Needs of High School Heritage Spanish Students

Beth Hennes

Research Question

What do heritage learners actually need from a Spanish language course (that can be used to drive instruction)?

Research Strategy

A case study, using student questionnaires and behavior observation

The situation

• Rural high school of 1000 students, of which 7% are Latino and 3% are English Language Learner (with definite overlap)

• 16 students enrolled (initially 19) in Heritage-Speaker section of Spanish for the 2013-2014 school year

• Co-teaching arrangement between AP/Level 3-5 Spanish teacher and ELL teacher (myself)

• Pilot year before official course approval with School Board: currently no “official” materials

Need for study

• Behavior problems! (off-task behavior, vulgar language, disrespect, extraneous talking)• Lack of motivation, low assignment

completion• 50/50 success rate of planned activities

(could go well, could flop—who knows?)• Growing teacher frustration

Assumptions

1. Behavior problems are due to inappropriate materials/activity selection

2. If we know what students need/want and plan instruction around that, behavior will improve.

Collection of data

Tools

1. Placement Test Results Conference and Goals Worksheet

2. Learning Expectations and Needs Survey

3. Nonnative-speakers Learning Expectations and Needs Survey (given to 5 students in AP/Level 5 Spanish, just for basic comparison purposes)

Summary of Data (Google Forms)

Follow these links to see survey results for:•Heritage Spanish Speakers•Advanced Nonnative Spanish Spe

akers

Findings

Nonnative Speakers compared to Heritage Learners:• Our high school nonnatives rated

themselves higher in literacy domains (reading and writing)• Heritage learners rated themselves higher

in oral language (speaking and listening)

Findings

Heritage Learners valued:• the work they had done with writing (7

mentioned this)• learning about accents (4 mentioned this)

Heritage Learners were frustrated by:• poor behaviors of other students, such as not

working or too much talking (5 mentioned this)

Analysis of Findings

Generalizations:• Heritage learners want to improve writing

and reading.• They need help with accents and spelling.• They were also frustrated by discipline

problems.

My reaction to survey data

• Heritage Learner honesty and candidness was heart-warming! They seemed to want to learn and were frustrated by similar things as the teachers.• Is this a confirmation of our assumption?

(That if we give them what they want, behaviors will improve…)

Epilogue: We made changes

For Unit 2:• Changed from Level 4 World

Language Spanish textbook-centered lessons to Project-Based Learning• Included drop-in mini-lessons on

accents and spelling

Result of changes?

• Some improvement in behaviors (definitely less discipline referrals during this unit)• Still encountered some “I-can’t/I-

won’t/I’m-too-lazy/This-is-dumb-because-I-already-know-everything” attitudes

Conclusion

•More talk than walk• Perhaps we were asking the wrong

question—maybe it wasn’t supposed to be “What do they need?”

Suggestions for future research

• Consider motivation (intrinsic/extrinsic) as a cause for instructional difficulties

• Look for and experiment with appropriate Heritage Spanish course materials/textbooks

• Use this study as a basis to REALLY compare Heritage and Nonnative Learners

• Consult more literature from the “experts”

Research Model: Big6

• I chose the Big6 because I had heard of school librarians in several local districts using it too. I thought I should get some experience.• I used Barbara Jensen’s “Research

Project Organizer (7-12),” which I found here.

Research Model: Big6

Step 1: Task Definition• EASY! My information problem came

from a real-life problem I was having.• The information I needed seemed to

be right in front of me (in the students)

Research Model: Big6

Step 2: Information Seeking Strategies• Students, experts, literature• For the scope of this research, I should

have stuck to the kids. (I wasted some time on the “experts.”)

Research Model: Big6

Step 3: Location and Access• Again, EASY! I saw the kids

everyday from 1:25 to 2:10pm.• Gave them surveys

Research Model: Big6

Step 4: Use of Information• Used Google Forms to compile data.

The summary graphs helped me analyze and see patterns quickly.• Discussed with my co-teacher to

confirm my thoughts

Research Model: Big6

Step 5: Synthesis• The hard part for me: I tried to do too

much and got really bogged down.•My solution was to use this

presentation to boil down my findings and re-write my paper.

Research Model: Big6

Step 6: Evaluation• Big6 got me where I needed to be,

though I didn’t realize it at the time. I spun my wheels, re-examining Steps 4-5.• Probably just didn’t have my focus

refined enough

Critique of the Big6

• I didn’t even realize that I got lost in the model until I had reached my frustration point.• I just assumed I was spending a lot of

time on Step 5, but was actually stuck.• No stop-gap for that: watch out!

Using the Big6?

• Sure! But I don’t think it’s much different from other models—I’m sure others do just fine.• I liked that it helps learners make a

plan, which novice researchers really need.

FIN¡Gracias!