spanish heritage language learners: An integrated process approach. Dimension, 551, 82–96.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oskoz, A. & Elola, I. (2016). Digital stories: Bringing multimodal texts to the Spanish writing classroom. ReCALL, 28(3), 326–342. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oskoz, A., & Elola, I. (2020). L2 Digital Writing. Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prada, J. (2022). Approaching composition as showing–telling through translanguaging: Weaving multilingualism, multimodality, and multiliteracies in a digital collage proyecto final. Languages, 7(1), 70. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parra, M. L., Bravo, M. L., & Polinsky, M. (2018). De bueno a muy bueno: how pedagogical intervention boosts language proficiency in advanced heritage learners. Heritage Language Journal, 15(2), 203–241. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Potowski, K., & Carreira, M. (2004). Towards teacher development and national standards for Spanish as a heritage language. Foreign Language Annals, 37(3), 421–431. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Samaniego, M., & Warner, C. (2016). Designing meaning in inherited languages: A multiliteracies approach to HL instruction. In M. Fairclough & S. M. Beaudrie (Eds.), Innovative strategies for heritage language teaching (pp. 191–214). Georgetown UP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwartz, A. M. (2003). ¡No me suena! Heritage Spanish speakers’ writing strategies. In M. C. Colombi & A. Roca (Eds.), Mi lengua: Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: Research and practice (pp. 235–256). Georgetown UP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Exploring differences and similarities in the writing strategies used by students in SNS courses. In L. A. Ortiz López & M. Lacorte (Eds.), Contactos y contextos lingüísticos: El español en los Estados Unidos y en contacto con otras lenguas (pp. 323–333). Lingüística Iberoamericana.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spicer-Escalante, M. (2005). Writing in two languages/Living in two worlds. In M. Farr (Ed.), Latino language and literacy in ethnolinguistic Chicago (pp. 217–244). Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The New London Group (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–93. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J., & Baralt, M. (2022). El enfoque por tareas en el aprendizaje del español como lengua de herencia. In J. Torres & D. Pascual y Cabo (Eds.). Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia. Routledge Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, K. M., Arrastia-Chisholm, M. C., & Tackett, S. (2018). Perceptions of writing anxiety and self-efficacy among Spanish heritage language learners. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 19(1), 84–98. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valdés, G. (1997). The teaching of Spanish to bilingual Spanish-speaking students: Outstanding issues and unanswered questions. In M. C. Colombi & F. X. Alarcón (Eds.), La enseñanza del español a hispanohablantes: Praxis y teoría (pp. 8–44). Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valdés, G., Fishman, J., Chávez, R. & Pérez, W. (2006). Developing Minority Language Resources: The Case of Spanish in California. Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vinogradova, P. (2014). Digital stories in heritage language education: Empowering heritage language learners through a pedagogy of multiliteracies. In T. G. Wiley, D. Christian, J. K. Peyton, S. C. Moore, & N. Liu (Eds.), Handbook of heritage, community, and native American languages in the United States: Research, educational practice, and policy (pp. 314–323). Routledge Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilson, D. V. & Ibarra, E. (2015). Understanding the inheritors: The perception of beginning-level students toward their Spanish as a Heritage Language program. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages, 2 (2), 85–101. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilson, D. V. & Pascual y Cabo, D. (2019). Linguistic diversity and student voice: the case of Spanish as a heritage language. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 6(2), 170–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yanguas, I. & Lado, B. (2012). Is thinking aloud reactive when writing in the heritage language? Foreign Language Annals, 45(3), 380–399. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zapata, G. C. (2018). A match made in heaven: An introduction to learning by design and its role in heritage language education. In G. C. Zapata and M. Lacorte (Eds.), Multiliteracies pedagogy and language learning (pp. 1–26). Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zapata, G. C., & Lacorte, M. (2018). Multiliteracies pedagogy and language learning. Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Elola, Idoia, Ariana Mikulski & Ana Padial
2024. Spanish heritage language students’ writing perspectives. Writing & Pedagogy 15:3 ► pp. 197 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue