Heritage Language Learners in First‐Year Foreign Language Courses

A Report of General Data Across Learner Subtypes

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8938568
AutoresRachel R Reynolds (0000-0003-2758-6884, Drexel University, autor de correspondencia), Kathryn M Howard, Kathryn Howard (California University of Pennsylvania), Julia Deák (California University of Pennsylvania)
Año2009
Volumen42
Número2
Páginas250-269
Fecha de publicación2009-05-14
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaForeign Language Annals (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0015-718X • E-ISSN: 1944-9720
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1944-9720.2009.01020.x
OpenAlexW2071378599
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas3

This article reports on a survey of language study motivations for first‐year language learners at two large private East Coast American universities. Surveys were completed by 401 students in courses for 19 different foreign languages. Forty percent of respondents were designated as heritage language learners (HLLs), and they were divided into two subclasses: narrowly defined HLLs, who indicated that the target language was regularly spoken in their home and who constituted 34% of all HLLs (55/162); and broadly defined HLLs, who indicated familial or heritage connections to the language without regular prior exposure to the target language and who constituted 66% (107/162) of all HLLs. This article reports students' prior exposure to the language, reasons for studying it, and goals and attitudes among these subclasses, and outlines avenues for further investigation

First language · Foreign language · Heritage language · Language assessment · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Native-language instruction · Pedagogy · Teaching method · Vocabulary development · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching