Kelly M. Torres

University Spanish Heritage Language Coursework: Meeting the Needs of All Heritage Learners:

The structure and instruction of foreign language classrooms have changed to meet the needs of the growing number of Hispanic heritage language learners (HLLs) entering university settings. To understand the impact of these reforms, interviews were conducted with 11 HLLs about their experiences in Spanish classrooms designed for their unique learning needs. Although participants were divided in their beliefs of heritage coursework offered, all the students valued being within a community of shared life experiences.

Perceptions of Writing Anxiety and Self-Efficacy Among Spanish Heritage Language Learners

Many Hispanics living in the United States have limited Spanish language abilities particularly in relation to literacy skills. This study investigated 25 Hispanic heritage language learners’ (HLLs) perceptions of their Spanish language writing abilities. During interview sessions, participants described the aspects of writing that were the easiest and most difficult for them to acquire. Findings revealed that HLLs experienced difficulties with accent rules, correct spelling, and conjugations. Additional findings, limitations, and further research are discussed.

Puerto Rico, the 51st state: the implications of statehood on culture and language

ABSTRACT The issue of statehood has been a controversial topic for many decades in Puerto Rico. This has resulted in a total of four referendums for statehood taking place on the island. What is unique about the last referendum, which occurred in 2012, is that the majority of residents on the island voted in favor of statehood. Although the implications of statehood are currently unknown, one problem that could arise is a change in the native language (Spanish) and culture of the island. Therefore, this qualitative study investigated Puerto Ricans residing in different geographic regions (i.e. Puerto Rico and Florida) to determine if they have differing views regarding statehood, commonwealth, and independence. Differences were found among participants in that they had diverse opinions as to how statehood could impact the island in terms of the language spoken (Spanish or English), the culture of the island, the educational system, and the economy.

Heritage language learners' perceptions of acquiring and maintaining the Spanish language

ABSTRACT The number of heritage language learners in American universities is increasing each year. Similar to monolingual students, this subgroup of learners is required to complete university level ‘foreign language’ coursework, which can be a source of anxiety. Particularly, this subgroup of learners may experience high levels of anxiety due to their low levels of heritage language proficiency because they may think they should already know their heritage language or they may think others will think they should already know their heritage language. This qualitative study investigated 11 university-level Hispanic heritage speakers’ experiences of acquiring and maintaining the Spanish language. The model developed from the interview sessions illustrates that participants’ perceptions of their Spanish language background impacted their Spanish language experiences. Although participants in this study had various levels of Spanish proficiency, they expressed how their lack of formal educational experiences was the main hindrance to their ability to obtain advanced levels of Spanish language skills.

Second-language-acquisition developmental differences: exploring migrant children’s language production in a daycare setting

ABSTRACT Learning a new language and culture may be particularly difficult for families in the United States supported by migrant workers, who typically work long hours and live a mobile lifestyle. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe the interaction patterns (i.e. use of the Spanish and English languages) among native-Spanish-speaking children at a migrant daycare. Twenty-five children (aged two to nine) were observed during various activities across two periods. Interactional patterns were examined among children, employees and children, and parents and children. The essence of interactional patterns found included: (1) information, (2) collective language knowledge, and (3) learning. The children’s use of the English or Spanish language stemmed from their interlocutor and conversational goals.

Students’ foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs across different levels of university foreign language coursework

ABSTRACTThis study investigated differences in students’ foreign language anxiety and foreign language self-efficacy related to skill-specific foreign language tasks (i.e., speaking, listening, reading, and writing) across five levels of university foreign language coursework. A total of 206 participants in 12 university Spanish classrooms (ranging from Beginning Spanish I to Intermediate Spanish II) were surveyed for this study. The findings revealed that students who have higher levels of skill-specific foreign language anxieties provided corresponding lower ratings on skill-specific foreign language self-efficacies. Analyses also revealed that students’ ratings for foreign language anxiety for each foreign language-learning skill were not significantly different across the five levels of coursework. However, students’ ratings of foreign language self-efficacies for each foreign language-learning skill were significantly different across different levels of coursework.

A comparison of engagement and interaction among university distance learning students

When facilitating instruction in distance learning environments, educators are presented with challenges in student motivation and development of community. We used a mixed-method approach to analyse the interaction patterns and quality of discussion among distance learning college students who used two different course tools to complete assignments. Six patterns of discussion emerged from the posts: agreement, disagreement, countering, belief, statement, and re-state. We used a five-point scale to assess the quality of students’ posts. The student posts from VoiceThread™ (VT) assignments had higher quality scores and higher frequency of countering and belief statements. Whereas, the student posts from discussion board (DB) assignments had lower quality scores and a higher frequency of re-statement and agree statements. Student feedback regarding the use of the VT tool was positive. Additional analysis of using the VT tool with different types of assignments and in other online courses is necessary.