Network of Illinois Educators of Spanish for Heritage Learners

www.nieshl.org

Presentation Outline Introduction to NIESHL Definitions Why a heritage Spanish class and program is ideal Literary review Procedures and outcome of study New considerations 10 most effective characteristics for heritage Spanish

courses Activity workshop and sharing Student placement considerationsPresentation and files available at aquintanar@wikispaces.com

Save the Date: February 22, 2012 NIESHL Spring Conference: Leyden High School Speaker Josh Sollie Sharing of classroom activities

The Network of Illinois Educators of Spanish for Heritage Learners (NEISHL) was started in 1999 to help teachers exchange ideas and resources in an ever-changing field of language learning. NIESHL supports teachers in the implementation, development and enrichment stages of Spanish Heritage Learner programs. As of 2006, NIESHL is an affiliate of ICTFL. We offer workshops each year, which are always collaborative in nature and offer participants CPDU credits.

NIESHLNetwork of Illinois Educators of Spanish for Heritage Learners

The purpose of NIESHL is……to improve the study and teaching of

Spanish as a heritage language and its literature and culture at all levels of instruction .

*increasing professional competencies of teachers through education programs and in-service training.

*providing a framework within which Illinois foreign language organizations can cooperate in improving the quality of learning and teaching.

*keeping members informed of current issues and trends so they may become better educators.

*encouraging excellence in education through public recognition of outstanding programs and individuals.

*cooperating with regional, national and international organizations and agencies whose purposes are compatible with those of NIESHL.

We do this by…

NIESHL Membership Membership runs from Jan 1, 2011

through Dec. 31, 2011 Membership costs only $15 Forms and additional information in the

brochure and is available at niehsl.org. E-mail NIESHL President Kathy Bellavia

at kbellavia@juno.com

Characteristics of effective

activities of heritage Spanish courses in the context of a heritage Spanish course

Andrea Quintanar-Schaferaquintanar@lths.orgNetwork of Illinois Educators of Spanish for Heritage Learners

Definitions Heritage speaker- someone who speaks a

language other than or in addition to the mainstream language as a result of listening or speaking the language at home

Heritage speaker course- A course that aims to improve the literacy of the heritage speaker in their heritage language, building on their existing knowledge of their heritage language and culture

SHS- Spanish for heritage speakers HSS- Heritage Spanish speaker

What do heritage Spanish speakers want?

Credit for what they know and choices (Pino, 2001)

Culturally relevant material (Gonzalez-Pino, 2001)

Practical information (Faltis,1984) and (Geeslin and Reber, 1998)

What goals can SHS help these students accomplish?

Spanish literacy (Boyd, 2000) (Hislope, 2003) Academic vocabulary (Lewelling & Payton,

1999) Appropriateness of register and dialect Overall academic improvement (Peale,1991)

(Boyd, 2000) Ethnic pride and improved self-image (Lee,

2002)

Heritage speaker course versus mainstream Spanish course

Spanish FL learners and heritage Spanish speakers both are frustrated when mixed in the same classroom

SHS needs do not coincide with FL learners ie. listening comprehension, basic vocabulary, fluency, pronunciation etc.

Culture is taught from an outsider perspective in FL course, (Beaudrie, 2011).

Detrimental effects of mixed language background classes

SHS students are not challenged Courses can be seen as a waste of time Success is expected, therefore never

allowing the student to feel successful Psychologically devastating when an

outsider seems to know their language better than they do (Krashen, 2000; Correa 2011)

“Mixed” classes are pedagogically inappropriate (Beaudire, 2006, 2009 et al; Correa 2011)

Why SHS courses are appropriate SHS student feels comfortable with peers of similar

experiences More appropriate pacing and activities to focus students Awareness of areas which need improvement is

developed (Correa, 2011) Course can be specifically tailored towards goals of

literacy which will assist SHS students across the curriculum.

The effects of improved Spanish literacy seen on English literacy are a result of the students’ exercising skills such as questioning, inferring, predicting, and development of mechanical language.

Literacy of the heritage Spanish speaker In many U.S. Hispanic societies reading and writing

skills are not emphasized in their culture (Boyd, 2000). If they are able to read in Spanish, they usually only

read entertainment or recreational magazines. The lack of academic vocabulary in Spanish has also

been reported evident in many of the Hispanic heritage speakers (Lewelling & Payton, 1999).

More instructional time than that of a heritage Spanish course is needed to develop literacy skills. (Villa, 1996; Beaudrie, 2011). A several year program is recommended.

Aspects of successful SHS courses according to literature review Adoption of an “additive approach” (Fischer,

2001) vs. a“limited normative approach” . comprehensive language approach basic composition introduction to transactional writing Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) (McQuillan,

1996) Involvement of the family and community

(Fishman 1996)

The study of which activities to include in a HSS course to achieve stated goals

Participants:30 14- 18 year old suburban high school students who are currently enrolled in a SHS course as well as 15 teachers of Spanish as a heritage language.

Measures: Likert scale surveys were distributed to the students to

rate which activities are effective to their learning Spanish in their SHS class.

15 heritage Spanish teachers were also given a similar survey to complete.

I interviewed at random three students from each school and the teacher of the SHS course.

A checklist for classroom activities observed was used during each visit.

Strategy analysis:

I recorded the number given by each participant for each item to figure the mean and standard deviation.

The items with the highest mean and lowest standard deviation contained activities that were most effective to teach SHS students Spanish.

I studied these results with the interview results to determine what characteristics of the activities made them important components.

Results of student surveysActivity Mean Standard

Deviation 19. Spelling exercises ( phonetics, accent placement) 4.5161 .6256 6. Involving Spanish speakers in the community 4.3548 .5699 18. Grammar exercises (conjugation, tenses) 4.3548 .6607 17. Using new vocabulary in writing or speaking 4.2905 .6426 20. Watching or listening video, audio or computer resources featuring a variety of native speakers

4.2258 .9205

15. Writing literature (stories, poetry) 4.2258 .6688 14. Reading literature (stories, novels, poetry) 4.2258 .9205 7. Using my Spanish in/for the community 4.2258 .9561 12. Reading magazines and newspapers 4.1935 .7924 16. Researching other Spanish-speaking cultures 4.1613 .9344 11. Group discussion 4.129 .8462 2. Informal writing exercises 4.129 .8462 13. Using Spanish references (dictionary, encyclopedia internet resources)

4.0968 .7897

1. Formal writing exercises 3.955 .8538 5. Visual projects (power point, poster boards) 3.871 1.0565 4. Oral presentations (speeches) 3.871 1.0676 3. Correcting each others papers (peer editing) 3.871 .9571 8. Sharing my family and personal stories 3.5161 1.1216 10. Role play (skits and plays) 3.3871 1.2564 9. Class debate 3.3871 .9914

Items with the highest rating with a relatively low standard deviation (SD)

“involve Spanish Speakers in the community” mean - 4.3548, SD - .5699

“grammar exercises” mean- 4.348, SD -.6607

“spelling exercises, (phonetics and accent placement)”

Analysis supported by student interviews

• Accents, spelling and use of a sophisticated vocabulary are a concrete representation of correct production of language.

• Half of the students interviewed stated that reading in general or reading of literature was one of the activities that help them the most to learn Spanish which correlates to its rating mean of 4.2258.

• Writing in general was an effective activity which would correspond to the favorable mean of ratings of 4.2258 given to writing literature, which the subjects agreed upon as it had a SD of .6688.

• Half of the students interviewed also included group work or discussions as among their list of most useful activities which was also indicated as a useful activity in the survey with a rating with a mean of 4.129. This sentiment did not extend to class debate.

Results of teacher surveysActivity Mean Inferential

Standard Deviation

14. Reading literature (stories, novels, poetry) 4.7857 0.4258 12. Reading magazines and newspapers 4.7333 0.4577 13. Using Spanish references (dictionary, encyclopedia internet resources)

4.5714 0.5136

8. Sharing my family and personal stories 4.5333 0.6399 2. Informal writing exercises 4.5333 0.5164 17. Using new vocabulary in writing or speaking 4.5 0.5189 16. Researching other Spanish-speaking cultures 4.5 0.975 20. Watching or listening video, audio or computer resources featuring a variety of native speakers

4.4286 0.6462

19. Spelling exercises ( phonetics, accent placement) 4.4286 0.6462 5. Visual projects (power point, poster boards) 4.4 0.5071 4. Oral presentations (speeches) 4.4 0.5071 1. Formal writing exercises 4.4 0.5071 15. Writing literature (stories, poetry) 4.2143 0.975 11. Group discussion 4.1333 0.7432 18. Grammar exercises (conjugation, tenses) 4.0714 0.9972 10. Role play (skits and plays) 3.9333 0.8837 9. Class debate 3.8667 0.9155 6. Involving Spanish speakers in the community 3.8 0.7746 3. Correcting each others papers (peer editing) 3.8 1.0823 7. Using my Spanish in/for the community 3.4286 0.8516

Items with the highest rating with a relatively low standard deviation (SD)

reading literature mean- 4.7857, SD-0.4258;

reading magazines and newspapers, mean-4.7333; SD-0.4577

using Spanish references, mean-4.5714; SD-0.5136

Analysis of teacher survey results

To compensate for the common lack of emphasis on literacy in heritage Spanish speaking culture, instructors have targeted the development of literacy and reading skills as one of the most effective forms to develop their overall Spanish proficiency.

The lower rating of grammar is an indication of varied philosophies which have been created around the conflicting research on the usefulness of explicit grammar instruction in language classrooms

Comparison of teacher and student surveys

Student survey result rankings Teacher survey result rankings 19. Spelling exercises ( phonetics, accent placement)

14. Reading literature (stories, novels, poetry)

6. Involving Spanish speakers in the community

12. Reading magazines and newspapers

18. Grammar exercises (conjugation, tenses) 13. Using Spanish references (dictionary, encyclopedia internet resources)

17. Using new vocabulary in writing or speaking

8. Sharing family and personal stories

20. Watching or listening video, audio or computer resources featuring a variety of native speakers

2. Informal writing exercises

15. Writing literature (stories, poetry) 17. Using new vocabulary in writing or speaking

14. Reading literature (stories, novels, poetry) 16. Researching other Spanish-speaking cultures

7. Using my Spanish in/for the community 20. Watching or listening video, audio or computer resources featuring a variety of native speakers

12. Reading magazines and newspapers 19. Spelling exercises ( phonetics, accent placement)

16. Researching other Spanish-speaking cultures

5. Visual projects (power point, poster boards)

11. Group discussion 4. Oral presentations (speeches) 2. Informal writing exercises 1. Formal writing exercises 13. Using Spanish references (dictionary, encyclopedia internet resources)

15. Writing literature (stories, poetry)

1. Formal writing exercises 11. Group discussion 5. Visual projects (power point, poster boards) 18. Grammar exercises (conjugation, tenses) 4. Oral presentations (speeches) 10. Role play (skits and plays) 3. Correcting each others papers (peer editing) 9. Class debate 8. Sharing my family and personal stories 6. Involving Spanish speakers in the

community 10. Role play (skits and plays) 3. Correcting each others papers (peer editing) 9. Class debate 7. Using my Spanish in/for the community

Analysis of comparison:disagreement among teacher and students surveys

Since the six lowest rated activities (visual projects oral presentations, correcting each others’ papers, sharing family and personal stories, role play and class debate) involve a presentation, public speaking or critique from peers, produce too much anxiety in a first level HSS course. HS instructors disagreed.

Students rated “involving Spanish speakers in the community” highly where teachers did not; many teachers rated in “not applicable”

Teachers may want to make an extra effort to include Spanish speaking community members through sociolinguistic surveys, oral history interview, dialogue journals, ethnographic observations, linguistic autobiographies, and service learning activities (Correa, 2011).

Analysis of comparison:agreement among teacher and students surveys

Teacher surveys indicated that peer editing, role playing and class debate are not particularly effective tools to teach HSS students in agreement with what was indicated in the student surveys.

Both the students and the teachers consistently rated one form of writing favorably, the students towards the writing of literature (mean-4.2258) and the teachers towards the informal writing (mean-4.533).

New considerations Starting with the 2012-2013 school year,

all students enrolled in a Spanish / English transitional bilingual program will be mandated to be enrolled in a Spanish language arts course.

The Spanish language arts course must be corrolated with the WIDA Spanish Language Arts Standards.

Conclusions and implications for HS instructors

1. Make a variety of literature available for students 2. Incorporate and value student guided writing practice3. Create a cooperative versus competitive learning atmosphere4. Involve the community members in the classroom 5. Create activities with concrete outcome and feedback6. Encourage the use of and experimentation with new vocabulary 7. Lower affective filter8. Establish personal connections 9. Use themes of interest of the students and incorporate relevant

issues10. Do not assume that students want to or feel comfortable sharing

details about their family in front of the whole class

Activity Workshop Sample activities:El Sueño americanoEl AutorretratoUna causa que vale la penaLa Entrevista

Activity Workshop Get into groups of 3 Choose a number 1-10 Write down the presentation implication or

characterstic you will be representing with your activity idea

Write down the goal of the activity Write the procedures of the activity

Placement of studentsConsiderations before placement testing:

What are the student’s goals in and after high school? How many levels of native speaker, AP and other Spanish courses

do you have? How many sections? Will those sections always be there?

What year in school is the student? Will all students have the opportunity to complete 4 years of high

school Spanish? The maturity and discipline level of the student

Placement of students Language/cultural background

questionaire Oral interview Writing test graded by a rubric Standardized Test with reading, listening,

grammar and vocabulary component