“I’m a Heritage Speaker of the Damascene Dialect of Arabic”

Negotiating the Identity Label of Arabic Heritage Language Learner

Bibliographic Data

ID19524480
AuthorsSara Hillman (0000-0003-0738-5030, Texas A&M University at Qatar, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume16
Issue3
Pages296-317
Publication date2019-12-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHeritage Language Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1550-7076 • E-ISSN: 1550-7076
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.46538/hlj.16.3.2
OpenAlexW3027914108
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited28

Utilizing an ecological perspective of heritage language learner (HLL) identity (Hornberger & Wang, 2008), this study investigates how an underexamined group within HLL studies—language learners with diverse ties to the Arabic language—perceive the label of HLL and how they position themselves and their classmates relative to this label during interviews and in an advanced Arabic language classroom. I draw on interview, observational, and videotaped classroom interaction data collected as part of a larger ethnographic study of this classroom community and show how a priori educational labels assigned to these students did not always match with their self-concepts and ignored the nuances of their relationship to the umbrella term “Arabic.” These labels also affected students’ classroom roles, self-esteem, and participation in the classroom. I examine the implications of educational classifications and assigned identities that are constructed by stakeholders such as researchers, teachers, or administrators, rather than negotiated by the language learners themselves, and critique Arabic HLL as an identity and educational classification. Finally, I offer some suggestions for how to engage language learners (HLLs if they choose to identify themselves as such) in critical discussions about their relationship with the language of study

Arabic · First language · Heritage language · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Negotiation · Pedagogy · Sociology · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis · Multilingual Education and Policy · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access