Conversation and Writing for Heritage Speakers of Spanish

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course is designed for learners who have a personal connection to the Spanish language, having been exposed to it at home or in their community from a young age, and as such already understand and/or speak the language. The main focus is on language awareness, with the goal of enhancing language skills and deepening cultural understanding. Emphasis will be placed on practical language use, cultural exploration, and critical analysis of cultural artifacts. This course is founded on the principle of respecting, validating and legitimizing all modes and registers of speech that students bring with them to the classroom. Students will be introduced to linguistic variants of Spanish in the pursuit to foster awareness of linguistic and sociolinguistic aspects related to Spanish in the United States. The specific objectives are to further develop proficiency/competence in reading and writing skills, while expanding the whole linguistic repertoire needed in academic settings. Students will become aware of certain norms of written Spanish, such as the use of spelling, punctuation, accent marks and certain grammatical points particular to heritage speakers. It will expose students to a variety of text formats: short stories, poetry, songs, visual arts and film from the Spanish-speaking world.