The teaching of spanish as a heritage language: overview of what we need to know as educators

Abstract

In recent years, we have seen an increasing number of instructors facedwith the knotty task of teaching Spanish to Heritage speakers. In orderto deliver the best teaching methodology, it is important to take intoaccount four central issues: (1) the social identity of Heritagespeakers and the use of labels in academia, (2) the wide range oflanguage proficiency among Heritage language learners, (3) the``undeveloped{''} academic register of Heritage learners, and (4) theall-important measurement of bilingual skills.