Abstract
Heritage language (HL) speakers have been recognized as a special group of language learners, whose knowledge of and experiences with the language, as well as their motivations for (re)learning their home language, differ drastically from that of an average learner of a second language (L2). In this presentation, we will first review current pedagogical approaches proposed for the use in the HL classrooms, highlight their theoretical and epistemological underpinnings and weigh their appropriateness and effectiveness in teaching the current generation of HL learners from different language dyads. Current HL pedagogical approaches mainly focus on the development of communicative abilities; e.g, some innovative communicative pedagogies such as Task-Based and Project-Based approaches have been specifically advocated for use in the HL classroom (Carreira 2016; Kagan & Dillon, 2009). Yet, the outcomes of these approaches have not been adequately evaluated. On the one hand, studies report that HLLs eagerly participate in language tasks and projects - after all, this is something they are used to doing in the naturalistic language setting at home. On the other hand, HLLs treat communicative classrooms with
performance orientation; that is, they focus on carrying out a communicative task rather than on the ability to express nuanced meaning through grammatical accuracy and complexity (Torres, 2013; Carreira, 2016). As a result, HLLs rarely develop their global language proficiency further. In this paper, we propose that focus-on-form needs to be an integral part of teaching HLLs from. We base our argument on the results of extensive linguistic research on HLs and on insights from the currently available pedagogically oriented classroom and laboratory-based research on HLLs. As documented in the research literature, limited input and input limited mainly - if not only - to aural mode creates unfavorable circumstances for HL development. For instance, functional linguistic material such as articles, particles, auxiliaries, or word inflections, all characterized by low perceptual salience, do not receive a full articulatory force in normal speech and may be auditorily imperceptible/difficult to perceive and process. Lowered perceptibility, combined with reduced frequency of input, lack of literacy, and cross-linguistic influence from the dominant language, drives the restructuring of the grammatical system.
In addition, HLLs have been observed to have particular difficulties with conceptually complex grammatical phenomena such as certain types of complex sentences, verbal aspect, information structure and word order, and pragmatics (Montrul, 2016; Polinsky 2018). Poor command of grammar, in turn, negatively impacts global proficiency ratings for HLLs (Swender et al., 2014), prompting some HL scholars to question currently used HL pedagogies. We will then discuss how the similarities and differences of the heritage-dominant language dyad with regard to linguistic features, sociocultural patterns and ideological shifts may influence the pedagogical choices in the HL classroom. we offer a set of principles underlying HL pedagogy
which are rooted in the understanding of linguistic gaps in the HL learners’ languages, as well as advantages the HLLs may have over the L2 speakers. These principles call for exposing HLLs to form-focused instruction from the start of their (re)learning process. Summarized briefly, these principles include: 1) developing HL learners’ attention to grammatical form (noticing) and the ability to recognize and analyze form-meaning mappings, 2) fostering conceptual understanding
of grammar, and 3) growing learners’ metalinguistic awareness. The approach we advocate for is based on an understanding that HL (re)learning should be a discovery process, where the learners analyze carefully selected linguistic data, formulate hypotheses about their language, and test these hypotheses by relying on their intuitions, as well as analytical abilities and tools provided by the instructor. If tended to on a regular basis, this discovery approach allows HLLs to enhance
their metalinguistic awareness and focus on form as a way to convey meaning; at the same time, this approach keeps the students more engaged and motivated than traditional grammar instruction.
We propose that a successful pedagogical approach in the heritage classroom should account for specific linguistic and acquisitional characteristics of the learners, as well as their motivations for studying and maintaining the heritage language and the sociocultural characteristics of the heritage language community to which our learners belong.