Insights into SHL program direction: student and program advocacy challenges in the face of ideological inequity

ABSTRACT

As Spanish heritage language (SHL) programs grow nationwide, SHL program directors (PD) are tasked with negotiating the intricacies of either building an SHL program from scratch or carving space for a program that, unlike second language (L2) programs, are not institutionalised. Considering the evidence of deeply embedded dominant language ideologies in language departments, it is crucial to gain further insights into the challenges that SHL PDs are facing. To this end, this qualitative study explores the difficulties a group of SHL PDs confront as they fulfil their duties to design, promote, assess, and advocate for their programs and students. It also describes how they navigate the goals and interests of their department’s and institution’s stakeholders, which may or may not align with the goals of SHL education. The results show that SHL LPs face challenges at the individual, departmental, and institutional levels. At the same time, they learn to become resilient against these challenges as they focus on the success of their students and programs.

Keywords:

• Language program direction
• Spanish heritage language
• language ideologies
• Spanish heritage program administration
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sara M. Beaudrie

Sara M. Beaudrie (Ph.D., University of Arizona) is Associate Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the School of International Letters & Cultures at Arizona State University, where she directs the Spanish Heritage Program. She received her Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition Teaching with a minor in Spanish linguistics from the University of Arizona. Her research interests include classroom instruction, language program administration, critical approaches to heritage pedagogy, and heritage language assessment and literacy development. She has published over 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented in over 50 invited and referred national and international conferences. She is the co-editor of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The State of the Field (Georgetown University Press, 2012), the co-author of Heritage language pedagogy: Research and practice (McGraw-Hill, 2014), and the co-editor of Innovative strategies for heritage language teaching: A practical guide for the classroom (Georgetown University Press, 2016).

Sergio Loza

Sergio Loza (Ph.D., Arizona State University) is Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics at the University of Oregon and Director of the Spanish heritage program. He received his Ph. D. in Spanish Heritage Language Education with a secondary concentration in Spanish Sociolinguistics from Arizona State University. His research focuses on educational and social issues in Spanish as a heritage language that includes critical language awareness, language ideologies, language attitudes, and oral corrective feedback. His work has been published in journals such as Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Language Testing, International Multilingual Research Journal, and Chiricù Journal: Latina/o Literature, Art, and Culture.